Blue Rub Rail!!!

It is definitely lighter than the gel color. The too-stiff Poly tubing was closer, but still not an exact match. It looks quite good in person. Unless you were looking for it I doubt that somebody will say, "Hey, that is a different color." It would have made me feel better if it were a shade or two darker to match the gel, but for $50 I'm extremely pleased. If we can source a run of actual blue Rub Rail from Taco Marine, I'll definitely sign up, but until that happens I'm quite pleased with the results.

When I get the boat outside and in more natural light I'll take some more photos. Note that this event in the great Northwest is likely months away.

Kevin

Kevin

You can also see some great images there of the massive amount of gelcoat work I still have to do on this boat...

pics or it didn't happen

So to get this straight in my head Kevin you bought the Choose a Color
pvc?
I think it was Chris who asked about the original,here is a pic of mine-



Here is how bad it's faded-

Thanks guy's that has gotten me on the right track.

Tim got the dimensions right. What kind of photo do you need?

Scary thing is I knew exactly what he ment,must be a Midwest thing . Not to hijack Kevin,but do you have the original rear view mirror off of either boat? If so could you measure it for me and post a picture of it? Thanks

Oh! Ha ha ha... my bad. I was imagining you were thinking I could turn the entire tube inside-out, as in make the inside of the tube the outside. I don't know why I thought that. Yes, I could always flip the tube around if / when it fades.

Hollywood - it is nowhere near THAT soft. I'd guess that is is only slightly more flexible than the OEM insert. The main question now is fading under UV.

Update - although McMaster-Carr said they had 50' of blue tube in stock when I got my email confirmation it said that the product would ship in two weeks. Sure am glad it is not July.

If you go with the softer one you might be able to turn it inside out if it fades too much.

Kevin, did you try installing either type at the bow? Curious if they will make that turn. Keep us posted if you decide to try one or the other on the entire boat, this is definitely something I want to change on mine.

Also wondering if anyone has a cross section or cut of the factory insert as a camparison??

I like the lighter blue    I also like those Registration #'s and Trailer Decals    I wonder where those came from

I looked and looked on E-Bay for the Purple Insert-- I found it I think at a place up North... Let me look to see if I can find it again- as I think they had all colors also-- maybe not as good as price as McMaster/Carr though...

Wow Gary, you shovel good!

Tim's point about fading is very valid. Sure wouldn't want to invest too much in something that won't keep. $50 seems worth a try.

ALERT!

I misidentified the two tubes. The darker color blue tubing with the lettering is the Polyethylene Tubing for Drinking Water, 1/2" ID, 5/8" OD, 1/16" Wall Thickness, Blue. It is product number 51275K88 in the McMaster-Carr catalog.

The slightly lighter color tubing is the Choose-a-color PVC Tubing Blue, 7/16" Id, 5/8" Od, 3/32" Wall Thickness. It is product number 9446K61 in the McMaster-Carr catalog.

The good news of my mistake is that the PVC (more flexible but thicker-wall) tubing is only $0.87 a foot. So 50 feet of blue, black, yellow, green or red tubing is only $43.50.

Tim - I have no idea how UV stable either tube might be. I did some checking at McMaster-Carr and did not see much about UV stability (there was quite a bit about chemical resistance).

Bravo for getting creative (and keeping the original look)! Both blues look great- the lighter one is close enough if it's easier to work with. Any idea which material would stand up better to uv exposure?

The rope looks fine in a vintage boat (it was used 78-89) but it would look out I place on a NWZ boat. It also is harder to keep clean. I'd go with the black insert if the blue didn't work out, at least tht wouldn't call any attention to itself.