found hole in boat !!!

[mcginn]

Hey all I have a Princecraft aluminum boat , after a trip out yesterday I found I was taking on water, with some suggestions from this site I filled the hull with water and found I have a rivit missing from the bottom of the hull... the floor is carpet and would have to be removed to replace the rivit I would imagine ... so with that said is there any quick fixes out there? or should a guy just bite the bullet and replace the rivit? thanks all in advance ...

Glenn in nb.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: found hole in boat !!!

you can try Marine JB Weld.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: found hole in boat !!!

So, is there a floor separate from the hull where that rivet is, or is the carpet on the aluminum of the hull? If the latter, you can carefully cut a piece of the carpet surrounding the hole, remove it, then replace your rivet and glue the carpet right back into place. You'd never notice it.

If there's a wood floor in there, it's more difficult. A friend of mine fixed a missing rivet in his boat...in a place he couldn't access...by threading the rivet hole with a tap, then used a stainless steel machine screw and 3M 5200 sealant in and around the hole before screwing in the screw. That was about five years ago, and it never leaked again.

Of course, the proper way is to remove the floor and replace that rivet, checking all the adjacent ones for tightness, too.

 

[mcginn]

Re: found hole in boat !!!

Thanks for the idea's guys ,im glad i found this site! the threading of the hole great idea because there is a wooden floor and the hole is under of all places the console i might do both the machine screw and the jb weld . thanks again.

Glenn in nb.

 

[dave11]

Re: found hole in boat !!!

How about just drilling out the old rivet and replace it with a pop rivet.
JB weld is good too.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: found hole in boat !!!

pop rivet has a hole in the center of it, and will leak.

 

[TommyA]

Re: found hole in boat !!!

There are blind sided rivets that will break the pull pin once the rivet has reached it designed length thus sealing the hole. We use them in the aircraft industry a lot of times for areas that are not reachable and require a sealed fastener. Even a solid aluminum rivet sealed in the hole with a good sealant would work well.

 

[The_Kid]

Re: found hole in boat !!!

There are closed end pop rivets available that are water tight. http://www.mcmaster.com./