HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

Hello all, this is my first ever post on here and im hopeful wont be the last... my delema comes in a package of a 2000 cresliner sportfish 1750. recently i made a mistake of letting someone borrow my boat and they somehow managed to take the boat ashore at pretty much full speed. the hull is aluminum and now has rips and tears all along the bottom not to mention a whole bunch of scrapes and dents. the tears and cracks are being welded and the dents are being hammered out. my main question is... what can be used to patch, bondo or fill the dents and scratches on that bottom. i looked up some products like aluminum epoxy and putty and came across marine tex as well. does anyone know or maybe have done something like this and be willing to share their wisdom and knowledge i would certainly be thankful. also, is there a prep procedure for aluminum? thanks for reading through this.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

Wow what a big mistake huh. Sorry to here about your misfortion for being a good semaritan.

Getting the boat welded is the best that you could do. Anything other then welding and grinding will only be an ugly eye sore. Aluminum boats have very thin guage metal which makes it difficult to make repairs. You can have your welder try a rappid heat and ice cold treatment. Metal has memory and depending upon the size if the dents, most of the dent can be taken out if not completely gone if treated correctly. This procedure is not to be done by a do it yourself or a first timer. Only for experienced welders. In the military we would use this trade secret on many doors that we had which would get warped over time and the dogs would not be able to secure the doors or hatches.

Anyways, nothing beats filling the dents with weld and then grinded sanded and polished. Lots of work, too much work if paying to get done, will cost you a ton of coin when you pay a welder by the hour.

Sorry for bad news, get the rips and tears welded and call it a day and move on.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

Plz see thread " Can I borrow your boat"

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

Welcome to iboats.

Sorry to hear about your problems but....it can be fixed.

Post a few pictures of the damage.

There are a few solutions for filling small dents and imperfections....... welding is the best solution for tears and cracks and if done properly it will not be noticed from the exterior.

Your hull repairs may require deck removal (maybe replacement) to uncover the inside of the hull and to check the aluminum superstructure.

Take a few minutes to read/browse through these links http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=385090 which have been assembled by North Beach.

Keep us informed

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

I have opened up the floor boards and ripped up the foam, and some dents are accessible to repair. Will take pictures tonight and share with you guys. Appreciate the feedback.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

please show us pictures so we can get a better picture of what we are dealing with.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

here are some pics of the damage. as you guys can see i already tore into this thing with my teeth, figuratively speaking...

sorry, the pictures i took were in high resolution and the pics allowed to add here are vga or lower... tomorrow i'll retake the pics in lower resolution and post them right away...sorry, this forum is new to me...

well, i braved the night with my trusted helper you see there on the last pic and came back with these shots. pretty much this is all the damage aside from some little scratches and paint peel.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

Bob_VT said:

Welcome to iboats.

Sorry to hear about your problems but....it can be fixed.

Post a few pictures of the damage.

There are a few solutions for filling small dents and imperfections....... welding is the best solution for tears and cracks and if done properly it will not be noticed from the exterior.

Your hull repairs may require deck removal (maybe replacement) to uncover the inside of the hull and to check the aluminum superstructure.

Take a few minutes to read/browse through these links http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=385090 which have been assembled by North Beach.

Keep us informed

Click to expand...

thank you for the formal invite... i've posted some pics and await your advice.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

its late and im still here looking for ways to repair my boat. here are a few products that i came up with that might work.

evercoat formula 27
http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/14084-formula-27-filler-pint.html

G-flex epoxy
http://westsystem.com/ss/g-flex-epoxy/

marine tex
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2088&googleaffiliate=

procedure
http://www.ehow.com/how_5858522_use-epoxy-aluminum-repair.html

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

well, i finally took everything apart... engine, floor boards, glass, fuel tank (which was a pain to take out because it was full). by the way, i went to Lowes and bought a drill pump for seven bucks and it got the fuel out in about 20 minutes all 30 gallons. now getting ready to flip it upside down to weld some cracks and fill some scratches. i'll put up some pics here in a little while.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

A drill pump! Talk about a bad idea! Ever seen how many sparks are produced by a drill motor? I think you go lucky there.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

Yeah, really. I suggest you get a fuel transfer pump, even a hand powered one for next time. The brushes in the drill motor are enough to set off gas vapors, you're really lucky you're not in the hospital.

As far as the hull goes... you can cover that up, but you really need to flatten the dents from the inside, then weld the ones that need it (or possibly fill them all with weld metal) then sand flat, then paint.

Your friends, if they are really friends, should consider paying for the repairs... if you showed this to an insurance company they'd consider totaling the boat most likely.. to do things right, that creased/gouged hull section should be replaced. Repairing the metal by welding will leave it weaker than before and prone to cracking.

Kinda a big mess...

Erik

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

yeah, the drill pump was a bad idea... i had my insurance agent working on the case and turns out if i'm not in the boat then its not covered. so i had my "friends" cough up 3 grand. now i have to get it back on its feet.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

here are the pics of my progress so far.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

attempting to flip it upside down. need more man power.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

Hope I'm not too late but you mentioned welding. That boat is a welded hull but you still want to check with Crestliner to find out what grade aluminum it is.

If the hull is in the 5000 series you're fine to weld but if it's in the 6000 series it will need some special attention to prevent it from cracking. 5000 series is hammer hardened and can take the heat of welding but 6000 is heat hardened and the heat from welding will cause edge cracking and reduce the strenght by as much as 57 percent.

You can TIG it with a bunch of small tack welds if you wait between tacks to let it cool. You can also MIG weld it if you've got a spool gun but you must limit the welds to about an inch at a time and you have to back weld to prevent crater cracks. You also have to weld both sides and use a technique called back chipping. It's tricky when the metal is that thin but it can be done.

The other thing is the extrusion that's occured. There is no way you're going to beat that back to it's original flat shape so you're going to have to cut some of it out. The trick is in estimating the right amount so your fit-up will be close enough to weld when you're done.

If it was mine, I'd go ahead and cut out what was needed and then weld a patch on it from the inside staying at least 2" away from the edge of the tear. Then I'd fair it in with West Systems epoxy using aluminum as a filler.

Just my two cents.. My hull is 6061 T6 aluminum and I had to have it rivet patched from both sides because the tear location was structural and I couldn't risk the loss of strength.

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

Re: HELP, TAKING ON WATER (tore bottom)

The bad idea of loaning boats deserves no further attention from me. I'm sure the lesson is learned. Sorry you had to experience that.

I have read through a few of the ideas on repairs and find one thing lacking. However you do fix these scrapes dings and tears, be sure to use a straight edge and don't get any hooks or rockers in the hull repair. Doing so may cause you to tip side to side or fore/aft while you are running. talk about ruining your boat! Fixing it right will take a lot of knowledge and hard work. I do wish you luck and great boating in the future.