16ft aluminum hull damage?

[crazyhunter]

i have a 16ft procraft basshunter thats aluminum the guy i bought it from had somehow managed to knock out a few rivets on the bottom then welded them back well that worked fine for a few weeks now some of the welds are cracking so should i try to slap the jb water weld to it or try to get someone to reweld it?

 

[greenbush future]

Re: 16ft aluminum hull damage?

Pictures will give you a ton of replies, kind of hard to tell w/o.

 

[crazyhunter]

Re: 16ft aluminum hull damage?

i will try to get some up when i get home

 

[64osby]

Re: 16ft aluminum hull damage?

I'm not an expert on this but what I have read and what the guy that welded my rail said - welding on a riveted boat will weaken the sheet aluminum, causing the cracks. Further welding will weaken more aluminum, cause more cracks. Your welder would chase cracks all over the boat until you scrap it.

If you are able to save it. The solution should be something along the lines of drilling small holes at the ends of the cracks, to prevent further cracking. Patch / fill with JB Weld or similar product. Or after drilling add a sheet patch, rivet on, seal with 3M 5200 .

Hopefully others with more knowledge / experience will chime in, or correct me if I'm way out in left field (but I don't think so).

Good luck