Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

a glass boat would likely be scuffed scratched and gouged.... they are way tougher than most think.....


anyhow.... you're gonna have to make some judgement calls here...... you have a couple schools of thought to choose from.... I'd make the patches only slightly larger than the cracked areas hat they cover.... the closer the rivets are to the cracks (within reason) the more rigid the repair will be.... although you could use a larger patch and outline the patch AND the crack with rivets.... will take a LOT more rivets..... As stated I suggest 5200 and jgn suggests epoxy ( I think even with some flex, it will be prone to cracking especially in cold weather and the strength is not needed.) and then there are the rivets...... You won't get a definitive consensus here.... If I were in your shoes I'd get the materials and rivet some aluminum together... Then do some destructive testing.....


I REALLY wish I had some pics of that canoe for you.... You'd see that your boat is not at all even close to seriously damaged.... as I said before EASY FIX..... relax, you'll be FINE. The repairs we are doing here will outlast the rest of the boat even if you DID halfass em!

Now I'll add the other reason I don't like the epoxy as much.... with the 5200 you can continue to beat the snot out of it and if you manage to loosen the rivets a little it won't be likely to leak... the epoxy won't be as forgiving on impacts

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

I was leaning toward epoxy myself for the flex reason. November fishing where I am is frickn cold in the mornings, and it's not uncommon to start the day off with a thin sheer of ice covering shallow areas. With water temps in the 30's and 40's that time of year, any additional flex seems important to me.

I do appreciate the hope you guys have given me, and I pray that I do a quality job that does not leak. I will be examining the hull very closely to hopefully find any and all blemishes.

Jig, If i fill my bilge with water, will I not just saturate all the foam with water, thus adding 500+ lbs to the overall weight?...or are you suggesting I remove all foam?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

Jig, If i fill my bilge with water, will I not just saturate all the foam with water, thus adding 500+ lbs to the overall weight?...or are you suggesting I remove all foam?

No, it takes a long time for the newer pourable foam to saturate... like being submerged for months. An hour or two, or even all day won't hurt anything. Your foam is closed cell so you have nothing to worry about.

With those cracks you have in the hull I'm sure your foam is pretty familiar with water.

Better to find out now if you have any other leaks than the first time you take it out on the water eh?

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

No, it takes a long time for the newer pourable foam to saturate... like being submerged for months. An hour or two, or even all day won't hurt anything. Your foam is closed cell so you have nothing to worry about.

With those cracks you have in the hull I'm sure your foam is pretty familiar with water.

Better to find out now if you have any other leaks than the first time you take it out on the water eh?

Ok, good to know. I plan on picking up some aluminum today. The .063 (1/16") seems thin to me, but will be nice and malleable which is important with this uneven hull. Is there a perfect thickness I should be after?

I've got a fastenal retail store here in town that should be able to supply the rivets (reevits) I'm after. 3/16" a good size to go with for this application? My rivet tool is also a piece of crap single handheld that I paid $12 for. From the video's I've seen, I think I need to pick up a better 2 handed tool as well.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

Ok, good to know. I plan on picking up some aluminum today. The .063 (1/16") seems thin to me, but will be nice and malleable which is important with this uneven hull. Is there a perfect thickness I should be after?

I've got a fastenal retail store here in town that should be able to supply the rivets (reevits) I'm after. 3/16" a good size to go with for this application? My rivet tool is also a piece of crap single handheld that I paid $12 for. From the video's I've seen, I think I need to pick up a better 2 handed tool as well.

.063 will be fine for your patches.

The heavy duty two handed rivet tools are the way to go, especially if you're setting closed end rivets with the steel mandrel... it takes a good amount of force and strength to set these rivets.

This is a cheap one from Harbor Freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-...and-riveter-with-collection-bottle-66422.html

I can't vouch for the quality of this tool because I've never used it, I bought a more expensive one from JayCee's online store. With the heavy duty tool you'll be able to step up to 1/4" diameter rivets if you need to.

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

I ended up going with a VHR2 Rivet tool, as the reviews on it seem to be pretty good for the price...

http://www.rivetsonline.com/to-gh-vhr2.html

I ended up ordering all my rivets from rivetsonline.com as well, since they were 1/3 the price of those from fastenal for what I presume would be the same product.

The rivets I ordered are the closed end 3/16" aluminum with the steel mandrel. 200 of the PR64ASPH (.126-.250), and 100 PR62ASPH (.020 - .125) . I should hopefully have more than enough rivets for this project.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

That's the same setting tool I have and I buy all of my rivets from there as well. That tool will make setting those steel mandrel rivets a lot easier than with the little one hand jobbies.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

That's the same setting tool I have and I buy all of my rivets from there as well. That tool will make setting those steel mandrel rivets a lot easier than with the little one hand jobbies.

Yeah jig, when you were telling me about the steel mandrel for my application on a different thread I was kind of wondering how my little reevit gun was going to manage.....

 

[Cheetah 210es]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

on temporary holding, my point was to drill one hole, and slip in a rivet without using the rivet gun and then drill a second hole.... this just gives you two points to line up the patch quickly.

Bit expensive for OP's requirements but for anyone doing larger or more frequent repairs I highly recommend some of these.
http://www.challengers101.com/ClecoTool.html

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

Yeah jig, when you were telling me about the steel mandrel for my application on a different thread I was kind of wondering how my little reevit gun was going to manage.....

You can set a 3/16 dia. steel mandrel rivet with a one hand tool... but unless you have a Hulk Hogan grip it'll take 2 hands to set it.

I had to use a one hand tool to install the 3/16 steel mandrel rivets on the trim angle on my hatch covers because of close quarters and it was a whole lot of grunting and cussing for an old man.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

You can set a 3/16 dia. steel mandrel rivet with a one hand tool... but unless you have a Hulk Hogan grip it'll take 2 hands to set it.

I had to use a one hand tool to install the 3/16 steel mandrel rivets on the trim angle on my hatch covers because of close quarters and it was a whole lot of grunting and cussing for an old man.

Yeah I bet. My grippers could use a break on life also. Hard to hold small nuts and bolts without my hands cramping up anymore...

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

I'm also planning on painting over any bare aluminum once my patches are complete. I know I need some self etching primer to coat the bare spots first, but then what? Ideally I would like to spray something on there that's a close color match. I can't find any real info on Tracker's wed site. It's the same grey / tan / brown combo that's on all Tracker boats of that era...Any good products in mind?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

Here's some Tracker colors:

http://greatlakesskipper.com/category-1/51_386-maintenance-paint.html

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

Jig, thanks for the link. Tracker was able to confirm my color as "platinum silver". $15 + shipping for 1/2 an oz. Ouch! Might be worth my while to tow the boat to a local collision center to have the paint matched with an automotive paint... I'll have more than just a small touch up when done with this.

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

It took me 2 hours to remove the old filler from one of the largest crack! I used a die grinder to get the thick stuff close to the aluminum, then wire brush on a drill to finish it off. Very tedious, and I've got another old patch to go. This is certainly the worse part of this whole projuct.

I revoved the floor above this crack, with the intention of sealing it from inside. It's a no go. This crack is directly below a welded rib. Only option is to attack from the outside.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

It's a no go. This crack is directly below a welded rib. Only option is to attack from the outside.

Of course it is, Murphy wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

for removing putty, try a 5 in 1 painters tool and a hammer...... might go LOTS faster for ya.

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

I've finally finished cleaning up the damaged hull, and have it ready for the repairs. In all I have 12 separate areas needing attention. I dont mean to bore anyone, but I've decided to list all of the damaged spots starting with the nasty, and working up to the ones that I can barely tell are cracks. Hopefully I've got nothing hidden by the trailer bunks!...although it would not surprise me if there were.

#1 - THE ABYSS

#2 - The Earthquake

#3 - The extended double trouble

#4 - Chunk

#5 - The insect

#6 - lil' deepski

...to be continued

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

#7 - The spreader

#8 - No reason

#9 - Strung out

#10 - Strung out 2

#11 - Newly born

#12 - The chameleon

 

[efdog]

Re: Tracker hull damage. Lots of it!!

It REALLY is a boat, however the floatability is still unknown...

Thanks for looking!