Hi - new to forum. I have a beautiful old santee 100lt. the rim surrounding the cockpit is a plastic rim not molded on the kayak and is loose. I have to grab this to put the kayak up on the car so its important that it stays on. Anyone ever repaired or replaced this part? What kind of glue or epoxy would you recommend? I would like to put some knee padding on it as well if you have a recommendation for that also. I see where one can buy knee pads on Austin kayaks but they are kayak specific. Thanks!
Devcon Plastic Welder - and some glass tape. From Santee’s FAQ:
“How hard is it to repair Trylon?
It’s not hard at all! There are many plastic welding adhesives that bond with Trylon for spot repairs, but we recommend the Devcon brand of waterproof bonds. You can use them around bulkheads and cockpit coamings in lieu of caulking or use the adhesive with pieces of ABS plastic for structural repairs. There are also some wonderful thermoform patches on the market that work well for patching small cracks - www.geminimaterials.com. Always remember to drill out the terminal ends of any cracks before patching.”
Eddyline has good instructions on how to fix ABS: https://eddyline.com/customer-service/care-repair/thermo-form-repair-carbonlite-repair
For the knee braces, why not make your own out of minicell foam? Use a high quality double-sided tape to attach them in lieu of gluing them on at first. Makes adjustments easier. You can get a sheet of 12" x 12" 1/2" closed cell foam for $3 through this company: http://kayakoutfitting.com/
Best wishes.