katywompus

iTrader: (1)

Hi guys,
Doing some winter updates on my 1998 382 & noticed the hull/ deck joint has the dreaded issue that was covered in detail in "Phantom Chaos's" thread from awhile back.

For those of you who have performed this repair, was the deck really though bolted every 18" like I've seen mentioned in the other thread? I just removed 19' of rub rail from the Port side center & only pulled out sheet metal screws (nearly 1/2 of them broken.)
I'm thinking about improving this by through bolting & possibly going to a 5/16 screw.

Thanks,
Don

fossil fuel

All the 2000 and newer have 1/4-20 bolts and screws and pilot screws for joint assembly. We have not seen any older boats with the failure. The factory would have this info though.. Its possible the bolts are sheared off, were there loose heads under the rubrail strip? The screws only hold the rubrail and add very little strength to the joint. When the joint lets go the bolts that dont shear wallow a large hole in the deck lip, more stuff ta fix. Do you have a Plastic late style rubrail with a ss insert?

katywompus

iTrader: (1)

I just got off the phone with Formula. It appears I'm looking at the rub rail screws that are snapped off. There is a foam rubber strip attached that should be hiding the through bolts. I will have to take a closer look tonight when I get home.
(It appears to be the new style rubrail w/ stainless insert.)

Thanks,
Don

fossil fuel

So you have just removed the SS strip and not the whole rubrail? Can you move the rubrail up & down? The bolts will alternate with screws holding the rubrail on

katywompus

iTrader: (1)

No, I removed the stainles strip first (these screws were fine) then the plastic rub rail ( this had lots of snapped screws & was loose up & down.) All that I saw left was a foam rubber strip that was glued on. I'm assuming if I peel the foam rubber off there's through bolt heads underneath?
We'll see tonight.

fossil fuel

I dont remember foam on any of the boats we have done. Hmm?

C_Spray

iTrader: (2)

My boat had the foam underneath the rubrail backing strip as well. It peeled right off, but I had to clean the residue off with GooGone. I found no broken screws within five feet of the bow, or behind the windscreen. Once I get the old Plexus dug out and the joint glued back together, I'm going to replace any of the broken 1/4" bolts (and add a few more) by dropping the light valence panels in the cabin.

I'm a bit of a do-it-yourselfer, so this is not a huge project for me. I saw no indications of this issue until the last year.

fossil fuel

You two guys are almost neighbors

katywompus

iTrader: (1)

C Spray's boat & mine actually are neighbors in rack storage during boating season

I got all of the rub rail off & the foam backing tonight, there were through bolts hiding behind the foam. But the center 9' to 10' of the boat had none. They may have snapped off but there was no trace of them from the outside. Maybe a previous owner had the rail off before?

The extra screws sounds like a good idea Chuck. I'm gonna pull some of the interior out next to see what kind of access there is back there.
Any way, The repair doesn't appear to be too complicated except for dealing with all of the broken screws.

C_Spray

iTrader: (2)

I plan to go up one size on the self-tapping screws. If the old ones were #10's, I'll put it back together with #12's to make sure they get a good bite. I'll have to drill and countersink new holes where the old screws have broken off. Still - the primary source of strength will be in the Plexus bond.

KW - When do you think you'll be ready for the Plexus and the mixing gun? Formula will sell us the Plexus at a great price and loan us the gun. I'm shooting to get all my grinding and prep work done over the weekend. I may as well pass the gun on to you after I'm done with it.