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Hi can anyone give me advice on removing the ride plate on a sl model? Seems like the silicone they used at the factory is some tuff stuff. Also what is the preferred method to reseal? thanks
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No kidding, that grey stuff gets hard and sticks really tight!
Best suggestion i've seen on this forum was to tap in a wooden wedge from the rear (after removing all screws, of course). I have been using an old blade from a hand plane, tap in from the rear with a small hammer, being very careful not to gouge the gel coat. A thin hardwood wedge would be more forgiving. Once you get a little start, just put even pressure on the back of the plate and it will start coming off, you will quickly get the feel of it.
Getting the rest of the old sealant off is time consuming, i used a plastic body putty scraper and 3-M Adhesive remover.
I reinstalled using NAPA form-a-gasket, the kind that comes in the "cheese-it" can. If it will hold up as long as the OEM stuff i can't say, has only been in the water one season. But it won't harden like the original stuff, and i would rather remove and reseal every few seasons than go through what it took to remove the other stuff! [img]graemlins/cwm3.gif[/img] -
Here is my posting from www.go-polaris.net :
Has anyone else had problems with the holes lining up when installing an Ocean Pro ride plate? ( or any aftermarket plate) I have a 2002 Virage TX and one threaded brass insert in the boat's hull was out of alignment by an 1/8 of an inch. The holes in the OP plate seemed to be right ,spaced 4 inches apart. But the mis-aligned hole in the hull was 4 and 1/8" apart. (all the other holes seemed to be ok) I had to have my Dad put the OP plate in his mill and "slot" the hole and the counterbore to align the bolt holes up correctly. Today my brother and I were installing an OP ride plate on his 1999 SLTX and his holes were out of line even more than mine. When we got the 3 bolts started on one side of the plate, the 3 holes on the other side would not line up and the plate didn't seem "centered" on the hull, and the 2 bolt holes up front that screw into the pump intake scoop were not even close to lining up. He is going to have our Dad re-machine his plate to fit his boat now too. I don't really think that the bolt holes in the OP ride plates are wrong, but it appears that the brass inserts in the hulls are out of alignment. I would think that Polaris would use a template of some sorts to check their hole spacing when these hulls were molded. Our buddy is also in the process of putting an OP ride plate on his 2001 Virage, I want to see if his holes line up.
I was just wondering if anyone else had this problem when changing ride plates?? Incidentally we found a very easy and quick way to remove the factory ride plates that are sealed with that super tough gray Polaris sealant. We made 2 wooden wedges about 8 or 9 inches long(made of a hard wood : maple) and cut them to a 7 degree angle. We then drove them at the same time between the ride plate and the hull from the back of the boat. This peeled that factory plate off the hull in less than 5 minutes, it took longer to remove all the screws than to get the plate off.
I hope this helps ya out
Rick
P.S. we sealed the Ocean Pro ride plates on with Loctite Flange Sealant #5910. My brother got this from his workplace. Its an industrial sealant I doubt if the general public could purchase it ........or would want to pay the $28 the company paid for the one tube. We used a torque wrench to tighten the bolts on the ride plate 8 to 10 foot pounds as per the Polaris factory service manual.
[ April 18, 2003, 01:32 AM: Message edited by: UnoWho ]Comment
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Hey, UnoWho, couldn't remember who suggested the wood wedges, or I would have given you the credit- great tip! [img]smile.gif[/img]
Just curious- did you measure the hole spacing on your original ride plate? It seems weird that the factory, making so many hulls, would have to hand fit every ride plate.
When I put the Rend Plate on my 97 SL1050, the holes matched up pretty good, not perfect but well within reason, did not have to machine any. I have, thanks to ShowMe's heads up, an Ocean Pro coming for the 98 SLXH and will post any installation problems or lack of, and will post before and after GPS top speed and handling impressions. The Rend gave me an honest 2 mph on the top and seems to pull out of the hole quicker, the wife says it takes more effort to turn but i haven't noticed, seems more stable in hard turns to me, quicker. It does not make the SL hull a great rough water boat. It does make it easier to stand up or submarine, i am now stuck with the SLXH and need to start working on it- wife gets the fast boat!
[ April 18, 2003, 02:26 AM: Message edited by: pcalonge ]Comment
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You will love the OP rideplate!Comment
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pcalonge, yes i checked the hole spacing on the factory ride plate. polaris actually "slotted " one hole in their plate to make it fit the hull. i'm asumming they did this to so they wouldn't have to scrape a hull just because of a threaded insert being off an 1/8 of an inch ( they must have a pretty penny invested in making a hull). all the threaded brass inserts were spaced 4 inches apart , except the one...........it was 4 1/8 inches.
oh, and those wooden wedges work great!! they didn't leave a mark or even a scratch on the hull and won't damage the ride plate that you are removing (in case you want to use it again or sell it on ebay [img]smile.gif[/img]
the intake grate can be a pain to remove too. instead of trying to pull it straight down to get it off (mine didn't budge, even with my 205 pound body lol) first off remove the screw, then i took a piece of wood and a hammer and drove the wood against the grate rail to the left and then to the right at the front of the grate where it is sealed to the hull (where the screw was) by pushing the grate side to side broke the sealant loose a lot easier than trying to break it loose by pulling it straight down. i made a posting here about a year ago on this, i'll try to see if i can find it and post it here.
Rick
[ April 19, 2003, 01:27 AM: Message edited by: UnoWho ]Comment
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here is my posting from a year ago on removing factory intake grate http://www.sbtontheweb.com/cgi-bin/u...;f=16;t=000239
one more thing that I forgot to mention we used Loctite #242 (blue) to secure the bolts back in place
[ April 19, 2003, 03:50 PM: Message edited by: UnoWho ]Comment
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I've heard using a heat gun on the plate to heat it up also reduces the force required to remove it.Comment
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Thanks to all who replied. I've already built the wooden wedges and am just waiting on the ride plate to get here from dennis kirk. Boy am I glad that I bought it when I did, because a couple of hours later and the 9 were gone.Comment
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