Fixing leaky rivets

I'm looking at a 1982, 1448 Lowe Big Jon on Craigslist, and the ad says there are a few leaking rivets. Generally, is this a minor thing, an easy repair ?

It's about an hour away from me, and I'm wondering if it's worth the drive to look at it.

Do you suggest putting the boat in the water for a little while, and see how much water comes in ? Any other advice would be great.

Thanks.

Leaking rivets aren't easy to fix the "right way". You can patch them up with some adhesive but they will leak again some time in the future. Unless you are paying a rock bottom price this might be a case of buying someone elses problem. Proceed cautiously!

Thanks. What do you mean by the "right way" ?

Earnest T - To fix them right you would need to drill them out & replace. That involves getting a special tool, which is ot expensive. 2 person job & tedious, but nit impossible.

So when did you move out of Mayberry?

Thanks. How do you know I moved out of Mayberry ?

Your location says Wisconsin

Maybe Wisconsin is not accurate :---)

I have had good luck just tightening up the original rivets. Havent had one leak after rebucking them so I feel it is a easy fix!

nytebyte said:

I have had good luck just tightening up the original rivets. Havent had one leak after rebucking them so I feel it is a easy fix!

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Thanks. Did you use a special tool or just a hammer ?

nytebyte said:

I have had good luck just tightening up the original rivets. Havent had one leak after rebucking them so I feel it is a easy fix!

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X2, if you can access them. I helped a buddy rebuck some on his boat, I held a sledge hammer against the head of the rivet while he used a tool with a dimple in it to tighten up the loose rivets, none of them leaked after rebucking.
If you try this don't go crazy, get the rivet tight and then stop

I made a couple tools for it. One has a dimple in it and the other has a drilled recess a bit bigger than the the tail of the rivet so it dont slip off. Just a couple good taps with a hammer.

Thanks

i had great luck rebucking rivets on my 18ft blue fin. i got a tool on line that fits in an airhammer. i think i got it off harbor freight. the tool is conical shaped like the head of the rivet. i filled the inside of the boat with water to the water line on a bunk trailer that supported the boat well. i did research and found that people have done this and have damaged there boats so dont fill to much and be careful. i then crawled under the boat with a sharpy marking all leaks and noting if they were real bad or just a little one right beside the rivet. then i drained the boat. and had my dad hold sledge on the inside of the boat right on the rivet. i then air hammered the heads of all the bad rivets.. i bought some leak stop and coated all the rivets on the inside. all i can say is i had tons of leaky rivets and the boat hardly leaks now.. I've pulled it from the lake at times with no water in it at all.

anyways good luck andrew k

Thanks 57sailplane

nytebyte said:

I made a couple tools for it. One has a dimple in it and the other has a drilled recess a bit bigger than the the tail of the rivet so it dont slip off. Just a couple good taps with a hammer.

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Only $10 here ... 3/16" Brazier head tool for rivets, see links: https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=41248&p=419799

.

That's i. thats the tool I have. When using i remember turning air preasure down cause it was touchy with higher pressure.

The most important task is identifying all the rivets. This way, you can fix leaky rivets in aluminum boat just once and save a lot of time and effort. Apply a continuous amount of glue all around the rivets as well as along the hot seam with the syringe. Even the slightest fractures will be filled with epoxy.

Definitely not a deal killer. Very easy to fix leaky rivets by rebucking, as a few pointed out above. I bought a boat with a completely rotted transom. It had rotted and just about turned into dirt. Had to drill 8 rivets out and install new ones to fit the new transom. Harbor freight air hammer was about $15 and came with a chisel. Sawed the chisel part off and drilled the front out so it was concaved and would fit over a rivet head. Used a mini sledge hammer on the inside of the boat, but also drilled a shallow hole in it to help mash the rivet properly on the inside of the boat. Two rivets had the slightest leaks when I tested it on the water. A quick hit with the air hammer/sledge tightened them right up. Worked great. The boat has absolutely zero leaks, not a drop!

Before fixing leaky rivets in your boat, the most important task is identifying all the rivets by placing the boat on the water, or if you want to do this on land, fill your craft halfway with water.

Use a sledge (or a hand anvil) on the outside against the rivet head, on the inside lightly tap on the rivet with the rounded end of a ball pee hammer. You don't need a big ballpeen hammer.

You can practice peening with a nail clamped in a vice and use the ballpeen to mushroom the end of the nail.

With a rivet the peening process draws the rivet and the mushroom keep it from pulling out

If you develop cracks in the mushroom head, grind the mushroom off or drill it out carefully and put in a new rivet

I ordered replacement rivets from Mirrocraft years back to replace bad and missing rivets

What you really want to look for on a used aluminum hull is thinning of the metal, cracks, sharp dents, thick coatings applied to cover up defects, dozens of bad rivets, and how was the hull taken care of