Bitumen Tar on the inside of an aluminum boat?

General boating discussion
SolarKid
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Bitumen Tar on the inside of an aluminum boat?

#1

Post by SolarKid »

I stumbled across this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX4xXTCxDSs

Does anyone out there have any experience with this stuff on the inside of an aluminum boat?

1. How does it hold up to prolonged salt water exposure?
2. Does it peal up or bubble like some of the "bedliners" if the surface is not prepped properly?
3. It seams like a great long term way to protect your investment.
4. I have worked with this stuff in the solar and roofing industry and it is pretty nasty but permanent stuff.

It seams like it would work great.

Whats your experience?
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goatram
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Re: Bitumen Tar on the inside of an aluminum boat?

#2

Post by goatram »

Run if your boat is in his boat's condition. It Might work if you had Clean Corrosion Free Aluminum. If not your Painting over the Corrosion which will make it accelerate. Big time! Lack Of Oxygen for the metal to breath. It will seal the boat for a summer but I see wrong Fasteners (steel), Corrosion, Loose Rivets and Thin Alloy sheet. Clean Alloy (acid Wash) Fix the Fasteners and then Paint it on It might deaden the sound and provide some protection. Check back with him next year and see how it worked before you do it. :thumbsup:
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solarkid1a
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Re: Bitumen Tar on the inside of an aluminum boat?

#3

Post by solarkid1a »

goatram wrote:Run if your boat is in his boat's condition. It Might work if you had Clean Corrosion Free Aluminum. If not your Painting over the Corrosion which will make it accelerate. Big time! Lack Of Oxygen for the metal to breath. It will seal the boat for a summer but I see wrong Fasteners (steel), Corrosion, Loose Rivets and Thin Alloy sheet. Clean Alloy (acid Wash) Fix the Fasteners and then Paint it on It might deaden the sound and provide some protection. Check back with him next year and see how it worked before you do it. :thumbsup:
Just got a 21 ft 1982 Valco River Boat. It is all welded and corrosion free. Its in substantially better condition than his. I just pulled up the floor last week all looks good. I just thought this would be a great way to protect my investment. I was thinking that "if" saltwater was to pool anywhere for long periods of time, that could lead to corrosion. If the pooling occured on aluminum painted with this bitumen stuff, my rational was that it would be less likely to corrode.
Anyways, I definitely am not interested in acid treating the entire inside of the boat before applying bitumen. I'm pretty confident that, that stuff will stick to everything.
Its interesting what you said about painting over corrosion actually accelerating the problem (assuming corrosion exists). I would think just the opposite but then again, thats why I'm on this forum, to ask and learn. I actually emailed the guy in the Youtube link and he told me that it was holding up great. Who knows.

Also, just as a side note. This boat was designed primarily to be a fresh water boat. It has the angled straight edged "V" shaped bow unlike a Bayrunner. I will however take it out into the Ocean here in the Monterey Bay for at least some trial runs. I do not have high expectations. If I can run it slowly "say 10 mph" and get to the "Soquel Hole" on a moderate day, I'll be more than satisfied. I also have an 18 ft deep V Bayrunner that will be my ocean boat. I like to work on boats, re-sell them, re-build them, etc...

Thanks for all the info.
solarkid1a
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Re: Bitumen Tar on the inside of an aluminum boat?

#4

Post by solarkid1a »

O.K. Here's an update. It rained here yesterday so I used it as an opportunity to go to the carwash and scrub the hell out of the inside of the boat. Because of the nature of the aluminum framing (x and y) structural supports for the boats integrity as well as deck supports, there are definitely a few areas that will pool water and not drain properly. My conclusion is that even if I leave the boat to drain on a very steep launch ramp and then drive on a windy road to create side to side sway, I will still have a little bit of puddling in the framing of the boat. I don't want to pull up the deck after every time I take it out.

I think at the very least, I will apply Bitumen paint to those areas so that the puddles will not be in contact with aluminum.

Am I being way too anal retentive? The areas that will not drain are poorly designed.

Currently those areas are free of corrosion.

Anyone out there have experience with Bitumen that thinks this is a bad idea? If so, why?
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