Aluminum Hull repair

[daybyday]

I have acquired this boat from friend and I'm stripping it down and repainting/sealing it. I have hit a spot where the rivets have ripped away and looks like they filled it with concrete. I need advice on how to repair this portion.

 

[daybyday]

No Title

 

[g0nef1sshn]

clean the are real good and get some more pics. the concrete lookin stuff may be jb weld. It can probably be fixed with a patch of aluminum bent to fit over that spot buttered with 5200 and riveted over that spot.

 

[fhhuber]

Generally you can fracture stuff like that unknown filler off of the metal.

Back up the cleaner side with a heavy metal item and then whack the filler with a hammer and it should shatter the filler. Shouldn't take more than a couple of whacks. Then you can finish cleaning the surface for the proper repair.

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

If the dark spot in this pic (next to the old rivet) is a hull breech then you will need to do as Gonefishin said and make a patch first to seal the hull.



So long as the damage is just in the keel strip/strake then you could repair both spots by removing material (red area in pic) around where the old rivets are (much like it already is in the 1st pic) to allow clearance for a rivet head to lay flush so you can seal the original hole. Then reattach the strip/strake to the hull on both sides with new rivets (blue circles).



Plugging the original holes and reattaching the strip/strake can be done with either the SS screw and nut method, closed end blind rivets, or solid rivets. I would recommend doing so with solid rivets or the screw/nut method as I think they would be the easiest on bare feet if they get stepped on.

 

[classiccat]

If the dark spot in this pic (next to the old rivet) is a hull breech then you will need to do as Gonefishin said and make a patch first to seal the hull.



So long as the damage is just in the keel strip/strake then you could repair both spots by removing material (red area in pic) around where the old rivets are (much like it already is in the 1st pic) to allow clearance for a rivet head to lay flush so you can seal the original hole. Then reattach the strip/strake to the hull on both sides with new rivets (blue circles).



Plugging the original holes and reattaching the strip/strake can be done with either the SS screw and nut method, closed end blind rivets, or solid rivets. I would recommend doing so with solid rivets or the screw/nut method as I think they would be the easiest on bare feet if they get stepped on.

+1....carefully carve away some of that strake tab and seal the hole with solid rivets assuming that its

 

[daybyday]

I cut away where it the drawing says to today and cleaned the rest of the material out. The black spot was not a hole just some junk that had fallen on it. I'm going to try the closed end blind rivets. How do I figure out the size needed? This will be my first riveting project.
Thank you for all the help so far.
Daniel

 

[classiccat]

I cut away where it the drawing says to today and cleaned the rest of the material out. The black spot was not a hole just some junk that had fallen on it. I'm going to try the closed end blind rivets. How do I figure out the size needed? This will be my first riveting project.
Thank you for all the help so far.
Daniel

I assume you're going to add the new strake-tab rivets that TDF illustrated above...try to use solid rivets for those; closed-end blind rivets should be avoided below the waterline especially on structural members. Seal with 3M-5200 for insurance. They're OK for a temporary fix but plan on redoing the work down the road.

With that said, use a drill bit to determine the size of the holes. 5/32 and 3/16" diameter rivets are the most commonly used however you can go up to 1/4" if the hole is larger than 3/16". If larger than 1/4", then you may have to get creative with some form of patch.