Steve Z,

I read in an earlier post that you helped someone install the new style rub rail on an older heat. How difficult was that?

Thanks.
Ned

Hi Ned,
We did install a new rubrail on Mayor McCheese's (aka Butch Fletcher) '96 Heat. His old rubrail was beaten to hell, had gaps between sections, and faded. It is a day long job, but well worth the effort.
Basically, get a couple of good quality cordless drills, pull the old insert and back out all the old screws. Use some high quality silicone and seal all the old screw holes. The new ones probably won't line up. You could also glass or epoxy them, but we didn't.
To do the transom corners and bow, you'll need a heat gun to soften the extrusion. We started at the transom and worked forward. I think we screwed through the new rub rail at 8" to 10" intervals.
Make sure to seal all the new screw holes with silicone too.
The bow angle is sharp, and you'll need to notch the rub rail at the bottom to get it to conform to the hull. Make sure to check out the old rail in this area when you take it off, as you'll need to duplicate it.
His boat looks 5 years newer with the new rubrail and insert. I've replaced my insert twice. Mine yellowed over time and was getting the usual raft off/dock dings. It's amazing how much better these boats look with a fresh rub rail, and/or insert.
Oh yeah, get some acetone to clean off the hull deck joint when you pull the old rubrail off.
We bought the parts from the Nordic factory. They know how many feet of the extrusion and insert you'll need for a Heat. Seems like it was around 70'.
Regards,
Steve

So did you replace it with the new style that has the stainless insert or the older style with the rubber insert?

Interesting question. Since I had already replaced the insert on my 2001 once, our original plan was to order enough insert to do both boats (mine for the second time, his for the first), and that's what I ordered from Nordic.
I replaced mine. Seem to be getting better at it. First time it took me 4 hours. This time I did it in an hour and 45 minutes. I used soapy water to make it easier to slip into the extrusion, and I did it on a hot day to keep the plastic softer and more pliable.
I take the rest over to Butch's, and pull out the old insert. I noticed the new insert was bulging and wouldn't stay in his extrusion. I measured it and that era's boat had a smaller (by about 1/8"s) insert. Nordic no longer carries the old extrusion or insert, so we just decided to replace everything on his boat.
It looks a lot better, and was time and money well spent.
We did price the "newest" stainless rubrail/insert. Seems like it was really expensive, relative to bringing him up to the "Gen 2" version, so we passed on that. Ask Nordic. Maybe you are a better negotiator than we are ..........I do think the stainless looks great. I had it on my Baja though, and it can put a real "dock rash" on your friends boats if they get together at raft offs, and it was expensive to repair if you dinged it up.
Regards,
Steve