Aluminum rub rail restoration

bosshoff

Cadet
Joined
May 13, 2008
Messages
14
I have a 23' Slickcraft with a tired looking rub rail. I removed the stern piece, and it has a bend and twist to it where it hit something pretty good. It is located near the end of the piece. What can I do to straighten this? I was thinking of slipping a pipe around it and bending it, or possibly clamping it in a vice? Has anyone had any success doing something like this?
The second thing is that the rail has a good amount of rub rail rash from bouncing off of things. I was thinking of polishing it by using a fine disk on an orbital sander, but I think the rail may be anodized? It has a slick silvery "topcoat" over the aluminum. If I bring this down to bare metal, I think I will be better painting the rail with a product like POR-15 Blackcoat. Anyone do something similar? Thanks.
 

bigskiohio

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
882
Re: Aluminum rub rail restoration

I wonder if a heat gun would work, I have seen that work on fender flares, check you tube.
 
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