Air Intake Adhesive

[scottbruns]

The air intake on the port side of my boat is loose. I think the dealer re-attached it a few years ago, and now it has come loose again.

Attached are some photos showing what I'm talking about as well as the remains of the previous attempt to get it to stay attached to the boat.

It appears the original adhesive was the brown stuff on the back of the intake. I think the dealer must had blobbed on the black stuff on the hull.

I am planning on using some 3M Marine Adhesive Sealant 4000 UV to re-attach the intake. The package says it sticks to a lot of thinks and yet is still somewhat flexible.

The intake is still attached by at least one point, so I cannot remove it completely. I'm thinking I'll just scuff up the mating surfaces as best I can and apply some of the sealant.

Does anyone have any better suggestions?

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Might help a lot to remove old failed adhesive and degrease it too, using acetone prior to slopping on adhesive. I usually use rubber cement for applications like this, (mercury stern drive bellows adhesive), or the 3M black weatherstrip adhesive.

FWIW, Your wife's acetone for fingernail polish remover has oily skin buffers mixed in thus will not produce an acceptably degreased surface, I'm talking about using the pure stuff in a quart can from the paint store section.

 

[scottbruns]

I'm going to remove what I can from the back of the intake. I'm not sure about the boat itself. I wish I could remove the whole thing from the boat. The part that is still attached seem firmly attached. I guess it is better than having it fall off in the lake or on the road.

The 3M 4000 UV does stay pliable and will handle some movement. It sounds a lot like the weatherstrip adhesive you are suggesting. There are so many choices, it is hard to know exactly what to use. The instructions say to use acetone or MEK. I have some pure acetone in the garage.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Yep, maybe you can pull it free to clean everything up well. I forgot to mention some plastics like ABS won't do well with solvents like acetone. I haven't used the 4000 UV stuff so cannot comment, it's probably good stuff as far as I know.

 

[pwgsx]

I would use Fast Cure 5200. Sticks to anything and a hell of a time getting it off.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

3M 5200 is sometimes called "Satan's Glue", lol.....

 

[scottbruns]

I picked up some 5200 Fast Cure.

I was able to get the grill off completely. I was trying to look behind it when it popped free. Now I have cleaned the adhesive off the back of the grill and scratched up the surface well.



Not sure what I'm going to do with the blobs of putty like stuff on the bolt around the fasteners. I might just abrade the flat parts of the fasteners, clean everything with acetone, and glue it back together with the 5200.

If the 5200 holds as well as its reputation this should be the last time I see the back side of this grill.

 

[JPass]

5200 works amazing. It's pretty permanent as well. If it doesn't hold, then you did something wrong with your prep work. I've never had anything I've used 5200 on come loose.........ever.

 

[scottbruns]

I glued the Air Intake back on today. I applied the 3M 5200 Fast Cure to the fasteners and clamped the intake to the boat with some bungee cords. I'll let it cure for a few days before removing the bungee cords.



The blue tape in the first photo is my alignment marks so I'd know if it was in position. I did a trial run with a small amount of glue to make sure I was getting contact.



Once I saw that the small amount was making contact I applied more and clamped it in place. The glue was very sticky, about the consistency of a jar of marshmallow cream. It did not sag too much before I put the intake in place so I'm hoping it did not drip. I put some blue tape along the rub rail anyway, just in case. I only used a small amount of glue from the tube. Too bad as it is $18 for the tube I bought. I maybe used $2 worth.