repairing rivit hole in aluminum??

G

GaryRI

Active member
A buddy & I picked up a 14' grumman boat & it has a couple missing rivits & nail size punctures. We're painting it & going to put on a minimal blind to use it in marshes/"small" water.

Scuff the aluminum then use epoxy (Marinetex) or some sort of silicon best to fill the holes?

3M 5200?

Cabelas Aluminum boat patch?
 
I would tig weld it. If you can't do it yourself run it by a welding shop after filling the boat with water in order to find all holes and leaks. Mark all the holes and look out for any dents where the metal has been streached. Also any loose rivits. It will be well worth the very small cost. and will be a permanent fix .
Al Peterson
 
I believe it is. I have heard it can be done by two people with the correct resetting tool but I have no personal
experience at it.
 
Gary ,

Tig would be the best way but if you search out blind rivets in Mc Master Carr we used them on an old Starcraft my dad and i had years ago , word of warning do not put any copper based paint on that hull in saltwater the saltwater will cause electroisis and eat those rivets right out , makes sense but saw it 1st hand here at a local yacht club new boat sitting on the bottom !!! Good Luck with it all




Dave M
 
Gary,

If you have access to both sides of the hull at the rivet hole location then yes replacing the rivets is fairly simple. I had to replace a few with my old wolverine hull. I made it a one man job by rotating the hull on the trailer to locate the hole in a vertical axis with good clearance around it. A new, close fitting rivet was slipped in place from below with a dab of marine sealer on the underside of the head. Then I’d jack (hydraulic bottle jack) an old cast bronze chunk that I use as an anvil up against the rivet head. For “good” contact I’d apply enough jack pressure that the hull would just start to lift on the trailer springs. Then the rivet could be seated with the hand tool and a large ball peen hammer.

Important notes:

You must use soft aluminum rivets. The rivets must be almost a tight fit in the hole so they fill the hole when hammered. This may require drilling the hole out to the next size. You want a rivet with a large dia. but low dome head. Lou has offered rivets for sale before but I think you’ll need to buy the tool (hand or air) somewhere else. I believe I bought my hand tool from either Cabelas or BassPro but I’m sure a net search will turn up a few. The kit’s only came with one size rivet which required locating other sources for the rivets. Length is also very important so buy the correct length or oversized and trim to proper length. Drummel and cut off wheel works fine.

Tig’ing is not a bad way to go!

Got to run,
Scott
 
Gary, re riviting can work well. For just a few rivits, hand tools work as good as air tools. Any place that repairs semi trailers should have a good asst. of alum. rivits. A lot of older boats have a rubberish gasket in the rivited seam, I'd think welding would be hard on this gasket. I hpoe this helps, good luck!
Dennis
 
Gary,
I'm not a fan of blind rivets in that application though there are some waterproof blind rivets available.
Al. hammer rivets are what you want with access to both side of the metal. JayCee Sales & Rivet is a great place for rivets & tools.
Try here: www.rivetsinstock.com/
There are in Farmington, Michigan.......about 20 miles from us but they will ship anywhere.

As mentioned, have the areas for repair done by somebody with a TIG welder. Another product I've had excellent results with is Alumiweld.

www.alumiweld.com homepage

www.alumiweld.com/h2uaw.html How to use it.

I've repaired everything from tears & punctures in Aluminum boats to model airplane engines & mufflers. You can even well a pop can with this stuff. I've been using it for over 25 years (or so).
Lou
 
My buddy found an alumiweld type product & is going to fill up the leaks/holes & use the boat this summer to do some pond/lake fishing.

Thanks for input.
 
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