Rub Rail

[Boomvang]

I need to replace the rub rail on my 34' O'Day. The original material or something very close to it (plastic, probably PVC, with a rubber insert) is available from West Marine and other sites. I am wondering if anyone has had any experience bending this material around the bow and at the transom. I would think it would have to be heated possibly with boiling water. I have a six foot piece here at the house that I am going to experiment with. Any suggestions?

 

[njlarry]

Sorry I don't have any experience with rub rail repairs. ...yet....but as no one has chimed in, you may want to give Rudy a call at D and R marine. I believe he sells it and is always very helpful.
Good luck with it and let us know how you make out with it.

 

[jibes138]

Rudy sells it. I recently repaired a section at the bow. I heated it with a heat gun and bent it to match the curve of the bow. I used the old piece to try to match the shape. Came out pretty good. It will kink when you bend it since you have horizontal sections so you need to remove a little stock to allow it to bend smoothly. A little caulk to fill any gaps works well. Also use the old piece to match the screw holes so you don't have to drill more holes in the boat. It comes in 25 foot lengths if I remember correctly so you will need three of them.

 

[py26129]

Another good source

If you have not found the exact replacement at West marine, then I suggest you try Taco Marine. They had a great selection of profiles and I found an exact match for my rub rail.

http://tacomarine.com/cat--Rub-Rail--rubrail.html

Matt
Not affiliated. Just a a satisfied customer.

 

[Harlan]

I replaced mine. Rudy has exact same as original and I'd suggest you use that. 'kinking' at corners is an issue. I built wood forms to duplicate the hull deck joint corners - 3 forms (stern P and S, bow). The base rail comes in 25' sections - 3 needed. (The insert comes in a continuous length.) I bent the 3 pieces 'on the bench' using my wood forms with one bend in each and located so that the 3 pieces fit on the boat with an overlap at the joints. Then as the last step after the rail is almost completely installed, cut the joints to length. (Like fitting wallpaper joints that doesn't have pretrimmed edges.) Space it so the joint at the stern is NOT at the center but is offset. The insert will join at the stern center and you don't want the base and the insert joint at the same place.

Use some pieces of the old rail to practice bends. I heated with a heat gun. Using the wood templates, you can put screws into the center (under the insert) of the rail to hold it in place as you bend it. Practice also allows you to experiment with just the right pie shaped cutouts to get it to fit around the corner without gaps or bulges. Mine finished up fitting better than the original.

The insert will shrink over time. I warmed it with a heat gun as I installed it (you definitely need a heat gun at the corners) and kept pushing it back towards the installed end (compressing it sort of) as I went. Even after several years I only have about a 1/2" gap at the insert joint.

Use a square and put a pencil mark on the hull as an alignment mark for the screws and you can reuse the same holes without any problem. I drilled oversize holes in the rail to aid in alignment and give some allowance for thermal length changes in the rail. I used truss head screws without washers. (McMaster Carr has them.)

The rail is not cheap and a fair amount of work but will come out looking better than new.

 

[Boomvang]

That is some great information. Thanks

 

[Ward H]

When you buy it from Rudy, unroll it and lay it out straight somewhere. I did't and had to take it to the marina, lay it out straight and screwing it down to an old dock and let it sit in the warm sun for a few weeks to get the bend out of it.
Then I ran out of time and let them install it.
If I had let the marina have a go at it from the start, they recommended replacing the plastic with metal.

 

[Brian S]

As Ward says, you'll have to deal with the "set" the plastic takes. I've heard of people using a steam box on rub rail. I'd probably do that, being as I'm familiar with steaming wood for bending, making kayak frame ribs. Some day, I'm supposed to replace the rub rail on my 15' Boston Whaler daysailer. Same same, just smaller

 

[rajhnsn]

I was only able to find the exact match with Rudy. There was one or two at West Marine and Taco that were close but they were not exact. We did the corners with a heat gun while installing on the boat. We wanted as few seems as possible so laid it out so that the two seams were about three or four feet from the bow and stern on opposite sides and ends of the boat. This way there was a short piece of rub rail to handle as it was being bent with a heat gun. We used an piece of aluminum as a heat shield so that the paint was not effected. The rub rail bent once it reached a critical temperature and we just wrapped it around and started screwing it in. We had filled all of the old holes previously so we would not have to worry about lining up holes. It came out pretty good. A small fold is created at the top and bottom edge at the bend. I suppose you could cut a small triangle out before you bend it but I don't think it is necessary. The caulk that we used for a bead along the top edge dried too quickly and we were unable to smooth it out. It looked sloppy at the time but is not noticeable a year later.