Rubrail screws coming loose, water leak?

[MILD THUNDER]

On my 402, the rubrail screws tend to back out after a hard run. I also have a leak that I believe it coming from the rubrail.

I was thinking of removing the rubrail, and filling in all the screw holes. The rubrail was replaced, and I am guessing the old holes may not have been filled. Was also wondering if injecting 5200, plexus, or some other type of adhesive into the deck joint would be a good idea to stiffen/seal things up? Any thoughts on this??

[scottc]

The best fix for this problem is to reglue the deck joint or better yet glass it together from the inside. I put screws and nylock nuts on mine and has not come loose yet.

[MILD THUNDER]

The best fix for this problem is to reglue the deck joint or better yet glass it together from the inside. I put screws and nylock nuts on mine and has not come loose yet.

Scott, you have or had a 402 Formula. Was this an issue on yours as well? Glassing would be great, but I imagine pretty labor intensive removing all the trim and uphostery to access the joint. Altough i assume would have to do this in order to access the backside for thru bolting. Cant I just squirt some elmers glue in there??

[glassdave]

My Scorpion use to do the same thing, my friends use to tease me because i kept a phillips screwdriver in the cup holder on the helm. I am guessing you have the extruded aluminum rubrail? That is usually a big cause of the problem. I switched to a vinyl rail and they hardly ever came loose again. About the only way to stop it is through bolt it with nylocks like Scott suggested.

[scottc]

You could undo all screws as much as possible, clean the joint real good. Use 5200 to reglue then use it on all the screws as you put them in. Very messy job nomatter how you do it.

[MILD THUNDER]

I may try that. As for any unused old holes, is 5200 good enough, or should i marine tex or epoxy them? My rubrail is vinyl dave. Maybe go with some larger screws, I think the ones on there are #10, I'd have to double check.

[glassdave]

if the holes are starting to get worn another trick is to dip hardwood toothpicks in epoxy and break the off in the hole. Let them cure for several days before running the screws back in, this tightens them up sometimes.

[MILD THUNDER]

Very neat trick Dave.

[glassdave]

trick is making sure the epoxy is fully cured. It takes a few days, longer if its cool. Epoxy stays soft longer.

[MILD THUNDER]

Dave, are we talking about the toothpicks you get at sizzler, or something special?

[OBNOXUS]

DO NOT USE 5200 !!!!!!!

I have glass at the shop,,,, well dab some epoxy in the bad holes and redrill.

Or epoxy in some dollrod ( tooth picks big brother )

[glassdave]

Dave, are we talking about the toothpicks you get at sizzler, or something special?

I use these kind, gotta go through a lotta drinks though. Hard to make it down one side of the boat sometimes



Actually just get a box of the round hard wood kind if your not in the partying mood

[MILD THUNDER]

Toothpics sound more affordable than dowel rods! haha Im sure after a nite out with our crew, we could accumulate 100 of them easily!!!!!

[89Mach1]

Golf tees work great too! In my line of work (trim carpenter) after the painters put all the doors back on they tend to strip out a lot of the screw holes on the hinges, which makes doors close sloppy. I take golf tees, dab some glue on them and break them off in the screw holes and BAM, problem solved!