Quote Originally Posted by "G" View Post
Tighten the rivets up and then take to a aluminum welder and have them all welded around.
I wouldn't go that route.

Most leaking rivets can be reshot to tighten things up and stop a leak. But if you have stress cracks close to the same rivets, a weld will be a temporary fix until the area stresses again.

I used to work at Raytheon Aircraft building Jets, hired as an outside contractor to repair the direct employees mistakes. Aircraft and Boats that are riveted are built to be able to "Flex". As Aircraft goes, you'd never see a weld used as a repair. The proper way to repair the particular area on your boat is to drill out the rivets in the area of the "stress cracks". Try NOT to go one size up, but it won't kill ya. There's a way to drill a rivet without expanding the hole bigger. Working from the inside of the boat, you want to fabricate a "doubler" that is about a 1/2'' longer than the two end rivets and make sure it's wide enough to cover the entire stressed area. Fit the doubler so that you incorporate the original rivet holes into the doubler, using the original size drill bit. (Now you're just going to use a longer rivet in those areas.)

Along the other three sides of the doubler, drill more holes for NEW rivets using the same spacing between them as the boat has them. Once the doubler has been built and fit, you will seal the doubler to it's new location and shoot the new rivets into place. If you're close to Talala, I can help you with all this as I have all the tooling.

A weld is just going to crack out on you unless a doubler is welded on. The material in the area is fatigued and just needs a little help to get many more years out of her. PM me if you would like to talk.