Stem ball fitting question

[NSboatman]

Hello Folks-

I have recently purchased a 47' steel cutter, currently on the hard in Florida. The rig is down on trestles by the boat, and I have a question regarding the fit of the stemball/socket fittings on the shrouds and stays. The mast and fittings are Isomat, from about 1990. On the purchase survey, the surveyor noted that the fit between the stemballs and the sockets in the mast in all but one location were incorrect - there was too much of a gap around the stem balls. The only one that fit correctly, he said, is the backstay.

On all the shrouds and stays except the backstay, the stem ball fitting is swaged directly on the cable, and sits in the cup on the mast, with roughly a 1/8" gap around it. The backstay is a short solid stemball to male clevis fitting that goes into a triplate, to allow for a split backstay. On this stemball, there is around half the gap - or 1/16" showing on the backside of the ball end (between the ball and the cup).

I have two pcitures that show the two different fits - but i can't post them here (says I don't have permission to yet). i can email them if someone is willing to give me some advice on this. It shows the different gaps clearly.

Thanks in advance!

bg