Removing Splash Rails from a F-36
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:51 pm
When our boat was hauled last winter, the splash rail on the starboard side was crushed. I had previously repaired some sections of it with fairing compound so knew it was in far from pristine shape.
While I was originally going to replace it, after talking to Bob and prowlersfish, I decided to just remove it. Having the splash rail is nice insurance against rubbing the hull against a floating dock or low piling, but it was going to be a lot of work for minimal gains.
As I began to remove it, it became obvious that it was connected to the boat by bolts coming from inside the hull and behind my fuel tanks. These are not possible to reach without removing the engines and fuel tanks, so I used a Sawzall to cut the bronze bolts next to the hull. Unfortunately, some of the bolt heads were stuck in the hull and I was not able to knock them through with a hammer and had to enlarge the holes with a drill to get the bolts out.
Once the holes were unobstructed, I drilled them slightly larger to make sure there was clean fiberglass to bond to and then used a countersink bit to chamfer the holes so water pressure would not have any chance of pushing my repair into the hull. I then sanded this area of the hull with 100 grit paper so that I had a clean and flat area to work in.
. I had an old tube of West Systems Six-10 thickened epoxy that is applied using a caulk gun and used it to fill the holes just above the level of the hull. I was hoping the epoxy was thick enough not to sag, but that was not the case, so I covered each hole with tape after applying the epoxy.
.
While I was originally going to replace it, after talking to Bob and prowlersfish, I decided to just remove it. Having the splash rail is nice insurance against rubbing the hull against a floating dock or low piling, but it was going to be a lot of work for minimal gains.
As I began to remove it, it became obvious that it was connected to the boat by bolts coming from inside the hull and behind my fuel tanks. These are not possible to reach without removing the engines and fuel tanks, so I used a Sawzall to cut the bronze bolts next to the hull. Unfortunately, some of the bolt heads were stuck in the hull and I was not able to knock them through with a hammer and had to enlarge the holes with a drill to get the bolts out.
Once the holes were unobstructed, I drilled them slightly larger to make sure there was clean fiberglass to bond to and then used a countersink bit to chamfer the holes so water pressure would not have any chance of pushing my repair into the hull. I then sanded this area of the hull with 100 grit paper so that I had a clean and flat area to work in.
. I had an old tube of West Systems Six-10 thickened epoxy that is applied using a caulk gun and used it to fill the holes just above the level of the hull. I was hoping the epoxy was thick enough not to sag, but that was not the case, so I covered each hole with tape after applying the epoxy.
.