• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

E27 1975 Replacing RubRail

theidema

New Member
Both my rubrail and the underlying track have damage, I am concidering replacing both. I am wondering if anyone else has had to do this? I am wondering how is the track attached to the hull? Are there any things I should lookout for? Any advice ?

Thanks

Tom
 

Vagabond39

Member III
Rubrail

Theidema:
Check out the Forum, search rubrail, Capt. Max looking for E-27 rubrail, and others. Wefco, may or may not be correct.
Another source if Tacomarine.com V12-4144 Vinal insert for a 3 / 4" track, 1 3 / 16' overall width. Listed as soft PVC invarious colors.
Good luck.
Bob
 

mordust

Member II
Rubrail

I replaced mine 2 years ago. Wefco has the exact replacement. It is a new and improved version of the rubber
and fits into/onto the metal track underneath which is screwed into the hull.
It is not too difficult but a little bit of a PIA.
Bob G
 

JPS27

Member III
replacing E27 rubrail questions

Since I'm pulling the boat in a few weeks, a project I'm thinking of adding to the list (which includes bottom paint, putting in thru hull for electric bilge pump, and buffing and waxing the hull) replacing the worn out rubrail. The main reason is not cosmetic, although it is tired and sad looking, but rather because I want to fix some leaks. Some of the persistent leaks that I can see behind the cabin interior panels seem to be coming from screws that have penetrated the hull. One leak that shows up when it rains a lot is right next to an embedded chainplates. I'm assuming these are screws that are holding the rubrail track in place.

My plan is to reinsert these screws using some sort of adhesive to help eliminate leaks. 3m 4000? Also, not knowing exactly the terms for these pieces, do the bow cap and corner caps at the stern need to come off to work on and replace the rubrail. I plan to look for these parts at Wefco if I decide to tackle.

Thanks for any advice on this project. I have looked at the existing threads. But my main questions are: is this a probable source of leaks and how much of a project is this? Could it keep me out of the water longer than expected. I plan to be out a couple of weeks given that I have to work too. Thanks for any thoughts.
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
Yes, some people have experienced leaks from those screws. They are just threaded into the remains of the hull-deck joint flange, which was trimmed off after the inside of the joint was glassed together. (Diagram in the owner’s manual.) Then they drove those stupid wood screws into it. About half of them penetrate all the way through on my boat. On some boats, those screws “strip out” and get loose over time, making the rubrail loose and leaky. Caulking up that joint seems like a good idea and maybe it will help the loose screws grip a little better. Maybe shorter screws are in order? By design, I think they were not supposed to penetrate to the interior.

The cast aluminum end caps do come off and cannot be had anywhere for love or money. There have been various threads where people proposed to fabricate new ones, but I don’t know if anything ever came of those.

Just a thought - this seems like a job that might actually be easier to do at the dock than at the top of a ladder. I.e. not necessarily a haul-out job.
 

Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
End caps.

Tom & Todster, Close to 100 years ago or more, I had a relationship with Ericson or more specifically, Pacific Seacraft wine in conversation the subject of end caps came up and they too had no source for them. But they could fabricate them from Fiberglas if they had good patterns to start with. I lent them all three of them from our E25+, which front caps were the same for several models such as the E27, E29, E30 and E32. Sadly they are not to be had any more but I have to say that the end product they made was lovely, thick and super strong. Might not someone reading this and in need of an end cap or two who is capable of casting a mold and making them from Fiberglas, start a small business of supplying a lot of us with them? Cottage industry anyone? Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, The Dawn Treader, Marina del Rey CA
 

Afrakes

Sustaining Member
Diy

Search the archives of Good Old Boat. I remember an article about fabricating replacements using plastic conduit filled with sand and then heated for forming. Now that I think about it I still have rehabbed caps from the 81' 28+ I sliced and diced.
 
Last edited:

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
End caps. They're decorations, right?

If you lose one, make a mold of another in plaster of Paris, pour epoxy, and paint it Rustoleum metallic silver.

If you have none at all, carve your own design out of pine, make plaster of Paris mold, paint etc.

A release agent is required to get the epoxy out of the plaster.

Some end caps have inserts to set them in the rub rail. Not necessary. Butted up in place one screw holds an end cap fine.

Works for aluminum rail, I don't have experience with rubber but a decoration is a decoration.
 

JPS27

Member III
Thanks for all the advice. And especially thanks for the advice that I could do this at the slip. Given the scarcity of the end caps, though, I'll be careful not to lose them. I'm going to check with my son who started an industrial tech major at ODU and is enjoying learning to make molds. Perhaps he can make some of these.

I'll assume Wefco is the place to buy the rail and rubber based on old threads unless I hear otherwise. Thanks again. Jay
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
I got my rubber insert (vinyl?) from Catalina Direct. Same extrusion as Catalina 27, etc. I don't know if they sell the aluminum extrusion.
 
Top