Advice on Aluminum repair please

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WVBassFan

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I have recently started a repair project on a late eighties model Starcraft BV170 ... SO far I've just disassembled, flipped and began brushing the bottom with a wire brush to see how much work I have in front of me... I noticed several spots like this throughout the bottom so far....

smallpic1_zpse056514e.jpg


My plans were to fill these holes with Interlux Watertite Epoxy...smooth everything out (repair a couple of bad rivots) and then a nice coat of steel flex on the entire bottom of the boat... Below are some pics and links,, but just wanted some advice....am I on the right track here??? Is this what you guys would do ??? I would appreciate any input ...Thanks WVBassFan

https://www.ebay.com/itm/390386904223?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
https://fiberglasssupplydepot.com/FASCO-9X-STEEL-FLEX-EPOXY-COATING.html

56A6DBAF-7537-4FD0-9397-EC85E23EB2A8-2544-000004F941ED65A1_zps5873a70e.jpg


98E671EC-4C89-4899-B5FE-E5C925E90291-2544-000004F9477D0EEA_zpsdcb9a69c.jpg


smallpic3_zps9d488e94.jpg


smallpic2_zps35825d35.jpg
 
Sounds like you're on the right track to me. I used JB Weld w/o steelflex and so far so good.
 
anyone ever use the Interlux Watertite Epoxy on aluminum before??? would it seal holes good and hold up well under the steel flex??? just want to make sure before I order this stuff...anyone ever use it??? ideas on something better maybe????
 
It seems like you are on the right track. The first thing to do is remove all the old paint that is on thier because if you don't no epoxy will stick to it. I see you have started do already do this. As far as the holes go you could patch them with a little cloth and epoxy. This method works best if you do both sides of the holes. For all the small holes i would put some tape on the inside of the boat and coat the bottom with the steel flex product. I know a few people that have done thier john boats and airboats with this product. It is made for aluminum and flex's very well. When you get ready to put a coating such as this on your boat you want to freshly sand your boat and apply the product the same day. You want to do this because aluminum starts to oxide and you can't tell kinda like when you sand steel and the next day you see all those little rust spots aluminum does the same thing but you can't see. Long story short this helps the epoxy stick very well. Hope this helps with your question. Thanks for your time.
 
fiberglass said:
It seems like you are on the right track. The first thing to do is remove all the old paint that is on thier because if you don't no epoxy will stick to it. I see you have started do already do this. As far as the holes go you could patch them with a little cloth and epoxy. This method works best if you do both sides of the holes. For all the small holes i would put some tape on the inside of the boat and coat the bottom with the steel flex product. I know a few people that have done thier john boats and airboats with this product. It is made for aluminum and flex's very well. When you get ready to put a coating such as this on your boat you want to freshly sand your boat and apply the product the same day. You want to do this because aluminum starts to oxide and you can't tell kinda like when you sand steel and the next day you see all those little rust spots aluminum does the same thing but you can't see. Long story short this helps the epoxy stick very well. Hope this helps with your question. Thanks for your time.

good info, didnt realize the same day part
 
Well, based on all the other replies, I'm gonna be in the minority here but I wouldnt use any epoxy to fill those holes. Definately use the SteelFlex but fix the holes proper first. I woud find every hole, crack or anything else wrong and mark them all and take the boat to a welder and have them all fixed right. Theres also an aluminum brazing product out there called, I believe, HTS 2000 or something to that affect. I havnt actually used this product but based on videos I have seen, I would use it before epoxy. The proper fix though is for them to be TIG welded. JMO
 
I've actually used the HTS 2000 stuff before and it works pretty good. It's a lot stronger than epoxy and won't crack. It takes a lot of practice to get good at filling holes though. It's best to practice on a piece of scrap before trying it on your boat. And you don't want to heat up a seam to much or you might cause more problems than you'll fix.

I agree that tig welding would be the best way to fix it. See if you can find a welding school near by, they might do it for little to nothing.
 
besides welding you can use waterproff jb weld, just take a small ball of it and push it up through the hole from the bottom so theres just a lil bit left on the bottom and the majority inside the boat. you can lick ur finger and smooth out the bit on the bottom. on the inside leave a peice bout the size of a quarter and smooth it down so its more or less flat but so theres kinda a bump when you run ur finger across it. let it dry for a day or 2 the get some fine grit sandpaper and sand the bottom( outside the hull) until its smooth and youve got about 2 times the size of the hole left. just make sure you get it so it doesent disturb the water running over the hull as best you can if your gonna have a transducer behind the hole/holes you fix so you wont get any small bubbles that will interfere with the transducer. i used it on some holes where i removed rivets to remove 2 flotation pods and they havent leaked a drop of water going on 2 yrs...it works. why didnt i just replace the rivets?? cuz i wanted to fish the next day and didnt have any to replace them with, i actually planned on putting rivets back in after a few days but i held off until it leaked wich it never did...
 

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