This is a project that  needs to be revisited. I found that the holes the bronze wood screws are going into need to be reglassed and drilled again. (you heard it correctly all that as holding it in is some wood screws.  Actually what it needs is not wood screws but machine screws that go all the way through to the plate on the inside and I need to tap threads into the plate and and have the bolts hold them together. Right now I have new bronze screws in place and lots of 3M 4200 as bedding compound. It is working but not as strong as I would like it to be.

While I had the hawse pipe out I polished it up also. here are some before and after shots. I just used a little generic polishing compound and some 3M 1500 grit sand paper. I tried using a scotchbrite pad but it just didn't get the job done. The 1500 grit got the job done and left a very smooth surface. Smoother than it was to start with.

And here it is installed. I  actually had to take it back out after this and turn the hawse pipe over as it it didn't fit flush to the plate on the inside. You can see this in the picture.