As part of my boat repairs, I also wanted to replace the mostly broken/missing rub rail.
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I checked around at West Marine, etc. and couldn't fine any rub rail that was small enough to work. The old rail was only about 3/4" of an inch wide and had a small lip underneath it. Finally, I tried looking at automotive products and found a wheel well molding at a place called AutoMega (www.customautotrim.com). The type I ordered was an all-black 1-1/8" high solid vinyl Truck molding, with a lip and everything (part #MDGWW-FT, two rolls, at about $52 each), although I had to install it upside down to get the lip under the edge of the deck/hull joint.
So I drilled out all the pop rivets heads, carefully punched out the rivets themselves, cleaned the fiberglass, and filled the rivet holes with silicone rubber (to keep water from getting to the backside of the new rub rail, which is just adhesive-mounted).
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Then I prepared the edge of the fiberglass with a 3M Adhesive Activator pen (which I purchased from the AutoMega people on their recommendation) and carefully applied the rub rail, which was plenty sticky on the back. I used one roll on each side, starting from the bow cap and ending up with a seam over the middle of the transom. I also used plastic-jaw spring clamps to hold the ends and corners at first; then I went back and put a pop rivet in at the ends and corners.
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It looks sharp and has held up for months with no sign of coming loose. You can ding it up; solid vinyl is tough, but not infinitely tough. I took a little hit into a rough dock which scratched it a little, but it didn't hurt the hull. (Every time I go sailing I think I should volunteer to fix up the docks I use...)
Dave
