Rub Rail Replacement

[Mike Smith]

I am having trouble finding info on Rub Rail Replacement. I can find the post(s) and tech notes, but I thought I had seen a step-by-step description of the project somewhere. I even remember someone recommending a specific tool to help guide the rub rail into the aluminum track. I've ordered 75' from the factory and will be doing this next Friday.

Thanks,
Mike

[PAUL T.]

Mike.... I replaced mine last year. I used a 2 inch putty knife and a hair dryer to heat up the rubrail as you go. Two people make it fairly easy. It can be a little more dificult going around the corners but it is doable. Be careful not to stretch it as you go.......PAUL

[Mike Smith]

Thanks, Paul -

At the stern, I have a stainless screw with a washer screwed through each end of the rub rail where the ends butt together. Each screw is centered and about 1" in from each end. When I bought Breezer in Sep '97, these ends were separated by about 6" in the track. I had Breezer in for the survey haulout and the yard recommended the screws to keep the insert in place. Worked for me. Do you, or anyone else, use such an attachment - or did you just cut the ends and insert them in the track?

Mike

[PAUL T.]

Mike.... I have the ends butted together and one screw in each end that's all.....PAUL

[Mike Smith]

Thanks, Ron -

I've tried just about every combination of words and phrases on both search engines, but I can't find the article or description I remember reading. Old age, perhaps! Maybe I'll do a "soup to nuts" write-up with photos when I install the new rub rail (rubrail, rub rail, rub-rail, etc.) and send it in as a project.

I'm staying in the hammmock as much as I can these days (apparant temp was 111 today)! My motto until it cools off a bit is "Just Do It - Tomorrow".

[Paul Bosquet]

My rub rail has literally fallen out of its track and will not stay in place. I guess that means that its time to replace it.
Are there any choices as far as color goes?
Any ideas on price for i believe 75' ?
Do you slide it in or force it with heat and putty knife?
Is there a step by step instruction somewhere?

Would appreciate any assistance
Paul
Eliosso C34

[Ron Hill]

Paul : Call Catalina parts and get the current price and colors in stock.
There have been a quite a number of posts on installation.  Just make sure that the temperature is warm outside - I'd say above 70F so the vinyl is ply-able.  

[John Gardner]

I replaced my rub rail when I first got the boat a couple of years ago.  It kept falling out, partly because the aluminum extrusion that holds the polyvinyl(?) insert had been squashed in places.  I think the choice was tan or grey.  I went with the grey and am happy with it.  It was held in place at the butt joint at the transom by a couple of screws, one in each end.  As suggested by Ron, for price and color check with Catalina.

It certainly helps if the weather is warm - the plastic becomes much easier to work.  I did mine on a warmish spring day.  Having removed the old plastic, I used various heavy handed techniques to get the aluminum extrusion back to something like its correct form.  Then I began installing the new plastic, starting at one end at the transom.  The boat was not in the water, so I had no fear of losing tools.  I did it by myself.  I laid the plastic out round the boat round the outside of the stanchions, and then worked round the boat.  I sat with my legs over the side and worked on the section between my knees.  I pushed the lower edge of the strip into the extrusion, and then pushed the upper edge towards the middle till it slipped in, a couple of inches at a time.  If it was a bit stubborn, I placed a piece of wood against the upper edge, and tapped it with a hammer to get it to go in.  I followed behind the installed section, tapping it with the hammer every half inch or so to make sure it was well bedded into the extrusion.  It really was not very difficult, and can't have taken more than a couple of hours at most to do.  The ends were fastened with the same screws in the same holes.

Subsequently that season, if I bumped a piling with any forward motion, it would quite often cause a foot or so of the insert to pop out of the extrusion in a bow.  It was easy to pop it back in, and it seemed as though it was because the plastic was soft.  Since then, either I've got better at coming alongside (unlikely, though there's plenty of room for improvement), or the plastic has firmed up and stabilized in its position.  I don't think it has come out at all this season at all.

Good luck,
John