Hi Guys!
Quick background: Given a boat/motor with trailer: It hasn't moved in 20 years! It's a Montgomery Ward Sea King. In researching, I found that's its actually made by smokercraft with a 15 HP Chrysler outboard.
It belonged to my neighbors father and was willed to the neighbor. It was his childhood boat and he supposedly has a thorough knowledge of the boat. It has never been registered to anyone other than his father, so he should know what he's talking about I guess.
So in looking closely at it I can clearly see black silicone or roofing tar or some kind of black sealant on all of the seams. in particular the stern has a lot that can be seen on the inside and out. Also the metal looks stressed and is uneven there. If I had to guess, i would bet that someone had a leaky rivet or two they couldn't fix and kind of stuck a screwdriver in the seam to open it up and pressed silicone/tar in there and then went up and down every seam from the outside for good measure. My neighbor swears there's no way that this isn't factory silicone. I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth so OK.
So that spot sure enough leaks and is need of repair.
Question 1: Did companies (smokercraft) put silicone or tar in the seams when riveting these boats together?
Question 2 : How to make the repair? My gut says drill out the rivets in that area. Use a body hammer and dolly to flatten the curved metal out and then buck rivet it together and use a little g2 epoxy in the crack and around the rivets as good measure.
Question 3: The rest of the siliconed seams: should I just leave the rest of the silicone on the seams in place or use a wire brush to scrape it out ? I wanted to repaint it and I don't trust that old silicone to not infect the paint.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Quick background: Given a boat/motor with trailer: It hasn't moved in 20 years! It's a Montgomery Ward Sea King. In researching, I found that's its actually made by smokercraft with a 15 HP Chrysler outboard.
It belonged to my neighbors father and was willed to the neighbor. It was his childhood boat and he supposedly has a thorough knowledge of the boat. It has never been registered to anyone other than his father, so he should know what he's talking about I guess.
So in looking closely at it I can clearly see black silicone or roofing tar or some kind of black sealant on all of the seams. in particular the stern has a lot that can be seen on the inside and out. Also the metal looks stressed and is uneven there. If I had to guess, i would bet that someone had a leaky rivet or two they couldn't fix and kind of stuck a screwdriver in the seam to open it up and pressed silicone/tar in there and then went up and down every seam from the outside for good measure. My neighbor swears there's no way that this isn't factory silicone. I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth so OK.
So that spot sure enough leaks and is need of repair.
Question 1: Did companies (smokercraft) put silicone or tar in the seams when riveting these boats together?
Question 2 : How to make the repair? My gut says drill out the rivets in that area. Use a body hammer and dolly to flatten the curved metal out and then buck rivet it together and use a little g2 epoxy in the crack and around the rivets as good measure.
Question 3: The rest of the siliconed seams: should I just leave the rest of the silicone on the seams in place or use a wire brush to scrape it out ? I wanted to repaint it and I don't trust that old silicone to not infect the paint.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
