Well, what ever came of this project?
Still on the back burner. I have too many irons and a small fire, lol
Congrats EF, with your equipment most jobs should be small.
Best of luck on your project EF!!
Looks chronic to me?
Is that from oxidation or from electrolysis?
It’s always something.
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The rest of the bottom is solid .250 thick aluminum
The part that is pitted badly is where the boat sat on the bunks, just along that channel on the hull.
The pitting comes from the aluminum sitting on pressure treated wood soaked in saltwater for 15 years.
Dont use PT lumber on your bunks with a jon boat, eventually the chemical reaction catches up.
I have a plan to fix it
How would you repair it?
Any suggestions are appreciated
Bottom paint with flex-seal?
You know, the stuff you can turn a screen door into a boat?
The pitting on mine was so bad the integrity of the aluminum was compromised.
I ended up scrapping the hull.
I think I am going to put a layer of devcon aluminum epoxy down in the channel the bunks sat in to seal the pitting, and then get a piece of .125 thousands aluminum cut into 17’ strips and tig weld them in the channels and over the pitting.
I think when I’m finished and the leading edges of my strips are above the waterline I should be good at 40kts in a head sea. 
If i can get this boat to outlast the 2005 70hp 2 stroke yamahammer thats pushing it I will consider it a win
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Thanks for that info on the pt bunk boards,luckily I covered mine with quarter inch plastic leftover from the job site.Another thing I heard about aluminum boats is you need to have a good battery box and make sure everything electrical is insulated.
Decided to just scrap the epoxy idea and weld a 12 foot long, 5 inch wide, 3/8th inch thick strip of aluminum over the pitting.
Overkill I know, but when I am long gone this sea ark will still be a brute.
Still grinding and sanding, hopefully we’ll let the tig eat monday
Fingers crossed
I can smell the tungsten from here.haha I’ve met a lot of badass welders from NC. I have been known to pick up the stinger if I needed to make a tack until the welder got over his hangover.Welding outdoors can be a real challenge because of the wind blowing your argon around.
Today i was mainly a wind shield holder and mover
Some grinding and brushing, but mostly pushing cardboard
You can always tell if you have good help by where they hold the flashlight beam for you… in this case, it’s wind shielding ha.
Coming along though. Got to love a build thread.
Wow, you went heavy duty, for sure. Edit to say it looks like one 12’ bar will do it all??
Crew uses a lot of that type aluminum at work for bus work.
Lol, Sman, I’ve done my share using tig for stainless and aluminum. Loooong ago. I realize this is Mig, which is much faster.
Aluminum is a special creature. Like don’t brush it with any old wire brush from the box store, as it can push carbon into the aluminum from the steel wires in brush. Looks good until you start and see that nasty ■■■■ rising in your weld puddle.
Anyhow, should be good and stable to stand…
Almost time for a test run.
NN