I really like the sleek look of the newer boats without rubrails... I would love to remove the rail from my 1999 and finish it....

How hard would this be for a first timer? What are the necessary steps and procedures? What materials would I use!

Thanks for help on this.... Getting prepared for my winter projects...

just keep in mind how sleek it will look after bouncing off a couple of docks...

I've got to agree with this one. As slick as a boat looks without a rub rail, they are there for a reason - in case you rub up against something! That said, removing the old rub rail is the easy part since most Eliminators have the deck and hull tabbed together at the factory so they're essentially one piece. (On boats the do not have "unitized construction, you'll have a lot more structural work to do.) So the biggest part of your job will be sanding, filling and smoothing the external joint so that cosmetically it looks acceptable. Then of course you'll have to repaint or re-gel virtually the whole boat. If that doesn't sound like a ton of work, let me tell you, it is!

I love the look also. Thought about doing it to my 28 skater since the RR is off for paint. Talked myself out of it one day thinking about docking alone, rafting up, and my "docking crew" on even the best of days. I'll be reinstalling mine.

I did just the front and stern. It really looks clean but I still have the rub rail on the sides for docking. In all of my years boating I have yet to stab a dock.[ATTACH=CONFIG]544824[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]544825[/ATTACH]

Capping front and back (as tinkerer did) looks great with a stainless rail down the side.

PM'd

just did this rail treatment on a 32B Skater. Not capped but gives you an idea of how to end rail out in the open. Properly capping a rail is a very large undertaking (very) especially if the shoe box joint is excessive. You need to access all the tabbing on the inside and make sure it is overly done, You'll also need to scarf back the joint outside upwards of a foot all said an done. Its a rather large project .


Keep in mind most capped boats you see are built with that in mind from the get go. The deck to hull joint on any Skater is amazingly close and accurate just by design, there is no overlapping joint. MTI, OL Doug Wright, etc all built to extremely close tolerances. I have a 33 Daytona close to me here owned by a good friend I'll hafta look at it and see what the joint looks like. His is actually the first ever 33 Daytona that was on the cover of Powerboating, hundred thirty six mile an hour boat.

I really like the look and not concerned about the docking.... I have lots of fenders!

On the other side I am not looking to spend 30K in exterior paint n body work on my 1999 Daytona...... Always need to keep value into consideration...

Need to think about it.... Kind of like the Front and Stern idea.... seems like it would really cut down the amount of work and if have to access the inside would be easy as well.....

Any other thoughts and opinions would be helpful..... Anyone ever see Rub rail that would match the platinum color similar to IMCO drive? I want most of my hardware that color with accents.....

I was going to install a stainless steel rub rail until I held it up to the boat and it stood out like a sore thumb. The whole idea of capping is to make the seam go away and have a clean line. I reworked the original WHITE vinyl rub rail and it disappears on the hull from a distance.