replacing rub rail ?
 

ive never done it before and need some advice.
can i buy the exact same shape thats on it now and line it up with the existing holes.
my rubrail has equally spaced countersinks molded into it.
also , were can i buy it?

thanks

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

All that I have ever seen require holes to be drilled.

http://www.rubrails.com/index.html

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

Steve H,
Try www.tacomarine.com. Or you can call 1-800-653-8567.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

i replaced my plastic rub rail with stainless steel & loved the new look. it wasn't that hard to do.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

heres another pic of a seam that has pulled away slightly which again makes me think the countersink holes come already cut???

ive considered stainless also but i dont want to change the look of my boat.
with all the different colors and an all white deck it probably wouldnt look good but it looks great on most boats and holds up forever.

thanks for the links guys. ill give them a call and fax a drawing to them.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

I doubt you will want, or be able to use the exsisting holes, unless they are all through bolted. When i replaced mine a lot of the screws were striped out. I filled all the old holes, and drilled all new ones.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

Vette131 How hard was it to bend the ss rail around the pickle fork bow?

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

I do enough rubrails on the boats we build, and we use Taco. Granted, the holes are pre drilled and countersunk. But..... they don't always align up when you have to replace a section.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

thanks FX10.
do you purposely stagger the replacement rubrail in order to avoid hitting half a hole because of this?

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

Steve, I just replaced the rubrail on one side of the Pantera. I got the rail with the boat when I bought it. It was TACO brand and the holes were predrilled and countersunk. It was the same as what I had on the boat, except the spacing on the holes was 1/4" farther apart. The old holes would have worked fine, but I didn't have much choice and had to redrill. Just drilled the holes as I was screwing it on. It was a pain in the a$$. That rail is way stiff and not at all easy to bend. I'm sure it didn't help that mine had been coiled for several years.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

thanks for the info Griff.
i made a drawing of my rubrail. just need to fax it to TACO.
if i dont use the existing holes , whats the best way to fill-in the old ones?
plain ole silicone?

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

Its a Taco piece. Fill the holes with long strand fiberglass filler, You can then reuse the existing holes.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

Thats what I did, just pushed some silicone into the old holes.

Steve H,

I have done a few rub rails over the years from speed boats to large sailbotes and one technique really has worked well for me.

Forget using the old holes. From the inside of the boat, either place tape over the holes or cover them with fiberglass cloth tape. Next get a syringe (sp?), fill it with quality resin and fill all the holes. When you put on the new rail, just try to stagger it so you don't use the old holes. If it is pre-drilled, then occassionally you won't be able to help using the old holes.

I recommend TACO in Miami. West Marine should have samples that you can play with to find a match. The last one I did, I changed a similiar one like yours, to one that had an insert which covered up the screws for a more cleaner look.

Either way your gonna need a heat gun or a strong blow dryer for the corners and / or the insert.

If you go with a rigid or semi-rigid rail, don't let anybody tell you that soapy warm water will allow you too smoothly slip the insert into the base, because that is crap. All that technique will do is get you covered in soapy warm water, hurt your fingers after you manage to push in about 6 inches worth of insert which will be followed by you cursing your existence and throwing all of your tools including the bucket of soapy water.

Not sure if I helped your cause, just wanted to make sure noboday else fell for the soapy water thing...

Forget the sillycone. Use resin or epoxy.

You want the fu@ker to be strong. Plus, if the new rail is predrilled and you need to use an old hole, then you can if you filled it with resin or fiberglass filler like jimslade said.

If you filled it with sillicone, then it will just pull out, plus water would get inbetween unless you sealed it really good.

:D

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

thanks for the tips Air Dog.

im a little confused on this part "From the inside of the boat, either place tape over the holes or cover them with fiberglass cloth tape. "

are you suggesting i remove my interior cuz thats the only way i can reach the inside?

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

Go with the stainless steel. I have had both, and much prefer the stainless.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

I've got no way to do this either, unless I just want to keep squirting the chit in. Can't get to the back side except in the bilge.

As far as the old screw holes and reusing them. I used a couple. None of them were stripped out and held just as tight as the freshly drilled ones. How strong does the thing need to be???? You really only need to keep water that seeps between the hull and rail from getting in the holes where there is some wood. Use some 5200 to fill if must.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

Steve H and Griff,

To answer your question, yes I mean take apart your interior to cover the holes if you can.

If you can't get to them from the inside, you can fill the holes other ways by blocking the hole with one application and sealing it with another.

As far as strength, unless your hull and deck are glassed together from the inside, then in some cases, all you have holding the 2 parts of your boat together is the rub rail screws.

As far as water getting in, I was thinking more along the lines of sailboats which when healed over can submerge the rail completely under the water...

5200
 

Almost forgot,

I run a bead of 3M 5200 under the entire rub rail and each screw I put in gets coated with 5200 as well.

If you use the heat gun to bend around corners, make sure you have a helper, because you will need to get it good an hot ( not burnt ) at the same time you need to be a few feet away from the corner of the boat for the bend to follow the shape of the boat correctly.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

The only place silicone should be used on a boat is in the boat babes hooters. If the insert is black, do it on a real hot sunny day after its been laying out in the sun for a while. I used 5200 as well when I replaced mine. I also used screws and fender washers and nylock nuts for the whole thing. What a pain in the behind but much stronger now.

Griff,

Although it does sound like a pain in the ass, I really did notice a difference after I upgraded the rub rail in this manner.

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

Strength is not really an issue on my boat. The deck on my Pantera is screwed to the hull from the outside and glassed together from the inside. The only thing the rubrail screws do is hold the rubrail on. They are only 1 1/4" screws.
I see your point about the strength issue on boats that are not built this way.

Pantera's kick ass. That is a great boat you have there.

My boat is screwed together and glassed from the inside out as well. The screws from my original rub rail though started to loosen up after 10 years, thus the tighter feel after the upgrade...

Re: replacing rub rail ?
 

it wasn't hard,just use a rubber mallet & take your time. i gave up trying to match the plastic rubrail & switched to stainless.