Thread: Leaking rivets??

I have a little john boat I fish out of sometimes and just about every rivet is leaking on the bottom. I don't really have the money to have all of them welded so I tried using that waterweld epoxy. Big mistake!! Now I have to grind all that stuff off and try something else. Anybody know a way to stop them from leaking? It's just a little old john boat and ain't worth hundreds to have welded up. I was hoping mabey there was something I could paint on or an epoxy just for aluminum. Thanks for any help.

Check this out Evercoat Aluminox Epoxy Sticks

maybe it will work. Might find some at one of the auto store.

I Had A Similar Situation With A Fourteen Ft. Johnboat And I Drilled Out Leaking Rivets And Replaced With One-quarter Inch Stainless Bolts. Round Head On Exterior. Use A Little Marine-tex Epoxy Under Nut As You Tighten Down. Cottontop

I used 3M Scotch-Weld epoxy on my jon boat about 3yrs ago know leakin yet.

Wished I could tell you something that would work since I always seemed to be patching on my $100 jon boats back in the day, but I never did spend much money on anything that was very good to use, thus it always went right back to leaking after a little while.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

I used fiberglass patches on mine many years ago. Turn it upside down, sand paint from around rivets, apply a bit of resin, cut some mat patches about 1 1/2 inches square, place and add some more resin. Sand when dry.
Turn boat back over and construct a lightweight wood floor that bears on hardened areas of your hull.

I came across some stuff on the net called flex-steel epoxy paint. looks like it would work good but sounds expensive. Most all old jon boats leak a little but this one has gotten to bad to fish out of. Bilge pump running all the time. Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm gonna try and work on it next week and will post the method and results.

If you can get to both sides of the rivets back up one side with a hanner and tap on the other side with another hammer. I have also replaced rivets with pan head screws and marine caulking. Drill out the rivet and fill the hole with caulking and screw in a pan head screw.

You need someone to help you out. You can spread the rivet and tighten it up which will slow the leaking and stop most of them. You will need a 2 lb. hammer, a center punch, and a 8 or 10 lb. sledge hammer. Get someone to hold the heavy hammer on the solid side of the rivet and you take the center punch and strike the rivet on the side with the hole which will spread the rivet wider and tighten it up. Be careful to hit the rivet that you helper is holding. Takes some time but works better that anything I have found. My old duck boats used to hit stumps and they loosened up quite often.

Originally Posted by dignlevel

You need someone to help you out. You can spread the rivet and tighten it up which will slow the leaking and stop most of them. You will need a 2 lb. hammer, a center punch, and a 8 or 10 lb. sledge hammer. Get someone to hold the heavy hammer on the solid side of the rivet and you take the center punch and strike the rivet on the side with the hole which will spread the rivet wider and tighten it up. Be careful to hit the rivet that you helper is holding. Takes some time but works better that anything I have found. My old duck boats used to hit stumps and they loosened up quite often.

do you hit the rivet on the head side? (Rounded side)And hold the anvil on the other?
Also can I drill out the old rivets and install new ones the same way? Some of them that hold the bench seat have completely pulled through and aren't holding anything. They need to be replaced. This sounds like a cost efective but time consuming way. It's the right way I guess. I don't mind spending the time just a little weary of drilling rivets and not knowing how to replace them. If all I have to do is drill and re buck a new one I'll probly give it a try.Thanks