15' Meyers boat partial restoration

I bought a 15' aluminum Meyers boat with a 15 hp Mariner a few weeks ago. The transom was partially rotted, so I'm redoing that. The boat also has a very small leak. There is about 1/2 inch of water after a few hours. If I had a floor in the boat I might not even notice the leak. I would like to redo the transom, fix the leaky rivets, gluvit, and paint. I might also redo the tops of the bench seats. The pics don't show it, but before I tore it up, the aluminum benches had plywood with vinyl and a thin foam padding over them. On top of those benches were the folding seats you see in the pics (kind of a shoddy design).

My first question is how do I remove all the crud that the previous owner applied to the bottom to stop the leaks? It appears to be silicone and something much harder, maybe some version of 3M 5200, I'm not sure. The silicone will come off with a putty knife, but I'm not sure of the harder junk. I was thinking a wire brush with and angle grider, but I don't want to do any damage to the aluminum hull.

For the transom, how critical is stainless steel? It has about 20 something bolts going through it, and finding stainless seems to be a pain. Will the zinc coated steel bolts react with the aluminum?

Thanks in advance for any ideas/advice.

Nate

Re: 15' Meyers boat partial restoration

Hi captain. Good old elbow grease and a wire brush are your best bets for getting the old crud out I'm afraid. You'll also want to remove any old/rotten wood and replace it with non-pressure treated, exterior grade plywood that has been sealed. You can fill any unwanted holes in the transom with JB weld liquid or putty. Stainless Steel hardware is a MUST. SS is very strong and will not rust or have a galvanic reaction with the aluminum hull unlike the Zinc you mentioned. You should be able to find all hardware you need at Lowes/HD, or ACE hardware among others. You can seal the wood itself using a variety of methods. Some folks use 2-part epoxy or fiberglass mat & resin, which work great but you usually have to order the supplies and they can be a little messy and pricey. You can also use Spar Urethane and/or High Quality exterior grade paint. I like old school Rustoleum Oil based enamel. You can prep the hull for paint by sanding with 220 grit paper, wiping down with acetone, prime with a light dusting of Zinc Chromate Self-etching primer, then follow with the paint of your choice. That's really about it; No PT lumber, SS hardware throughout (preferably dipped in 3M 5200), ZC primer then paint.

Re: 15' Meyers boat partial restoration

Hey Nate, great to see ya again! Looks like KFA has all the bases covered for ya (per usual).

That Meyers should be roughly a thousand times easier to rehab than the Nova. What ever happened to that ol girl anyhow?

Cheers

Re: 15' Meyers boat partial restoration

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I still have the Nova. It is sitting in the driveway. I guess I was just had ants in my pants, and wanted something I could use on the rivers, and maybe bigger water on calm days. The Meyers boat came with a nice 15 hp Mariner (1982, Yamaha origin I believe). I promptly learned an expensive lesson on how shallow the Tibb can be. I bent the prop shaft and prop, and the skeg on my way up to the Dow dam. However, the parts are in the mail, and hopefully I'll be fishing again in a week or so.

I picked up some Rustoleum Oil based enamel, and some Rustoleum clean metal primer. Do you think that primer will work, or should I get some Zinc Chromate? Where do I get the Zinc Chromate?

Nate

Re: 15' Meyers boat partial restoration

Yup, I've smacked bottom many times up that way. Thankfully no damage.

Your Rustoleum is good but yup, for bare alum you'll want to grab some Self Etching Primer. NAPA or any of the other auto parts places in our area carry it.

Re: 15' Meyers boat partial restoration

Thanks, I'll have to stop by NAPA and get some primer. I guess I only need that for the bare areas, right? I'm not planning on taking all the paint off, just enough to gluvit, and scuff up the rest.

Re: 15' Meyers boat partial restoration

captainnate said:

I guess I only need that for the bare areas, right?

Click to expand...

Yup