leaking rivets on a 95 lowe

[zippy83]

Hello,

Every winter I check the boat for leaks by filling it up with water. Today I have noticed two leaks on the bottom of the boat. not leaking a lot but dripping every second or so. I have checked the rivets in that area and all seem to be tight like others in that area that are not leaking. I have included two pictures of the leaking area.

Is there any fixes that I can do from the outside. It would be really costly for me to take the deck out and fix it from inside. I havens noticed a huge amount of water coming in last week when I was out for a day but a small leak will eventually turn bigger.

Picture 1 is in the back of the boat all the way on the back right side.
Picture 2 is in the middle of the boat towards the back

Any suggestion is highly appreciated.
Thanks
Zippy

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: leaking rivets on a 95 lowe

Welcome to iboats.

That is an additional piece add to the hull. Is the water leaking from inside that piece or from inside the hull? You need to determine that. Many of those strakes have a small hole drilled to allow water to drain. It will be impossible to seal it from the outside AND if you seal water inside that you run the risk of a break during a freeze.

You need to examine the hull pieces more closely and figure out where the water comes from.

I do know that all the starcraft hulls have drain holes in that strake.

If it is from the strake and NOT inside the hull - no worries. If it is from the inside of the hull ......then you will have some work ahead of you and should use gluvit once you get to the interior of the hull.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: leaking rivets on a 95 lowe

I guess you could smear some goop on it like 3M 5200, JB Weld Marine, or Loc-tite marine epoxy and hope for the best... but it probably won't work for long if it works at all.

Have you ever taken the decking up in your boat? These boats come from the factory with exposed deck fasteners installed through the carpet so you can take them apart without destroying your carpet and fix below deck issues like this... but there's a chance someone has redone the carpet and didn't do the factory install method which means you have to destroy your deck finish to get to the problem and fix it.

 

[zippy83]

Re: leaking rivets on a 95 lowe

Bob_VT

it could very well be water buildup in that extra peace of the bottom of the boat. Whatever water there was in the boat didint come out untill I rose the front end 1 feet in the air tilting it and forcing everything out to the back. There was total of one 20oz bottle of water colected from both problem areas. I guess now that the boat is dry the only way of testing it will be taking it out on the water to see if it lets any water in. If it doesn't then I know its just the extra peace of support that has been installed for support.

jigngrub

This looks like the original setup that came with the boat from the manufacter. it has smaller rivets like screws connecting the deck to the bottom of the boat, so I would have to cut those off and remove the storage boxes on the side to get the deck up. I will see if it really leaks inside once I take it out on the water, hopefully soon.

Thanks for all the suggestions
Zippy

 

[zippy83]

Re: leaking rivets on a 95 lowe

Sorry I meant to say that there was less then 12 oz of water collected on both problem areas

 

[jigngrub]

Re: leaking rivets on a 95 lowe

Don't let a few rivets stop you from doing what needs to be done if the exterior application doesn't work.

This is an easy way to install rivets in a boat, and it isn't that expensive:
1989 Sylvan Boat Rebuild Part 4 - YouTube

Every aluminum boat owner should have a rivet setting tool and an assortment of rivets... they're like spare tires or tire repair kits for cars and trucks, very handy when you need them.