The front hatch coaming on my old VCP Skerray RMX has partially
seperated from the deck and is leaking badly. Since there is no adhesive
that I know about available at the retail level that will stick to
polyethylene plastic (and I worked for a few years in hardware retailing
so I know a lot about adhesives), I need to come up with another way to
reattach it. Here's what I'm thinking: drill six or eight holes around
the hatch through the deck and the coaming flange; break the coaming
completely loose from the deck and clean off the old adhesive; apply a
sealant to the flange; then rivet the coaming back in place. No sealant
will stick very well to the plastic, but with the rivets to do the
mechanical work of holding the coaming in place, the sealant will simply
provide a "gasket" to seal it.
Good idea? Stupid? Give up and stick a float bag in there? Discuss.

Sounds like it might work. Kinda like changing a waterpump on a car.
Make sure you use stainless rivets. You might have to replace the
seal/gasket again though. Maybe use well nuts instead?

Have you contacted VCP and asked what they recommend short of buying a
new yak?

--
Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://jem.e-boat.net/


Les Groby wrote:

The front hatch coaming on my old VCP Skerray RMX has partially
seperated from the deck and is leaking badly. Since there is no adhesive
that I know about available at the retail level that will stick to
polyethylene plastic (and I worked for a few years in hardware retailing
so I know a lot about adhesives), I need to come up with another way to
reattach it. Here's what I'm thinking: drill six or eight holes around
the hatch through the deck and the coaming flange; break the coaming
completely loose from the deck and clean off the old adhesive; apply a
sealant to the flange; then rivet the coaming back in place. No sealant
will stick very well to the plastic, but with the rivets to do the
mechanical work of holding the coaming in place, the sealant will simply
provide a "gasket" to seal it.
Good idea? Stupid? Give up and stick a float bag in there? Discuss.

No, I haven't contacted VCP, but I suspect they would direct me to a
repair shop where they can reglue it with the original adhesive. Since
this is an old boat nearing the end of its useful life, I really don't
want to go to the expense of a road trip and a professional repair. The
area where the flange overlaps the deck is quite narrow, so I don't
think I want to drill big enough holes for well nuts, but smaller bolts
and nuts might be a better idea than rivets=97like you say, it might
have to be sealed again.


Matt=A0Langenfeld wrote:
Sounds like it might work. Kinda like changing a waterpump on a car.
Make sure you use stainless rivets. You might have to replace the
seal/gasket again though. Maybe use well nuts instead?
Have you contacted VCP and asked what they recommend short of buying a
new yak?

One other thought: Maybe contact System Three. They have a wide range of
products for marine applications. I've asked some pretty off the wall
stuff to their tech support guys. If they didn't have a product I could
use, they steered me in the right direction.

They're pretty fast about getting you an e-mail answer too.

--
Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://jem.e-boat.net/


Les Groby wrote:
No, I haven't contacted VCP, but I suspect they would direct me to a
repair shop where they can reglue it with the original adhesive. Since
this is an old boat nearing the end of its useful life, I really don't
want to go to the expense of a road trip and a professional repair. The
area where the flange overlaps the deck is quite narrow, so I don't
think I want to drill big enough holes for well nuts, but smaller bolts
and nuts might be a better idea than rivets—like you say, it might
have to be sealed again.


Matt Langenfeld wrote:
Sounds like it might work. Kinda like changing a waterpump on a car.
Make sure you use stainless rivets. You might have to replace the
seal/gasket again though. Maybe use well nuts instead?
Have you contacted VCP and asked what they recommend short of buying a
new yak?

Les Groby wrote:
The front hatch coaming on my old VCP Skerray RMX has partially
seperated from the deck and is leaking badly. Since there is no adhesive
that I know about available at the retail level that will stick to
polyethylene plastic (and I worked for a few years in hardware retailing
so I know a lot about adhesives), I need to come up with another way to
reattach it. Here's what I'm thinking: drill six or eight holes around
the hatch through the deck and the coaming flange; break the coaming
completely loose from the deck and clean off the old adhesive; apply a
sealant to the flange; then rivet the coaming back in place. No sealant
will stick very well to the plastic, but with the rivets to do the
mechanical work of holding the coaming in place, the sealant will simply
provide a "gasket" to seal it.
Good idea? Stupid? Give up and stick a float bag in there? Discuss.

I'm surprised that it's not installed that way to begin with. It's a
pretty common practice with VCP hatches. Typically, six fasteners are
used. Screws and nuts can be used, but flat head or oval head screws
will tend to split the flange on the hatch rim if they're overtightened.
If you decide to rivet it, I would be tempted to use aluminum rivets
rather than stainless, for the same reason. Stainless rivets create a
much stronger clamping force, which may be too much for the flange and
plastic hull. You'll probably want to put a dab of sealer on each rivet,
to prevent leakage.

BTW, there are now adhesives that will bond to polyethylene (3M makes
one), but they're not easy to find, they're expensive and they require
an expensive mixing gun (it's a 10:1 mix ratio).

Try to spread the pressure from pop rivets by using washers or on the
interior a backing plate. The rivets I've seen of fibreglass boats all go
through a strip of metal trim.

Les Groby ) writes:
The front hatch coaming on my old VCP Skerray RMX has partially
seperated from the deck and is leaking badly. Since there is no adhesive
that I know about available at the retail level that will stick to
polyethylene plastic (and I worked for a few years in hardware retailing
so I know a lot about adhesives), I need to come up with another way to
reattach it. Here's what I'm thinking: drill six or eight holes around
the hatch through the deck and the coaming flange; break the coaming
completely loose from the deck and clean off the old adhesive; apply a
sealant to the flange; then rivet the coaming back in place. No sealant
will stick very well to the plastic, but with the rivets to do the
mechanical work of holding the coaming in place, the sealant will simply
provide a "gasket" to seal it.
Good idea? Stupid? Give up and stick a float bag in there? Discuss.



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