Rivet gun for Aluminum Boats

Thanks everyone for the tips. Will put some to use and see how she goes.

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Originally Posted by sawbill

Often times you can't get at a leaking rivet with a hammer and backing mall because its under a seat or bracket. The simplest fix by far is a two part epoxy. As the old phart from east of the Soo says, put it up on sawhorses and slowly add water. Watch which rivets drip then mark'em with a black (or pink if you prefer) marker pen. Buff and clean them up with a wire brass wheel and apply the epoxy. I bought G/flex from Thunder Bay and it was utterly amazing stuff. It was liquid enough to drip on a rivet then it actually seeped through to coat both inside and outside of the rivet. I worked on a boat about 8 years ago, its sits outside in the snow every winter and still doesn't leak one drop.

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Thumbs Up pal!

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Originally Posted by sawbill

As the old phart from east of the Soo says, put it up on sawhorses and slowly add water.

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Hey, I resemble that remark!

Ok so i figure i will give everyone an update in case someone else finds themselves in a similar situation. To recap, that is with a crappy leaky old aluminum boat and no idea what to do.

So my neighbour and I spent about 15-20 hours sanding the whole this down. Mainly because there was lots of residue from old caulking all over most of the rivets and i wanted to get rid of all the old stuff.

Used something similar to this https://www.amazon.ca/3M-9099DCNA-La...7W1FBEY02CMNEM

So once that was done I bought West System G Flex epoxy. These two little bottles was enough to cover all the rivets on a 12' boat with about 1/5th remaining in the bottle. I applied it very liberally, meaning i certainly wasted plenty and could have done a bigger boat if i cared about it dripping down and wastage. https://www.westsystem.com/specialty...ughened-epoxy/

So after all this I bought a used 4-5 year old 6Hp Suzuki and it doesn't go fast but gets me out fishing. Will likely paint it camo and install a blind with a sort of custom metal pole system - something like this https://files.osgnetworks.tv/8/files...to_blind_F.jpg and use it for waterfowl as well to access places further than my canoe.

Also a fun fact, for someone that has never boated before in a small aluminum, a 12' boat with only one person in the back with a small motor and 12l external tank is terrible. You point right at the sky if you want to have any speed at all. With a passenger in the front no issue and rides level. So for me i put two cinder blocks in the front and I am gtg!

TLDR - got boat, sanded boat, epoxed boat and embarked on my maiden voyage with the SS s-box.

Sounds great, add some pics if you can :)

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Originally Posted by CDN008

Ok so i figure i will give everyone an update in case someone else finds themselves in a similar situation. To recap, that is with a crappy leaky old aluminum boat and no idea what to do.

So my neighbour and I spent about 15-20 hours sanding the whole this down. Mainly because there was lots of residue from old caulking all over most of the rivets and i wanted to get rid of all the old stuff.

Used something similar to this https://www.amazon.ca/3M-9099DCNA-La...7W1FBEY02CMNEM

So once that was done I bought West System G Flex epoxy. These two little bottles was enough to cover all the rivets on a 12' boat with about 1/5th remaining in the bottle. I applied it very liberally, meaning i certainly wasted plenty and could have done a bigger boat if i cared about it dripping down and wastage. https://www.westsystem.com/specialty...ughened-epoxy/

So after all this I bought a used 4-5 year old 6Hp Suzuki and it doesn't go fast but gets me out fishing. Will likely paint it camo and install a blind with a sort of custom metal pole system - something like this https://files.osgnetworks.tv/8/files...to_blind_F.jpg and use it for waterfowl as well to access places further than my canoe.

Also a fun fact, for someone that has never boated before in a small aluminum, a 12' boat with only one person in the back with a small motor and 12l external tank is terrible. You point right at the sky if you want to have any speed at all. With a passenger in the front no issue and rides level. So for me i put two cinder blocks in the front and I am gtg!

TLDR - got boat, sanded boat, epoxed boat and embarked on my maiden voyage with the SS s-box.

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Thanks for giving an update on the story! I wish there were more folks doing that. We get so many people who pop on here with questions, they get a ton of answers and suggestions, then we never hear from them again? As fratri say's, let's see some pics. Enjoy your new boat!

Apologies for the super late update but i had issues with my phones camera that i just lived with it but got frustrated and so then convinced Apple to repair it :) sent it for repair and just got a loaner.

So you will notice that the leaking epoxy goes up because i did the work while upside down. No pics of the underside yet although you can imagine what it looks like. Might get it off the water next week to paint it for waterfowl, havent decided yet. Lots of work to turn this into a waterfowl boat with painting and building a custom rig to hold cam netting.

Last pic is of my canoe I did last year and will maybe take the time to do this again for the boat. My work will see me travelling a lot this fall so I'm not sure i want to build a rig that will allow me to travel more on the water for ducks when i can just take the canoe out here and there to my usual spots.

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almost 50 year old canoe Before photo
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After photos
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Its hard to tell from your pics but it looks like your motor is attached to the transom on an aluminum covered strip. If this is the case you should make sure you have a safety rope or chain attached from the boat to your motor. It should be kept short enough so that if the motor decided to head back to shore on its own the the rope will keep it from ending up in the drink. Don't ask me how I know this.

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Originally Posted by sawbill

Its hard to tell from your pics but it looks like your motor is attached to the transom on an aluminum covered strip. If this is the case you should make sure you have a safety rope or chain attached from the boat to your motor. It should be kept short enough so that if the motor decided to head back to shore on its own the the rope will keep it from ending up in the drink. Don't ask me how I know this.

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The transom has a a piece of wood on the inside and i think on the outside it sits on the metal of the boat. The wood is caving in a bit where the two bolts screw into it but seems solid for now. Maybe will rig up a rope next time im out just in case.