Popping Rivets

[gogittum]

On my "Jinxed" thread, I mentioned that a rivet had popped under the rear seat and was letting a fountain of water into my 16 ft Starcraft boat.

I crawled under there a bit ago with a flashlight and was astonished. "A" rivet ?? One ?? Count 'em by the dozen. The heads are missing off at least 20 and I'm sure the actual count is much higher than that. Some show shiny metal, which I'd think means they are recent fails. Others - many others - are the same color as the surrounding metal, so prob'ly long ago fails. Most don't leak.....figure that.

I've noticed that the floor under my left foot is oil canning now when I put weight there. It didn't do that when 1st got it.

When I started refurbing the boat after purchase, I pulled the center seat out to add the folding grab bar. At that time, I noticed that the aluminum gussets that hold the seat to the hull had several missing rivets as well. I re-installed the seats and repaired the rivets with stainless steel core aluminum blind rivets that don't leak when set.

Uh....I did say "jinxed' earlier ?? Seems like the problems are never-ending.


Fine, but to do this right I'm going to hafta pull the motor and flip the boat over. Working with limited room underneath with frame rails, bunks, etc., in the way just isn't feasible. Then, too, I'll need the 18" heavy duty rivet puller. The small hand grip one simply isn't up to the task.

Is this a common thing with older aluminum boats ?? Mine is a 1996 model Starcraft Seafarer. No idea of the amount or type of use it's had, but overall it's in very good shape. Not scraped up or battered at all.

 

[MrGiggles]

If you're going to be popping a lot of rivets, Harbor Freight sells a pretty cheap pneumatic gun that will make quick work of it. Milwaukee makes a cordless one too.

 

[DaleH]

Do you know if this is/was previously a ‘saltwater’ boat?

As it is very common on saltwater boats, as the corrosion causes the rivets to go first, as that alloy is softer (by design!) than the hull alloy, given the premise that it is far easier to replace a rivet than it is the hull panel.

 

[gogittum]

If you're going to be popping a lot of rivets, Harbor Freight sells a pretty cheap pneumatic gun that will make quick work of it. Milwaukee makes a cordless one too.

Thanks for the thought. I bought the heavy duty 17" HF hand riveter when I did the grab bar and seat. It works great and is easy to use - just need a bit of room for the handles. I expected to install one rivet. What I found was a total surprise.

 

[gogittum]

Do you know if this is/was previously a ‘saltwater’ boat?

As it is very common on saltwater boats, as the corrosion causes the rivets to go first, as that alloy is softer (by design!) than the hull alloy, given the premise that it is far easier to replace a rivet than it is the hull panel.

I didn't know that, but it makes sense. I don't see signs of bad corrosion, so can't say for sure what the boat's life has been like. Actually, except for the rivets, it's in exceptionally good shape for 25 years old.

I tore into the motor today, too - the 25 hp Suzuki DF25 - and found a lot of corrosion in the cooling passages. Now I'm finding that Suzukis are notorious for it and it's likely the cause of my overheating problem last Thursday. I won't ever buy another one.

 

[DaleH]

I tore into the motor today, too - the 25 hp Suzuki DF25 - and found a lot of corrosion in the cooling passages. Now I'm finding that Suzukis are notorious for it and it's likely the cause of my overheating problem last Thursday. I won't ever buy another one.

That is precisely the situation with EVERY small 4-stroke made now! All of them, 30+ skiffs at the boat dock 24/7 and the only ones w/issues are the new or newer 4-strokes! To the point where the Owner of a Yam 15hp keeps a water tank in the bow of his 12' Carolina Skiff and flushes the OB EVERY weekend! I think their design is soooooooooooo tight, to shave every ounce of what otherwise would be a pig of an already heavy of a pig engine, that they're all having saltwater corrosion issues if not flushed 'routinely'.

And at the dock, this is brackish water to boot, freahwater flowing down to join a saltwater tidal river. But none of the 2-strokes are having issues ... and I have been boating there for 50+years now and I have NEVER, ever flushed a 2-stroke motor from use there.