New guy with questions!

[mrwiggins]

Hello all -- I've been lurking a while and have found this site particularly informative. I recently became the proud owner of a $50 1436 John boat (no clue what brand), and have been assembling various componants (trolling motor, trailer, gas motor, etc.) as I go.

The boat has some holes in it which have been repaired multiple times. It looks like some are a combination of JB weld and brazing rods. I've been sanding down the paint on the boat, and made the decision to go ahead and remove all of the old repairs to try and get them fixed right.

Originally, I planned on getting the holes in the boat welded up, since I didn't pay much for it in the first place. However, as I continue to strip the paint, I find more and more old repairs. As a result, I can't decide whether it would be better to go ahead and weld up the holes, or to simply re-fix them with some JB (or other) patch, and then cover with a generous coating of Steel Flex. I know that Steel flex is fairly expensive, but I think it might be cheaper over all to just do that instead of welding.

I was just curious what thoughts y'all may have. Any help is very much appreciated!

PS -- I'm going to try and attach some "before" pictures - the boat has since been sanded down to aluminum (fot the most part) but I only have a phone camera at the moment . . . The boat also had some kind of do it yourself spray in bedliner, which I pulled out because it was old and gross.

 

[Ouachita]

Welcome aboard! You can't beat those $50 dollar deals. Post up some pics and I am sure you will get some advice on the repairs.

 

[ben2go]

Try Marine Tex putty and Gulvit.
https://www.marinetex.com/MarineTexproducts.html

 

[mrwiggins]

Ok - I'm trying to add some pictures. I appreciate any help. All I have is a phone camera, so they may not look great.

https://s733.photobucket.com/albums/ww339/rlwiggin/

 

[Ouachita]

It looks from this picture that this rib is cracked completely and has cracks by the rivets. You will probably need to get the ribs welded for sure. I had a few like this on mine and I had them welded then riveted aluminum bars to each side of the rib. If you have movement that a broken rib will give you any patch will fail.

 

[mrwiggins]

Thanks Ouchita - I had a feeling that the ribs would need to be welded . . . you have any idea of what something like that might cost?

 

[Ouachita]

Thanks Ouchita - I had a feeling that the ribs would need to be welded . . . you have any idea of what something like that might cost?

The place I had mine done was $125 per hour for heliarc welding. If you hire it done make sure you find someone who has welded on thin aluminum like a jon boat otherwise you could get some hack who is cheap and blow holes in your boat. You might try a muffler shop if you have one nearby and see if they would be interested in doing the work. Good luck with it.

 

[mrwiggins]

Well, the boat is at the welder as of yesterday -- I should have it back by early next week. A friend of the family owns a machine shop here in town, and cut their rate for me ($40/hr!) so I saved some money there. Can't wait to get it sealed up and painted!

 

[russ010]

awesome price! Can't wait to see the after pics!

 

[mrwiggins]

The weather is really going to be great all weekend long. 75 and sunny. I ordered some Gluvit to cover the hull with, which should arrive today (according to UPS tracking). My girlfriend is out of town all weekend, leaving me with no distractions. Since I'm in grad school, I got ahead on the mountain of work that constantly needs to be done, so I have nothing left to do until monday.

Everything was falling into place for this to be the weekend to get alot done on the boat. The only problem? No boat to work on. It is still at the &*^$*%#!*% welder. :evil: They haven't gotten to it yet.

Guess I better make some new plans.

 

[Captain Ahab]

GO FISHING!