Patching holes in aluminum boat

I bought a used boat that has a few small holes in the transom I want to fill. What is the best approach for this. Marine JB weld, marine silicone, or is there something else I should be using?

Thanks

I have had good luck with the radiator repair sticks. They are a 2 part, cut off a piece and mash it together. Clean the area good with brakeclean and scotchbrite prior.

DRH1175 wrote:

I bought a used boat that has a few small holes in the transom I want to fill. What is the best approach for this. Marine JB weld, marine silicone, or is there something else I should be using?

Thanks

Pin holes or screw holes? If pin holes keep an eye on things you may have some corrosion problems starting.

I bought an Alumacraft 14″ boat the previous owner drilled dozens of holes in for lights, locator mount, anchor mate and more. JB Weld, silicone, etc is a temporary fix. Some holes I just put a bolt in. Ended up having the holes filled by a welder.

Depends on the hole but a screw, preferably aluminum but stainless works too, dipped in 3M 5200 will seal old screw holes permanently.

KPE wrote:

Depends on the hole but a screw, preferably aluminum but stainless works too, dipped in 3M 5200 will seal old screw holes permanently.

If it’s just a few screw holes this is the way to go.

Having repaired many boats on our fly in trips (dragged over rocks when portaging) we have done them all. Quite honestly, Flex seal spray worked the best for us, sprayed inside and out. Screws would catch the rocks fairly easily and start leaking again. JB Weld was ok too, but Flex seal was faster and cleaner. Also, for a worn bottom, it fills all the small spots you can’t even see, unlike JB Weld which is a spot repair. Spray it really thick on the keel guard to seal unseen voids. When we were kids and put a hole in the boat, we had the neighbor Aluminum weld it and ground smooth, that worked too !

Someone who I know very well, but definitely not me :), drilled straight through the hull of his brand new boat while relocating his onboard charger. 1/8″ hole and when the drill came out daylight. After 15 minutes of sheer panic, “he” bought some 3M 5200 and fixed it with a 1/8″ blind rivet. Dip the rivet in 5200 (because blind rivets do not seal perfectly on their own) then install rivet, then a small dab of 5200 over the rivet. Cure 5 days or whatever it says on the package. Strongest rivet on the boat IMO

Rivets.. that’s a good idea too ! Stealing that !

They are screw holes. I put new screws in dipped in 5200 hope that does the trick! Thanks