Repairing and upgrading old boats

[Deaf Wolf]

Ok, I'm new at this forum and boat repairs. I haven't had a boat since I was a kid in Florida. I have 2 boats that was given to me by my late father who never had the time to fix them and take it out for his fishing time. One is a 1977 Montgomery Ward Sea King aluminium Jon boat that is 12' long with 32" bottom. The other is a 12' Fiberglass tri Hull boat that has no make, model and year on it. Both is in need of repairs and tlc. The Jon boat has a slight front end damage that popped the rivets on the sides of the front end structural bench seat and folded the sides in an angle. Here's the pics:
And do any of you know what make and model the fiberglass boat is? I can't tell if that's homemade or manufactured:
And yes, the fiberglass needs work. It was shoddy repair before my father got it. The hull bottom did flex from my weight (180 Ibs), so I thought it needs fiberglass reinforcement.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Fix the aluminium boat, the fiberglass boat will need significant work

 

[mickyryan]

Honestly unless there is a sentimental value for these boats i would trash them , you can get a aluminum jon boat cheap and a glass boat that size as well or make the boat that size yourself from plywood and fiberglass , there are plans all over the web for making prestty sweet lil fishing boats , by the time you are done fixing the jon boat im willing to bet you could have bought acadamy sells basically the same lil boat for 700 bucks

 

[Deaf Wolf]

Honestly, those boats won't be for sale as I'm very interested in fixing up sentimental boats from my father. As for Mr Danforth, the aluminium boat need rivet replacements and I'm thinking about the closed end blind rivets sealed with marine epoxy. Am I on the right track or are there different point of views? About the fiberglass boat.... I thought it looks like a Sears sportfisher?

 

[Deaf Wolf]

I meant gamefisher, not sportfisher

 

[zool]

Cant speak for the tin can, but the glass boat does look alot like and old gamefisher I had, specifically the center bench fish well and protruding plate...I believe some were foam cored, if thats the case and the core is compromised, then like Scott said, alot of work......If you like the boat, and ive found out over time, that anything my dad left me was valuable, just take it to the level youre comfortable with.. I ran my gamefisher just out into the ocean on a calm day, with a split keel and taking on a little water (young and foolish)...caught a bunch of fluke and made it home easily....they are good boats.

 

[Downwindtracker2]

I wrapped a aluminum canoe around a rock. It got bent. I drilled out the keel rivets. Maybe if it didn't have a keel, I wouldn't have hit the rock. I hammered it out and used a pop-rivet they referred to as double bubble. They had a pressure rating .They were expensive, as you bought them singularly , I bought them from Aklands, it's now Granger. 3/16s hole I tried using air riveter but it was too quick, it didn't pull together. A lever arm tool is great., I wouldn't bother with the hand one. I just used RTV, but now I would use Sikaflex.. 20 years on and my eldest son is still using that canoe. When he left home, he took that canoe.

 

[andrew j cox]

Ok, I'm new at this forum and boat repairs. I haven't had a boat since I was a kid in Florida. I have 2 boats that was given to me by my late father who never had the time to fix them and take it out for his fishing time. One is a 1977 Montgomery Ward Sea King aluminium Jon boat that is 12' long with 32" bottom. The other is a 12' Fiberglass tri Hull boat that has no make, model and year on it. Both is in need of repairs and tlc. The Jon boat has a slight front end damage that popped the rivets on the sides of the front end structural bench seat and folded the sides in an angle. Here's the pics:
And do any of you know what make and model the fiberglass boat is? I can't tell if that's homemade or manufactured:
And yes, the fiberglass needs work. It was shoddy repair before my father got it. The hull bottom did flex from my weight (180 Ibs), so I thought it needs fiberglass reinforcement.

I understand sentimental attachment, at the end of the day if you like em, keep em and fix em up, that alloy boat is what we call a punt here, ok for lake use in the sea they porpoise along if you over power them a 10 hp would poke that along safely, clean the alloy up repair the dents and dings, etch prime it, undercoat it and use something like an epoxy based enamel paint on it inside and out, little boats are easy to maintain you can paint them every couple years won’t cost much,
your glass boat, Ive rebuilt worse to live again, again it’s time mate, scrub it clean, start from the transom work your way forward, once you get them painted your half way there.

 

[Deaf Wolf]

Ok guys, I'll try those advises. About the pop rivets, since the boat's aluminium, is there a correct alloy for the rivets? I've heard a bunch of them.

 

[oldrem]

This site was recommended to me by Watermann https://www.rivetsonline.com/

 

[Downwindtracker2]

I don't know the alloy of aluminum, sorry, nor the correct name., but I did remember that they had a pressure rating and the expense .

 

[Deaf Wolf]

What pressure rating is best for this aluminium boat? Should I replace all rivets or just the one that popped out?

 

[Deaf Wolf]

Do any of you know which pressure ratings on aluminium rivets for an old aluminium boat?

 

[Downwindtracker2]

My feeling was if they had a pressure rating, they were good enough for a boat, err, in my case a canoe. Boats are not pressure tanks. Sure,real rivets are stronger, but you won't be putting a 100hp motor on it and pounding off shore seas with it, either. The poly urethane sealant would likely be almost enough in itself.

That canoe was sad, hogged, when I got it. It was also cheap. It had run some wild rivers in northern BC and had been sailed, it still had a mast step, on the Queen Charlotte Islands.They had repaired it with ordinary pop rivets and the pop rivet nails had come out. . When I first put in water, there were mini geysers on the bottom. I filled them with silicone , and used that canoe on some rivers, hogged and silicone sealed and all. When I repaired it, it was flat and straight , didn't leak and has lasted. Years later I saw that Springbok got their hands on those dies and knocked out some canoes. Unlike a Grumman , it was poor excuse for a canoe.

 

[Deaf Wolf]

Boy, sounds like you had an adventure with that canoe in Canada. I usually just prop the small boat up on sawhorses and fill it with water and look under to see if it leaks, then I drain the water out of the boat when it passes the leak test. I did that with a kayak.

 

[Downwindtracker2]

The canoe had the real adventures before I bought it. Not me. I used it on lakes and grade 2 and 3 water. Nothing too serious. It's more fun canoeing down hill, BTW

 

[Deaf Wolf]

Went white water rafting once during my high school trip long ago. Always went down the falls backwards Everytime and surprisely, we never fell off or capsized. What's your point of view on Fastenal rivets?

 

[Deaf Wolf]

Alright, here's the update: I cleaned and patched the aluminium damage, which is minor, with good old jbweld and there are no leaks whatsoever. I tried it out on an artificial lake with is a fishing lake. I mounted a very old minn kota 35 and interstate deep cycle battery with 2 fishing poles and tacklebox and of course a paddle. No leaks, floats fine, and I know I should get a 55 lb thrust with a newer minn kota trolling motor. Its good for calm days of fishing, but not good for a family fishing because it only holds 2 adult people and small gear. Now about the fiberglass boat..... I was fortunate to find the HIN tag riveted on the back transom:MFGB2102M76C. When I looked it up online on the website, the boat is actually a 1976 MFG Co. It is identical to 2 models matching the boat design: challenger 12 and car top fisherman.

 

[jbcurt00]

2nd topic specific to the 12ft MFG

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/boa...any-experiences-on-mfg-co-12-challenger-boats