What is the best way to fix leaky rivets?

[JMyer30]

What is the best way to fix leaky rivets? I wanted to strip the paint fill boat with water find leaks put new rivets, my brother on the other hand wants to find leaks with out striping paint and use some kind of aluminum puddy? So the question is what is the best way for a permeant fix?

 

[jrttoday]

'round about 2000? I used that roll/brush in bedliner in my '65 Sears 12' aluminum. Still holding with lots of abuse - dragging over logs, hitting stumps etc. There may be other ways? this works for me....

 

[gm280]

I personally would buck the leaking rivets. And then if you want to paint or seal the boat after the fixes, have at it. But it isn't that hard to rebuck leaking rivets with a helper. JMHO!

 

[jrttoday]

I personally would buck the leaking rivets. And then if you want to paint or seal the boat after the fixes, have at it. But it isn't that hard to rebuck leaking rivets with a helper. JMHO!

gm is right! If you can persuade lol your brother or the other, there's your help. As usual, I had no help.... but if you'll look on page 5 of this thread, you can see 15yo work still holding water in as well as out. And that's with actual bolts going through my hull sealed w/silicone. It isn't pretty , but the carpet hasn't been off in years and just started cleaning etc...

not going to hijack yor thread with my pics!!!!! lol <<< http://forums.iboats.com/forum/other/dockside-chat/10076650-re-hijackin-a-thread >>>

 

[GA_Boater]

Gluvit or Coat-It are better choices for sealing after re-bucking or replacing rivets. You seal from the inside.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Bucking a rivet? I've heard of bucking a tree.......

I'm assuming they're talking about re-expanding the leaky rivet. I've had success with a past boat by getting someone to hold a sledgehammer on the leaky rivet from under the hull and I would smack the rivet with a 16oz claw hammer from the inside. Maybe a couple times. It did expand the rivet. Then you can use a product made for leaky rivets. Like the ones GA posted. If some are barely leaking, the sealant may be all you need....

 

[airshot]

If you have access to the inside of the rivet or inside the boat then bucking the rivet is easy. Caution though......you need a bucking tool with an indented head that fits the rivet head then smack the inside with a hammer. If you don't have the radius tool (bucking tool) for the rivet head they could leak even worse if you hit the rivet head with a flat hammer. Bucking tools are availiable online or if you know someone that works in a machine shop they can easily be made. I made mine many years back but the larger boat I have now I cannot reach the inside and I am not going to rip up the floor for a couple leaky rivets. Just keep a good bilge pump in working order like I do so the leaking rivets get pumped out.

 

[shortyr]

What I did was painted outside of boat with bed liner. The putty is a good fix if you don't have another one start leaking.

 

[64osby]

What boat are you talking about?

What are the uses?

How good can you swim?

 

[WIMUSKY]

Bedliner? All that comes to mind is tremendous drag.....

 

[jbcurt00]

Having the misfortune to remove bedliner from an aluminum boat, I wont ever buy another that has had it applied, recommend it as a choice (certainly not a good choice, IMO) nor use it on any aluminum boat I ever own.

 

[crazy charlie]

Had a 24 ft Chrysler lonestar cabin cruiser with rivets that leaked.Couldnt turn it over and work on it so I went from the inside and cleaned very thoroughly with a brass brush on a drill.(was told by an aluminum welder not to use a wire brush,ONLY USE BRASS) applied asmall drop of 3m 5200 to the rivet and hit it with a heat gun which thinned out the 5200 to drip into any void.Followed it up with a dollop of 5200 with no heat.It worked 100% .Where I had a string of 5 rivets leaking I did the same and finished with a strip of aluminum over the top and made a sandwich.also worked 100% Charlie

 

[robert graham]

On my 30 plus year old aluminum riveted canoe and the occasional loose or leaking rivet I've always just applied a small blob of 3M Yellow Weatherstrip Adhesive to both sides of the rivet( if possible/accessible)...seals it right up for a year or 2....then wire brush and re-apply...pretty darn easy and cheap!....I did actually lose a rivet some years ago and replaced it with stainless steel round head/ Phillips head machine screw and a Nyloc nut on the inside of hull...So far,so good!

 

[crazy charlie]

You are asking for some long term trouble to that area if you use dissimilar metals which you have.A large hole is what you will wind up with.Take out the bolt and nut and put nylon washers on the nut and bolt to isolate the metal on metal.The stronger(more noble) metal will create electrolysis like action on the aluminum and eventually fizzle it away.Even if it is not submerged in water!! Thats right,Charlie

 

[airshot]

Stainless steel will not cause electrolysis nor will the nylok nut, so why the concern there? I have had ss screws in my old johnboat for 30 yrs with not even any discoloration.

 

[crazy charlie]

You are 100% incorrect.Electrolysis may be the wrong term however read my previous reply,it is 100% accurate.Disimiliar metals will cause the least noble(weaker) of the metals to corode.The dissimilar metals having contact will set up a galvanic like reaction.This is not opinion it is fact.

 

[64osby]

Looking at the chart stainless and aluminum shouldn't be a good match. Looks like zinc coating should be very good, but I haven't found zinc coatings to be rust resistant in the long run.

I have had great experiences using Stainless on aluminum hulls. Maybe it is due to using a sealant in the hole and under the head of the fastener.

 

[airshot]

My experience with zink coating and aluminum has been terrible, the zink oxidizes and eats away the aluminum, saw it happen many times. However I have not in more than 35 years ever saw ss and aluminum cause a problem. I can't argue with your chart but in real life....never had or saw an issue and I have been into alum boats for more than 50 yrs.

 

[crazy charlie]

Nice chart.What people like airshot don't get is that whether you see it or not,THERE IS A REACTION BETWEEN THE TWO METALS.They don't see the immediate reaction ,meanwhile the entire surrounding area becomes thinner and thinner.It may not be obvious but guaranteed it does happen.Charlie

 

[GA_Boater]

So what do you use to attach hardware to an aluminum boat if SS will eat the boat up?