5 gal over the course of an entire day isn't all that bad for an old riveted tinny, say 16' or better. The key is to find out where it's actually leaking. Fill the hull with water and watch for drips on the outside. Circle them with a sharpie.
My '77 18' SS takes on about that much over 24 hours of motoring about, but almost none at the dock. Turns out, a lot of that is leaking in from the splashwell joints. (Yet another thing to fix). Find out the cause first, before you go fixing up non-problems.
we filled it up with water and it was leaking out in the center of the haul, under the fuel tank. There is a dent at that location too. It's a 17 footer
I have a 15 foot closed bow starcraft with a dent in the center, and a similar leak. I have had a really hard time getting it completely water tight. Since my issue (and maybe yours) isnt so much loose rivets as much as a crease from the dent, I think the only real solution is welding - which is expensive on an alum boat. I did gluvit, and a few other semi-successful leak solutions, and it slowed the leak a lot - but not to where I could dock the boat for the summer....so it is for sale, fiberglass for me from now on.
If you can get to the backside, you can pound out those dents. Use closed end blind rivets (drill out the old ones from the outside) and gluvit it shut. Works great. I pounded out some pretty substantial dents on mine right along the keel.
I was given a 14' Starcraft from a guy because he couldn't fix the leaks. Access to rivets was easy but may not be for you're boat. The fix was easy and 8 years later it is still dry.
I used a stainless wire brush in drill on leaking rivets to remove oxidation. I bought an epoxy repair stick (green) which you heat/burn with a propane torch. The stick starts to drip like a candle and I let it cover leaky rivets. The finish is smooth and neat.
I think the only real solution is welding - which is expensive on an alum boat.
BAD IDEA! FastOrange stated "we filled it up with water and it was leaking out in the center of the haul, under the fuel tank. There is a dent at that location too. It's a 17 footer....."
If you go as far to remove the fuel tank then go for it.... but once you are in that deep you can repair the rivets and use gluvit.
Basically there is no real quick fix except for tightening and replacing the rivets.... coat your new rivits with 3m5200 before you pop them.
Maybe time consuming but it can be fixed.
__________________ "When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care." Randy Pausch 1960-2008 The Last Lecture
Riveted aluminum Starcraft leaking bad
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