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Thread: Leaky jon boat - sealant ideas welcome

  1. #11
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    I think any kind of sealer will be a temporary fix. The aluminum will flex, even more at the area with the bad rivets. It will eventually wear through or loosen the sealant, then you have all that sealant to deal with.

    If you don't use the boat very often, maybe it will work for you.

    Do you have a bilge pump in the boat?
    Likes ALBuzz LIKED above post

  2. #12
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    Default Shot of the jon

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    The white caulk is too soft and will probably be useless in a few months.
    The black caulk did better.
    Likes S10CHEVY LIKED above post

  3. #13
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    Find the leak and replace the rivet if you find out it's a leaky rivet. If it's a crack, it's only going to get worse over time if you don't drill out both ends of it and then patch it. You could weld it if you have the ability or someone with the ability. Avoid the MAP gas and brazing stick method. Thin wall aluminum doesn't hold up too well to extreme heat and will crumble away easily, you'll be left with a hole significantly bigger than what you were trying to fix.

    I've replaced a good many rivets on my boat and have gotten lucky with the few cracks I have with them being in some reinforced areas that does not flex as much as the other parts of the boat. Due to that, I have been able to seal it off with marine sealant only and the "patch" i've made has held up well with the crack staying the same size.

    I'm with Speck on this one, the sealer will be a temporary fix and you will be right back where you were with all that $$$ and time wasted in the end due to the boat flexing.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inYnxgOX9rk

    Here's a good explanation of what to do with the cracks. You can make your own judgement on the sealant application depending on how nice you want the outside to look. Number one priority is flexibility of the material and to relieve the cracks so they can't get any larger.
    Thanks Spoonminnow thanked you for this post

  4. #14
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    When my son was 5 he helped me tighten the rivets in a 14 ft jon boat. He held a 3 lb shop hammer on each rivet head. I used a socket that fit over the mushroomed rivet end. Hit the extension a few times to get the metal back flat around the rivet. I used a chisel making an X on the mushroomed end. It took us 5 days since we could work on it a couple hours per day.
    14 years later I noticed a little water in the boat. I flipped it over, used a wire wheel in the drill and went over each rivet head and epoxied them. Good rubber gloves helps smooth the epoxy out. Not the thin latex ones.
    20 years later I got a bigger boat. Still use the 14 ft when we fish tight places.
    Thanks Spoonminnow thanked you for this post

  5. #15
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    Put the boat up on some sawhorses or something fill bottom with a inch or so of water and look and see where its leaking clean the spots with wire wheel in a drill clean with solvent and apply flex seal i have used it many times it works!! i would do every rivet on it wont take that much time.

  6. #16
    happycaster58 is offline Crappie Wall Hanger II * Crappie.com Supporter
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    I patched 10 holes below the water line on the stern of my 1960 boat with 3M 5200. Never had another leak! Hard to work with but never comes off.

  7. #17
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    When I was a kid me and my buddy had a old 10 ft jon boat that leaked all over. after about $100.00 work of quicksteel sticks we had a floating boat. That stuff works wonders.

  8. #18
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    Eagle 1 is offline Crappie.com Legend and Mississippi Moderator
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    set boat up on saw horse . fill with water to locate leak . go to Lowes to get rivets . Drill out bad ones . GET A BUDDY TO HOLD SLEDGE /SHOP HAMMER AGAINST ONE SIDE OF RIVIT . YOU HIT /STRIKE OTHER SIDE WITH SECOND HAMMER . ATUALLY THE ONE DOING THE HITTING SHOULD USE SHOP HAMMER AND DUDE HOLDING RIVIT IN HOLD WITH SLEDGE HAMMER . FLATTEN TO TIGHT . EASY PEASY .

  9. #19
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    Locate the leak. Then fix the leak. If it is rivot replace it. If it is a crack scrap it.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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