General Rub Rail Question

[AirTool]

Rub rail question for Nautiques and other boats in general. I know there are a lot of questions here and "typical" answers are okay. They are not specific to my boat or CC. If you have experience with other makes, please post...especially if they are different.

Can you take the rub strip off for cleaning, counter boring the holes, straightening the strip, etc. and put it back with the same screws going into the same holes? ..or do the holes generally strip out?

If you have a local area that needs straightening, can you just take the screws out of that section?

Has anyone seen a strip held on w/screws with nuts on the inside of the boat?

Also, on most boats, aren't the tops and bottoms of the boat held together by separate screws or nuts/bolts under the rail?

[DanielC]

I have replaced the rub rail on my 1997 Ski Nautique, and worked on a few other boats with rub rails.

I am not exactly what you mean by a rub strip. Do you mean the center insert on a Correct Craft rub rail, that was rope on earlier Correct Craft boats, than became a colored insert, and not you can only get in black? You can remove the center insert, and rotate it 180 degrees, and have a new surface showing. The screws might go back into the same holes, they might not. Sometimes you can take a sharp electrical probe, and find the old holes, again.

After you pull the center insert out, you can get to the screws that hold the rub rail on the boat. Usually, if the rub rail looks crooked, bent, or just not right, some of the screws may be bent, or broken. The screws will usually go back into the same hole. If you turn the screw backwards, you can usually feel it drop into the old thread, and then go forward, and the screw will go in easier, with less of a chance of stripping out the old hole. When I replaced the rub rail on my boat, I actually put a clamp on the end of the rub rail, and then used a come-a-long to slightly stretch the new rub rail, and the screws went back into the same holes as the old rub rail.

[DanielC]

I have also worked on a Hydrodyne twin rig, 1992. It has a rub rail, with an insert similar to the Correct Craft. But the center insert is a flatter molded cross section, with a lip on the top and bottom that fit into the rub rail. The rub rail on the Hydrodyne is also not in one continuous piece. It is also held on with screws, but is through bolted at the places where the ends of one rub rail section meet.

The Hydrodyne, like the Nautique uses through bolts to hold the top deck, and hull section together, and in between the through bolts, the rub rail screws also go through both parts of the boat.

[AirTool]

do you mean the center insert on a Correct Craft rub rail, that was rope on earlier Correct Craft boats, than became a colored insert, and now you can only get in black?

No, I mean the whole thing in general. But that is a good point. there is usually some kind of strip, rope or flat stainless steel to cover the screws.

You can remove the center insert, and rotate it 180 degrees, and have a new surface showing.

Good to know...save that trick for "just before selling"....did I just say that?

The screws might go back into the same holes, they might not. Sometimes you can take a sharp electrical probe, and find the old holes, again.

.... and the screws went back into the same holes as the old rub rail

Does a new rub rail already have the holes in it? Makes sense...but replacement stuff is sometimes lacking.

The Hydrodyne, like the Nautique uses through bolts to hold the top deck, and hull section together, and in between the through bolts, the rub rail screws also go through both parts of the boat.

That's what I was thinking. I've seen old boats in the water w/o a rub rail.

Keep those responses coming.