Aluminum Jon Repair

[bplayer405]

Took out the front deck, that used to be supported by plywood that rotted, and beat out all the dents in the very front. The boats hull is quite straight now.

 

[bplayer405]

I then started to figure out how I wanted to build the framing for the deck. Tried a couple layouts before settling on this...

 

[bplayer405]

Got the frame in all welded up and ready to install. Gonna be a treat flexing the deck to meet the framing...

 

[bplayer405]

I was right, not much fun at all. I've used ratchet straps and a 20lb anchor along with a big c-clamp to get this far.

 

[Yomax4]

I was right, not much fun at all. I've used ratchet straps and a 20lb anchor along with a big c-clamp to get this far.View attachment 1520

Major progress !

 

[bplayer405]

Got a bit done today. Learned a bit about welding aluminum sheet to frame, work from the middle out... Crazy how much aluminum sheet will move and pull away from the frame if it's locked by a weld further out. Different thickness material can be a challenge also. Anyways, finished the front deck and got it reinstalled, figured out and cut all the pieces for the floor framing and welded in the lateral suports, and figured out the front deck extension framing and built it. I was wanting to hold it down the thickness of my deck material, but remembered that halfway through welding it all up... a forced change I may end up liking... the lids will end up being aluminum too. Went through a full 42cf tank today...

 

[bplayer405]

Took the boat out over the weekend and spent about an hour and a half on the river. Quite glad I didn't install the main floor decking yet because I found a bunch more pesky leaky rivets. I can't wait till this hull is sealed. Some were up front under that deck so I had no choice but to remove the hatch area. It's the only way I will be able to get to those.

 

[Yomax4]

Refresh my memory on your rod size. I think you are using 5356.

 

[bplayer405]

I was using .030 5356 through a Hobart spool gun. But, what has helped me out the most on this project is using my new tig machine. Same filler in 1/16" and 3/32". I did use 4043 to build the front deck frame, but used 5356 to attach it to the deck.

 

[bplayer405]

Falls into the repair part of this post... The guy I sold my old boat to did a number on it last weekend. He brought it over today to see if I could make things a little better. Was not a problem...

 

[Gary Fowler]

You just might be in the aluminum boat repair business full time as soon as word gets around. I can see your proficiency improving in each progressive photo attachment. By the time you get through with your boat, you just might be an aluminum welding guru.

 

[bplayer405]

I appreciate the kind words. I feel I have a long way to go. Yesterday I realized why I've been going through so much gas. Was using the LPM gauge instead of the SCFH gauge. Only good thing from going to my lws so frequently was they ran out of my little 42cf cylinders and I was upgraded to an 80cf 2 Friday's ago, and a 125cf this last Friday. Cost was just refill price for that size cylinder. Now that my gas flow is set correctly I definitely won't be going so often.

 

[bplayer405]

I replaced 27 rivets yesterday to seal leakers and welded 7 that I couldn't seal from outside (keel rivets). Then I went to work fabricating side ribs for the missing spots on the sides. Too much flex without them. Made 2 from scrap material cut from a bigger side rib and 2 from sheet material from the middle boat seats. They came out pretty good and help support the sides. I'm in the process of welding them to the floor ribs, which really strengthens the sides. Next will be a river run to check for leaks before installing the floor. Still plenty to do, gotta start the wiring for lights, trolling motor, fish finder...

 

[bplayer405]

Another hour on the water and 11 more leaky rivets. They're fixed. Gotta be an end to them some time.

Not really what I wanted for the front deck lids, but I welded in some angle and used plywood. It'll get the boat out and working.

Installed my fish finder on this boat and had a nice spray of water coming over the transom from the transducer. Made a shield that should divert that spray fairly well. I'll weld that on the transom soon...

 

[bplayer405]

Decided to weld the shield to a plate then rivet it to the transom. A bit tricky to weld, but it came out well. Should work great.

 

[bplayer405]

Took another trip on the river today. Found only one leaky rivet. Close to being sealed up. The splash shield I made for the transponder worked perfectly. I'm really seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It'll be ready for catfish before long.?

 

[bplayer405]

This thread may be getting boring to most, but I sure have learned a lot along the way. This last leaky rivet was one I had previously welded by spool gun. It had trapped slag and porosity, basically as filthy as cast material. It sure takes heat, time and patience to get all the crud to float to the surface. Then it's brush it all away and hit it again until it's all solid. This particular weld put up a good fight and even cracked while it was cooling. A bit of heat with filler took care of that. I have an outboard with a cracked lower unit and it's not so intimidating to attempt to fix after dealing with these mig welds.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I know about repairing contaminated welds. I once spent 20 hours on Thanksgiving day repairing contaminated seal welds on threaded nickel pipe. Had to grind off all the weld, flush out the alkali salt contamination then reweld all because previous welders were too lazy to unscrew the pipe and clean prior to welding. Like this one of yours, some of them could get really frustrating.
It sure looks like you can tackle any aluminum weld with confidence now.

 

[bplayer405]

I know about repairing contaminated welds. I once spent 20 hours on Thanksgiving day repairing contaminated seal welds on threaded nickel pipe. Had to grind off all the weld, flush out the alkali salt contamination then reweld all because previous welders were too lazy to unscrew the pipe and clean prior to welding. Like this one of yours, some of them could get really frustrating.
It sure looks like you can tackle any aluminum weld with confidence now.

The pipe repairs you described sound rough to deal with. Getting the material clean enough to take a weld sure is the key.

Last week I had an aluminum tig welding job opportunity at a boat custom shop that I passed on because I don't yet have the seat time making pretty welds. I showed the shop owner pics of my build and he liked what I was doing. It prompted him enough to at least tell and show me what kind of welds he was looking for. Guess what I'll be working on? Yeah, really lit a fire. Would be a great retirement job.

 

[Gary Fowler]

A great retirement job would be one where you could do piecework at your own pace. Building custom widgets that you could contract for so much per piece and do as many or as few as you had time for. That would be a good retirement job assuming the contract rate was satisfactory so you could make a decent wage.