Sealing aluminum boats...

FishingFrenzy · #1 10-19-2011, 02:04 PM

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

npauls · #2 10-19-2011, 02:20 PM

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

pikergolf · #3 10-19-2011, 03:32 PM

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

HunterDave · #4 10-19-2011, 07:49 PM

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.

FishingFrenzy · #5 10-19-2011, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HunterDave

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.

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.

Thanks for all the tips guys!!!

HunterDave · #6 10-19-2011, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FishingFrenzy

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.

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!

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!

The boat is out at my camper right now but when I go out I'll take some pictures to post up.

vcmm · #7 10-19-2011, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by npauls

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

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

pecker · #8 03-13-2013, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcmm

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

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

kreator · #9 03-13-2013, 08:07 PM

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.

unridaz · #10 03-14-2013, 06:54 AM

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....