04-19-2021, 04:57 PM
Hi Tin Can,
I had a 1978 Star Craft I bought used about 12 years ago. It too was a riveted hull. It had a similar issue and with a good bilge pump I wasn't too worried. But I started looking for a solution.
I found closed-end pop rivets and got the right size. I think mine were 3/16 which is the most common size. Then I started a close inspection of the bottom of the boat. I found about a dozen rivets that were either loose and 2 or 3 that were gone. I drilled out the loose ones and replaced to the closed-end rivets.
I was really happy with the repair. My boat would stay dry except for splashes.
I figured that once those rivets started getting loose, then more rivets would get loose and snap off. It is really important to have them completely repaired.
I used the pop rivets since I did not want to take the deck wood off to try using a compression type of rivet like on a plane or the original rivets.
I later sold the boat and bought a regular fishing boat with a 4 stroke. It is an Alumaweld, so I don't deal with rivets anymore.
You can find the closed end rivets on the web.
Matthew
I had a 1978 Star Craft I bought used about 12 years ago. It too was a riveted hull. It had a similar issue and with a good bilge pump I wasn't too worried. But I started looking for a solution.
I found closed-end pop rivets and got the right size. I think mine were 3/16 which is the most common size. Then I started a close inspection of the bottom of the boat. I found about a dozen rivets that were either loose and 2 or 3 that were gone. I drilled out the loose ones and replaced to the closed-end rivets.
I was really happy with the repair. My boat would stay dry except for splashes.
I figured that once those rivets started getting loose, then more rivets would get loose and snap off. It is really important to have them completely repaired.
I used the pop rivets since I did not want to take the deck wood off to try using a compression type of rivet like on a plane or the original rivets.
I later sold the boat and bought a regular fishing boat with a 4 stroke. It is an Alumaweld, so I don't deal with rivets anymore.
You can find the closed end rivets on the web.
Matthew