Barrier coat between scuff guard an hull?

[HeelBoy]

After much swearing and dulled drill bits, my polished 316 guard is ready to install. This finishes off the tow-eye rebuild and will be the first start-finish completed job on the boat.

Butyl tape seems capable of sealing the u-bolt thru holes? 5200 seems like a bit too much. For the guard, I'd like something between the steel and my gelcoat. I was thinking of buttering it up with some silicone or soft'ish polyurethane coating and allowing it to dry before installing.
Anyone have a product recommendation?

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Silicone sounds like a good choice. Of course, the purists will now get on their high horses and tell you your boat will sink if you put silicone anywhere on it. Complete load of crap as silicone is great as long as it's used as a sealant and not an external grout. If it's isolated from the environment, it's the same as being inside your house. If you're worried, use Dow Corning 795, which is silicone and lasts for decades when used as a fixed port sealant on many modern production boats. Exposed surfaces look like new after many years.

Consider lightly greasing the inside of your guard and then applying a ton of sealant to the FG rea of contact. Lots of painter's tape around it. If you ever need to remove the guard, it comes right off. Or vice versa if you desire.

 

[rgranger]

My go-to for this would be 4200. YMMV