Hull Repair Advice

[exodus]

Howdy all,
I have brought my boat( 3.7m Stacer Riveria) out of storage to get her back up and running again, and i am going through the boat, and renewing everything to tip top condition, and replacing the questionable things done by the prior owner.

Now there are some Repairs on the hull that where done by the prior owner, They look like Aluminium or staneless steel Rivets, then siliconed over, now some of them are rusting down the centre (so i take it they where probably cheap ones to start with).

Now i'd like options and preferences on repairing these rivets (13 all up).
e.g.
1) replace with Blind Rivets / sikaflex

2) Aluminium or ss rivets as per whats on there now(dosnt seem to be a good solution tho), then sikaflex

3) Take it to an Aluminium welder and get them welded.


If option 3, does anyone know how much id be looking at to get them welded up?

I have already cleaned the hull up all shiney, and removed existing silicon, in preperation for whatever i decide.

It also appears whatever bolts where used to affix the transducer, rust terribly, and they are screwed directly in.

Should i just remove the existing ones, clean the holes up, apply sika flex, and use SS bolts, or have those holes welded aswell, and attach the Transducer elsewhere.


thanks

[sambos]

have heard rumors that if silicone has been applied to ally they have alsorts of dramas welding it. unsure how true though .i,d probably drill them out with a 1/8 bit and replace them . probably just clean the holes and replace the bolts

[FNQCairns]

Are there rivets that are all aluminium, I though so but not sure, the centre part is case hardened aluminium just like outboard headbolts, hope someone can clarify.

Forget silicon it's just plain rubbish use sika 296 or 3m 4200 (think its 4200?) sand a nice rough area for it to bond to and on the plate, it will last for ages or forever,
Welding works also as I found out when I opened a tinny hull up on the side of a trailer roller one night, it was not a stress crack though.

cheers fnq

[snelly1971]

Sambos...it is true about trying to weld once silicon or especially sika flex has been used....i dont weld ...but the bloke who does mine cursed me last time i used sika flex and then asked him to weld the crack on my dingy...makes it spit and the weld doesnt seem to want to take ...so he tells me..

[exodus]

unfurtunetly the silicon was done by the prior owner.

Surely some a rubbing with something like turps or ali-brite acid wash, would get rid of the silicon residue?

i don't think they are all alluminium rivets or there would be no sign of rust through the middle of them =/.

[sid_fishes]

the ally rivets probably have steel centres[stems] so that rivet guns can pull them up [ without breaking the stem]. sika , silicone and just about anything else that may contaminate the ally will make it very hard to weld, and this adds to the cost of repairs because you just dont know how long it will take to repair cheers ian

[sid_fishes]

if they were stainless rivets the holes would be very corroded, pitted , its probably just the scraping of steel stem in the ally that began to rust cheers