Rivited 22 ft starcraft cuddy leaking

[Captaincrisp]

Just picked up a new to me boat. Its rivieted aluminum 22 ft. Someone before me has replaced a crudely coated the outside of the hull with glove it. Its starting to flake off in a few spots and they really laid it on thick not just over riviets but the hole hull below the water line. I put it in the marina and sure am glad the automatic bilge pump works. I really am not ready to gut the interior. Is there anything i can do that will be somewhat afforadable to get a few good years out of it. Thinking of bed liner or a re coat with glove it. Or can i re riviet from the outside only?

 

[airshot]

So does mine leak some, 1983 model but not enough to worry about. I keep the bilge pump right down on the bottom in the center so if 1" comes in the pump picks it up, also have a backup pump for that just in case moment. If you can find which rivets are leaking you can install blind rivets with sealant that I am told will do a good job. Recoating the outside of the hull would be a waste of time in my opinion. Removing floor cleaning hull then sealing is the only way to really do the job. On mine I can find no damaged rivets so must be some with small leaks but that is what they make bilge pumps for, no worries for me.

 

[82rude]

I used blind rivets.For extra measure I put a daub of goop on them.Boy is that stuff tuff.

 

[GA_Boater]

Blind rivets will work to replace any missing ones if you can find them. Some rivets shear and the head looks normal.

Sorry to say that the only way to reseal is from the inside. Gluvit is not UV tolerant and outside use won't work for long. Bed liner is a waste of time because the first scratch leads to peeling and once it starts coming off, it keeps coming off.

Are you slipping the boat at the marina? Make sure the batteries are kept charged and nothing can jam the pump impeller. A 2nd auto bilge pump might be a good investment.

 

[82rude]

GA your right about the bedliner ,did it and had it happen,lol.I wonder if you did it inside if there would be better results?Goop on seams and rivets seems to work for me and lasts for years on the bottom.

 

[jbcurt00]

....... wonder if you did it inside if there would be better results.

Nope, dont get me started uke:

 

[82rude]

ok,lol.

 

[GA_Boater]

Nope, dont get me started uke:

:rofl:

 

[Captaincrisp]

Thx for all the fast responses!!! Looks like i need to do some reading on blind rivets and "goop"? Is sekaflex ok for those riviets? And no it wont always be in a marina its pretty expesive around here however i will drop it in for a week or so when the salmon are swiming by.i just needed to weild trailer frame together. The rail the bunks we on was in two pecies. I covered it in checker plate steel lol looks pretty mad max but shes solid now.

 

[Watermann]

Welcome to the Starmada Capt :wave:

With some water in the bottom of your boat do a leak test in the driveway, you can add some with a garden hose and adjust the height with the jack to move the water and don't over do it, that stuff is heavy. Get underneath to have a loot for where the drips are and take a sharpie with you to mark the leaks. Be sure to use a jack stand under the tongue to not rely on a $30 jack to keep you from becoming dead if it fails.

Report back with some pics of the leaking areas or rivets so we can give some specific advice.

 

[Captaincrisp]

Watermann thx for the reply, amazing rebuild of the chief. Boat looks amazing! I will do the water test ill try to not go overboard on filling it up. If you didnt warn me i probably would have done exactly that lol. (Find all those darn leaks) will report back with findings and hopfully pictures if i figure that out.

 

[Watermann]

Thanks for taking a look at my Chief and the compliment.

Here's the link for the photo posting how to.

 

[82rude]

Captiancrisp, Goop is a brand of adhesive sealants sold pretty well everywhere..

 

[Alumarine]

Captiancrisp, Goop is a brand of adhesive sealants sold pretty well everywhere..

3M 5200 marine adhesive works pretty well for sealing rivets and holes as well.
Also the fumes aren't as nasty.

 

[airshot]

The 5200 sealant is really good stuff with little smell, however it takes forever to set up, something like 7-10 days. Goop sets up quick like overnight and lasts a long time, been using it for years myself.

 

[Captaincrisp]

Sounds like goop / blind rivets is the way to go for me. Being that i would like to have it in the water sometime soon and i really dont want to find out how hard it its to pull apart my interior. Is it a bad idea for me to go nuts and just start replacing all / most of ths ones below the water line? If i just do them a few at a time or are factory riviets better then "blind" riviets. Going to fill boat up with water now will post pictures soon.

 

[Watermann]

Oh man don't go drilling out all the solid rivets you can get to. Only use a few blinds where you need to as they are not nearly as strong as solid rivets and won't hold your boat together for long before they start to come loose. I see blinds below the water line on the bottom as only a temporary fix. Using steel mandrels can add some strength to the blinds but you have to seal the mandrel hole to keep them from rusting inside.

I've used a couple construction tubes worth of 5200 over the years on my rebuilds and would use nothing else. You can get quick cure 5200 if you're pressed for time otherwise the regular 5200 is cured in 5 days, sooner if it's humid. Just don't get it on your hands, wear gloves or you'll find out quick that water won't wash it off even when it's wet. I use xylene to clean it off around the application site.

 

[Captaincrisp]

Ok just finshed playing with the garden hose inside the boat. My good news i discoverd the old weathered drain plug leaking! bad news lots of seams leaking also 4-5 rivets plus one pretty good pinky finger sized hole right in the middle of the bow. Filled up with sealent this boat has well over a 1/8 of and inch of glov it smeared and driping off the hull. Ughh working on pictures later tonight

 

[82rude]

I've used 5200 and goop and goop is my personal preference ,no real special reason other than that's what I like and it works as does 5200.What I do is find the leaking rivets and drill them out and replace with blind rivets then I put goop over top just as an added sealer.You can go over all the seams with it also just like you would calk a window.Acouple of weeks ago I hit a log near camp for the first hit in 30 years!Lost 2 rivets.My auto bilge kicked on every 15 minutes after that till I could get her home.Its wild how much water can come in a little hole and how fast.