CrawChuck Posted March 25, 2006 Report Share Posted March 25, 2006 Hoping for some good advice here. I have some old aircraft feul tanks I plan to build a small pontoon boat with. They are aluminum and have quite a few deep scratches and some dents. Does bondo stick well to aluminum or is there some other filler I should use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted March 25, 2006 Report Share Posted March 25, 2006 There is a type of stick material that you melt with a torch that is designed for aluminum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KcDano Posted March 26, 2006 Report Share Posted March 26, 2006 Yes, Bondo will adhere to aluminum. There are several different brands that sell bondo which has ground up aluminum as the filler. Which makes the bondo water resistant, regular bondo's filler is essentially talcum powder which draws water. When you go to paint those tanks make sure that you use a paint designed to adhere to aluminum, or primer such as Zinc Chromate for the base, or it won't stay on long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrawChuck Posted March 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Here's the pontoon boat so far with the framework complete. I used the fiberglass resin with the fibers in it to patch a few places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassnfool Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 When you paint the aluminum tanks you will need to acid etch the aluminum being careful not to get it on the bondo or it will melt. Rinse with fresh water. Then coat the aluminum with alodine and again rinse with fresh water. Then prime and paint preferably with a two part polyurethane such as Awlgrip and you'll have a professional paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ominousone Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 please keep us up to date with this project. The pic looks great above, I have got to tell you that I am inspired by a lot of your projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigZ Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 I agree with Bassnfool about acid etching the aluminum, there are a ton of products available for that on the net. If you are using bondo on ANY boat, and it's below the waterline, make sure you use either sealing primer or paint on any bondo spots to waterproof them. Etching before you bondo or using a coarse paper on the area to be filled first is also wise. Make sure you use enough bondo to get a finish sand on it in one shot; if you layer bondo, you will create a laminar void between the layers and your paint job will miraculously fall off. Nice kickboat though, makes me want to get rid of my water skeeter boats...I am going to make one this summer out of Burke tubes and fiberglass using an old pontoon boat frame. Premade tanks like that, I'd just camo it up and live with the dents! LoL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
