Re: 15' Aluminum boat leaks through rivots
I picked up a used polarkraft that leaked very badly through the rivets.<br /><br />I called polarkraft to order replacements. The guy on the phone told me that if I sent it to him for repair, all he would do is reset the rivets that were there.<br /><br />This is how he told me to do it. Remove floor and seats and anything that prevents you from accessing all the rivets. Have someone under the boat with a heavy piece of steel to back up the rivet. I used a sledge hammer. While the rivet is backed up drive the top side of the rivet with another piece of steel, I used a 1/2-inch steel dowel and drove it with 2lb hammer. I used three moderate blows per rivet. The rivets are pretty soft. Your only trying to re-mushroom the top of the rivet. <br /><br />This worked very well and took about 1/2 hour to do all the rivets after the seats were out. This boat took on about 2 gallons an hour when I got it. It has been bone dry since I reset the rivets. That was 4 years ago. This is my duck hunting boat and gets used from September through February.<br /><br />The reason rivets start to leak is the flexing of the hull againts them over time. Once I was sure it was dry I put a floor in the boat using fasteners every 8-inches on center. This took all the flex out of the hull.<br /><br />I first tried jb weld and that didn't work because the flex was still in the boat. Plus I didn't jb weld all of them, only the ones I though were leaking.<br /><br />You can try patches and the like, but I think this method is far superior to using patch material. And it is what the manufacturer recommends.<br /><br />pbailey
