Rubrail repair, got pushed in

[korygrandy]

Sooo I finally have a post worthy of a thread catageory other than DC. I was inside MS River Lock2, well I should say my ole man was and I believe he decided it was a good oppurtunity for repayment.

My dad is a guy that likes to tap, tap tap the throttle with his hand, rather than grasping the throttle and slowly pushing. So a little tap to get me closer to the ropes in the lock and BAM, he nails the concrete and I go flying over to the other bow cushion.

I think the damage is minimal but I am curious how one goes about fixing it with tools from around my house. The pic below is pre-injury but essentially the rub rail got pushed and is now squeezed between the 2 fiberglass shells. Not a huge deal except its in the bow of the boat where this sort of accident is likely to happen again, but without a rub rail it will be the fiberglass that gets whacked.

Do I push it from inside, or pull it from the outside to get this rail to pop back out? Do I drill a screw into the rail and just deal with the scar it leaves to do this? Any ideas are welcome.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

We really need some pics.

YD.

 

[oops!]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

hi korg....

welcome to the dry dock buddy !
you have actually reason to post in two forums....this one and stupid human tricks....lol

better give dad some lessons on how to drive a boat......tapping a throttle like that and ramming something hard enough to send passengers flying is ....well.....kinda dangerous. !

as yd said....we will need pics bud.
there are several ways of doing it....but how the rail is affected will determine the best way to do it with out replacement !

cheers.....and i hope your bruises heal !

oops

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

hi korg....

welcome to the dry dock buddy !
you have actually reason to post in two forums....this one and stupid human tricks....lol

better give dad some lessons on how to drive a boat......tapping a throttle like that and ramming something hard enough to send passengers flying is ....well.....kinda dangerous. !

as yd said....we will need pics bud.
there are several ways of doing it....but how the rail is affected will determine the best way to do it with out replacement !

cheers.....and i hope your bruises heal !

oops

I will try and get some pics soon when I can get under the cover. It's going to be a few days yet.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in



Guys I finally had a chance to pull the tarp off the boat and get her into the garage. Attached are 3 pics of this rub rail that got pushed in. I'm hoping this does not need a whole new rub rail as it looks like it's 1 piece that wraps around the whole boat, meeting up in the stern.

Any Ideas on how I can remedy this little rub rail deal?

 

[island mike]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

View attachment 139670View attachment 139671View attachment 139672

Guys I finally had a chance to pull the tarp off the boat and get her into the garage. Attached are 3 pics of this rub rail that got pushed in. I'm hoping this does not need a whole new rub rail as it looks like it's 1 piece that wraps around the whole boat, meeting up in the stern.

Any Ideas on how I can remedy this little rub rail deal?

i am no expert on rub rails,And really do not have solution,But would like to add that it looks hollow;I have never seen a rubrail being pushed in like that,I have seen them loose,broken,twisted and everything else,But never pushed in like that..You sure whacked that dock..Is there damage to the glass on the inside?rub rails are to my knowing always solid..Why not get some more info at the manufacturer? My experience with rubs is that once loose,they are hard to repair.You could try and pulling it loose from the side where the two ends meet as you state,all the way to where its pushed in or more and the prying it back in IF its not held by screws or rivets from the inside..Good luck buddy!
Regards I mike

P.S Dont you just hate it when your $4!t gets pushed in

 

[Bondo]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

i am no expert on rub rails,And really do not have solution,But would like to add that it looks hollow;I have never seen a rubrail being pushed in like that,I have seen them loose,broken,twisted and everything else,But never pushed in like that..You sure whacked that dock..Is there damage to the glass on the inside?rub rails are to my knowing always solid..Why not get some more info at the manufacturer? My experience with rubs is that once loose,they are hard to repair.You could try and pulling it loose from the side where the two ends meet as you state,all the way to where its pushed in or more and the prying it back in IF its not held by screws or rivets from the inside..Good luck buddy!
Regards I mike

P.S Dont you just hate it when your $4!t gets pushed in

Ayuh,.... I ain't either, but I see a heatgun, a screwdriver(flatblade), 'n maybe(probably) a putty knife...

Ya oughta be able to work yer way down it, heatin' it, 'n pryin' it back out....

 

[klab010]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

I am looking at repairing an insert myself, and your issue looks simpler than mine. If you can find out the insert profile, you can likely get a 50-70 foot roll for under 100$. Your boat is much newer than mine and will likely be easy to find a replacement. The actual rail in the pics looks alright, just the insert is pooched. -and to me it could be a hollow tube like extrusion. All the agravation and time you might save trying to repair the problem might just be best fixed by replacing the entire insert. From What I have heard, replacing the insert is not that labour intensive. Its the rail itself (the part surrounding the insert) that can be a lot of work.

Just my opinion, but I will be interested in seeing what you end doing and the results.

 

[island mike]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

I am looking at repairing an insert myself, and your issue looks simpler than mine. If you can find out the insert profile, you can likely get a 50-70 foot roll for under 100$. Your boat is much newer than mine and will likely be easy to find a replacement. The actual rail in the pics looks alright, just the insert is pooched. -and to me it could be a hollow tube like extrusion. All the agravation and time you might save trying to repair the problem might just be best fixed by replacing the entire insert. From What I have heard, replacing the insert is not that labour intensive. Its the rail itself (the part surrounding the insert) that can be a lot of work.
Ju
st my opinion, but I will be interested in seeing what you end doing and the results.

I agree the easy part is the rub,The rail itself is held in place by rivets or screws and caulking...Ppppfff..

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

You can try the Heatgun method first on your insert that got pushed into the rail..

Start at the center..then just lift it out about 4" from the damage point.

You might get lucky and have your insert with a thinner edge on one side ( we cant tell right now from the pics ).

Heat it up slightly and try to work it back in with the larger edge going into the 'slot' first..

Its kinda hard to explain..

I hope you dont have to remove half of your insert..but if you do its not really a big deal. .. .. unless its cold outside ..

Yd.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

Well I've learned more than I knew before which is swell! I think the approach is to heat up and try and work it out carefully with putty knives and such. Hopefully I wont do too much damage.

Yacht Dr - I understand this concept, Thick VS Thin Putty Knife, work the thin one in, then the thick one, and back to the thin one as I progress down the rail.

Attempt #1 will be this weekend and I will let you know if more is involed beyond "prying" this thing out.

Thanks for the replies guys! Lots of helpful info, I have a plan and a backup plan which is more than before!

I do now understand what you guys are talking about a rubrail insert and how it holds the actual rubber in place. I do hope that is not damaged as I would imagine thats not easy to replace by any means.


As for how this happened, well I can honestly say I'm not responsible for this one entirely beyond letting the 'ole man navigate the MS River Lock. If he had hit a dock there would probably be glass damage as well but he hit a solid flat concrete wall.

If you've been inside a lock before, you know there are usually catch-lines or ropes hanging down from the top of the lock. A person in the craft is supposed to hang onto this rope to control the boat as the water raises/lowers in the lock, so there arent a bunch of boats drifting around... well as we were slowly "drifting" towards the concrete lock wall to grab this line, my dad decided to give the throttle a little nudge like he's used to doing in his boat, problem is my throttle is a bit more sensitive.


He almost got a double-whammy as I almost slammed my head into the wall, as well as damaged the boat...I know deep down he's been waiting for this oppurtunity for a while...after all I was 16 once, and I may or may not have totalled the ole' mans car. :facepalm:

In my head, I was thinking ok the risk is in me controlling my own boat as this water rises, think other boats in front and behind me as the water rises. In hindsight, I should have been driving my own boat in that lock. Either way I still love my dad, and I still love the boat!

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

Actually.. I was thinking more of REMOVE the pushed in insert all together at that location.

Then put it back in with the heat gun method.

Trying to pop it back out into place without removing it could damage the solid rub rail itself.

Just an FYI .. if I had to do this..I would remove the insert from the back splice ( probably a cap that hides the splice in the middle of the transom or end cap ).

Reinstall the insert after a day or two so the thing can Relax back into shape ( if needed ).

* hint * .. go get a screen door installation roller .. * hint *

YD.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

Actually.. I was thinking more of REMOVE the pushed in insert all together at that location.

Then put it back in with the heat gun method.

Trying to pop it back out into place without removing it could damage the solid rub rail itself.

Just an FYI .. if I had to do this..I would remove the insert from the back splice ( probably a cap that hides the splice in the middle of the transom or end cap ).

Reinstall the insert after a day or two so the thing can Relax back into shape ( if needed ).

* hint * .. go get a screen door installation roller .. * hint *

YD.

You are dead on Yacht Dr. I included a video of how I fixed my rub rail. As you roll this in, the key is to "feed" the rubber into the rail at the right angle, while rolling with the screen roller at the same time. Is it a pain in the arse, yes, but it can be fixed without paying someone to do it for you.

I attached some pics of how I was feeding my rubber into the rail to give you an idea. Pictures 3 and 4 show how the damaged area really was pinched into the rail, making it that much harder to get back into place.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

Glad everything worked out for ya .. .. well IN for ya .

BTW .. acetone will clean up that rail fairly nice.

YD.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Rubrail repair, got pushed in

I had to update this. So the old man was over this past weeked and I had to show him my handy work... his response:

Looks good...you can clean it up a bit and hey next time try not to hit a concrete wall. Hahaha clearly his short term memory loss is setting in his old age.