Mass Rivet Replacement ?

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derekdiruz

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I just picked up a 1967 MonArk 1448. There’s loads of bondo and JB weld on the bottom of it. Decided to tackle one issue at a time with it, and took it to the welder last week. Had ground off a lot of Jb weld and had appropriate patches welded in place where needed.

Brought it home and filled it with water to check. There’s probably 2 dozen seriously leaky rivets. Has anyone replaced that many with good success? The bottom of the hull was beat up pretty good at some point and many of the rivets are at the point i don’t think rebucking them is a good option.

I was thinking I’d use sealed pop rivets with washers as necessary. I’d also apply 5200 as i Installed them. Does anyone see an issue with this? They’re spread over the hull and not particularly concentrated to any area on the boat. I feel like I’d be more confident using pop rivets than solid rivets with this, though I have some on hand and have done those before.

Thoughts?


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I have replaced rivets with pop rivets and sealed them off with JB Weld. I've had really good luck with the kind that comes in a stick and you work the two parts together with your fingers until it's all the same color.
You can weld up leaky rivets, it can be challenging because the rivet material melts at a lower temperature than the base material. If you have a good welder locally he could do that. I weld a small circle around the rivet then tie it in at the last second. Or you can cut small rivet patches and weld over the rivet. The caveat here is once you start welding on a riveted boat, it can cause more problems as the heat distorts the aluminum and melts out any seam sealer that may have been in there.
Tough to say without seeing it but I likely would be inclined to rebuck the ones you can, replace the ones you can't and seal them all with JB and go fishing. The key to longevity with JB Weld is to have the aluminum sanded down clean before applying.

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I’d use solid rivets myself, would make it good as new and so toot sweet simple that my little one re-riveted her boat back together herself when she was 12. She started out holding the bucking bar but after the 1st 2 were in, she wanted to run the air hammer.

She probably did a couple dozen ... whilst I counted > 360 when I re-riveted my transom back together.

Most can borrow an air compressor & air line from someone, so besides the rivets (JC Rivets online, https://www.rivetsinstock.com/ ) you only need the air impact hammer ~$13, the brazier head rivet forming tool $10 ... and then find a block of steel for a bucking bar or buy the neat one here for $20.

This link here has the sites to buy the brazier head tool and bucking bar: https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=41248&hilit=Brazier+tool

When you think about ... your hull will now be as good as new, your hull will be worth more if/when you go to sell it, and you can then handle any future repair on this or any other tin boat. For about a $45 investment, less shipping, your repairs will be professionally done.
 

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Great point on the resale value for using solid rivets - though you should get some hearing protection while you're at it.

When you go to buy a boat and the seller has tons of goop all over the bottom and tells you "she doesn't leak at all" where would your confidence level be? I'd be offering $100 on an $1,000 asking price or walking personally.
 
I just ordered some sealed rivets and I think I’ll use the solid ones where I can. My concern is with the dings to the bottom of the boat that have caused deformation to where they leak, I may not be able to rebuck to replace with a solid rivet to the level that I can with a pop rivet. Thanks for the insight.

I’ll post some pics of my work to show what I’m working with. It’s a beat up old hull that I’m trying to breath life into.




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When you remove the old rivets you may find the holes have been wallowed out and you will have to drill them out to the next size larger.
 
derekdiruz said:
I just ordered some sealed rivets and I think I’ll use the solid ones where I can. My concern is with the dings to the bottom of the boat that have caused deformation to where they leak, I may not be able to rebuck to replace with a solid rivet to the level that I can with a pop rivet...
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Start with the solid rivets first - best on a piece of scrap if you have some aluminum handy - you'll be amazed how well you can tighten them up once you get the hang of it. A few cleclos might be helpful too - the butterfly nut tightening ones, not the quick grips.

Do order them over-sized though - that was a good point we all forgot to mention.
 
A 2 - 5 pound mini sledge hammer works great as a bucking block for Brazier style rivets. I ordered the brazier head rivet attachment that fits my air hammer and used the rivet attachment without the large spring that comes with the air hammer. Rivets turned out perfect, very strong and once painted looked like they were done at the factory. The only thing about the about the sledge hammer is you won’t be able to get into small corners.
 

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