A leaky boat needs some help

Fish On Fabrications
Fiberglass Supply Depot
TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

midnight_f150

Member
Joined
May 28, 2010
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
Well yesterday my buddy and I took his boat out to the lake. we know he had a very small leak but something has happened and it has turned into a good size leak now. We had about a 1/2 gal of water from this 2hr trip. I told him I would post a question on here to see what you guys think would be the best way to go about fixing it. He has talked about using that flexsteel stuff or something like that. But we werent sure which product would work best. He had replaced some rivets in it back in the summer that were bad. Thank you for your time and info and help on this.
 
Is it painted, inside or out? I would recommend steelflex on the outside or Gluvit on the inside. Gluvit needs to be painted over though as it has no uv inhibitors in it. It is great stuff though. Works its way into the rivets and seams and seals everything up nicely. Stays a little flexible too, so it wont crack on ya.

You should re-buck the rivets first before you do either one though.
 
With the boat on the trailer or on saw horses put several inches of water in the boat to see where it leaks out.
 
jspansel said:
Is it painted, inside or out? I would recommend steelflex on the outside or Gluvit on the inside. Gluvit needs to be painted over though as it has no uv inhibitors in it. It is great stuff though. Works its way into the rivets and seams and seals everything up nicely. Stays a little flexible too, so it wont crack on ya.

You should re-buck the rivets first before you do either one though.
Click to expand...

Yes it is painted inside and out!!
 
Hey guys, I'm the friend. :mrgreen: Just thought I'd add that when I was working on it previously, I had the boat up on stands and did the water test. I found a few leaks and used a boat patch that was highly recommended by several from Cabelas.com. It worked great for a while and from looking at it, all the patches are still holding great. I'm not sure where the water is coming from other than the plug might not have been tight enough. I'm planning on completely re-doing the boat soon. Adding a floor, front deck, seat, lights, anchor system, and finding someway to make it water tight again. It is painted currently but just on the outside. I didn't want to paint the inside until I had the floor and deck in. Anyways, not really wanting to spend a fortune on it but would like a good fix for it. I'm sure it will always leak since it is a 1960's model flat bottom but I figured every little bit help. Thanks midnight for posting this for me and thanks to all the help.
 
deep_fried_crappie said:
Hey guys, I'm the friend. :mrgreen: Just thought I'd add that when I was working on it previously, I had the boat up on stands and did the water test. I found a few leaks and used a boat patch that was highly recommended by several from Cabelas.com. It worked great for a while and from looking at it, all the patches are still holding great. I'm not sure where the water is coming from other than the plug might not have been tight enough. I'm planning on completely re-doing the boat soon. Adding a floor, front deck, seat, lights, anchor system, and finding someway to make it water tight again. It is painted currently but just on the outside. I didn't want to paint the inside until I had the floor and deck in. Anyways, not really wanting to spend a fortune on it but would like a good fix for it. I'm sure it will always leak since it is a 1960's model flat bottom but I figured every little bit help. Thanks midnight for posting this for me and thanks to all the help.
Click to expand...
well chris the Previous owner had paint the inside green and it still is green.
 
The big green crayons from cabelas that ya heat up? :D

I would do the Gluvit on the inside. It will go over every seal and rivet so you can make sure it is all sealed. If the paint on the inside is solid, just wire wheel off the rivets and seams to apply the gluvit and then repaint.
 
Rather then just spreading whatever all over the boat you need to find that leak 1st. Once you fund it there are a number of ways to fix it properly - but you need to find it. Fill the boat up with water and get under there with a flashlight
 

Similar threads

Stimputello
Aluminum Rivet Questions Trimming and Rivet Tool
Replies
6
Views
654
thill
thill
Smokey101
RichLine model 15 project
2
Replies
20
Views
2K
Smokey101
Smokey101
H
Going after two free boats and motors?
2 3 4
Replies
71
Views
4K
thill
thill
M
Need Lots of Help No idea where to start.
Replies
7
Views
1K
TriBull
TriBull
Smokey101
Rescue mission!
Replies
12
Views
1K
thill
thill

Latest posts

Top