How hard are leaks to fix??

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baptistpreach

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I found what I thought was / is the perfect boat for me to do next. I was wanting a 1648 with a modified v.... and I found it. Problem is this, I looked under the boat and.... wow. It looked like it had been siliconed or caulked to death. Every place there was a rivet on the bottom, all along the seam that runs down the center of the boat, it was everywhere. At first I thought, this boat must be falling apart, but now I'm thinking it had a leak somewhere, and the guy didn't know how to find it, so he siliconed every place that could possilby leak. My question is this, what does it take to fix a leaking aluminum boat? If you were me, would be interested in a boat that looked like I just described. The price is really really good I think, $450, and it comes with 50hp Evinrude that he says is running. I also saw a foot controlled TM (MK 33lb thrust) that looked to be in good shape. The inside of the boat is a dream come true, it has a rotting wood floor, and some indoor / outdoor carpet on it that is just blue death. There is also a side console with a small livewell built in the front ot it. Honestly, I can't believe it, its just perfect! My only worry is the hull. Any help guys? What could I be getting myself into???
 
Leaks can be a PITA but are not impossible. For that price get it - the 50 hp motor is worth it alone.

Do a quick search on finding and fixing leaks as there is lots of good stuff within this site
 
Captain Ahab said:
Leaks can be a PITA but are not impossible. For that price get it - the 50 hp motor is worth it alone.

Do a quick search on finding and fixing leaks as there is lots of good stuff within this site

x2
 
My 35+ year old formerly leaky jon boat is a floating testimonial that it can be fixed. It had goop patches all over the bottom when I bought it. After tightening every rivet and replacing the bad ones with SS bolts the bottom was coated with steelflex and now it is tight as a drum. As long as the rivets are the only problem and you don't have any major structural problems it can all be fixed cheaply. Mine probably would have been water tight even without the steelflex after the rivet tightening. People put all the goop on loose rivets and that never fixes the problem. If you don't mind doing some work I would say go for it for that price!
 
Basically what they said. People try to "fix" leaky rivets, instead of correctly repairing them. Goop is not for leaky boats. If it is just the rivets, they can be tightened up or replaced, easily.
 
bassboy1 said:
Basically what they said. People try to "fix" leaky rivets, instead of correctly repairing them. Goop is not for leaky boats. If it is just the rivets, they can be tightened up or replaced, easily.

Now, if we only had a tutorial for the home page...... :roll:
 
Thanks guys, I'm about 90% sure I'm gonna buy it. Its a lot like CrappieReaper's boat (at least how it looked originally) except mine has some small differences in the design, and I don't think my transom is rotted like his was. Again, I really appreciate it. I know nothing (as of now) about rivets or tightening them, I think from what I read here, you just tap them with a hammer and maybe brace the other side while doing so? Is that right?
 
baptistpreach said:
I know nothing (as of now) about rivets or tightening them, I think from what I read here, you just tap them with a hammer and maybe brace the other side while doing so? Is that right?
Essentially, yes. You want to hit it enough to flatten the tail of the rivet slightly. You want to be careful not to do no much because aluminum is so soft. I did a ton of rivets so I bought a rivet punch from an aircraft supply place and that I put in an air chisel. Only a quick short burst backed up by a 8lb sledge hammer head inside the boat was all it took. The rivet punch is concave so the head of the rivet doesn't get mishapen.
 
This is the rivet punch I used to reset the rivets on my boat. This plus a $15 dollar air chisel from Home Depot was well worth the time and sore arms it saved.
https://www.skygeek.com/ats-470-3-1-4.html
 

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