1983 Starcraft Rivet Work of Art

[kccrow]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum. I've been reviewing many of the rebuilds after purchasing a "project," and I have to say many of you have done amazing work!

I took it out on the water for about an hour and a half to run the motor and get a feel for the boat. The bilge pump wasn't working, and I ended up with enough water in the boat it came up over the decking.

So, knowing I had to do a lot of work anyhow, I started unraveling the work of art at the bottom of the transom and up underneath the stern. After hours of chipping away epoxy, silicone, plasticote, paint, rust, and so on, I came across the amazing rivet work of a previous owner (see under the canvas and other images).

I'm curious to know what you'd all do to address the rivet next to/over rivet job and the misshapen rivet holes. I think I need to solicit the services of a friend and have some aluminum welding done after drilling them all out. Is it worth it, or should I take solace in the fact that I got a 90 HP motor and Shoreland'r trailer for $1k and scrap the boat?

 

[Scott Danforth]

 

[MNhunter1]

Yeah, they made a mess of that with the blind rivets. Depending on what your intentions are (full rebuild vs just getting it on the water), if the concern is isolated to the transom as picture and not widespread throughout the remainder of the hull, it could be worth the effort to repair. I'd get all the old/damaged rivets drilled out and see what you are actually dealing with. I see some aluminum sheet, a 4x rivet gun, some solid rivets, a tube of 3M5200, and a friend with a bucking bar in your future

 

[kccrow]

Yeah, they made a mess of that with the blind rivets. Depending on what your intentions are (full rebuild vs just getting it on the water), if the concern is isolated to the transom as picture and not widespread throughout the remainder of the hull, it could be worth the effort to repair. I'd get all the old/damaged rivets drilled out and see what you are actually dealing with. I see some aluminum sheet, a 4x rivet gun, some solid rivets, a tube of 3M5200, and a friend with a bucking bar in your future

My original plan was to fix broken rivets to make sure it didn't leak and then focus on the damaged decking. I wasn't going to go into a full resto, more of a fix-it-to-fish type of thing.

After seeing the work of previous owners and the full extent of the issues, I'm considering a full restoration. The rivets drilled next to and punched in over the top of other rivets at the most critical of locations have me a bit concerned. This seems to be the only area where they did anything this stupid. There are some wads of black goop over some rivets along the bottom of the boat, so I do need to investigate those. I had the boy help scrape a wad of silicone off another spot, and it revealed one broken rivet.

I do think resheeting the transom like you suggest would help, or really, a complete reconstruction with new plywood as well. That would leave only the extra holes in the bottom to address. I was thinking weld that segment and then redrill holes for the rivets that are supposed to be there and put in proper rivets.

 

[cyclops222]

Remove any loose rivets. Drill all holes to the same size. Find out the cost to CAREFULLY blast the outside and inside and transom with a soft Aluminum blasting media. There are soft, solid rivets available. Decades ago we had air and electrical riveting hammers 1 person inside and 1 person outside to flatten the rivets. Ear plugs and full face shield. Almost fun.

 

[kccrow]

Remove any loose rivets. Drill all holes to the same size. Find out the cost to CAREFULLY blast the outside and inside and transom with a soft Aluminum blasting media. There are soft, solid rivets available. Decades ago we had air and electrical riveting hammers 1 person inside and 1 person outside to flatten the rivets. Ear plugs and full face shield. Almost fun.

Do you have experience with soda blasting? I've heard that it is much better with aluminum and leaves a better finish than glass beads.

 

[rolmops]

For the blasting of aluminum, ground walnut shell is your ticket

 

[BWR1953]

I had my Chieftain dustless blasted and that was perfect, but expensive.

 

[IslandExplorer]

That rivet job really is something.

If that's the worst then she's definitely saveable without too crazy much effort like the guys above said. Aluminum is pretty easy to work with and done half right it holds up a long time. The rivets they did were definitely a good bit less than half right so fix that and you'll be stylin! Rivets are dirt cheap compared to gallons of resin.

I had a very well worn 16 supersport that was in wayyy worse condition and I got her back out there for many many fun fishing days out on the bay after repairing some similar hackjob rivet and seal work.

 

[kccrow]

That rivet job really is something.

If that's the worst then she's definitely saveable without too crazy much effort like the guys above said. Aluminum is pretty easy to work with and done half right it holds up a long time. The rivets they did were definitely a good bit less than half right so fix that and you'll be stylin! Rivets are dirt cheap compared to gallons of resin.

I had a very well worn 16 supersport that was in wayyy worse condition and I got her back out there for many many fun fishing days out on the bay after repairing some similar hackjob rivet and seal work.

That's definitely reassuring and gives me confidence in making the repairs. I'll probably have to hire the services of an old boss of mine to do some welds down at the bottom there. I haven't laid a bead in 20 years and don't trust myself with aluminum. The metal fab and everything else are in the wheelhouse. I have to gut it to replace the decking anyhow, so might as well go all in.

 

[redneck joe]

So those rivets can be ok if they are closed end one and a good smear of 4200 when installing. I just used about 250 on my boat and all is well. It ain't pretty with the smear bit it does not leak anymore. Yours has no sealant on them. Since those are on the transom you can look to see if closed end but they need to be replaced regardless because of no sealant.