E39 Rubrail removal

gadangit

Member III
I got a hankering to permanently remove the rubrail and it's chalk insert. It looks like one could cut/grind off the out turned overlap of hull & deck and replace with a good old fashioned fiberglass lay up over the seam. Has anyone done this? Am I creating a problem?

Thanks!
Chris
 

Dave N

Member III
This fellow did the same thing on his 35-II,

http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/26542

I thought about it doing it as you suggest as well....but decided on replacing mine with the wefco rubber product. It is quite heavy and substantial. Big job, as the wood behind the old one needed to be removed and replaced. We used white oak between the overlap/beneath the new rubrail. It turned out very good. It seemed like replacing vs glassing would be less work and time. The fairing and all of the glass over approach seemed like too much for me. I have pics in my album of the new rubber rail.
 
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Andrew Means

Member III
This fellow did the same thing on his 35-II,

http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/26542

I thought about it doing it as you suggest as well....but decided on replacing mine with the wefco rubber product. It is quite heavy and substantial. Big job, as the wood behind the old one needed to be removed and replaced. We used white oak between the overlap/beneath the new rubrail. It turned out very good. It seemed like replacing vs glassing would be less work and time. The fairing and all of the glass over approach seemed like too much for me. I have pics in my album of the new rubber rail.

Hey Dave -

What was the specific item you ended up using from Wefco? How much did it cost? Our rub seems to do nothing but leech chalky residue down the hull and I've been itching to replace it...
 

Dave N

Member III
As you probably know, there are 2 parts required. The track was part number 0422-G and the profile was identical to the oem rigid vinyl(the wefco product is a hard rubber). I am pretty sure the insert part number was 4107. Both are sold by the foot. I paid about $550 total for 74 feet of each.
 
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Dave N

Member III
I am not sure if your hull to deck joint was done the same way as mine. But if it was, then this is a quick summary of what you will need to do. The hull and deck both have outward facing flanges. It appears that a piece of wood maybe an inch tall was placed between them(for an extra inch of headroom as the story goes). The hull to deck joint was then fiberglassed from the inside all the way around the boat. The piece of wood then had no structural impact other than to act as a spacer prior to the hull and deck being glassed together on the inside of this joint. This is visible in my picture album showing the storm damage.

The wood strip was originally used to accept screws holding the rigid vinyl track to the hull. The rubber insert then followed to cover the fasteners and become the outwardmost edge of the rub rail. Over 33 years of life the wood behind my rubrail had started to decompose. Much of it had turned to dust. In addition, the PO had replaced a few areas of the wood and glassed/epoxied replacement pieces into the channel formed by the hull and deck flanges. All of the old wood and replacement bits had to be ground out to create a clean channel in which to put the new wood strip to which the new rub rail would be fastened.

We used white oak cut to size, and planed as necessary, for the replacement wood. It is held into the channel with 5200. The new toe rail track was then screwd into the oak. After the insert was put in place, the top and bottom of the toe rail were sealed with a bead of matching gray 5200 where the toe rail meets the hull. We took this opportunity to remove, clean up, and paint the aluminum ends and bow cover gray to match the toe rail. The new hard rubber track is quite stiff. You must warm it up and work with it to get it to lay nice and straight.
 

Dan Morehouse

Member III
Dave, your gelcoat is impressively shiny. By what feat of alchemy do you manage that? My '81 is nowhere near that appearance...and there is a 35II down the dock from me with a shine like yours, too. Maybe the 70's gelcoat was a cut above the 80's variety. I also have the chalk disease on my rubrail, but I was under the impression that I could merely replace the rubber insert. Hope I don't find what you did when I open it up.
 

Dave N

Member III
Mine was looking tired too, and the annual application of wax just wasn't making it. So I went to the yard and inquired about having it painted. They said the gel coat was in fine shape and recommended a 3 step buff, glaze, and wax. I had them do the hull and deck and the result was really amazing. The boat looked like new. Remember though, that up here we have a relatively short season and the boats are only in the water about 6 months each year.
 

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