Alumacraft Restoration

[adkmurray]

I'm in the process of trying to restore and old 1961 Alumacraft and found that the seam in the bow area has most of the caulking missing. Not sure what they used originally in there or what would be best to reseal that area. Right now it leaks pretty bad. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jim

 

[NoKlu]

Re: Alumacraft Restoration

The first thing to do is to read the numerous threads on aluminum hull repair here in this forum to get an Idea of how to procede with any repairs or changes you want to make. Aluminum is simple to repair. clean off the area, pound the rivets tight or drill them out and replace them then seal it with a product called Gluvit. Then go boating.

 

[adkmurray]

Re: Alumacraft Restoration

Thanks NoKlu. After checking it out further I agree that Gluvit looks like the way to go on aluminum. Seems like a dumb question but I assume the Gluvit is used on the inside of the hull right, rather than the outside? I've read many posts about it but being new at this a lot of them skip the basics.
Jim

 

[imported_JimmyMac]

Re: Alumacraft Restoration

Jim:

I'm working on an old aluminum boat as well. I pounded the rivets tight with my daughter holding a bucking bar (block of steel) on the rivets inside. Then I used 2 coats of GluVit on all interior seams and rivets per instructions. This stuff is no UV stabalized so it needs to be covered or painted.

Then for good measure I sanded the outside (just to remove sheen, paint was on pretty good). Then I primed any bare aluminum with zinc chromate primer and applied 3M 5200. I allowed this to cure for a week before painting over them when I painted the hull.

Lot of work, but I really want a dry boat.

Best of luck,

Jim

 

[adkmurray]

Re: Alumacraft Restoration

Thanks Jim,
Nice to hear and great job. I'm beginning to see that a lot of "elbow grease" is necessary to do the job right. What you've done is exactly what I had in mind except I may not paint the outside, at least not this year. Seems the more I find that needs to be done the further I'm getting away from some fishing!
Cheers,
Jim