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What do you guys think about aluminum blue fin boats? What is the pros and cons of aluminum over fiberglass. What do I need to look for when looking at an aluminum hull? I found a mid to late 80s model 17' with an evinrude 70hp.
The older Blue Fin's looked very similar to Starcrafts and I think were pretty solid. The newer Spectrum Blue Fins......well in my opinion they're the Bayliner of tin boats and are not at all well made.
My 1993 Blue Fin Spectrum 1956 is a great boat. It has it's issues but all older boats do. It's the blue/white boat in my profile and my avatar. It is solid and dependable and takes anything I can throw at it.
I always find it amusing when people make blanket statements about certain brands "they're the Bayliner of tin boats and are not at all well made". Not true on either count. Most Bayliners are/were entry level price boats and not always well maintained. Possibly due to the fact that the owners didn't care or know better. Possibly the same with Spectrum, but I would rather buy a well maintained Spectrum than a poorly maintained anything else. Others may try and steer you in some other direction but maybe they have more money or time than I do. I personally prefer to be on the water fishing rather than restoring or fixing.
By the way, my Spectrum has cold formed aluminum stringers that run the length of the boat and are welded in. There is no wood in my boat other than the transom and the floor. It is very tough.
I had a 1995, post Brunswick buyout, welded hull. It was decent, but did not handle rough water well, and slid around corners as opposed to carving them.
I much prefer the older riveted hull Blue Fins.
I'm currently looking at a 1977 model as a winter project boat.. The hull has many similarities to the Starcraft and Smokercraft hulls. The hulls are so much alike, they may have been made in the same shops.
new to this. Hello everyone. I have a 88 spectrum bass dominator Blue finn... Enough names? Jeez... It registers as a bayliner too.. Ridiculous. I picked it up cheap and it sat for years ( 9 ) I think by the last sticker on it. Had rotten, well had no floors just some reminants of carpet. I live in seattle and started replacing everything in march. Not the best time to work outside here. I was a little hasty and should have taken more time to leak test it and repair rivets at the time. Finally received the title in july after it was done and sitting for a sticker for a water test. It leaks... haha. Oh well. I put it in and out that day for use so it's not a huge deal to run the bilge every 2 hours or so. Though in the future I'd spend a little more and buy a used welded aluminum. My suggestion is to steer clear of riveted boats pre 90's. My dad had a starcraft he scrapped cuz of leaky rivets... they wear out and become a hassle understandably and you gotta get used to having a little water under your floor and a GOOD bilge pump... or 2. haha
My suggestion is to steer clear of riveted boats pre 90's. My dad had a starcraft he scrapped cuz of leaky rivets... they wear out and become a hassle understandably and you gotta get used to having a little water under your floor and a GOOD bilge pump... or 2. haha
There a large number of members on this forum who would disagree with you. Many have riveted hulls from the 50's and 60's that don't leak a drop. And the ones that do can be easily fixed by re-bucking a couple loose rivets and coating the seams with an inexpensive application of Gluvit. I personally feel that there are few greater values in the used boat market than an older aluminum hull.
Is it possible to weld the rivets?
A buddy with a shop has a gas welder and welds aluminum towers and stuff.
Lots of welds but if I could do it myself over a few weeks this winter it might be worth it.
I agree they are easy if you have the hull open. I'm not planning on gutting my boat any time soon (hopefully never) so I don't have the option of rebucking.
I have heard about gluvit but I wonder how durable it really is especially on the outside of the hull.
Any comments?
I think it's made to be applied from the inside. I don't think it would work well from the outside. The ghetto solution that worked for me was to slather some JB Weld around any questionable looking rivet. Doesn't look great but it sure does the job.
I think it's made to be applied from the inside. I don't think it would work well from the outside. The ghetto solution that worked for me was to slather some JB Weld around any questionable looking rivet. Doesn't look great but it sure does the job.
Sure is. My boat was pretty leaky and I was preparing to take it on vacation where it would be in a slip for a week. Like the OP I had no intention of ripping my new-ish interior out to fix the couple of loose rivets I had seen. So I JB'd them as well as a number of other questionable looking ones. Boat hardly leaked a drop during the week it spent in the water
How did you do that? Did you remove the paint first or rough it up at all? My hull is painted and there are some leaky rivets in an area that has seen some abuse (it's a bit dented).
