yak repair (replacing & removing old rivots etc)

[alwaysstuck]

So my boss had an old pelican he and his kids dont use anymore and he gave it to me. It was pretty run down but hull and plastics are all in good shape, but none of the straps are worth a damn, a slight tug would tear them, so i decided to make this a little pet project and clean the yak up, make it a respectable kayak friends can borrow when fishing. Not trying to deck it out just use better hardware (cheap upgrade that goes a long way in my opinion) Replacing all the screws with marine rivets with o-rings, use well nuts when necessary etc.


so here comes the issues i need advice on

question 1:
the handles on the side again were worn so I cut them away, but now I have just a patch and left over hardware there. How can I remove these to replace them (I don't have easy access to inside the well of these)? (pictures 2 and 3) and i'm calling them rivets but i really cant confirm what they are, they just look like very large rivets.

question 2:
there was a spot for a rod holder on the front hull that mounts into the deck (picture 1 & reply #1) but doesn't have the actual mount; i have a spare scotty rod holder that mounts on-top, but the rod holder doesn't fit into the pelican-hole; the mounting hardware lines up perfectly so the predrilled holes will be reused and resealed no problem, but then I run into a 2" hole beneath the rod holder. Again not a huge deal but is there a work around to this or an easy way to seal the hole? i'm not interested in reordering the pelican brand rod holder as i'm sure its a cheap-o piece just like the other parts of the kayak, so its either patch and use scotty, or put the original plate back in and lose the front holder position.

Thanks for the help fellas.

[alwaysstuck]

front rod holder before removal

[kickingback]

Hope I can help. The rivets on the handles look like you can drill the middle part about 1/8"-3/16" bit should drill through those rivets. They look bigger becasue they are like large washers built into the hardware. Once drilled then you can pull it right off. If you plan on putting new handles use the same holes with rivets of same size hole left over and goop before cinching down. Or you can use some rubber well nuts to put in the holes to secure your new handle hardware. Just make the hole the size of the well nut you buy.
As for the hole that will be under the rod holder your best bet is to get a piece of plastic large enough to cover the hole. If you have a plastic welder you weld the plastic over the hole around the edges to get a seal. It does not have to be strong plastic as it will be covered by rod holder base. You just want it to seal. A heat gun will work but it has to get both the plastic piece and the yak plastic hot enough to weld.
If you don't have a heat gun or welder and want to do it cheap then tape a piece of plastic under the hole and then put some goop in in the hole on the tape and it will harden into a small barrier. You can leave the plastic taped to it if you like (becasue it will be hard to pull it off the goop anyway). Then just cover the area with your holder base and you are in business!
Lots of videos on YouTube on kayak repairs too.
Good luck!

[pitontheprowl]

http://www.scotty.com/fishing-gear-equi ... mounts.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A 244 flush mount should fit if I remember right??


The side handle rivets will need to be drilled out. You will want to hold the edges of it with pliers so they dont just spin.
You will want to use the correct rivets because they grab a wider surface area on the back side.

Looks like a old Castaway? They get bad reviews but they are a great kayak.

[JimBeaux]

I agree with the above posters regarding the handles, hold rivets with needle nose pliers & drill out.

The rod holder is a simple fix.

First Buy a plastic cutting board, flat head SS countersunk screws, washers & nuts. You can buy marine grade SS screws & 3M 5200 from West Marine.

Cut the cutting board to size. Rough up the square recess around the hole & clean with a solvent such as acetone. Mask the square & then bed the area with 3M 5200. Just barely snug up the screws and before the 5200 sets, trim squeeze out a with razor and remove tape.

Let the 5200 cure over night and then tighten the screws.

[alwaysstuck]

so upon further inspection there is a small gash right in the V of the hull, just seems like a part that thinned out, maybe 2 cm across with edges still approximated to eachother, and it is right beneath the front hatch so easy access inside and out.

I dont have a heat gun and am not looking to spend time or money finding a plastics guy, but i do have some other plastic just laying around;

thinking about literally holding a lighter to some plastic and letting it melt onto the inside of the hull.... i have some marine goop on order but i think it'd need more than just glue. suggestions?

[JimBeaux]

Look for some excess flange around the hatches and cut a little to use as filler. Use a soldering iron & melt/fuse both the hull and the scrap plastic. If you cant find any excess flange plastic consider cutting a piece from around the hole where the old rod holder was; youre going to be covering it up anyway.

I save all the plastic debris from the holes I drill in the yak in case I need to make a repair.

[alwaysstuck]

brilliant. thanks!

[pitontheprowl]

I save all the plastic debris from the holes I drill in the yak in case I need to make a repair.

I leave the pieces in the hull so they are with the yak anywhere repairs may need to be made.
An iron can work to smooth it back out after repairs.

[kickingback]

believe it or not I have melted plastic and welded a hole with a torch lighter. I heat both the yak and the plastic then heat the plastic a bit more till runny and smear it on with a flat head screwdriver. It works.
But like I said there are some vids on YouTube that do what you said. Just search.

[JimBeaux]

I save all the plastic debris from the holes I drill in the yak in case I need to make a repair.

I leave the pieces in the hull so they are with the yak anywhere repairs may need to be made.
An iron can work to smooth it back out after repairs.

Youtube shows a guy using a propane torch & putty knife to fair oyster rash. He also uses clear poly sheet for filler.

[alwaysstuck]

thanks I watched about a dozen videos this morning, took the good and the bad and then we'll see what happens.


one thing that wasn't quite explained if anyone has experience (otherwise i'll wing it):
the part on the yak with the hull is actually much thinner and more pliable than the rest of the hull. the hole is maybe 2 cm linear, but the "soft spot" is probably 3-4x and round-ish. My plan was to first go through the inside and reinforce the patch, hopefully get it blended in just enough that its not easy to punch another hole. then I'll actually patch the outside and smooth it out to fix the hole. anyone see any issues with that?


i'll be posting updates on the repairs on this thread. will be a slow process but i want to do it right.

[JimBeaux]

Check these two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL0-pvp2blY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHjwHfhsDNY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kickingback]

Looks like you can do it from the outside easily. Did you watch the one where the guy used old milk jugs. Got some old milk cartons sitting around? Cut them up and use them to melt on the yak over the hole. Two or three should do it. Heat both plastics and then weld the milk jug plastic over the hole then smooth it all out.

[alwaysstuck]

didn't happen to see that one but i saw a lot of paint buckets being used, and i have a couple of those laying around so either way it'll get done.

[alwaysstuck]

So the hole in the kayak is a bit more worrisome than expected. The area around the slit is very flimsy, and when i put the heat gun to the slit, it crumpled into itself, thickened and made the hole bigger.

So here's my plan, curious what you think.

Use the heat gun to go ahead and heat up the flimsy parts, let if pull in on itself, make the hole bigger, then after its sufficiently thickened, take my replacement plastic melt the sides of it and the (now much larger) hole in hopes of reinforcing the flimsy parts and filling the hole.

If i didn't explain that well enough let me know, but really my concern is that flimsy portion if not handled will just crack again.

[pitontheprowl]

You might be better off cutting out the area an then cutting a plug out of your filler material.
Then install the plug and plastic weld the seams together.

[kickingback]

Go to youTube and find some really good videos on how to seal a hole your size. So many videos to learn from.
Get yourself some thin wire mesh from the local hardware store. Cut it to cover the hole completely. I personally would leave it square and that way the corners give it more strength after welding. Once the piece is cut heat the hole area lightly but not to melting. Lay the piece on the opening and then using gloves try to "push" it into the kayak plastic. If it does not get hot enough then you can lay the piece on the kayak and have your plastic filler ready and heat it to melting and put it on the corners of your piece heating the kayak at those spots also so that you get a bond to hold it in place.
Then you will need to meticulously work your way around the piece adding filler and heating kayak at same time to get the permanent bond. Then you can lay a filler piece over the wire covered hole and melt it onto the wire mesh making a stronger new fill hole to use as you wish. You can still drill through the mesh and plastic if needed after as well. Just make sure the weld is strong. Check inside and heat there if you can as well to help the bonding.
It's all in the videos.
Good luck

[JimBeaux]

Go to youTube and find some really good videos on how to seal a hole your size. So many videos to learn from.
Get yourself some thin wire mesh from the local hardware store. Cut it to cover the hole completely. I personally would leave it square and that way the corners give it more strength after welding. Once the piece is cut heat the hole area lightly but not to melting. Lay the piece on the opening and then using gloves try to "push" it into the kayak plastic. If it does not get hot enough then you can lay the piece on the kayak and have your plastic filler ready and heat it to melting and put it on the corners of your piece heating the kayak at those spots also so that you get a bond to hold it in place.
Then you will need to meticulously work your way around the piece adding filler and heating kayak at same time to get the permanent bond. Then you can lay a filler piece over the wire covered hole and melt it onto the wire mesh making a stronger new fill hole to use as you wish. You can still drill through the mesh and plastic if needed after as well. Just make sure the weld is strong. Check inside and heat there if you can as well to help the bonding.
It's all in the videos.
Good luck

Use a wood handle scraper (brass if you can find one) and heat it with a propane torch. Then press the hot scraper firmly against the screen (stainless if you can find it) and hold the torch flame on the scraper while pressing.

Refer to the video links I posted above. Use poly tarp material as shown and keep layering it. Patience!

[alwaysstuck]

So no idea how this actually occurred (before this yak was found) but that "soft spot" just wouldn't cooperate. It melted WAY before any additional plastic patches i tried putting on did, and would create new holes where there were none ( I hope this is a characteristic of the "soft spot" and not of the type of plastic that pelican uses, because if its like that everywhere i might be hosed...). So I tried "patching" it, now its time to just suck it up and make a project out of it.

current plan:
I cut a sizable hole around all the soft spot, so that all is left outside the hole is good plastic.
I bought some nice strips of polyethylene plastic online (10$, worth it if it makes the end work easier)
going to try to scrounge an empty paint bucket, but if not then i'll just go buy one (5$).

I've got my heat gun, so i'll cut 1 piece larger than the hole, and try to heat the edges to shape it in somewhat of a plug fashion. set it in the hole, do some tack/spot welds with the soldering iron, then make the final ring attachment with the strips i bought.


hopefully this will work; i'll post up some pictures of the failed attempt to try to patch, and then of my further progress.

At least i'm getting this shaky start sorted out on a free kayak rather than a nicer one in the future. all in all a fun, challenging project.

[kickingback]

Sounds like a plan. Good luck.
Remember if you muck it up too bad just get a piece of 3/16 thick plastic and just screw it over the area you are trying to seal. The you can heat the edges and weld it in place and remove the screws. I would leave them and melt plastic over as i see no need to access that area again. You can even drill a new hole in it if needed.

[alwaysstuck]

picture updates of the progress (starting about a week ago when the plan changed)

[alwaysstuck]

continued repair pics

[alwaysstuck]

my method was to
1) heat with heat-gun white plastic to take some of the form of the kayak
2) screw it into place to prevent moving
3) use filler strips where needed but start just making spot welds while pressing down on the white corner so the edges will be held against the yak
4) remove screws and fill holes
5) finish welding all the other spots

so next step is to do a visual inspection today, if there are any obvious spots i didn't hit i'll solder those. once i feel i've done all of them, i'm probably going to make a couple small blends on the inside (not sure its necessary but cant hurt)

after all that, i'll take some water, pour it inside kayak hull and tilt towards the hole; if i see leaking, then i'll try to track down the hole, or just weld the $h!z out of it again in hopes to fix it. i'm really hoping that doesn't happen though.

will continue to post updates. and yes this will be the "loaner" yak for friends who have scorned me or family who forgot my birthday

[kickingback]

I'll be honest with you...when i saw your first picture my jaw dropped and I thought you lost a kayak to the trash bin...but you did manage to get it covered! Well done!
You welded the seams but to reinforce it better see if you can heat both plastics form both sides and using gloves squeeze them together to bind better.
It could hold as it is but small welds will give and crack easily under way and stress from waves and weight in the yak.
Good work and keep it up!