? How To: ? Applying JB Weld on a rivet?

Topic says it all...

After stripping, sanding, cleaning, sanding and cleaning again, I have a bare, clean rivet, that leaks. What is the best way to apply the JB Weld to this rivet?

Any pictures or a you tube video or anything personal hands on would help.

1. I don't want to over use it.
2. I don't want to do it wrong.
3. I don't want to do it again.


Thanks for reading. Any one have insight?


~ Erik

Fixing things with JB Weld just happens to be my specialty :wink:

I've patched several leaky rivets on my boats with JB Weld and have never had a problem. I've prepped the same way you've described. Coat the rivet once with JBW, get a pretty good coat on there and let it dry. Follow it up with another coat and then sand to desired smoothness, then prime, paint or whatever. If you are putting a floor on and won't see the interior river, dab some on there as well. You should be good to go. Others may chime in with advice as well. I don't have any rivet pictures on habd, but here are some JBW repairs I made on my transom.

Thank you for the reply. It actually sounds as though what I was about to do, was basically right. Quick question though, based on your photo;

Is that a flat surface on the transom there? Where the rivet is "raised" from the actual aluminum hull, is your JB Weld applied in a
way that "hides" the bump of the rivet? This is the part that confuses me.

No rivets in the transom, just wanted to show that you don't need to goop it on too heavy, a few light coats work best. I've never tried to hide the bump of the rivet, just sand a nice little hump on there and it should be fine.

just a drip or two on the tip of the rivet, then sorta let it "melt" down to the hull? forming a seal, then apply again after it cures, then sand/paint ?

A couple hammers and a buddy will tighten that rivet right up and is a permanent fix. JB Weld is just a bandaid. Might as well fix it the right way especially since its so simple.

Just hold a hammer against the flat side of the rivet and give a couple good whacks on the head of it with the other hammer. The buddy is only needed if you cant reach both sides of the rivot yourself.

Just a tip for using JBWeld.
I talked with the company at one time, and was advised that one can thin out JB with mineral spirits, as much as 50%. (2:1 mix of weld to spirits.) I was looking at making it more "pourable", so as to use it for a sample part for casting into aluminum.

Thinning it out would surely help getting it into the leak area, assuming re-bucking the rivet doesn't help.

Roger

Well I was bored and am still not sure how I want to go about the rivets, I took another pass at them with acetone and you wouldn't believe the amount of paint that came out again! Geez....

You only have one leaky rivot, correct? Rebuck it and Steelflex the bottom of the boat. Problem solved!!

Weeellll..... I have several leaky rivets. I filled my boat up with water, and crawled under there to circle any leaking... Needless to say the bottom of the boat looked like I pained it black =\

Luckily it's only a 1032 jon and nothing in it at all, just benches from the factory. Boat is about '96 I might guess, Maybe earlier. Sears Gamefisher

Oh, your first post made it seem like only one rivot. I would still rebuck or replace if you plan to keep the boat more than a couple years. Rebucking is very simple. Since you have a bunch of them, I would pass on the two hammers method and purchase an air hammer. I got one at Harbor freight for 13 bucks. It came with several bits and I turned one of them into a bucking bit in about 5 minutes. I can post more on that if your interested. It will require a buddy though. It takes about 5 seconds to rebuck a rivot.

jigngrub has posted a thousand posts on replacing rivots with blind pop rivots. It requires a special tool as well and epoxy. I still dont feel like it's the best method but its definately better than just gooping some JB Weld over them. If your interested in his method it shouldnt be hard to find his links.

Well there isn't a lot of time left for me to fish this year, with fall fast approaching. In the spring/summer next year I will use it again until this time.

I hope to then upgrade the boat to hopefully a 14/48 and plan to fully mod it out. That or find a really great deal on a bass tracker? It will all depend on how the money is. So in the short term, no I don't "plan" to keep this around forever, but at the same time, who knows in a couple years...

I hear ya. I dont "plan" to keep mine more than a few years either. I too would like to find a deal on a Bass Tracker or a good used 16' jon but with an 8 month old and a pregnant wife, not to mention the adoption were currently going through for our 4 year old, monies tight and I think my little boat could be around for awhile. That being said, I'm taking my time and doing everything right so it dosnt cost me more money down the road. I'm thinking it may be more valueable when it comes time to resell as well because of my work but that could just be my imagination, lol.

I've been reading about the SteelFlex you mentioned... I can't quite pinpoint the function of this stuff. Is it like "truck bed liner" stuff, but for inside a boat, basically? Just coat the bottom of the boat from the inside? It's only a 1032 so I bet I could get away with using 1/2 gallon?

Hey, a well maintained used boat will get more than a cheaply fixed used boat. So I agree with you there! hahaha

No its not like bedliner at all. Its a 2 part epoxy that gets very hard and dries very slick but remains flexable. It goes on the outside of the boat. It requires a little prep but it sounds like your allready prepped if you wanted to go that route. Dosnt need any primer, just apply to bare aluminum. Checkout the "Everything Steelflex" thread to get all the info on it.

Goo and paint are only temporary fixes for leaky rivets... and so is rebucking an already weakened rivet.

Zeedog, how many rivets do you have leaking? If it's under 15 or 20, I'd still fix with JB Weld.

BassBlaster, why do you think the JB Weld is not the best fix (considering time and money)? I agree that replacing the rivets and air hammering in would be "factory" fix, but for a few here does it seem worth it?

Fixing it right by rebucking the rivet is free since most people already have 2 hammers, or a hammer and a sledge or whatever. I don't know why more tin boaters do not just do it the right way, we are cheap!

JB weld is a less effective solution both from a time and money viewpoint... it takes longer to mix and apply to a leaky rivet than a couple hammer taps does, you have to wait for it to cure to see if it holds water, and you are using a consumable material in the process which you had to buy!

acabtp said:

Fixing it right by rebucking the rivet is free since most people already have 2 hammers, or a hammer and a sledge or whatever. I don't know why more tin boaters do not just do it the right way, we are cheap!

JB weld is a less effective solution both from a time and money viewpoint... it takes longer to mix and apply to a leaky rivet than a couple hammer taps does, you have to wait for it to cure to see if it holds water, and you are using a consumable material in the process which you had to buy!

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I've read that:

jigngrub said:

Goo and paint are only temporary fixes for leaky rivets... and so is rebucking an already weakened rivet.

Click to expand...

Ictalurus said:

Zeedog, how many rivets do you have leaking? If it's under 15 or 20, I'd still fix with JB Weld.

BassBlaster, why do you think the JB Weld is not the best fix (considering time and money)? I agree that replacing the rivets and air hammering in would be "factory" fix, but for a few here does it seem worth it?

Click to expand...

If were only considering time and money, I can rebuck a rivot before you can get your pack of JB Weld opened and I can replace a rivot or at least be very close to finished in the time it takes you to mix yours up. As far as money goes, It cost me $13 for my air hammer, I made a bucking bit from one of the bits that came with it. I get the rivots local by the pound at $6 a pound. Theres a whole lotta rivots in a pound. So I guess my way costs a few dollars more but were talking a few bucks for a permanent proper fix rather than a fix that will need to be fixed again. This assumes one allready has a compressor to run the air hammer. If not, go borrow one. Everyone knows someone with a compressor. It dosnt have to be fancy. Mine is a little small 5 gal pancake compressor that is better suited for airing up tires. I cant buck rivots back to back to back but I'm not building boats, just fixing leaky rivots. It dosnt kill me to have to wait a couple minutes after a few rivots for the compressor to catch up.