DANG! Gas stained rub rail.

[wolfeman131]

Beautiful weekend in the ATL and went to get the Moomba out on the water. Boat sits on a lift, so hopped on the swim platform and started to pull cover off and noticed a strong smell of gas. Looked in engine compartment, saw nothing, but heard dripping noise. Gas was coming out from the gas cap!

I filled the boat at the gas station when getting it out of storage when it was much cooler. It has certainly heated up since then and all I can figure is this created the issue due to expansion. Any other thoughts?

Also, looks like it had been leaking out for some time and the white section of the rub rail, under the stainless, looks to be stained a bit. Kinda a brown color. Tried to wax it out, but no luck. Any ideas on if/how I might be able to get this out?

[moombadaze]

Maybe try some rubbing compound.

[lancesaville]

Think petroleum distillates man - Simple green will take care of the stain. Good luck.

[wolfeman131]

Simple green will take care of the stain. Good luck.

THANKS! Sometimes the anger clouds the thinking. I have a big jug of concentrate in the shed and will give it a try when I get back to the lake.

[lancesaville]

Cool. Yep it SHOULD break down the leftover PD's from the gas and take it right off there. If not, something like dawn dish soap would be my next best guess, cuts the grease. good luck!

[mmandley]

You know reading this makes me wonder.

Are the Boat gas caps simular to cars? I mean say if you lose one can you just by a car style? Also i noticed the gas caps arnt Vented like cars and im wondering if thats why yours expanded and leaked.

I have only had to fill my boat up 2x and the first time was when i bought it and i did notice when fueling it that the auto shutoff on the gas pumps doesnt work as well with the boat. When the boat filled it srpayed raw fuel all over my boat side. So now i pump gas < well the teanent does because i live in a stupid you cant pump your own gas state > on low so it auto shuts off.

[moombadaze]

mm, caps are different but it should have leash on it to keep from falling overboard when filling at marina fuel dock.

[Aquaholic]

You are going to need to Acetone to get that stain out. Acetone is great for getting all kinds of stains and scuffs out of the gel coat and the rail. I'll give you an example, my father bought a new Cobalt 222 last year and was out one evening after dust and he might have been a little errr "HAPPY" while driving. The entire front of the boat is yelling to turn because a buoy is rapidly getting closer to the boat. Well it is a glancing blow and the only damage is a big white mark in the black gelcoat. I was'nt there but the family tried to cover up the incident because I'm strongly against driving while "HAPPY". The dealership said to use acetone and I could'nt find where the mark had been so Im sold.

You will have to rewax the area but thats no big deal.

Acetone.....use it, love it. And don't drink and drive people, it make you do stupid stuff!

Aqua

[jester]

You know reading this makes me wonder.

Are the Boat gas caps simular to cars? I mean say if you lose one can you just by a car style? Also i noticed the gas caps arnt Vented like cars and im wondering if thats why yours expanded and leaked.

I have only had to fill my boat up 2x and the first time was when i bought it and i did notice when fueling it that the auto shutoff on the gas pumps doesnt work as well with the boat. When the boat filled it srpayed raw fuel all over my boat side. So now i pump gas < well the teanent does because i live in a stupid you cant pump your own gas state > on low so it auto shuts off.

In Oregon you can pump your own gas for a boat. I never let the gas guys pump my boat gas unless i am at a marina. A good tip i learned is to listen to the gas fill up the tank. You can hear when it is almost full.

[mmandley]

Awesome Jester thanks man. I prefer to pump it myself. It was a big adjustment for me when i moved here from AZ because they would get all anal on me when i would grab the pump and start pumping, i was like what the hell man, its my car lol. Plus i hate waiting for 5 other cars when there's only 1 tenant running around.

So this brings up another question, i was wake boarding the other day < or my attempt anyhow and when i was done my buddy thought it was necessary to drag me back to the boat with the rope < grr > this caused the wake board to just barely hit the side of the boat but today when out in the garage i noticed a dull spot in my white finish and after looking closer its from the wake board touching the boat, wax should fix this? or do i have to get rubbing compound? any recommendations on rubbing compound ive never used that stuff. I know at Moomba when i took delivery i was seeing all kinds of blemishes on the boat and they were running around it with acetone and compound fixing it all LOL.

[jester]

It happens. Hate to say it but it does. A good wax can take care of alot of things. Alot of us are also starting to use a product called Leverage that gives the boat a nice polish. I always have my boat crew pull me back to the boat from the rope just becasue it is easer then swimming.

Also are you going to be wakeboarding in Eugene this weekend?

[mmandley]

Yea i didn't mind it when i was on the tube but i was able to steer more. On the wake board my GF came along the side of me and i told her i was done for now because i was in the water for about 45 minutes and my arms were getting a bit numb with no wet suit LOL. So my buddy was dragging me and the board is doings its thing and im going backwards so i could t steer myself very well LOL. Yea i herd the Leverage a few times, is it an online product? Or at the local stores? Moomba only had McGuires so i got a bottle of McGuires Boat Wax and its really nice and i have been using McGuires for years on my truck.

No Jester we wont make it to Dex this weekend i have to work Saturday night. Im hoping the weekend of the 15th will be nice and we can make it down. If so ill get in contact with you see if we can meet up and go out.

Speaking of wax and polish..Moomba gave me this sample interior conditioning product do you guys recommend a product for cleaning and conditioning the interior so it stay clean and soft?

[lowdrag]

Good luck. I had the same thing happen with my white 21V. Gas expanded, ran out the filler and the rub rail channeled it around to the back of the boat where it ran down the hull. I keep my boat well waxed but it didn't help. The combination of gas and it sitting in the sun really stained the rub rail and left yellow stains on the hull and the drip molded decals. I tried everything I could think of from polish to rubbing compound to acetone with no luck. The end result was that three of the four sections of rail were replaced along with the decals. The skin for one of the cushions on the sun deck also had to be replaced where the cover soaked up the gas and wicked up onto it. The hull had to be sanded and re-shot. Total damages were in the $1800 range.

[wolfeman131]

Good luck. I had the same thing happen with my white 21V. Gas expanded, ran out the filler and the rub rail channeled it around to the back of the boat where it ran down the hull. I keep my boat well waxed but it didn't help. The combination of gas and it sitting in the sun really stained the rub rail and left yellow stains on the hull and the drip molded decals. I tried everything I could think of from polish to rubbing compound to acetone with no luck. The end result was that three of the four sections of rail were replaced along with the decals. The skin for one of the cushions on the sun deck also had to be replaced where the cover soaked up the gas and wicked up onto it. The hull had to be sanded and re-shot. Total damages were in the $1800 range.

OK then. It's settled.

Just as I had already told my better half when she was giving me the business about the stain, "We'll just get a new boat!" :p