I’m considering buying an old lone star aluminum boat. If the rivets leak I’m thinking about sealing seams with gluvit. Should I do this inside and out? I know it’s not outboard related, but I always get good advice here. Thanks
I’ve had good luck with 3M5200 sealing loose rivets. However I’ve found some of the most deteriorated rivets on Lone Star boats. That has only been on 3 out of the 4 Lone star boats I’ve owned.
I’ve had good success with Capt.Tolleys sealer.Fixed a lot of leaky boats over the years.If it doesn’t work,it doesn’t interfere with other fixes you might try.
The 1959 on Lone Stars flex quite a bit, at least mine did, it didn’t leak though. On my Duratech 13S copy, I replace the corroded / loose rivets with sealed pop versions, with a dab of Duralac in each cleaned-up hole before riveting. This will set over time.
The simplest solution is to reset the rivets with a hammer and a bucking iron. It helps to have 2 people. I had about 10 rivets that leaked on my sea-nymph gamefisher. After I reset them there are no leaks.
Sometimes it’s more than just rivets that leak. Often the sealant between the seams dries out and fails. Products like Guvit and West System G-Flex are designed to help seal seams and rivets on flexible aluminium boats.
Before bucking a new rivet a drop of 5200 in the hole may be a good idea. I’ve seen folks post that ‘super glue’ may stop a leaking rivet. There is a thicker version of super glue available.
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