freeisforme
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2009
- Messages
- 184
I was given a 15' Starcraft today, the boat is pretty much gutted, the transom and floor are all out and it's been stripped for repaint.
My concern is patching a fairly deep scratch or gouge along the right lower side about a foot below the water line. The last owner said he brushed past a submerged piling which had a bolt head sticking out of it. The gouge is about 5" long and it starts about 3" ahead of an internal rib, the metal is deeply scratched and slightly indented, and where the scratch met the area where the rib reinforced the outer skin it punctured through at that point and at the end of the scratch, in the middle of the rib. None of the punctures are visible from inside the boat, even with light behind it at night. Water rushes in pretty fast. There is one rivet that's about 1/8" from the puncture, but it's not hit, but it's close enough that welding will no doubt compromise the rivet. I've taken the boat to several welders in the area and none will touch it.
What would be the proper fix for this? Each puncture is less than 3/16" long. I'm thinking about roughing up the area on the outside and filling in the damaged area with Marine Tex or JB weld? Will that hold and be safe?
Will JB weld adhere permanently to un-primed aluminum?
I already bought a quart of Gluvit for the inside of the hull but Gluvit alone won't reach or fix a 'cut' in the hull like this. I'm sure this is why the boat was free, it no doubt leaked water pretty bad. The last owner had half a tube of silicone caulk spread over the repair, so he knew it was there. It's also in an area that contacts the bunks when loading.
I'm thinking of filling in the exterior with JB weld and coating the inside liberally with Gluvit as best I can?
My concern is patching a fairly deep scratch or gouge along the right lower side about a foot below the water line. The last owner said he brushed past a submerged piling which had a bolt head sticking out of it. The gouge is about 5" long and it starts about 3" ahead of an internal rib, the metal is deeply scratched and slightly indented, and where the scratch met the area where the rib reinforced the outer skin it punctured through at that point and at the end of the scratch, in the middle of the rib. None of the punctures are visible from inside the boat, even with light behind it at night. Water rushes in pretty fast. There is one rivet that's about 1/8" from the puncture, but it's not hit, but it's close enough that welding will no doubt compromise the rivet. I've taken the boat to several welders in the area and none will touch it.
What would be the proper fix for this? Each puncture is less than 3/16" long. I'm thinking about roughing up the area on the outside and filling in the damaged area with Marine Tex or JB weld? Will that hold and be safe?
Will JB weld adhere permanently to un-primed aluminum?
I already bought a quart of Gluvit for the inside of the hull but Gluvit alone won't reach or fix a 'cut' in the hull like this. I'm sure this is why the boat was free, it no doubt leaked water pretty bad. The last owner had half a tube of silicone caulk spread over the repair, so he knew it was there. It's also in an area that contacts the bunks when loading.
I'm thinking of filling in the exterior with JB weld and coating the inside liberally with Gluvit as best I can?