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My new 2021 Vexus 1880 was delivered Tuesday. I took it to the lake for a few hours for the trail run. I don’t need to tell other Vexus owners how the boat rides etc. Its just Amazing.
I got home and first on the list was the keel shield. I put it in the sun on my drive way while I removed the spare tire and got things ready. I’m not going to lie. Doing this by yourself is a PITA! Hold shield in place with one hand and tape it up with the other. Making sure to keep it straight! Geez. I got to do it twice as I got it crooked the first time.
Once I got it taped up. I used the same tape to outline the shield. They show using a crayon etc. I didn’t want to scuff up outside the intended area so the tape helps with that. It also let me know visually that it was straight.
Now it’s scotch pad time! I started at the bow and slowly worked my way down the keel, making sure to get the welds good. My right shoulder is still sore from the process. I visually inspected and touched up any areas I may have missed. I took my time as this is a one time only project. Then it’s time for the isopropyl wipe down until your towels come clean. This took several times to get it clean. Then I wiped on the adhesive activator. I made sure again to check and double check the entire surface was covered.
Now comes the fun part. If you get this started crooked your screwed. Once the tape hits the boat it’s not coming off.
So check and double check to get started straight. I peeled back the center strip about 6 inches and pressed the leading edge downing again making sure all was straight. The just continued the process all the way down. Next step was to remove my masking tape outline and start on the out side edges again removing the backing tape as I went. Whew! Next up was using the tool that goes in the groves and putting pressure on it as you go. Shoulder is really feeling the work out about now. Once that was accomplished I spend extra time in the leading edges to make sure that no gap existed. This took some time and elbow grease to get it down good. Last step for me was a rubber mallet to tap on the entire shield to make sure it was really down.
As you can see it came out perfect! I had it on the lake yesterday and ran it through the paces. Wake boat waves etc. no issues. To be honest there is no way this thing is ever coming off.
Bottom line guys is this keel shield works! Prep is key!
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Originally Posted by Swerve-n-Protect
