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patching aluminum boat

roysharoysha Member Posts: 749 ✭✭✭✭
edited September 2002 in General Discussion
Picked up a 12 ft. aluminum fishing boat cheap the other day. I knew it had a couple of holes (1 in the bottom and 1 in the side, each about 1 1/2")in it but the price was right. How do you patch holes in aluminum boats? Beauty is not really an issue but would like it to look decent.
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  • woodsrunnerwoodsrunner Member Posts: 5,378 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Go to the local Home Depot and get some aluminum roof flashing. Open the holes up just enough to make them square. Cut some patches about 1/4" larger than the hole on each side. You can get (maybe even rent) a tool from the auto parts store that will flange the edges of the patch so its flush. Pop rivet the patch in place with a sealer of some type applied to the back of the flange. I used a 2 part epoxy. Put the rivets in from the outside in so there will be no protrusions. It will look best if you paint the boat afterwards. That's how I did it. Only took a couple hours after all the materials were gathered up. I did a canoe.

    Woods
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  • dads-freeholddads-freehold Member Posts: 1,361 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    greetings, patching is ok, but for the best service get it heliarced at a weld shop.or take it to the local high school and let the student welders do it for free. respt submitted dads-freehold

    if your going to be a savage, be a headhunter
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  • reel-guyreel-guy Member Posts: 46 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I agree with dads.... altho you can "patch" the flashing is fairly light in gauge and will leak after time.

    Get it heli-arc'd.......... I did it on a duck boat 15 years ago and it has never leaked. That boat sees a lot of abuse.
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  • alledanalledan Member Posts: 19,541
    edited November -1
    When I had my Alumacraft i managed to put a couple tears in the bottom by running into underwater obsticals. The only thing that was reasonable {so i was told] was to have aluminum plates welded on to it which i had the marina do. This what you may want to do but I had problems with the welding for as long as i owned the boat.

    It appears that in the summertime when the boat is hot from the sun and it is put in cold water it cracks. The cracks weren't bad and just let in a tiny bit of water but it weas something I didn't like.To seal off the leaks I used Liquid Steel and sanded it down. This stopped the leaks at least for one trip out before i sold it.

    i have seen a little trick used on an aluminum boat where one guy had taken two squares of aluminum approx. 1/2" larger than the hole on all four sides. He then centered and drilled holes thru the squares of aluminum. Next he smeared non hardening Form-A Gasket on one side of each alum. Square and bolted one square on the inside and one on the outside. He used a jam nut on the bolt so that it would stay in place without having to "hog" the nut down and deform the small plates.

    I would use two 6" plates and two matching pieces of gasket material and rivet them on to the boat. You can get marine rivets at most good Aluminum boat dealers that have a repair shop.

    Just when you think your out of the woods,a tree falls on you!
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  • Smoky14Smoky14 Member Posts: 531 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    DO NOT square the holes. This will create a stress crack in the corners. Rounded corners will prevent cracking. Just overlap the patch and use a GOOD sealer. I use double thickness, one patch inside, one outside.
    Been fixing aircraft for 20yrs+ and they fly and don't leak.

    Respect for self Respect for others Responsible for all actions
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  • agloreaglore Member Posts: 6,012
    edited November -1
    Buy a couple of tubes of Aluminox. It can be put on while the boat is either on land or in the water.

    AlleninAlaska

    http://www.outdoor-o-rama.com

    He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
    -- Thomas Paine
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  • pantera7974pantera7974 Member Posts: 938 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    curly would have just drilled another hole in the boat to let the water out......HEY MOE,HEY MOE!!!
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  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 36,085 ******
    edited November -1
    J.B. Weld will fix a cracked engine block, so it will surely fix a dinky boat.

    SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net
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  • AlerionAlerion Member Posts: 61 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hasn't anybody heard of duct tape?

    Just Kidding! :)

    Welding is probably the strongest and best looking solution but works better on cracks than holes. Although filler plates can be welded in. Make sure fillers aren't a thinner gauge than the hull.

    If you patch it yourself I agree with Smokey14. Don't put square corners on any holes and use a double patch, one inside and one outside. DON'T use pop rivets! They're hollow and will leak as soon as the little expansion bead in them slips a little bit. (If not before!) Plus the back side of a pop rivet will cut bare feet apart if inside the hull or snag on stuff and break off if outside. (Most of my patching has been on aluminum livery canoes BTW.) Use solid rivets to attach the patch. Solid rivets are easy to install as long as you have a second person to help you. (Tell him/her that holding the backing block is the easy job!) :)

    If you have any cracks, stop-drill them before you patch them. Otherwise they'll continue to expand. At the very ends of each crack, drill a small hole. Make sure the crack ends in the hole and doesn't go beyond it. This prevents the crack from creeping.

    The best way to make a patching job look good is to make the patches look good before you put them on. Form them to a shape that looks like it belongs there and round off any sharp corners before you put the patches in place. Try to make the patches follow the lines of the hull.

    Good Luck,

    Tom



    So, just how does rendering me defenseless protect you from violent criminals?
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  • muleymuley Member Posts: 1,583 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    roysha......Sounds like you've got good advice now. Here is something that I've used for smaller holes up to 1/4", cracks and leaky rivets that can't be bucked. Just click on the link.

    muley

    http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/horizontal-item.jhtml?id=0001390010655a&navAction=push&navCount=2&indexId=cat21324&podId=0001390&catalogCode=IC&parentId=cat21324&parentType=index&rid=

    **I love the smell of Hoppes #9 in the morning**
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  • muleymuley Member Posts: 1,583 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Did I do that? I hate it when the screen gets wide like that.

    **I love the smell of Hoppes #9 in the morning**
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