Lots of random bolts/holes, what would you do?

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Zip

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I finally got some time to start patching up my boat. I have a bunch of bolt holes throughout the hull. I have some larger ones I plan to patch with epoxy/fiberglass/riveting plates. BUT for the randomly dispersed bolt holes - I am not sure the best method of action. I have a few thoughts - I got one of those aluminum epoxy putty sticks, and was going to get some aluminum screen or fiberglass tape and patch/spread it from the INSIDE. I mention the inside because I plan to go over the bottom with the Total Boat aluminum epoxy barrier coat and paint. Obviously I plan to clean, etch, prep the surface before all of this. OR I was thinking about taping the INSIDE of the boat with painters tape, then spreading 650K GFlex and filler across the holes to fill them in. OR do you think just cleaning out the holes, then taping the INSIDE of the boat and painting the aluminum barrier epoxy primer would be sufficient for filling the holes? Or if you have another idea I would appreciate it. If I had to patch with aluminum plates and rivets i think I would have too much surface as some of the holes are spread out apart. Heres a pic for reference:

Boat holes.jpg
 
Whatever that is, it ISN'T anymore!

Take it somewhere and have someone weld on a new skin, or get a skin made would be the route I would take.
 
That white powdery stuff looks like corrosion of some sort. Possibly the wrong kind of hardware was used and reacted with the aluminum. Do all the holes look like this?
 
Does it have sentimental value? If not, scrap it. Your cost of materials will likely far exceed the cost of buying a similar boat that's not in such poor shape.
 
Anything that has ANY part that looks like that is scrap to me. There's no real fixing something like that.
 
Yes, its corrosion, a lot of the white stuff is silicone sealant the PO put on. I have been thinking about scrapping it for sure - but I got a few free packs of 650k and some fiberglass. Might see if I can spread it out and cover some. Not really holding my breath.
 
I've been watching this thread with some interest.

Is the pic representative of a large part of the boat? The pic appears to be about 6"X10" portion of the hull.

If the pic is just one section and there's more, I don't think I'd mess with it. Save the free repair materials and perhaps find a boat for cheap that doesn't need so much work.

Even though I'm retired, I still put a value on my time, and so I'm willing to pay to get a little bit better quality boat. I'd rather have the time for enjoying the boat and being out on the water fishing, rather than spending a LOT of hours trying to get the boat fixed up. Spending a lot of hours on a dodgy hull to save a few hundred $$ (or even $1K) on a relatively decent hull is a false economy from my perspective.
 
I recently had a boat transom that looked much like that:
Resized_20230619_163831.jpeg

As you can see, it had a bunch of holes all over it. More than you can see in the pic.

I used a MIG welder, a roll of aluminum wire and a bottle of argon gas to do concentric "doughnuts" around each hole to close them up. Most of the holes expanded greatly when the arc first hit them, due to corrosion underneath. That's a good thing, believe it or not. You have to get all that stuff out. Many little screw holes expanded to the size of a nickel. But a wire feed welder makes it easy.
I did each one carefully, sanded, and re welded ones that seemed thin or had pinholes. In the end, it turned out amazingly perfect. Here is the Swiss-cheese transom after repair, flap disc sanding and aluminum primer:

Resized_20230804_204244.jpeg

Here it is after the first coat of industrial enamel:
Resized_20230805_145616.jpeg


Here is a shot after the motor went back on:
Resized_20230824_205252(1).jpeg

And finally, here is the boat in use. Does not leak even a drop of water all day long. I'm very happy with my amateur attempts at welding aluminum:

Resized_20230929_192528.jpegResized_20231008_110826.jpeg

The pic you showed looked terrible, with the paint around the border, making it look like a piece of scrap metal, but it may not be as bad as that pic made it look. I think I could fix it properly, but worst case, you could take it to a welding shop and get the holes closed up.
 
thill said:
The pic you showed looked terrible, with the paint around the border, making it look like a piece of scrap metal, but it may not be as bad as that pic made it look. I think I could fix it properly, but worst case, you could take it to a welding shop and get the holes closed up.
Click to expand...

"the paint around the border"

The light bulb just went on! Thx.
 
Just a tip. When I weld up holes like that in steel, when possible I back it up with a brass plate. That way you won't blow through and end up making the holes bigger. I've never tried aluminum, but suppose that day will be coming. Although I'd be tempted to braze it. I have a Mig, but use shielded wire, no gas.
 
You definitely need to use Argon when welding aluminum. Brazing might work, but I could never get it to work for me. It would never stick for me. I probably needed some kind of flux, or I just didn't do something right.

Yes, it makes it much easier if you use a backing plate. I use steel, as it won't stick or melt. On that boat, I didn't use a backing plate. I just did short semi-circle welds for only a second at a time, letting it cool in-between so it didn't melt a bigger hole. Worked great, couldn't be happier, and I learned a lot in the process.

This was only my 2nd time welding aluminum. Watch some YouTube vids about MIG aluminum settings and then play around welding some scrap. Once you start feeling good about that, flap disc the area clean, and only do small beads before stopping and letting it cool.

Welding is VERY satisfying!
 
Last edited:
thill said:
I recently had a boat transom that looked much like that:
View attachment 118353

As you can see, it had a bunch of holes all over it. More than you can see in the pic.

I used a MIG welder, a roll of aluminum wire and a bottle of argon gas to do concentric "doughnuts" around each hole to close them up. Most of the holes expanded greatly when the arc first hit them, due to corrosion underneath. That's a good thing, believe it or not. You have to get all that stuff out. Many little screw holes expanded to the size of a nickel. But a wire feed welder makes it easy.
I did each one carefully, sanded, and re welded ones that seemed thin or had pinholes. In the end, it turned out amazingly perfect. Here is the Swiss-cheese transom after repair, flap disc sanding and aluminum primer:

View attachment 118354

Here it is after the first coat of industrial enamel:
View attachment 118355


Here is a shot after the motor went back on:
View attachment 118356

And finally, here is the boat in use. Does not leak even a drop of water all day long. I'm very happy with my amateur attempts at welding aluminum:

View attachment 118357View attachment 118358

The pic you showed looked terrible, with the paint around the border, making it look like a piece of scrap metal, but it may not be as bad as that pic made it look. I think I could fix it properly, but worst case, you could take it to a welding shop and get the holes closed up.
Click to expand...
Great job. It looks awesome.
 

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