Rub Rail Help

[Cape Codder]

I have a rub rail that is separating from the cap on my 75 SF because the screws have pulled away from the fiberglass. Pretty sure its the original rail, two piece, black rubber.

Im thinking I can just move the screw holes where its separating and re-attach the rail with some new screws but to access the screw heads Ill need to get the outer piece of rubber off first. Any ideas on how to get it off and then back on again?

[Old'sCool]

Begin where it terminates and pull it out, probably at the transom. It's very hard to work back together when cold, needs to heat up in the sun for a while. It's kind of a flange/slot arrangement.

[Capt Chuck]

You also can use plastic drywall anchors to avoid filling in old holes, re-drilling new holes or using larger screws. I then would put a SS washer on each screw to prevent it pulling thru the rub rail. A rubber mallet & a heat gun will help you inserting the center strip.

BTW: I see your in Cape Cod and your likely to be cold so a extra set of hands would help thus avoiding holding the heat gun in your mouth.

sequence: pinch bottom of the center strip insert flange into rail + pinch in top of center strip insert flange + hammer with mallet + pull center strip toward transom.....repeat=repeat=repeat..you might have excess to trim off when your done, never seems to be the same after removal.

[Bushwacker]

There is a strip of wood on the inside of the hull/deck joint for the screws to bite into, so you might check that to be sure it's not rotted out. If it is rotted, just replace those tapping screws with machine screws, washers and nyloc nuts on the inside.

Those tapping screws don't hold well in glass because the threads are so sharp that they just tear up the glass when there is any vibration or relative motion. If you need to put screws into fiberglass that are not thru-bolted, drill and tap the fiberglass for machine screws . . . they'll hold much better than self tapping screws!