Saildrive gaiter

[johnmweeman]

I own a yacht with a saildrive. A rubber gaitor goes round the saildrive leg outside the hull and is stuck to the hull. This is in addition to the rubber seal around the leg within the engine compartment. I have tried numerous adhesives to stick this gaitor to the hull and each season it falls off. Any suggestions on what would be the best adhesive

 

[AIDY]

Volvo penta sold me some bostik / evostick stuff in a tin... I don't think it matters what you use.. The key is to use a decorators 1" seam roller to aid the sticking process.

 

[Dipper]

Mine fell off about 10 years ago.

I cleaned and very lightly sanded both the contact area of the hull and the rubber gaiter to provide a key. I then used a two part Plastic Padding epoxy adhesive similar to Araldite to stick the gaiter back on. I made sure there was a bead of epoxy around the edge of the gaiter so as to avoid any lifting flaps developing.

It's stayed on ever since.

 

[jeremyshaw]

I gave up after mine fell off ten minutes after launching having been glued by the yard who swore it would last forever. I had brass frames made up. The downside is yo have to screw into the hull which I dislike a lot, but they have worked.

Other people do manage to get them to stick as I've since learned (ditto the previous posters) so it's worth persevering. As ever I expect preparation is the thing - the key is the key!

 

[AIDY]

think of all that extra drag /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif another knot of speed lost /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[gianenrico]

A) Bostik yellow is good enogh, IMHO
B) Surface preparation
C) Application
D) CURING conditions: You must rig up some form of pressure to keep the rubber gaiter firmly against the GRP bottom; may be You could apply on the gaiter some strips of hot-melt glue, which dries faster and keeps the gaiter "up".
Cheers.

 

[theotter]

You must use a 'waterproof' contact adhesive, i.e. a 2 part contact adhesive. As others have said good prep is also essential.

 

[Dave_Rolfe]

I was recommended to use a two part inflatable dinghy adhesive, suitable for Hypalon fabric with the emphasis on Hypalon.

I used this to stick the fairing gasket on our Legend 290 two seasons ago and it was still firmly attached when we were lifted out this weekend. I made sure both surfaces were clean and used acetone to ensure this. Spread the adhesive as per instructions then used the small wallpaper roller as suggested above. It has all worked well. I think the adhesive cost me about £10

 

[Waypoint]

The same thing happened to my saildrive gaiter and the problem was attributed to the gaiter not having a rough key area. Volvo had a batch of gaiters which were described by the supplier as faulty. The new replacement has stuck perfectly for some four years. Boat was built in 2003.

Waypoint

 

[Ariadne]

Prep the underside of the hull with a nice rough bit of sand paper and clean off all the dust and crap with acetone or similar cleaning material.
Alow it to dry off completley and then use some Sikaflex primar, follow the instructions on the tin!
Apply Sikaflex to the hull and fit it.
Now get the 1" (25mm) seam roller and get all the air bubbles out and make sure the edges are well sealed down.

Did mine 2 years ago, still in place after 3K miles and pretty crappy weather.

Good luck.