Seal leaks over paint

I did a search and did not see this exact topic discussed.

I have leaks along the seams and rivets of my boat. This is an older boat and it has been painted (probably multiple times). I have tried using a wire brush, sand paper etc. and the paint is extremely difficult to get off especially out of all of the rivets, seams etc. I would like to seal this boat up since it is leaking.

Boat has a full deck inside and has foam in between the deck and the hull. Foam is holding water as far as I can tell since boat weeps at the seams long after it has been out of the water. Is there anything I can put along the seams on the outside over the paint to keep it from leaking? I will be working upside-down since boat will be on trailer.

Trying to get at the inside of the boat would mean cutting out entire floor and replacing, probably more work than I want to do on this boat.

Thought about Gulvit, 5200, Aluminum epoxy you break off and push between your fingers to activate not sure if any of these will work over paint.

At the top of this page there is a thread "Everything Steelflex" Read through this it should help you fix your leaks.

lckstckn2smknbrls said:

At the top of this page there is a thread "Everything Steelflex" Read through this it should help you fix your leaks.

Click to expand...

I read through the thread and it said that it would be very difficult to apply this upside down. Trying to flip the boat over will be extremely difficult and require removing engine.

Can this Steelflex be applied upside down while boat is on trailer?

Any help here would be great. I have some JB WaterWeld which I am going to try but not sure if it will do the job. I figure at this point it can't hurt. I really like the lay out and the deep V of my boat but I can find a nother hull pretty cheap. So not sure how much work I really want to put in.

Bzalmano said:

Any help here would be great. I have some JB WaterWeld which I am going to try but not sure if it will do the job. I figure at this point it can't hurt. I really like the lay out and the deep V of my boat but I can find a nother hull pretty cheap. So not sure how much work I really want to put in.

Click to expand...

IMO, it's going to be a mess if you paint it upside down. At first when the epoxy is first applied it will seem like it won't drip, but as the material settles, it definitely will. I just did a small 3" section on the bottom of my boat and this happened.

If it were me, I would remove the PITA engine and fip the boat.