This is what our mast looked like when I started the project of repainting this mast. FYI Hunter Owners can get mast parts and masts from www.rigrite.com. Rigrite is darn expensive but they have a very informative web site and lots of pictures and drawings and info about Masts, Booms and Spreaders. I also found them helpful in replacing some of my Boom sheaves. I found that most of the Hunter 54s Mast and Boom hardware was made by Kenyon.

Hunter 54 Mast before

Though I should have taken more pictures. The first task was removing all of the hardware. I then sanded the Mast down to Bard aluminum. I used a Porter Cable 6 DA sander with about 80 grit discs. I then used a air grinder with some 3M scotch bright discs to remove the paint in the hard to reach places on the mast. Next came the chemical prep work prior to painting. Fact Aluminum will oxidize quickly after sanding. Paint doesnt like to stick to this aluminum oxide layer. So basically if you want you paint to stick to Aluminum then you have to either remove the aluminum oxide layer, or use a primer that etches into this aluminum oxide layer for a better grip. I chose to do both. To remove the oxide layer I used West Systems #860 Aluminum Etch Kit. This kit has two parts. The first part is a strong acid that you mix with water and apply to the aluminum to remove the existing oxide layer. Quickly you then apply the 2nd part, Chromic acid. This will neutralize the aluminum and give you a 2 hour window to apply Interluxs Viny-Lux etching primer. Once a thin coating of this primer has been applied you then have a whole 24 hours to get some Interlux 404/414 Epoxy Barrier Coat primer (white) on top of the Viny-Lux. The Viny-Lux is like Zinc Chromate which is yellowish. One good coat of the 404/414 primer will get everything back to white.

First Steps.

I srayed about two coats of the primer then sanded a couple runs. With 53 feet of mast its hard to get a perfect no-run job with so many protrusions around the spreaders. After sanding I applied one more coat of the 404/414 primer. The nice thing about this primer is that it is a joy to sand. It doesnt load up the sand paper and you can really get a nice smooth surface easily. Since it is a two part primer you can use the Interthane top coat, which is so much more durable than a one part paint. Refer back to photo one for any durablilty questions about a one part paint (YUK!).

Mast primed, sanded and ready for top coat.

Interlux Interthane, sprayed will yield a see yourself mirror shine. This picture just doesnt do this paint justice.

I have to take a better photo.

Next came the installation of the mast steps. I did my research and I knew one thing. I didnt want to screw a bunch of stainless steel screws into my aluminum mast to hold myself 53 feet above the deck. Also all of this dissimilar metal corrosion would weaken and later ruin the paint job. I then went on the internet to find some 1/4 blind rivets that would be suitable for a salt water environment. I found a company called Byler Rivet Supply. They had the following rivet which works great with the ABI folding mast steps. These rivets are countersunk so they match up perfectly with the mast steps countersunk holes. The rivets part number is MGL100-B8-12 Magnalok Aluminum Flush HD 1/4 Dia x .415-.725 Grip. I found a rivet gun ($18) at Harbor Freight that was up to the task up installing these mambo rivets. I had to drill 45x4 holes and installed rivets one at a time. The biggest pain was I had to take the rivet gun head apart after each freakin rivet. The rivets shaft is banded, which got stuck in the rivet guns mechanism so you werent able to get the rivets out unless you took the rivet gun apart. I got it down to 10 rivets in 5 minutes. Not Fun at all.

ABI Folding Mast Steps and 1/4 Countersunk Rivets

If you are installing mast steps take some time to figure out how to space them. I spaced mine at 16 to 17 apart. I also took into account where I wanted to have steps on both sides. Like in my case just below each spreader and below each halyard exit point etc. I hope you find this posting of use. Enjoy! Stirling Hasen, 1982 Hunter 54.

All Done!