What some (I think) are talking about is Aluminum Braising. There are aluminum braising rods out there that could possibly help you, but I would not put this in a high stress area. Nothing replaces welding; where they melt the aluminum to other melted aluminum. Braising melts only the rods and not the existing aluminum, so the bond is surface.
If you go the JB Weld or Starbrite route, here is something I posted in another thread;
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Make certain that you take a wire brush on a drill and bring the area down to bare metal. After that wash down with vinegar and water. Make certain that you mix it properly. Smooth it over with a wet hand.
I also applied epoxy paint over top of it to protect it. Been a year and a LOT of use.... no problem.
I used StarBrite on mine and not JB weld, but they are the same thing as long as they say that they are specifically formulated for use on Aluminum... if it does not say specifically on the packaging "For use on aluminum", forget it!! There are many different formulas out there for different metals.
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Get it welded if it is bad or in a high stress place like the transome or it is a big-ish hole. If it is just loose rivets, they often just need to be peened.
After tightening the rivets, I would recommend the following (Again from one of my posts on another thread!)
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I just bought a quart of Gluvit from the Chandlery in Ottawa. (about $50). This will do all my seams and rivets under the waterline. I will apply this on the inside of the boat. This should be done only after using a wire wheel on my die-grinder and getting the spots down to bare metal. After that I will wipe it down with a strong vinegar solution.
Oh yah... I will also give most of the rivets a good peen shot on one side while someone holds a mallet on the other side to tighten the rivets.
Next year (Or this year if I get another boat to use while I work on this one) I will coat the outside bellow the water line with a product that I order specially from FLA called Fasco 9X SteelFlex (
http://www.fascoepoxies.com/ ).
It is the best thing in the world (IMHO) for drift boats or any boat that will get beached a lot. It will help you glide through the water lickety split.
There is also another product called Frog Spit that I have no experience with but have heard good things about.
You can add pigment to SteelFlex and Gluvit, but they need to be Epoxy friendly...
Oh yeah... If you go with SteelFlex, make sure you take care when putting on and off the trailer... it will slip off if you are not careful!! Seriously...!!"
I have since applied the Gluvit and used the boat yesterday... WORKS GREAT!!
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Been using my boat (And pounding the crap out of it in rough waters...) all spring and summer... dry as a nun's ... umm... errr.... sense of humor.
Good luck and tell us who everything turns out!
Craig
