durabak coating

[beebop]

I am trying to find a gallon of Durabak to put on the bottom of my HB freighter now that it is upside down. Can't find any in Fbks and the durabak people don't seem to answer messages. Anyone carry it in Anchorage?

Anyone try the KeelGuard or Keel Shield. I think they would work nicely but with three keels the price is on the steep side.

Thanks for any feedback.

[Sid]

tha cost of the keel guard is smal lcompaired to your rig an it will help to keep it going for many years
I think it is worth it as for the bedliner youwill find out they will not ship have you tried your local spray on liner or the local NAPA dealer they should, don't know about the color

[pipercub]

Just use the herculiner stuff....

[beebop]

undercoat

i checked with a local polyurea spray coating co. They want to do the entire canoe so as not to leave a line that can start to peel. Weight; and extra 80 lbs.? but if you look on line about the polyurea coatings you will be amazed. So it is an option...

If I can't find smooth durabak I thought I would strain the herculiner to remove the lumps. Not sure if this will work or not but it is a cheap attemp with a quart.
I was told that the herculiner with the granules is too rough and causes significant drag on the boat.

Any other ideas?

Thanks

[pipercub]

I think you can thin herculiner, I don't have the info on what solvent to use in front of me.....thin it and pour it through a paint strainer or whatever size mesh you need to remove the lumps....the solvent will evaporate and you would end up with a smooth batch...I discovered I had a quart of Herculiner in the shop, it says "can be thinned up to 10% with xylene"....so for a quart you could add 3.2 oz of xylene...stir the crap out of it and strain the rubber chunks out. Xylene is one of the slower evaporating solvents, you might want to help it along with a drill attached paint stirrer....you would have a polyurethane/xylene mix of 60/40 after thinning......sounds like it has working life of about an hour, so you should have plenty of time to get it on.

[Ronster]

Polar Supply in Fairbanks has it. Or at least they uses to carry Durabak. I bought some there 2 years ago when I lined my jeep tub.

[beebop]

Thanks for the feedback guys.
I'll try and thin the herculiner.
No more durabak at Polar Supply.
I'll try and do it this weekend and let you all know how it works.
If it doesn't work I'll try the kevlar strips such as Kandik just applied.

Also, the folks at KeelGuard told me that the keelguard does not have the flex memory to stay adhered to a stick out keel such as those on the Hudson Bay's.