Sealing aluminum boats...
 

Hey all,

I got a 14ft aluminum boat a few months back for 250 bucks. Now, I took out it a couple weeks ago to check for leaks and I found two major ones and almost no minor ones. I was pretty impressed for 250 bucks.

Now, the two major ones leaked about 2 cups (combined) of water in 10 minutes. So reasonably major leaks that im not planning on ignoring. Im just curious how other people have gone about sealing leaks in their riveted aluminum hulls. I know that rivets can be re-bucked but im not entirely sure how to do this. I also know in some cases this wont fix the problem.

The two leaks I have are:
One on the bottom where the transom is riveted on to the boat. This is resulting from a rivet that has the "head" outside the boat sheared off, however the rivet is still firmly in its original hole, only there is nothing holding it in except gravity and years of grime...

The other leak comes from where someone took out one of the bench seat supports. The supports in my boat go from the bottom of the bench and rivet to the bottom of the boat. It could be described as an "L" bracket... Not sure why someone took this out however they then fabricated a new support and riveted this in. Its held in place by four rivets through the original rivet holes. Im going to assume it leaks because the wrong size of rivets were used or they weren't put in properly. I'd rather not take these out and re-do them as I have no riveting experience.

Im wondering if it would be okay to use a pop-rivet with some sealant like 3m 5200, marine goop or Gorilla Glue to fix the leak where there is a missing rivet and if I could just use something like one of the sealants above to coat the other area that leaks.

The other thing I thought of to use is the Gutter/Flashing sealant that comes in a caulking tube at any hardware store. That stuff is made for aluminum and for sealing water leaks... so in theory...it might work.

Im looking to fix this on the cheap, I dont really want to invest $60+ in a product like Gluvit. And I don't want to go and get it spot-welded.

If anyone has any insight on this, I would appreciate it!!!!


'frenzy

How about some JB weld to seal up each of the leaks? The 3-M 5200 marine sealant works really well also.

Google how to install copper rivets, knock out the pop rivets and the broken rivets and redo it.

I was in the....uh huh......same boat this year. I picked up an aluminum boat and trailer for $100. Before doing anything I wanted to make sure that the boat was good to go and make it look a bit nicer. I put a wire wheel on a corded drill and went over the whole boat especially the seams that had old chalking on them. I then got 2 tubes of UV4000 and did all of the seams and a few rivets where the metal had small cracks. After that I masked the seams about 1" either side and sprayed rock guard along all of the seams. I bought a quart of paint from Can Tire and sprayed the entire boat silver and then sprayed a blue stripe on each side with Ford blue from 2 spray cans also from Can Tire.

My seams look good and sealed and I'm confident that the boat won't leak. Hopefully, it lasts a bit. Total cost was about $100.

For your boat I'd definitely drill out and replace the broken rivets and use JB Weld for any larger problem areas (ie gaps, holes, etc) and then go through a similar process that I did. I wouldn't just do the problem areas, I'd do the whole boat. With my luck I'd fix one problem and another would appear and the next thing you know you are fixing it all of the time. Do the whole thing right the first time and be done with it. GL. :)

JB weld worked on mine.Just make sure you clean it well before applying

Is this the stuff your talking about? http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSu7zK1fslxtU482eMx_GevVSe ChshvTSevTSeSSSSSS--
If so, where did you buy it?
Is the rockguard you used the stuff in the spraycan you can get from Canadian Tire? And you sprayed it over the UV4000??

Did you rockguard/UV4000 the inside or outside? When you say seams do you mean the actual rows of rivets? or the edge, where two pieces of aluminum overlap?

Also do you remember what brand of paint you used? I have heard that its almost impossible to get most paints to stick to aluminum without peeling off really easily.

Anyway, I appreciate the advice coming from someone else who was in the "same boat" as I am. :) BTW 100 bucks for a boat and trailer is an amazing deal!! I thought 250 for the boat alone was pretty good. :bad_boys_20:

Thanks for all the tips guys!!!

That's the stuff! I've used it before on my speed boat and it worked great. I bought everything at Can Tire. I used the beige colored rock guard in a can, not the black one, and I sprayed over the UV400. There wasn't allot to spray over though, I basically filled the gap and took the extra off with a wet finger. I rockguarded above the rivets to about an inch below the seam......about 2" in total? Not only at the seams but also the 3 stabilizing fins (I don't know the right word for them). I shopped for "special" metal/aluminum paint but a professional told me that any metal paint was fine. I can't remember the brand but it was in quart cans in the automotive dept in Can Tire. The colour that I used was BRILLIANT SILVER METALLIC.......oh la la! :lol:

Everything was done on the outside of the boat and next year I'll have a look at doing something with the inside and I'm definitely going to repaint the trailer.

I left out one very important point..........After taking the wire wheel to it I primed the whole boat and I had to re-prime the rockguard after I put it on. I can't remember how many cans (2 maybe 3?) but it was just a very light coat. That was on the advice of the same professional.

Yeah, I stumbled upon a fantastic deal! :sHa_shakeshout: The boat is out at my camper right now but when I go out I'll take some pictures to post up. :)

Awesome! Thanks again for the help. Looking forward to seeing pics of your rig.
Once I get this bad-boy sealed up Im going to put a little bit of a deck on the front with a pedestal seat for flyfishing... maybe a couple rod holders...some drink holders... pimp it out :sHa_shakeshout:

A fastener supply place can get you sealed aluminum pop rivets to replace those rivets that are damaged. Being a belt and suspenders kind of guy I used silicone seal in the hole as I put in the rivet. Rivets that are complete but loose can be tightened up with a ball peen hammer and a autobody dolly on the other side. Sealants on the surface are just icing on the cake after all rivet problems have been taken care of.

After you replace the rivets, use a product called Gluvit. I purchase this at Glenmore Sailboats in Calgary. I used it on my 14' aluminum 2 summers ago, the boat had 3 leaks in it and is still holding. It is expensive but well worth the money. Easy to use, clean the surfaces on the boat really well and brush on. It is UV resistant, flexes with temp changes. Great product!

Oops! Just read the post where you said you didn't want to use Gluvit. Sorry.:sign0161:

The Marine shop suggested a product called Sika-flex for Jobs like this.


http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...Range+Overview

I was out to the lake today and I took a couple of pictures of the boat that I refinished. The problem is, I don't know how to upload the pictures from my phone to the computer. If someone wants to pm me their ipod number and email them back to me I'll post them up (after the Oilers game?). :)

Is it an iphone?? Should be able to just connect to your PC with the white cable and use iTunes to get them off??

No, I just have an old flip phone.....lol. I know a fella that did it before for me but I don't want to bother him with this. If someone can do this I PROMISE that I'll forget your phone number immediately afterwards and you will NEVER receive a phone call from me. :lol:

I finally managed to get a couple of photos of the aluminum boat that I refinished this Fall. It's too bad that I never took a before shot.

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/x...ssion/Boat.jpg

Here's a close up of the sealed seams. The rockguard is allot more noticeable in the close up picture.

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/x...sion/Boat1.jpg

Great work Dave, that boat looks awesome!
Thanks for posting pics!

You can buy aluminum sealing rivets and rent a rivet gun for them. Use the jb weld also.

Someone was asking about sealing a tinny so I thought that I'd bump this thread. It might be the right time of year to tackle this job for anyone that's been thinking about doing this. :)

LOL........not recommended. :lol:

hmmm... IMO it doesn't really make sense to not spend the money on the gluvit then does it? The Gluvit is an excellent product sealing multiple leaks, and lasting a long time. It flexes with the boat, and is paintable.

My 2 cents: get the gluvit

I've used JB Weld and rubberized undercoating on a few different boats now and its always worked great as long as you CLEAN the aluminum first. :sHa_shakeshout:

I seen on a boating show a fellow using a roller and painting exterior enamel paint to a aluminum boat....so a few years ago I thought I would refurbish my old 16 ft Smokercraft alum boat and tried that method. It worked out excellent!! I was hesitate however if you do not have access or are not experienced with a spray gun the roller method actually worked very well. I would also go with the Gluvit product as $60 is a small price to pay for something that would give you years of head free enjoyment...right? My two cents....

x2--worked great on a 14ft aluminum I worked on . it came from the west coast and had a lot of rivets leaking . :)

Highway paint! I covered all the seams and rivets on the bottom of our old, super-leaky aluminum boat with it last summer and not a drop of water gets in now. Highway paint is a thick, rubbery, flexible, vile-smelling paint that can withstand a constant barrage of 100 km/h traffic over top of it, not to mention rain, hail, sun etc. Holds up really strong.

Highway paint.. that's rich. I used to paint lines on the roads so I know a bit about the paint. It is good stuff, its actually a type of melted plastic. The trucks used to apply the paint use special machines that heat the product to a specific temp so that it can be used. I don't doubt its ability to seal a boat, but you'll have to find a highways crew that would be willing to spray your boat....

Just curious if you primed before using the sealant or after? Also is it still holding up since you did this work?

Thanks for your time.

i sprayed my 12 footer on the transom with rubberized gravel guard from Canadian tire , worked great and 5 years later it still doesn't leak, also sealed the roof of the camper with it. again no leaks. good luck. was quick and easy just let dry good before putting water.

If you have a rivet that the head has popped off on one, side the rivet should be replaced movement in the aluminum at that spot could cause the rivets beside the defective rivet to then also come loose. Go on line and look up how to replace rivets. It's easy. You don't need a rivet gun. A block of steel and a hammer works well. Or just use two hammers one light one for hammering a and a heavy one for back up on the head of the rivet. You don't need to hit the rivet really hard. Several light hits are better than one big smash.
I have done this many times. Go to 1/4 inch rivets. You will probably be taking out 3/16 rivets..Use a 3/16 or 7/32 drill to remove the rivet then drill to 1/4 inch after the rivet is out.