Offshoreonly.com - hull issue on 87 242

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Nort I just went looking and can not find it. Any way you can link it up? I had a number of conversations with the company that makes Plexus as well as a few builders around us and the conclusion that I cam up with was to stick with the 5200 for a couple of reasons. 1 was that the work time with plexus is just way to short for most people to accomplish properly, my guess is even Formula unless they put a whole team of people on it. The second is that humididty levels were critical. 3 I did my windsheild with 5200 and was amazed at what a difference that made to the overall feel of the boat. 4 The plexus and what they used on my 311 failed, the 5200 has not on my 302 but to be fair I only used that boat for 1 season. 5 according to the guys at Plesux the gap that needs to remain after is critical, so you can not overtighten it. I could not figure out a way to do this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldscoolscarab (Post 3603931)

After seeing this- I went in the garage to see my new to me 311 sr1 and the bond is gone on about 1/2 of the boat !!! It's an 89 but wonder how long this has been an issue. Guess I have my work cut out for me come spring :(

I am guessing that there are many guys out there with this issue. Mine was doing it, yours is and a friend of mine has his doing it. If you have to keep tightening up your rub rail is the first indicator that you have this problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sprink58 (Post 3603491)

I have seen this on a few Sea Rays...but not a Formula.

I had this situation on a 40' Sea Ray EC. I removed the rub rail and put in new stainless screws in new locations offset from the original. Before I tightened the screws down I ran a bead of 3M 5200 in the gap. I then ran the screws down tight and wiped off the excess 5200. After I was satisfied with the result I re-attached the rub rail. Make sure you remove the excess 5200 quickly because once it dries ...you need a stick of dynamite to get it off!!

This made a bond that was stronger than the original for sure.

This is a minor repair that you need to address...it could develop into some stress cracks or spider webs later. That area is especially vulnerable to damage if you bump a piling hard enough while docking.

Do it now while it's not a big deal.

Love your boat...hanging in there for a 25 year old!!:Score-101010:

Best thing you can do to keep clean up easier is before you loosen the deck bond you want to tape off under the deck joint. Then hand paper so the glue can not get on the hull. That whay once you tighted the screws and all the crap comes out you just peal off the paper and tape and no cleaning is required.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fossil fuel (Post 3311530)

Audiofn, I would reconsider the 5200. The Plex, when installed correctly, will not fail! It will rip the adjacent fiberglass apart to the mat! The problem as I see it was there was not enough in the joint and it was oversqueezed. Plex is a great product. There is specific requirements on squeez that were overlooked on my boat. The 5200 is a great product but it does not bite into the glass like Plex.

I think this is what you were talking about. It may or may not make a mechanical bong but the crap when dry will NEVER let go. The Plexus has only as I recall a 30 min work time. Assuming 10 min to get the bead all the way around the boat that leaves you with about 15 to 20 min to get a crap load of screws installed. If you had a large team of guys it is probably not a huge issue but for little old me..... :D

What is this about a mechanical bong? :D

LOL I tried to go back and fix that but the site went down :D I knew you would get a kick out of it.

bong, bong, bong, bong,,,,sounds like my head after a evening of tequlia..ing

I had the same issue with my 1989 272. I found a strip of masking tape under the plexus! All the way around the boat; all but 1/8" to 1/4" of the plexus was doing noththing... On the bright side it made cleaning the cavity for the new 3m 4200 a breeze!

The boat feels MUCH more solid on the water now as well.

From the factory my boat had stainless thru bolts (phillips #3 fine thread screws into a 6"x 1"x 1/4" aluminum spreader plate every 18" all the way around.)

The rub rail was missing from my boat and the bond is broken between hull and deck nearly 3/4 around the boat...should be an interesting fix. I was told that using 1/4" stainless bolts with fender washers or backing plates instead of the screws at every other attaching point would help prevent this from happening in the future.