Fixing up an old boat...need advice...

[Shoot2Kill]

Hello all, pretty new to the forum and new to MN. I just picked up a 14 foot aluminum boat from my father in law for free. It's been sitting for about 10 years and is need of a facelift. I like restoring things and making them come back to life, but have never done a boat before so I need to ask a couple questions. Forgive me if I put this post in the wrong forum, but I see the most activity here so figured I would get more responses.

I put the boat in the water yesterday and suprisingly it only has one small leak in the front of the boat. It just kind of seaps in, nothing too bad. I was in it for about 2 hours on the lake just dinking around and there was just enough water to make the floor wet. I can't locate exactly where the leak is, so my first question..is there anything specific that I can put on it to seal the leak?

Next question, any recommendations on specific paint to use on the outside of the boat or will any exterior paint work?

I'm going to rip all of the old wooden seats out and replace them and add some small storage compartments within the seat.

My plan is to give the boat an "antique" look. Maybe I can post my progress and ask more questions as I go along.

I'm open to any suggestions that might make this project easier and open my eyes to new ideas that I haven't thought about for any of you that have done this.

I live in St. Cloud...does anybody have a small trailer they need to get rid of that would fit a 14' boat? Thanks in advance.

Ryan

[Slyster]

Like me... old 'free' 14ft boat... check out this thread.. ideas in there anyway. Don't have any answers direct to your questions.

Boat mod thread

[Steve Bakken]

Your leak is most likely coming from the keel seal. It's a rubber gasket that fits under the keel of the boat sealing up the seam in the bow. We get dozens of these leakers in our shop each year and most of the time that is the culprit. The cheapest fix is to clean and rough up the aluminum on the inside of the bow where the seam is, and to overlay it with fiberglass. Not the best way, but the cheapest. As for paint, if you sand it down to bare aluminum, the main thing you need to do is to put on some kind of etching primer. This will chemically bond with the aluminum, making your topcoat stick. Just follow the directions on the container.