Leaking at plastic rivets that hold down rubber non-slip on footing area?

[scooper77515]

I have a plastic "non-slip" tread that is plastic-riveted to the floor or foot-rest area on my ski. Several of the rivets are stretched and/or broken, and I was thinking about removing them completely and applying an adhesive rubber strip that I saw at a Yamaha shop.

Once those rivets are removed, will they leave a hole all the way into the hull allowing more leaking?

 

[WEEBEDNA]

Yes, they will leave small holes. Most of the rivets (in my case) had to be drilled out. They are metal with plastic caps on my 96 GTS. Not a difficult job. If you buy Hydroturf, it comes with the material to fill the holes. For mine, I just bought a $5 bottle of white glaze at Home Depot(for fiberglass fixture touchup). It comes with a small brush. The stuff is thick so you just drop a bit in each hole, let it dry, then repeat until the hole fills up. They also sell fiberglass repair kits, but I think thats a bit much for the small holes.

 

[TxToby]

Dito...
The first thing I have done with any ski that I have ever owned was strip the stock mats out and installed HydroTurf. I just did my XP last week and used a thick coat of Epoxy (on both sides), let both surfaces tack up, and then married them.

 

[scooper77515]

Do they leak?

Do the holes go all the way into the hull?

I am wondering if this is the source of some of my fill-er-up problem. Even with the new carbon seal, I still pick up a gallon or 2 every 20 minutes, and am using the dog-snot out of my bilge pump.

I am pretty good with fiberglass so filling the holes won't be an issue.

What is hydroturf? Is that like all-weather carpet, like astroturf?

The stuff I am looking at is a 1/4" thick adhesive rubber strip, about 4" wide that would lay down along the entire length of the foot rails. Really soft rubber, so your feet stick to it. Almost like a "foam-rubber".

 

[ScubaDoo]

I would check for the water problem a little further. That's a lot of water!
The Hydro turf pads is a brand name, but is used instead of factory replacement. It is an after market company. The pads are second to none. I have used them for years and love them in all the applications I have them in.

 

[WEEBEDNA]

The holes/rivets do go thru the hull, but I also don't think that a few missing rivets would cause you to take on that much water. Check out Hydroturf.com. Its pricey stuff, but will look much better and probably outlast the rubber strips you are looking at.