Aluminum Boat Patchwork Help/Advice

[MadHatter]

Here you go. Get the aluminum CLEAN, use a new brush, clean with acetone, don't overheat your aluminum. PM me your address and I'll send you a couple rods. You be sold for life, if you do it right, and that's not very hard to do .

https://youtu.be/2ACYV6dJTbk

https://youtu.be/3SBfP4_i1Go

[Texas Grown]

Having done over 2,000 aluminum boat structural repairs and mods, JB Weld should be sued and burnt at the stake! It's a tig welder's nightmare!

[Cardinal]

Thanks all for the advice and suggestions! My main concern is whatever solution I come to is reliable and doesn't fail. My boys (5 and 3) may run lines and fish with me on this thing and we'll all be wearing PFD's, but it still worries me because of them.

[Cardinal]

remember you are dealing with a jon boat here... not a high dollar yacht.. just make it functional and dry

This is my mindset, as long as functional and dry also means reliable/safe... I am not trying to drop a bunch of coin on a boat that I spent more time and effort tracking the title down on and getting registered than what I spent on it, lol.

friend of mine/ neighbor is a member on here. dont remember his screen name. Let me find it. Him and his dad build all kinds of aluminum stuff and i bet he could fix it for you. They work in crosby tx

Thanks for the offer! Crosby is a bit far for me to haul this thing right now (working on the trailer as well).

Fluxless brazing rods. All you need is a propane torch.
I have fixed a ton of aluminum with them, and it flat out works.
For that spot, it's as good as welding.
If there's any flex, JB weld will last not time.

Here you go. Get the aluminum CLEAN, use a new brush, clean with acetone, don't overheat your aluminum. PM me your address and I'll send you a couple rods. You be sold for life, if you do it right, and that's not very hard to do .

https://youtu.be/2ACYV6dJTbk

https://youtu.be/3SBfP4_i1Go

When I bought the boat and knew it had a small leak, I looked into this. I actually bought the rods...have the torch...but the inside of the hull is just so caked in JB weld, I'm not sure if I could ever get to the bare aluminum without sanding/grinding off more than I should.

Stop by a welding/fab shop, I bet they'd patch it for around $50 or less.

Do you now anybody with a mig welder you could borrow? Wouldnt take but a few minutes to weld a patch on.

It's not going to be cheap to have welded unless you have a buddy with a tig or spool gun. That crack is going to be full of whatever they used to seal it and isn't going to want to weld worth a crap.

Truth. That whole area will need to be sanded down to clean aluminum. The crack will need to be clean as well if it’s to be welded. I might would try marineweld epoxy first, but the surfaces still need to be clean. I might make a suggestion and take a 3/32 drill bit and drill thru each end of the crack to stop it from spreading. Then weld or epoxy both sides.
If you ever own an aluminum canoe and abuse it , you learn how to fix it

I finally got a text back from a friend of a friend that does aluminum work late last night. His suggestion was to prep it as much as I could, get as much of the JB weld off. He told me he could patch it with a weld and account for any additional prepping for a $100 bill.

[txhunter90]

Thanks all for the advice and suggestions! My main concern is whatever solution I come to is reliable and doesn't fail. My boys (5 and 3) may run lines and fish with me on this thing and we'll all be wearing PFD's, but it still worries me because of them.

If your kids are going to be in it. Don't cheap out, take it to a welder let him throw some beads down on the outside. Our jet boats had one similar but way worse. They just filled the crack a few times. Cost $85, which is what they charge per hour. Shouldn't take them more than an hour to fix this, a good welder anyways.

[fowlwaters]

friend of mine/ neighbor is a member on here. dont remember his screen name. Let me find it. Him and his dad build all kinds of aluminum stuff and i bet he could fix it for you. They work in crosby tx

Thanks Aaron
I weld aluminum but stay away from old rivited boats they are very thin and do not weld good. Aluminum um changes with age and makes for bigger problems then it's worth. Would not recommend mig welding it. Only advise I could give you on this is drill a hole at each end of the crack and like others said JB weld and I hate the stuff or cut your losses and scrap it and leson learned.

[WalkieTalkie]

Flex seal. Lol