bought an aluminum boat a couple of years ago - I think it was built in '89. At any rate, it had a couple of loose rivet and unknown to me at the time of purchase, about a 1" gouge in the front of the boat just beneath the water line.

My wife and I took it out right after we bought it and within 20 minutes we had to turn the bilge pump on - not exactly a comforting feeling when boating.

So a few weeks ago with me working from home and having the time, I started at looking to repair it. Option 1 was to do it the right way , fill the boat with water, determine which rivets leaked and patch weld the gouge.

Nah....

so instead I bought an aluminum boat sealer from a company called TotalBoat. I wired brushed every rivet, then sealed it with the boat sealer. This was a "flexible" sealer. Next I bought a product called Gluvit. It goes on like an epoxy with a brush. I put two coats of gluvit on every rivet.

Then I painted the boat, and then I put 2 coats of clear bedliner on the entire exterior of the boat.

Did some other things to fix it up a bit.

Son and I took it out this morning for about 2 hours using the trolling motor.. bone dry. not a drop of water in it other than what we dripped in from our lines (we were magnet fishing).


Here are before and after photos - I don't have the motor on in the after photo - Its in my workshop. I put a new impeller and flushed the lower gear oil, and haven't put it back on yet.

Before and after. I was planning on selling it but my son asked me to keep it after today.

Nice job!

Not a boat person,
but I don't think I have ever seen a boat like that with a bilge pump.

Great job!

I wouldn't sell it.

Did you get a new emblem for it or did you hand paint that one?

Woo Hoo. Looks like an excellent job. Love old tinny's. One place you might want to check is Tinboats.net. I'm a regular there as I have quite the fleet, and seem to be always working on one or 'tother

It is common to have a bilge pump in any boat with a battery and motor...

Oh, and it looks very good!

If you take a air tool for cutting sheet metal (impact tool) you can remove the tool cut it flat and then drill out / make the end convex.. Then use it to pound rivets to re-tighten them on old boats.

Gordy Gritters did that to a impact air tool, and I held an anvil on the outside of the boat, it worked like a charm.

You've got it looking so nice that you need to put a Bimini top on it.

https://www.empirecovers.com/pla/13...Z0sGx6gIVCLLICh0f3wENEAQYASABEgL5VvD_BwE

Put together a cooler of drinks and sandwiches,...take it down and put it in along the Cincinnati riverfront some night. I went on a riverboat cruise along there many years ago. It was a lot of fun.

Wow! Looks nearly new. I wouldn't part with it either.

I wish I could paint like that - I got a decal for it.

In my youngers days I would have left the "B" off of it.

when I first got it I thought about a bimini top. A local place was selling them for $120. I might just do that.

I guessing most people didn't have to worry about them sinking after 20 minutes

Looks pretty good. Back in my younger days my best friend had an old rivited boat. It was a real leaker. One of us fished and the other bailed water. Didn't matter in thise days as long as we were on the water.

Great job! Keep it! I have a 1961 Starcraft that doesn't leak. Has a 1965 75hp Johnson that still runs. Nothing like an old Johnson that still works...

Good bunks on your trailer will also help keep rivets tight

Well, you're not THAT old, are you?

I like the color scheme too. Great job. Enjoy the fishing you'll get out of it.

they are all carpeted. I'm not sure if that's good or not

Not to mention a good idea. Never know what's going to happen. Biggest mistake I saw people
make when I was in the business is not using a big enough pump. If you need one, you may need
it to REALLY WORK.

3 work friends took a fishing trip to Lake Raystown a month or so ago.

Long story short, 14 foot boat, 700# of ass plus gear, they got swamped by a wake
and sunk. Swam a bit, cooled off! And were rescued.
A bilge pump might have saved them. Probably not.
Extreme case, bad judgement is hard to offset.


Never thought of one in a small boat.
Obviously, it's a good idea.

I had a cheap thin aluminum jon boat when I was a kid. When a rivet pulled through. I drilled them out and put roundhead bolts through with a flat washer and inner tube home made gaskets on the inside. By the time I got rid of the boat half the rivets were replaced. None of the bolt repairs ever leaked.

I run two. One smaller in the bottom of the bilge On a float switch to keep water out. One mounted above to move lots of water out, right the Fugk now. I think the big one is 3k or 4K gph.


Cool little tinny!

Any boat with holes in it is going to leak, no matter what they're plugged up with- - - -the operative word is "when" not "if". A friend who made his living repairing onboard generators on big houseboats and cruisers gave me some good advice: "If you run a small boat, buy a BIG bilge pump- - - - - -little boats sink in a hurry!" Every boat I've owned since then has a good-sized pump so I can at least get within swimming distance of shore if not all the way to "feet dry" in case of a disaster.

I can live with a manageable leak

but I do have a spare bilge pump just in case

Nice job!

I fish out of an old John boat. Several rivets leak.



The ford escort hub caps set it off!

Very nice job indeed!

Dave, I have an old John boat too that's almost 50 years old. When the rivets started to leak I flipped it over and smeared some Black Jack roofing cement on the rivets on the bottom of the boat. It doesn't look pretty but I've been leak free for the last 15 plus years.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/BLACK-JACK-10-fl-oz-Waterproofer-Cement-Roof-Sealant/3009627

Great job on that boat. Most folks do not have the wherewithal to make old things work anymore, sad!

I drag this boat over trees and sand bars...

The blackjack would work for awhile.

Have used Those green sticks you melt and dab on the rivets. Couple came out, just put bolts in.

Not sure how old that boat is. Maybe old as i am. (40 yrs)

Mine gets a lot of dragging too, I had to put some aluminum epoxy on the back end by the boat plug, I actually wore a hole through the ribbed bottom dragging it out of the water on pea gravel. I'm surprised how well the Blackjack has held up over the years, if it starts leaking again I'll freshen it up but so far it has held up very well.

I have several 12 and 14 ft old jon boats that I use for fishing in other farmers reservoirs. They all have rivets, and every one has leaked over the years. I have taken them all to my welder buddy and had every rivet welded.

Really good job you did on it.

Dont leak anymore and it looks pretty sharp.

Great looking boat. You did a nice job!

If weekend fishing is all you gonna do, that job you did will last a long long time.

However, if you start running the boat every day, in all kinds of weather, it will eventually start leaking again. They dont make and have never made a riveted boat that can take the daily abuse of commercial fishing.

Yes, nice job. I do not have a problem with rivets, or patches. An old Larson 14' is still around with an oval patch from a home made trailer having a tie rod break on the road.

I'd worry about the air tanks on an older boat.

.....and a 1” gouge below the water line !

looks like my next experience is getting a 2 stroke mercury to idle.

have a blister on my hand from pulling on that sumbitch for the last 2 hours. Cleaning the carb and replacing the plug did not help.

Well done, man!

Just for grins, I'd make darn sure my idle circuit/jet was REALLY clean, and my float level and needle were good.

Been many year for me since I was a boat mechanic. Fuel lines, primer bulb, fuel pump, should be trouble checked next. Use some starting fluid to see if you can get it to fire. That is not saying you do not have a carb problem or a spark problem. Need to troubleshoot it all boss. Worse case scenario would be reed valves, maybe but dang it's been so long! I'm a paddle guy these days! You tube has some incredible videos these days. We did not have all that back then.

yea ,all good advice.

I know the fuel line connection is leaking so I ordered a new one today.

It started off running - not great but well enough I could see how well the new impeller was working

but it got progressively worse and now it won't even start.

I'll go at it with a clear mind and rested tomorrow. I was wore down messing with it tonight

I’d go fishing in that!
Nice boat 👍🏻

thanks!