How to remove old rubrail?

ScottGuirlinger

New Member
The rubrail on my 1982 Capri needs to be replaced as it has broken off in several places. I have purchased some new rubrail from the Catalina factory and it's fairly self explanatory how it goes on. However, I cannot figure out a good way to get the old rubrail off. I'm guessing there's some adhesive used to hold the bottom lip of the rubrail in the groove on the boat. Is there a safe solvent I can use to loosen the adhesive so I can remove the rubrail without completely destroying the fiberglass?
 
Here's a link to the post that details how it's done (with pictures). http://www.capri14.org/forum/showthread.php?t=157

I have a better edited and more detailed document if you a interested.

I was also worried about removing the old rub rail and damaging the hull, but as I soon found out, it was very easy and fast, and did not damage the hull. In my opinion, you do not want to pry the old rub rail out of the hull, unless you are reinstalling the old style rub rail. In the older model Capri 14.2's, the hull wasn't bolted together, so that glue joint is all that is keeping the hull together and the water out of it.

Anyway, I used my drywall knife to pry open the old rail up until I could position the knife so that I could run it down the side of the hull. Using a slight bit of pressure on the knife, the old rub rail sliced right off as I slid the knife under the old rail. The old rail peeled away, cutting off nearly flush with the hull. Al that remained was a small piece that was sandwiched between the upper and lower part of the hull. I thought about prying that out too, but it was in there tightly, and I was afraid that prying it out would weaken the glue bonds between the hull and deck. So, I cleaned up the joint and then gave it a liberal coating of 3M Marine 5200 sealant.


Dave Lilley
 
Rub Rail

Hey Dave, Do you have any pictures of the bow of your boat with the new rub rail. I'm goin to order some of that, I think it will cover my chipped up bow nicely. I just want to know how hard it was making that tight corner. Post em if you got em.
 

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