Fiberglass soft under the rubrail?

[rambilt]

I bought a bass boat. I noticed the rubrail is kind of loose and have about 1/4" space in between. Out of curiosity I removed the center piece, did an inspection and saw a bunch of loose rivets about an inch apart trying to hold the rubrail in place. I called Ranger and one of the service tech told me that the rivets must have a 1" grip. Well the rivets used by the previous owner are all short and mushing the fiberglass to where it becomes soft and won't support rivets. What a mess!! The rubber that seals the cap and the hull is the only thing that is still intact. The fiebrglass behind the rubber which is part of the hull is also mushed. The length of the defective area is about six inches. My question is, how would you go about fixing this? Will Marine tex help on this issue? I removed all the soft spot already to inclde the rubber seal, so I have a gaping hole that requires patching. The good thing is the rubrail will cover the patch when put back in place. I bought a gray Marine Tex but did a search and I found out that most people use the white Marine Tex. I need advice please.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Fiberglass soft under the rubrail?

3m5200 come in caulking tube. put it in there it will be permanent.

 

[sbklf]

Re: Fiberglass soft under the rubrail?

Not clear on the problem but it sounds like maybe it took a hit in the 6"area you are speaking of and shattered the glass?? I would fill with resin and cloth to build it back out and re-rivet it but you may have to go beyond the soft area to tie in to good glass. Or, if there is not a structural issue there, the Marine tex is a good choice for a filler regaurdless of the color(hard as a rock). You will have to go to a fastner supplier to get rivets long enough. 5200 stays soft, I would not recomend that.

 

[rambilt]

Re: Fiberglass soft under the rubrail?

Not clear on the problem but it sounds like maybe it took a hit in the 6"area you are speaking of and shattered the glass?? I would fill with resin and cloth to build it back out and re-rivet it but you may have to go beyond the soft area to tie in to good glass. Or, if there is not a structural issue there, the Marine tex is a good choice for a filler regaurdless of the color(hard as a rock). You will have to go to a fastner supplier to get rivets long enough. 5200 stays soft, I would not recomend that.

sbklf, thanks for the response. I used the gray Marine tex today. I mixed the content of the vile as per direction. The putty is so liquidy that I won't stay in place. Do i have to wait until it seats for while before I apply the putty? thanks for any advice.

 

[rambilt]

Re: Fiberglass soft under the rubrail?

3m5200 come in caulking tube. put it in there it will be permanent.

tashasdaddy, thanks for the advice. But I think I'll stick with marine tex because I got it already on hand.

 

[rambilt]

Re: Fiberglass soft under the rubrail?

I was able to figure out how to mix the Gray Marine Tex. It does get really hard. Tomorrow I will be drilling holes for the rivets. will see if it is really what they say "hard as a rock".

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Fiberglass soft under the rubrail?

Marine-tex will dry very hard. It will be harder than the fiberglass.. Should work fine.

 

[rambilt]

Re: Fiberglass soft under the rubrail?

Well, this morning I installed the rubrail back on. The Marine TEx sure did work as advertised. It is hard as rock and the rub rail is in place good. I didn't I'll be able to fix that fiberglass problem but thanks to iboats experts and of course Marine TEX.

BTW, I have a broken vise that it's fixed now because of Marine tex. I can't believe how strong a bond Marine tex provides. Just plain AWESOME!!! Thanks to all....