The car on Koan's gooseneck is another mechanical fitting embodying who knows what kind of history. The assembly is supposed to be made of a car, a pin, and a piece that swivels around the pin. The swiveling piece is made of a different metal than the stainless of the car and pin, milder steel maybe? I just can't see it being aluminum, but maybe it is... In any case, by virtue of corrosion between the pin and swiveling piece, these three pieces are now one. In addition, it's clear that the swiveling piece has a groove worn into it, from being mounted proper-way-up. So when I removed it from the boat, it was mounted upside-down, presumably to even the wear by exposing the other bearing surface.
The reason why it would be nice for the two seized pieces to be moving independently again is that, when they fused, they didn't do so at a 90 degree angle, but a little bit, maybe 10 degrees, off 90 degrees. You can see that in the picture. That means the shackles that go through the two holes in the pin (one to hold the tack of the main, and one to hold a block under the boom that redirects a reefing line) are off 90 degrees, so they're subjected to torque. The one holding the tack is showing it, because it's bowed out to one side. I don't think they're anywhere near breaking, but I don't like it, either.
No amount of penetrating oil and prying has managed to break these two pieces apart of course. Heat might do it, but it might also make things worse, or break something, in which case the boat will be unusable.
Proctor Masts still exists, and, mercifully, I believe they have a shop in California. So I'll contact them for a replacement, but they've been known to quote people prices that essentially mean they're re-tooling just to make the one piece you ordered. So that may not work.
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