Picked up this 14 foot partial V-Hull boat a month or so ago. It's a 1968 something or other Aluminum Boat.
Right now it has a leak along the bottom somewhere. I'm thinking next winter I can get it in the garage, drill and reseal all the rivets. But in the meantime, anyone ever use Flexseal or something to temporarily seal the bottom? I only get about an inch of water during a couple hour trip so its nothing crazy but annoying.
Crazy thought of the day...
What if that water is just from condensation. Water is cold, air is warmer and humid. Just like a glass of iced tea.
OK, back to your regular programming...
Put it up on horses and fill it with water, see where it falls through?
With a hammer and the right type of anvil you can actually smack the rivets and usually reseal it, no need to drill and replace.
Alternatively, I've used B-72 to seal the rivets on my old aluminum boat.
Fill it with water and find where it is leaking. Could be the drain plug.
In boats like that I consider an inch of water in a couple hours to be not leaking at all. I think replacing rivets would be a real solid chance of making it worse. Me personally, I would leave it alone.
No boat is watertight, even if it has no leaks it will form condensation or from rain getting in. It's all a matter of controlling the leaks
After you fill it with water and find out where it is leaking, you'll have a better idea of what kind of leak you've got.
Once you know that, we can give you a better idea of how to fix it. A good coat of Gluvit may be all you need.
Take the bench seats out now. Given how the world operates, the leak will be under one of those.
I like that! Fill it with water, simple and effective.
It is definitely not condensation, I make sure it is drained after each use.
Taking the seats out would likely cause leaks, they are usually riveted in
gearheadmb said:In boats like that I consider an inch of water in a couple hours to be not leaking at all. I think replacing rivets would be a real solid chance of making it worse. Me personally, I would leave it alone.
In an aluminum boat, especially of that age, I wouldn't even consider that a leak.
Check the bow, especially where it tapers and transitions to the flatter part of the haul
Mr_Asa said:Taking the seats out would likely cause leaks, they are usually riveted in
Possibly. If they are rivited in, remove the top bench part so you can get under them with the Gluvit.
+1 for filling with water and seeing where it drips out.
All of my aluminum boats (which is only 1 right now) have a spritz of truck bedliner somewhere. I have also used undercoating, but it never dries really hard. I've had some that sealed great with undercoating until I had 4 people in it and the additional water pressure caused it to start leaking again. For bedliner, DON'T use Duplicolor. It is water based and sucks donkey nuts. Use Rustoleum bedliner in a rattle can.
Flex seal works great, but as the name implies, it is flexible. Foot traffic and displacement pressure can make it not overly reliable.
In a pinch, a bucket of Henry's roof patch works as well, but it takes forever to dry enough to not be a tarry mess.
Well I filled it with water as you guys suggested.
Not bad
Another small one on the side
Ahhh there's the issue!
The transom was replaced at some point which is also why I cannot identify the make and model. Guess it wasn't sealed too well. The rest of the boat is pretty solid.
That would do it for sure. Its a little weird that it is leaking there, I wouldn't think that replacing the transom would cause leaks all along the base of the stern there. Usually a transom on an aluminum boat is only 8-10" tall
Are the leaks traveling down that panel, or are they actually coming from that seam?
In reply to Mr_Asa :
They are actually coming from the seam. There is a lot of caulk along here so it has been attempted to be sealed up a few times previously. It's a wood transom now if that makes any difference.
The entire stern is made of wood? That's... weird.
Should be a wood transom within the aluminum skin of the hull. Another layer of wood is often used on the outside of the aluminum skin to protect it from wear and tear from the motor.
What can occur, is someone will use pressure treated wood when working on an aluminum boat. The PT may be treated with chromated copper arsenic. The copper sets up an electrolytic reaction that will dissolve aluminum. Eats holes in the boat.
Did someone maybe sandwich the original transom with wood to rise the height so a longer shaft motor could be used? In the first picture it looks like the top of the transom is quite a bit above the gunwales. But yes, unusual to say the least.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
That's interesting and good to know. I'll have to look into it more.
In reply to 11GTCS :
The boat came with a 15hp motor from 1995 so it is entirely possible it was modified to work with this motor.
This is all great info, I'll have to dig into the Transom a little more to see exactly what is going on. First boat here so learning as I go.
Can you get better pictures of the stern, both inside and out? Something seems funny here.
And detailed pictures of the transom
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