E-6000 sealant?

Hi all, just registered here and got a question.

First I will give the background on my boat.

A few weeks ago I bought a 1971 1432 jon boat via craigslist. Don't know the make, best guess is Sears. It needed work, and that's just what I've been doing with it. The bottom had some black coating, like thick paint or enamel, that was half chipped off from who knows how many years of use. The original paint color was a shade of blue, and most of that was chipped off too. Scrubbing off the old blue paint wasn't too hard, but scraping off the black stuff on the bottom was killer. Paint stripper didn't work. I finally got it done, and used a stiff bristle drill attachment to sand it down and remove the residue and scuff it up. Getting it ready to prime and paint, basically.

Before I paint it, I need to make sure all the leaks/patches are sealed and won't bust open. Almost all of the rivets were patched when I bought the boat. Whether they leaked or not, I can't tell... previous owner(s) must have just patched em all. The main trouble area was the middle seat, where the rivets had popped out of the seat but were still in the floor. I put in 4 stainless steel bolts to secure the seat to the floor, sealed with silicone. I was going to try and buck the loose rivets, but since they were popped through the seat, it wouldn't do much. I will just seal them up as best I can.

There were at least a couple different sealants used by previous owners. Putty, caulk, and/or epoxy it seems like. I ground off some of it, but some is still good enough to leave on I think (won't scrape or break off).

I need to patch all these rivets up, and was going to use 3M 5200, till I found that it's not made for aluminum. I backed out of that and went with E-6000 glue. So far I have tested it on one small hole at the stern in one of the runners. It cured clear, and very solid but with a bit of flex. It's fairly tacky before curing, but will slowly seep into cracks which is just what I need. It's supposed to adhere to just about everything, and stay flexible so it won't crack. Only downside is that it must be protected from UV light... no problem, I'm going to paint over it.

So I guess I'm looking for advice on the sealant... could not find much about using it on boats via Google. Anyone used it? For each rivet that has been patched, I will make sure any old non-adherent stuff is removed, sand it down, wash with a Scotch Brite pad and dry, and then apply the glue. Once I am satisfied with all the patches, I will continue to scrub the entire boat down before putting on the self etching primer and final coats of paint.

Sorry for the long post, if you got this far then thanks for the time. I will get pics up soon, as I'm sure yall are curious. She's an old beat up jon boat, but is on her way to becoming a great creek fishing machine. runs well with paddles, but I have a 34 lb trolling motor that I will be using. The goal is to get her in nice shape, and keep add-ons and modifications to a minimum.

Thanks for any advice on the glue... I hope this E6000 stuff works out.

First off welcome to the board!

Second alot of us use the 5200 and havent had any issues, i personally didnt because i used 3m's window weld because i like how hard it cured, BUT i also put bedliner on whole bottom of my boat and i needed the harder surface to paint on. But i know alot of the guys on here use it religiously with no bad effects.

Hey! Welcome to the group.

Who told you you can't use 5200 on aluminum? As the last poster said, many people here use it religiously. It adheres well and does a great job of working both as an adhesive and a sealant.

I have not heard of the glue you used so I can't comment on that.

Reason he's saying it is because if you read the tube it doesnt say anything about being able to use it on alum it just says " Bonds and seals fiberglass and wood " but it can still be used on other surfaces though.

JamesM56alum said:

Reason he's saying it is because if you read the tube it doesnt say anything about being able to use it on alum it just says " Bonds and seals fiberglass and wood " but it can still be used on other surfaces though.

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that's right, the packaging got me suspicious and then I started researching, didn't find anything that says it works well on aluminum, so I didn't buy it. I just don't want it to start peeling off a year or two down the road. I'm gonna use this E-6000 and hope it holds up for a long time. It will bond to aluminum, is flexible even in cold temps, is very tough and also waterproof. That's about what I need so I hope it works. Got it in the marine section right next to the 5200 at Academy.

Hopefully it works out for you. If it doesn't, get some 5200 it will not come off.

I used 3M-4200 on the bolts above the waterline. E-6000 is good for making red-neck wine glasses.

I told you 5200 fool!! LOLOLOL!! Welcome to it catman!!

Ha Big J! We'll see how this 6000 holds up, I guess my boat is a guinea pig....

Call me and we will get a underwater metal detector to go pull your boat up from the bottom of the lake! LOLOLOLOLOOl

I have used 3M 5200 on aluminum boats for years without any issues. That being said, I used to work for an alarm company, where we used E 6000 for attaching conatcts and such to windows and doors. Im not sure how it is for sealing things, but if you want to glue something, that is some top notch stuff.