riveted aluminum boat seeping question

[phillyfisherman]

every one i know tells me that riveted aluminum boats seep. but how much should they seep. some people think my seeps way to much. is there any easy fixes out there i can do short of trying to re rivit it. thats just to nuts. fyi my bilage does keep up with the water .

 

[Driven1]

Re: riveted aluminum boat seeping question

I've got a 1957 Crestliner riveted 16" Aluminum boat with a 25 horse Merc on the back of it and it will do about 23mph with 2 people in it. I have personally beat the hell out of it on several occasions. None of the rivets in that boat seep. The only area that seeps at the moment (which I gotta get around to fixing) are the through bolts in the transom.

1st, in your case, I'd try to identify exactly where the water's actually coming from. It may not have anything to do with the rivets at all. If it is any of the rivets you should be able to tighten them simply by using the same method as when they were originally installed. A metal block and a hammer.

Secondly, if the seepage doen't bother you and the bilge keeps up with it, who cares what anyone else says!

 

[Joe_the_boatman]

Re: riveted aluminum boat seeping question

Maybe fill w/ water when trailered and see where it's leaking? (you wouldn't want to do this if you have floatation foam under the deck though, otherwise it'd get soaked). It might be 1 or 2 rivets, or a hole you didn't notice in the past. You could re-rivet the bad ones, or at leas temporarily patch w/ 5200, JB weld, etc. Expect it to leak again though w/ a quick fix though, but that might be good enough to keep you dry for a while.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: riveted aluminum boat seeping question

Do a seach here for GLUVIT and search on-line too. It is the epoxy designed exactly for what you have described.

 

[dimock44]

Re: riveted aluminum boat seeping question

Also look for Coat-it by Goop. I found it cheaper than Glovit. Best bet is to find the leak first and then decide how to fix it. If you use Gluvit or Coat-it you will need to paint over it. Another thing I have done in my open fishing boat is to use Wet Weld on each individual rivet. I get it at Walmart for about 4 bucks and it has held for 2 years so far.