# Puertoricoinshoreonfly bottom repair



## Puertoricoinshore (Aug 26, 2010)

[smiley=1-tears2.gif]Being put to the side lines for the past to weeks with a major repair on the bottom. Pictures coming soon.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

EEK  what happened?


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## Puertoricoinshore (Aug 26, 2010)

Actually the damage is been there before i bougth the boat. The previous owner made a major repair and a good one but insted of using aluminium or stainless steel to patch the outside he used regular silicone, rubber and regular sheet metal to seal the damage hull. For the past years all i been doing to deal with the problem was making a fiberglass patch on top and ignore the fact that the damage was there until know( [smiley=1-smack-myself.gif]it has come to bite me in the ass after all this years). I was going to weld a big piece of aluminium but that is out of the question beacuse the aluminium in the hull is veryyyyyyyyy thin in that part. So i am just going pacht with .25 aluminium where the hull is crack with 5200 marine silicone and ss nuts and bolts, put 4 pieces of .50 aluminium to reinforce most of the front on the bottom where the aluminium is to thin. I tried welding with durafix but it make everything worse on the cracks beacuse of how thin the aluminium is. After all that i will seal the bottom completely with steel flex. I will post more pictures.

This is and old picture of one of the repairs i did. Know i took everything out to the bare aluminium


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## Capt Dan Medina (Apr 28, 2008)

ouch... youve got some work on your hands there... best of luck my friend!


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## Puertoricoinshore (Aug 26, 2010)

The first step. More pics today as soon the battery camera charges. [smiley=1-doh.gif]


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## AfterHours2 (Aug 2, 2010)

IMHO, I would try a regular welding/fab shop to help you out with the repair if your set on keeping the boat for a while. A good welder with a tig machine should be able to patch with no problem. I honestly think your repair may become a band aid of some sort and future problems may arise. Not trying to knock your marine expertise, but I have also had to bite the bullet before and leave the Tig welding for the professionals. Best of luck and hope you get back on the water quickly.


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## joshuabward (Apr 3, 2010)

I had the same issue with mine








I tried the quick (wrong way:2 part epoxy and stainless mesh) to repair it and it will just come back to bite you.  Mine is sitting on the sidelines until I get the time to weld it....and that may be a while.  

If I were you I would take it to a welding shop it should be no more than 1 hour of labor judging by the pics.  Around my area that would be less than 60 bucks.


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## Puertoricoinshore (Aug 26, 2010)

More pics of my cheap repair / desperate attempt to be in the water as soon as possible without expending to much money.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

I have kept a supply of these on hand for years. I have never fixed the same spot twice (just keep getting new ones.

http://alumiweld.com/


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## Swamp (Jul 12, 2010)

DuckNut is correct, those work great.  Aluminum brazing/soldering rod is especially great for fixing leaky rivets.  If you are trying to gap more than 3/16" maybe 1/4" you may have problems unless you have some experience with gas welding.  I've filled almost nickle sized holes, but it was a challenge.  Be aware your base metal needs to be very clean, and there is a sweet spot as far as temperature is concerned.  You can be too hot or too cold, just like soldering copper pipe.  I prefer getting the base metal hot enough to melt the rod and only to slightly preheat the rod.  Don't melt the rod with just the flame.  Roll the flame in and out once you get the rod to start flowing.  It takes some practice.  My biggest problem is that I have a tendency to fill the hole and it will be perfectly functional and then I'll want to make it "pretty" and screw the whole thing up by melting the whole braze right out of the hole (usually right onto my foot  :).  The nice thing about butt joints and holes like that is that you can just grind the braze off and start over.


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## Puertoricoinshore (Aug 26, 2010)

Some more progress with the help of my friend and fishing partner johnatan









































I am going to buy some ss nuts and bolt to try to finish today with all the paching and then prepare everythin for the steel flex.


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## Puertoricoinshore (Aug 26, 2010)

More last night work.





































Almost done. It looks like a mess of 5200 but it came out very good and very solid pacht. Next steel flex or coat it.


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## pds07d (Jul 19, 2010)

This isn't to put you down puertoriofly, it is an actual question about aluminum jon repair (anyone with experience please feel free to answer)- is there any of knowing how good the repair is till you put the boat in the water and try it out? 

Maybe a better question is- is there anyway to test patch or leak?


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## Puertoricoinshore (Aug 26, 2010)

I agree with you PAT. Is a maybe situation. Will see the finally result after the steelflex is put on. I do test the patch from the inside filling the boat with water. Thats the best way to find a leak.


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