Dented Keel - Repair ideas?

[Hofty86]

Folks,

Bought a 12ft unknown year/make/model. It is in good shape with a few minor dents so I have decided to fix it up and make it my lake boat. The keel has an average dent in it so takes on a little water. Won't be an issue to silicone it up with appropriate water grade material but I'm wanting to knock it out from the inside. Any thoughts if this is possible with a 2x4 and head gun?

Also is it sufficient to just seal up the seams with appropriate sealant and same to inside seams, then put down a Bedliner non-slip coating to seal the deal?

Thanks for helping.

 

[DaleH]

If you don’t ‘anneal’ that aluminum beforehand ... you WILL crack it further! If you don’t know what you’re doing ... you could cause more damage and have more leaks.

I would probably advise leave it as is and seal from the inside with West systems G-Flex 650, $22, a flexible epoxy, of which you’ll have plenty! Look up my posts for it plus tin annealing 5052 alloy, in the Starcraft in my signature.