Non-Hatteras Question Aluminum Boat Repair?

[Jackman]

We have an old 1964 18 or 20ft Alumicraft in the family from my grandfather. Its a classic tank. Unfortunately when he was sick from altheimers the boat sat on land and had water in the bilge from rain. As you can guess it did a number on the hull from the waterline down. There are corrosion pin holes, so many of them, I don't think a 2part expoxy would be feasible. Do you think there is a way to restore this or is it a hopeless situation? Didn't know if there is a way to weld a skin on the outside or some other technique wouls work. A shame to give it to the scrap guys if there is a way to fix it. For what its worth the rest of the boat is in very good condition.

 

[boatwright]

years ago i used a product called gluvit for a simular repair,got several years between coatings.more flexable then epoxy. defender still sells it.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Clean it up and lay some glass cloth inside. Fair and paint the bottom, and be thankful its not a 60 foot Roamer with a rotten bottom! ws

 

[Jackman]

Wasn't sure fiberglass resin adheres to aluminum?

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Youll need to scuff it with 40 or 60 grit, wipe it clean with acetone and glue away!! Check with the expurts here, as epoxy may work better than polyester resins. Ive had good luck with both on my aluminum Roamer... ws

 

[bobk]

Take a look at the directions that Algrip has for epoxy priming of aluminum. I'd be very tempted to follow that procedure before applying an epoxy laminate. This is an attempt to deal with the special problems of adhesion to aluminum. Oh, and I expect epoxy will adhere better than polyester.

Bob

 

[Jackman]

Currently talking to folks who sell a product called Belzona. Sounds like some amazing stuff. Used commercially in many applications including tankers ect. Binds excellently to AL and can be used like the west system works as an adhesive. Cures hard as a rock permanently and waterproof. He said I can use AL sheets and line the inside of the boat and then coat it and then the outside as well. The rep wants to stop by and see the boat I want to use it on. Good customer service.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

BELZONA is incredible stuff and pretty pricey as well. My pal Gator was a Belzona applicator when I met him. We used a bunch of the stuff on the Roamer with mixed results. The magma quartz resin wasnt worth a darn on the aluminum. We painted the bilge with it and with standing water after a few years came off in big pieces. Also did a picnic table with it. Looked like a bowling alley for two years when the UV broke it down.
I have used the Bz CERAMIC R metal repair stuff. We did a bunch of big pump casings at work and the stuff held up good on volute repairs. Its pretty much ceramic dust imbedded in resin. Used it on worn packing lands on shafting too. Kinda like J-B weld but harder.
A one quart kit of the basic stuff has to be about $300 by now. It was $200 15 years ago. On that aluminum row boat, I would sand it, clean it, and lay on some resin soaked glass cloth, and paint it. Mask off a water line so it looks proffesional when you apply the resin.
The other solution is MET-AL. Its like bondo with aluminum in it. I use that for fairing aluminum welds on the boat, with excellent results. WAY harder to sand than bondo ( and thats a generic term for the EXPURTS!) and hasnt failed me in 20 years. If yer a good body man, either trowel a skim coat inside or outside the hull, and let it squeeze in thru the holes. Once it hardens, take a 4 inch grinder and clean it up. Throw a coat of paint on it and be done with it. Being real, its a $500 boat, right? ws

 

[Jackman]

Will,

The Belzona tech was describing a process where I'd use aluminum sheeting on the inside and use the Belzona like we bed our thruhulls...ie spreadout Belzona on the inside of the hull where the Aluminum is "in need of some help" and then bed the aluminum sheeting in it so that its chemically bonded to the hull. He said that it wood ooze through the pinholes on the other side...just let it cure and fair it out. Paint the outside...end of story. It would be a lot of patching because a lot of the area where the trailer's carpet contacted the hull (the stern area to about amidship) would need reinforced this way.

What do you think about that process? I could even tig weld the newly added sheets together for more strength.

The boat isn't a jon boat but is in comparison to your boat! Its an old 1964 Alumacraft run about called "Queen Merrie". Old classic. It had much more sentimental value than cash value as you guessed. It was actually one of the first boats I was on when I was a kid. She's been through a lot. I just wanted to try a last ditch effort to get her back in the water. Don't know if I'll be successful or not.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

It sounds like you are addicted to the love of the sport! I am guessing two things here; one, you love that boat so its a no expense spared situation, and two, its a riveted hull.
Theres just no way I would invest the time and money that you are considering in a boat like this,but, since there is that sentimental value, why patch it? Drill the aluminum rivets out and use the skins as templates for new sheet metal. Maybe even up the gage a few for some added meat. If the bad spots are far enough away from the rivetted overlaps, cut the old stuff out shy by about two inches and splice new stuff in. If you can do a good job re-fitting material, you can do a butt weld with the TIG. Thin aluminum is a breeze to fabricate. Even the Roamer is just shy of 1/4: (.220") and I cut that with a skilsaw and MIG weld that with no problem. Done a LOT of that too!! ws

All fabbed up, MIG welded, and faired with MET-AL by yours truly!