Safety Concern!!!

Karl,

Did you remove the brass strip entirely in one piece. I am curious if it retained the curve of the stem, or did it spring out to a straight piece that was held onto the curve by the screws? I saw one other incident where a brass strip came loose. Don't know if there was any leak later as the owners left the dock and we have not regained any contact, even here.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Hey Harvey,

I removed the stem guard in one piece and it was definitely held in place by the screws. It is as flat as my kitchen floor. I will try to give it a little shape before reinstalling it.

karl
 
From a PM I sent to Karl last night:

Karl your experience w/ your leaking brass guard was the reason I made the change. I don't like the idea of holes in the bottom of the boat. That seems...uhm..."counter-intuitive". :wink: :lol: ...it comes with everything for installation. I used a 6'...

The process is this:
-Scuff the gel-coat (it comes with a small 3M brown pad, but I used my DA sander and 220 grit).
-Clean WELL with acetone or similiar.
-Coat with the 3M "primer" that comes with the kit. It comes in a small plastic tube with a glass ampule and sponge tip. Just a thin coat works.
-Wait five minutes
-Start sticking the guard from the top working from center out & down.

It comes with a 3M adhesive already added to the guard, covered in a removable film. It is scored with a strip about 1" wide down the center to make centering/alignment easier; then you peel each side down, adhering as you go. As you do this you use a "burnishing tool" (sorta like a stiff, plastic putty knife that is also supplied) to force the adhisive to stick onto the boat. It took me probably an hour to do and my hands were tired by the time I finished. It's not really hard to do, but lying on your back trying to do it AND make sure it sticks, all while lining it up straight is a PIA. Mine's not PERFECTLY straight, but I did the best I could, by myself, to install it. I have the install DVD from the kit. I'll bring it to FH along with my laptop and you can watch it to get a better idea of what's involved.

Personally, I wouldn't put it OVER the brass guard. I removed mine and used a drill and counter-sink bit to increase the outer diameter of the holes and provide a better/larger surface area. I cleaned them as well as possible, got rid of all the white gunk (4200?) then filled all the holes with thickened epoxy resin. NO MORE HOLES UNDER THE BOAT. :thup
 
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