The bottom of my aluminum canoe leaks like crazy. The inside has foam so I can't tell where its coming in from. My engineer friend said to cover the rivets / bottom edge of canoe with NP-1 polyurethane. Any thoughts on this? He figures it'll be better than flex seal. Thanks

Bump! No one knows....

>>2918648 (OP)
> I can't tell where its coming in from
Put it in water upside down and look for bubbles

Poly can help if it isn’t a big leak

Here's the /diy/ answer
>you shouldn't have finished it
>put in a french drain
>add a sump pump

>>2918648 (OP)
dude wtf, I can't tell if it's styled like birchbark or has many huge repair seams. never seen a canoe like that in my life. My guess is one of those crazy seams is leaking. You may want an epoxy and fiber patch, as in most cases youtube will have more detailed info than here. Polyurethane will help but if you drag it over rocks that shit will chip off

>>2918794
I think I'd need multiple people to push it underwater. It's 14' long. But thank you
>>2918812
Kek
>>2918835
It is styled like birch bark. There is a big chiefs headdress / head on the other side. I believe it is called a MOHAWK and it's late 70s early 80s. Epoxy and fiber on aluminum though??? Anyway, thanks for a real answer

>>2918835
>>2918928
Epoxy and fiberglas after finding the leak, then gelcoat the entire hull. It's not ideal and won't last forever. Make sure to rough sand the aluminum before patching.

>>2918928
Put it on sawhorses and fill it with water with soap instead. Doesn’t have to be all the way full of you can lift one side.

You could sand it and tig weld if you want it super durable, or use a brazing rod if it’s a tear or gap. Most boat people will tell you not to put fibreglass repairs on aluminium but if you insist you’d need to sand and etch it to stick somewhat well.

What about those aluminum repair rods I remember seeing on informercials?

>>2918955
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIKsDfRAcs

Braze it with low temp alumnimum welding rods... by far the cheapest weld to do.

quick and dirty? I see them patched up with JB weld all the time

>>2919042
I do have some jb weld marine..... idk how many tube's I'll need but it's worth a try.
>>2918948
I appreciate your knowledge and reply, thanks kindly
>>2918955
>>2918956
Good vid thanks!
>>2918943
Not a huge deal if it doesn't last forever- I bought the canoe for 40$ last year and put 500$ into a motor / battery for it. The motor will go on the next canoe eventually. Jist want a few yrs out of this one

>>2918955
>>2918956
>>2919285
you can see someone has already made a huge mess trying to weld it. Finding and repairing the hole in all that is far from a gimme. I'd still go with the epoxy, find the hole like this anon said >>2918948 and just use one tube

>>2919321
Here's the bottom. I probly gotta knock off all this old shit hey.....

>>2919397
Update. Tried knocking the old shit off. Couldn't. I reckon I'll just have to epoxy over it all and hope for the best. It's still usable, it was just leaking so much last year I had to keep pulling to shore to bail it all out. Maybe a battery powered bilge pump for the meantime. Probly just need a new canoe....

>>2918648 (OP)
how the hell do you pierce an aluminum canoe

>>2919410
It's not pierced. It's 50+ yrs old. Rivets and everything come loose after that many decades. Not crazy

>>2919397
>>2919408
If you care about the canoe but not the paint then use paint stripper and sand it, then it should be easy to find the leaks to repair. After that doesn’t even need new coating. Aluminium canoes are the most durable and redoing rivets is pretty easy plus when you take rivets out you can put some sealant in and it’ll last another decade. If you find a leak you can locally sand it and repair too btw

>>2919421
Thank you. I just bought some paint stripper, and some alcohol to clean it with after I strip and sand the bottom seam.

It's stripping time

The paint stripper worked really good. It's clearly been patched before

Leaving some gobs of stripper on overnight where the bottom seal is separated. Should be an easy fix now. It'll be ugly but idc.

Just self bumping while the stripper does its magic. I wanna keep you guys updated on if this works or not

Getting there.....

Now I'm chiselling out all the old shit. This might be a summer-long project to do it properly....

>>2919686
>>2920506
>>2921053
I think you’re supposed to cover the stripper with cling film to make it work better

And get an angle grinder with a flappy disc, or at least a wire brush

>>2921365
Thank you, yeah, a grinder with a flappy would have went way better. Today I used an oscillating multi tool. Then I used to sanding attachment (it's junk)

Here's where I got before tearing up all my sandpaper pieces in the oscillating tool. I'm using some wire brushes attached to my drill now until those all wear out, too. Maybe I'll buy a grinder or borrow a buddies.

Should have bought ones of these from the start. Made my life way easier.

And here's where I'm at. I bought 4 packs of JB WELD MARINE and a tube of polyeurathane. I'll put the jb weld in the sports where it seems to be leaking. And I'll run a bead of poly over the whole thing once that cures.

Starting some JB WELD MARINE

>>2921935
Should've put some tape an inch from the seam on both sides so you can create a clean edge. Not essential but I like cleanliness in repairs.

>>2921966
That's a good idea, thanks! I'll do that on the next few sections.

>>2921997
Just be sure to remove the tape when your adhesive is still on the soft side so it tears away cleanly and you don't have to cut it away.

>>2922000
Thanks I really appreciate that tip

>>2918648 (OP)
it leaks because aluminum is a metal which is denser than water so naturally it wants to sink

>>2922164
You are one weird mother fucker yeah??

Adding more JB WELD MARINE today to the known separated joints. Forgot to tape it off for the clean lines. Oh well.

Used up the rest of the jb weld. I'll let it cure for a day or few before running the polyeurathane.

>>2918943
This but it also depends what you have lying around and how much money want to spend. Do you have housepaint? Caravan roof sealer? doesn't look like there is anywhere you would need fiberglass and a few smears of the two pack epoxy could be enough (find the holes).

>>2918648 (OP)
JB weld and aluminum sheet metal patches and rivets work good if you have an actual hole.

>>2923199
The canoe costed me 40$, I'm certainly not gonna pour hundred into it. I like your advice
>>2923328
No real hole, just leaking seams and rivets. I think I got her done here

Gentlemen, she be sealed. Fucking better be anyhow. Once this polyeurathane cures, I'll test it out and report back here. Thanks for the help thus far folks.

>>2923584
are you gonna smoothen the poly when it has hardened?

>>2923662
Yes , I will sand it down. And possibly spray some cheap bed liner over the bare metal beside it. That's my plan so far

Nice I love epoxy

I love small boats with big sails.

>>2923785
what about big boats with smol sails?

>>2923787
Interesting, how does that work?

>>2923787
5G towers but sails

>>2923922
Ultra high frequency propulsion technology.

>>2923795
motor spins cylinder. magnus effect gives foward thrust when the wind blows sideways.

>>2923964
It doesn't look like a rotor ship, a rotor ship has cylindrical sails, the one in this thread looks way different so I reckon it's something else.

>>2923707
Thanks! It rained today and the epoxy seemed to have kept the inside of my canoe dry. A friend is telling me to let the epoxy cure for 30 days though. Seems excessive, no?

>>2924212
It depends, what did the package say?
How is the canoe doing right now anyway?

>>2925898
The package said a week. I just looked it up now lol. So it should be more than fine. I've been on a boating fishing trip foe the past few days and have a couple more to go. I'll go see if the canoe leaks on the lake this upcoming weekend. Can't wait to update

I'm so disappointed. OP even baited it.

>>2925971
My original plan was to use flex seal but so many people irl convinced me not to. Would have been crazy expensive too

>>2925970
did you sand it yet?

>>2926251
No, the polyeurathane didn't sand worth a shit. It stays tacky and gummy. I filled the canoe up with water overnight. Gonna see if the level changed when I get home from work

Well, the water test worked good. The bottom seam was completely dry. I lost a little water but I'm sure it was just the foam inserts sucking it all up.
I planned on canoeing all weekend but it looks like it will storm everyday. Let's see what happens

>>2926786
Oh, I guess I never updated here first. I took
>>2918948 advice and filled the interior with water. That went good. I'm ready to go

Headed for the real test in the morning on the lake. Got my trolling motor packed up and ready to rock. Grabbed a fish finder while I was at it, too. Report back in 24 hrs or less.

It worked. I had a lovely time. Thank you all

>>2927379
Good to see it worked out, well done!

>>2928351
Thank you very kindly. You guys are great

>>2918648 (OP)

Roofing patch the whole hull. This is how shipyards handle such issues.

>>2928926
That could have worked. But she's all good now. You're a month too late