Traction Mat

[vcchristensen]

I have a 2004 Seadoo Gti Le. Over the winter I picked up a Black Tip Elite traction mat, with the peel and stick back.

I took of the old mats by drilling out the metal rivets that hold it down. Then cleaned it off real good. Down in the foot well where the mat was, the fiberglass looks kind of roughed up. It looks like it was done intentionally by factory when it was molded for traction.

My question is, do I need to smooth that out with a little sandpaper or will the new mat stick to it and not come off ?

 

[racerxxx]

You need to make sure you fill the holes from the rivets. I use Bondo-glass, you can get it at Walmart. It's two part. Some guys use silicone rtv, adhesive doesn't stick well to silicone. Make sure the wells are spotless, wipe them down with acetone or lacquer thinner very well then. The lay the mats down and trace around them with a pencil, lift, peel stick and press and work them on very well. If you can let it all sit in the sun and warm up real well that will help. All seadoo's have the "texture" and I never smoothed them out.

I went a little over board masking the holes, but I didn't want to have to clean too much after I spread the bondo. You'll need to work it into the holes. I drive the remainder of the rivets into the hull. Just pay attention to the folds and such, you can't drive 2 3/4" long shank of a rivet into a 1/4" gap, so pay attention to the depth of the material your working on.


http://www.seadooforum.com/showthre...ugar-and-Spice&p=427104&viewfull=1#post427104

 

[mikidymac]

I have found that it also helps to rough up the area with some 80 grit sandpaper for the adhesive to grip to. Make sure you only do the area that the new mats will cover or it will look like crap.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

I've never sanded down the "grit" the 3m sticks pretty dam good on smooth or rough surfaces (as long as they are clean)

 

[mikidymac]

I have had a few edges pull up on ones that did not have factory mats like the SPI's and GTI's even with the 3M pre-applied adhesive and good cleaning with acetone. I am not saying go crazy just take the sheen off. Just my experience.

I am so glad the days of the contact cement are gone :thumbsup:

 

[bajaman123]

On my wife's '97 GTI, when I put the HYDROTURF on, I filled the rivet holes with resin/gel coat and sanded and buffed it down to where you can't even tell there were holes there. Overkill, for sure but that is how I roll, lol.
I then took some 180 grit sandpaper and lightly scuffed the area the new mat was going down, then cleaned it with styrene. Styrene essentially re-activates the gel coat for a short time and was recommended to me by an long-time fiberglass repair expert (does custom and repair work on Corvettes). I believe acetone will work nearly as good.

 

[mikidymac]

Where do you get styrene and what is it used for? Only one I know of is polystyrene. Probably can't buy it here in Cali anyways.