mariner 21' rebuild- need some advice

mattsasso

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Apr 13, 2017
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I was just told about the starcraft section here and glad to have it. I recently bought an 87 starcraft mariner 210. I knew I had to replace the floor and one thing lead to another and now all the foam is out and the hull is powerwashed. I Leak tested it and i had one small leak which I attempted to braze with an aluminum rod and map gas. That didn't work so well. anyway, I have two areas about 6"x5" where I have some real pitting and two tiny holes. I have included a pic.
what is the best way to button this up. I was thinking some jb weld in the pitting and then some Goop over the top of that. I am going to goop all f the rivet lines anyway since I have the hull open.
What do you guys think? any ideas?

thanks,
Matt
 

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bob johnson

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do not use GOOP.... sand and clean very well even acid treat the area and use marine tex or jb weld... build it up a little....id do both sides, but leave it a little thick on the inside...a nd try to blend smooth on the outside...it is not a structural thing,.,,it is just sheet aluminum that has pit and you don't want that leak!....but look all over the boat and make sure you don't have a ton of cracks through rivet holes and or on ribs.....pitting like that is a sign to look closely everywhere


bob
 

Watermann

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Welcome aboard Matt :wave:

Take a pic for us with some perspective. Some pics of the entire boat would be nice too. Where is this pitting? I'm having to assume that it's on the bottom of the hull but where? Is there pitting like this elsewhere?

fetch
 

bob johnson

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pitting like that usually is back in the stern area, places like the bilge and where water has sat, especially salt water....I look at my 180 SS from the early 80's and the drain is about and inch and a half above the lowest spot on the hull!!!...... so water could never fully drain... and the transom brace is riveted in that lowest area.... and sure enough that are gets cracks and the brace splits.....and I think age and salt water sitting there is one of the causes....

bob
 

mattsasso

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here are a few pics. as you can see the pitting is very localized and probably the result of a catalyst that spilled or was trapped there. Its bad though. I tried jbweld and it sucks. I tried brazing and I can't really get it hot enough with map gas. I was going to just layer coat-it epoxy on the areas and call it a day. what are your thoughts?
 

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mattsasso

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can you guys also recommend a rivet gun? I have a ton of amazon points and i see a couple n there. I will be using 1" rivets to attach the 3/4" plywood floor as well as some smaller rivets for the stringers , some bracing and a few closed end rivets for re-attaching the fishing rod holders to the hull.I have a really modest 6 gallon air compressor so i am thinking a manual riveter would be best. Thoughts?
 

Candutch

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Welcome to the Starmada!
I had the same pitting in my stern area. Make sure you clean it up really good, wire wheel all the crap out of the pitting and as was suggested earlier use jb weld to fill the pits. If you read through the rebuilds most use jb weld or something similar with success.
As far as rivet guns go I just got a cheapo at a local hardware store much like HF and it has worked flawlessly.
Looking forward to following your build, the Mariner is the model I really wanted and the 21 footer would have been a bonus. Unfortunately the are difficult to find up here and when they do come up they are being sold at a premium.
 

Watermann

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Jb weld 2 part epoxy or marine tex is going to be the best way to skin over the pitted area just put some tape on the outside to keep to from running out the holes.

The pneumatic riveter takes hardly any air, your compressor should be just fine.
 

bob johnson

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get the pneumatic riveter!!!!!!!!!!!...even the cheap harbor freights ones are fantastic!...I also cant believe jb weld is giving you issues....you have to grind to bare aluminum to get a good bite.....its great stuff...that and marine tex ....2 part epoxy basically
 

mattsasso

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thanks Guys, I guess I have an excuse to get a new tool at harbor freight. I tried to use the jb weld marine putty stick. maybe that was my problem. I'll try the two part epoxy. maybe that will fill the pits better. I have some epoxies and coat-it coming tomorrow as well as some brazing rods. I am going to give it one more try at brazing the hole and deep pits. borrowing a friends oxygen propane torch and that should get hot enough.
 

mattsasso

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Next question:
I have fully leak tested the hull and except for the one small hole it is water tight. Do you think I should run Gluv-it on the inside of the hull anyway since I have it open already?
 

Watermann

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The water weld 2 part stick works great for filling single holes but for skinning pitted areas the 2 part in the tubes works best when spread on with a putty knife.

Yes on the gluvit, hit the seams and especially the keel.
 

bob johnson

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yeah get the larger containers of JB weld....... don't get the itty bitty tubes!!!.......... you can fill any dents on the outside while you have it mixed...if you have extra!!!...or if you have holes you don't want...from previously mounted items on the boat...put tin foil or tape on the inside and smear the jb weld over the outside.... let harden and sand....... I have used a small piece of luan and added some jb weld mix to the inside as well outboard of the hole I am filling..then I have a super strong plug that wont just pop out, because I sanded it smooth to match the outside of the hull!!
 

Decker83

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Be extremely careful with the torch. Aluminum will not change color as it gets hot. If your not careful you'll burn a large hole in the hull.
The aluminum will need to be super clean for the brazing rod to work. Don't use a steel wire brush to clean the hull with. It will contaminate the aluminum. Use a stainless steel brush.
Clean the hull with acetone really well.:D
 

mattsasso

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here is my sloppy brazing job. I had one hole and some of the pits were really deep. I warped some of the aluminum a bit but i'll sand it a bit and cover it with a few layers of coat-it. These rods worked really well. I got them off amazon and did the brazing with a map gas torch
 

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bob johnson

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yeah that's the problem with heat...warpage.... for what you are doing...non structural....life would have been way better and the job would have been 10 x's more effective with JB Weld.....bob
 

Watermann

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All the guys I've seen try to use the brazing rods have practiced first on some scrap AL and then gave up because the bead would fall off the material when tapped. Check it real close for adhesion. For testing purposes I've plugged holes in scrap AL with Marine Tex and beat the repair with a hammer until it was bent up badly before the repair failed.
 

mattsasso

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just did a bunch of ordering. had a great conversation with Kevin from JC sales and Rivets http://rivetsonline.com/. learned a lot about rivet applications and can't wait to use my new pneumatic rivet gun from harbor freight. My gallon of Gluvit will be here on Wedneday and I just got a great deal on a pair of battery boxes. My goal is to have it foamed in by the end of this weekend. Lost a lot of time on last weeks business trip so anxious to start seeing progress again.
 
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