Re: Help! Hole in boat!
If its in a place that can't be welded due to styrofoam above the cut, or whatever, you can cold patch it sort of like a bycycle inner tube. <br /><br /><br />Before I got into TIG welding, I had a 2" and a 4" hole to sea on my Aluminum boat where a port-o-pottie water intake and 'exhaust' that emptied to sea under the boat had been removed.<br /><br />I got a piece of Aluminum pretty close to the same thickness as the hull, at the local scrapyard. Cut a 4" and 6" circle from it, drilled 3/16ths dia. holes about 3/4 inch apart all around the edges for common hardware store pop-rivets.<br /><br />Placed the patches over the hole, drilled through the boat, and set 1 rivet, then another to hold the patch while I drilled the rest of the holes. <br /><br />I then drilled out the 2 rivets I'd set to hold the patch steady, and de-burred & cleaned the area on both the patch and the hull.<br /><br />To put it together, I put a huge bead of the red automotive gasket maker type silicone, about 1/2" thick around and close to the outboard edge of the patch. It was a mess too, over and around the rivet holes. I put it on the hull side too, just to be sure I made as big of a mess as possible.<br /><br />Then,<br />Stuck the patch up there on the bottom and set all the pop-rivets in the pre-drilled holes. Wipped off the goo that came out the edge, and lived happily ever after. That was 10 years ago, and it hasn't leaked a drop.<br /><br />If I'd thought of it at the time, I'd probably have used JB Weld as the sealer and set all the rivets in the patch while it was still 'wet'.<br /><br />If you go that route, make your patch is about a inch or so bigger all the way around your gash/hole to give plenty of room for your rivets, which need to be about 1/8th to 1/4 inch from the edge of your patch.<br /><br />It isn't a pretty repair, but its fast to do, and will work permantly. <br /><br />If ya need it, send me a email. I'll get your address and send you a patch. I've got a bunch of .050" and 1/8" Alum. sheet & plate left over from building this hydroplane. Send me a self addressed envelope big enough, with about 3 stamps on it, the size ya need, and I'll cut it out and mail the patch back to ya. I just took about 75 pounds of tailings to the scrap yard last week, but still have plenty of sheet stock for odds & ends projects like this. <br /><br />Ed.
