Best way to fix a leaking rivot?

[Granny]

I went with JB Weld over a few rivots on my piece of crap canoe I bought that "does not leak". It seems to be holding up pretty good.

[Guest]

Gus;

Waterwolf's technique works very very well.

I did it last spring, and mt boat is now dry as a bone.......

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[Gus]

Boat is a 78 lund, has a side console and 50hp motor flat floor. It leaks about two - three inches of water in the back a night. I don't have the time or money to pull up and refurb the whole thing yet but I'd like to try to stop or slow the leak as the wood floor is getting pretty soft in the back. I assume it is from a rivot but I have not been able to find it so far. Any tricks to try this spring? Thanks!

[waterwolff]

Gus you might try filling the boat with water and than get underneath it and see which rivet is leaking. With the help of someone holding a maul or heavy hammer against the rivet from the inside of the boat you proceed to pound on it from the bottom side. For a temp fix you could try applying some JB weld or Liquid steel or a two part epoxy over the leaking rivet it may or may not hold depending on how much flex that portion of the hull gets when under power

[Guest]

Waterwolfs method does work, but they will eventually get loose again and other spots will develop the same problem. Even getting the boat re-riveted is a short term and expensive fix..A buddy had his done and it was dry for about a year and a half and then it started leaking again.

I have a 16ft Lund I use for duck hunting. She leaked pretty bad and I tried the hammer from both sides trick as well. Worked for about 1/2 the season.

What I ended up doing, and I've had a dry boat for 3 years now, was to coat the inside of the boat with Herculiner. The kind of stuff they put in pick-up beds It took 2 gallons to do the job and it did not significantly add to the weight of the boat, just about whatever 2 gallons would weigh, no biggie in my opinion.

You only need to go about 2-4 inches above the side rivet line, and I put on 4 coats just for added thickness. Took just a weekend to get it done, so it's not a time consuming effort.

I've had to patch some cracks and tears, but thats because I'm standing on the surface, throwing gear, anchors, etc on it, but If you replace the floor over it, that boat will never leak again. It forms a seal and it flexes so it will not peel or come off because it bonds directly to the aluminum.

You'll have to clean the surface by either sand blasting it or do what I did, get one of those wire brush attachments for drills.

I think it cost me under $125 do do the whole project, well worth the money for a dry boat.

[ackotz]

Tom Herman:
I've always wanted to do that myself...good to hear it was successful...

[Animal]

Try the product on the link I've added. I've used it to fix rivets in the past. It works great and is very simple to use. Take this for what its worth, but I would never take a hammer to the bottom of my boat. I think that you would run the risk of either making the problem worse or creating a new one.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0001390010655a&navAction=jump&navCount=0&indexId=&podId=0001390&catalogCode=IE&parentId=&parentType =&rid= &_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.1_A&_DAV=search&hasJS=trueproblem

[This message has been edited by Animal (edited 02-26-2004).]

[Gus]

Thanks everyone for all of the ideas. Now all I've got to do is decide which way to go. I'll let you know how it goes. I should be able to get it out of the yard soon with the warming weather.

[Fisher Dave]

I have used Goop® to seal plenty of leaks in the past.. it seals well, easy to apply, and last for years.. if your looking for an easy alternative, this is definately an option that will last.

[Guest]

A note on hammering rivets..........

One: You need to brace one end and hammer on the other. You can't just hammer on one side.

Two: You must hammer on the "head", DO NOT HAMMER on the end that "mushrooms". This doesn't work and may cause leaking.

Three: Make sure that you have a heavier hammer on the "mushroom" end than you do the head.

Four: Hold that hammer tight on the "mushroom" end. Don't let it bounce. Rivets are soft and will mushroom with little effort.

I did this to my old lund about 5 years ago (I'm an old sheetmetal guy), and my boat is still bone dry to this day........

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[ackotz]

The method Big G recommends was featured in a "Spring Tune-up" edition of In-Fisherman Magazine...(either last year or the year before)...I have it somewhere...

[cashcrews]

There's a product called Marine-Tex that does a very nice job of sealing around rivets, cracks, etc. About $15 or so for a small application.

I used this on a boat that's stored on a wilderness lake, there was a crack about 1/4"-wide in the bow...you could see right through it. I applied the Marine-Tex in/around the crack, put the leftovers on some leaking rivets, and it has now lasted about 4 years without a problem.

[92python]

I had an 81 Alumacraft Backtroller that I used hard on many rough days. It leeked a bit but I had a bilge pump.

I sold it to a guy I knew. He welded some of the obvious stress cracks and blown out rivets from the outside. Then coated the entire bottom of the boat with the spray on bedliner stuff. The last I heard it was still not leaking.