Is this dent a concern for leaks since its right on the rivet?

[brookswildlife]

The underside of my boat looks great, except for one spot that has a dent. Is this a concern for a potential leak, or is this nothing to worry about? I can do PDR and pull the dent out, but what about the sealing around the rivet?

 

[FuzzyGrub]

As long as you can get to the other side, I'd try re-bucking it first. That small dent is nothing to worry about.

 

[airshot]

If it doesn't leak now, forget about it. If it does leak, rebuck it, if it still leaks, spread some shoe "goop" over the head and forget about it....

 

[OldSailor85]

Y'all have never owned a wood boat. They all leak.

It's a boat. If you use it, it will get dents, scratches, etc. Battle wounds.

Don't sweat it. It's nothing.

 

[thill]

It probably doesn't leak, and I would just ignore it. Tin boats take a licking and keep on ticking. Many tin boats have hundreds of dents way worse than that with no issues, besides cosmetics/

If a rivet seeps, hold something heavy on the rivet and smack it from the other side with a hammer to tighten it up and then get back on the water.

 

[hoarder]

If it don't leak, don't mess with it.
Don't fix what ain't broke is he saying.

Unless the rivet is leaking, I wouldn't mess with it. Aluminum does not like to be worked cold, and dented aluminum stretches to some degree so anything you do will likely make it worse in some aspect.

If it leaks support the rivet head and drive it tighter from the inside or brush a bit of Gluvit on the rivet on the inside to seal any possible leaks if you must, but Gluvit is only permanent if painted to shield it from UV light. I've had boats before that had dents in the bow, bottom, and sides from hitting logs and debris in the river and never had one leak because of it. A buddy hit a floating log one day at full speed, it nearly inverted the bow and cracked two ribs free of their rivets but it never leaked. He stomped the dent out the next day and kept running it. It outlive him like that.