Old aluminum boat rivits

[freddie1944]

Hello, I just got an old Aluma Craft boat. Some of the rivets are leaking. I am going to try and put an anvil of sorts ( sledge hammer ) On the bottom of the rivets and hit them with a hammer on top to reseat them. Should I heat the rivets first, before I try to reseat them.? Any and all advice well be appreciated. thank you

 

[jbcurt00]

thats referred to as re-bucking

Sometimes it works, depends on why they developed a leak..... Depending on which rivets are leaking, you can also use closed end blind rivets to replace any that are leakers. Or re-install and buck new solid rivets. Lots of good tin boat tips in the Starcraft section.

Post some pix of your new to you Alumacraft

good luck w/ your new rig

 

[Itsogood]

Welcome to the tinhead nation Freddie. Hope to see some pics of what you are working on. I have an older 58-59 model and we are trying to figure out just what it is. It is all hacked up and hard to tell what it was originally. Let's see what you have there.

 

[Itsogood]

Once you get the rivets pretty much sealed up there's a product called Gluvit and if you look at some of the other threads in here you will see more about how to use it to seal up the last of your leaks. So getting it completely sealed up... messing around with the rivets... you can use the gluvit to finish the job to seal her up completely. Just need to know that the stuff isn't good left to the rays of the sun... it needs to be covered either with a coat of paint or under a deck. It is an epoxy type product and will break down if not covered up. They say the stuff really stinks like dog poop when drying but gets the job done. I'm not to the point where I am ready for it yet but I did find and purchase a quart.... Can't wait to see this stuff in action....haha.

 

[pauloman]

a thin moisture cured urethane (MCU) that seeks out moisture to cure is what you want. Most of them use an alumumin pigment

 

[Grandad]

Should I heat the rivets first, before I try to reseat them.? Any and all advice well be appreciated. thank you

No, buck them cold. - Grandad