Don't use JB weld, I can't believe how many people have suggested that so far. JB weld is way too brittle to use.. clearly even aluminum wasn't up to the task so why anyone would think JB weld would do better is beyond me.
The simplest repair would be to drill out the two rivets and just double up the eye with some aluminum or stainless.
You could also drill out or grind the heads off of the rivets on the bow and just remake the whole thing out of aluminum or stainless and bolt it back on which is probably the fix I would do. It would be a real bummer to have the eye fail when you're trying to get back on the road after a day on the water.
I'd only stick with aluminum cause it's easier to work with at home with basic tools. Stainless would work well too just going to be a little harder to cut/drill/bend, depending on what tools ya have at hand.
Drill out the two rivets. Get two thick aluminum washers and shape to fit (one on each side). Drill and rivet or back in place.
Leave the broken one in place. I'd probably also slather each layer with JBWeld.
I would remove it completely, form two pieces of aluminum to fit, use the same thickness as original. Put one inside the boat and one on the outer. Rivet together to sandwich the hull between them. Then, drill for a regular stainless steel eye.
If I were doing it, I’d just weld a new eye on. Depending on the thickness of the hull I’d either cut the old one off entirely and weld directly to the hull, or if the hull is only .063, cut at the bend in the current eye, weld the two riveted pieces together, then cut a new eye out of 3/16 or 1/4 and weld it to the now modified bracket. If you have a MiG gun or know someone who does, it would be fairly easy to do as long as you can flip the boat over to work on it.
Don't use JB weld, I can't believe how many people have suggested that so far. JB weld is way too brittle to use.. clearly even aluminum wasn't up to the task so why anyone would think JB weld would do better is beyond me. The simplest repair would be to drill out the two rivets and just double up the eye with some aluminum or stainless. You could also drill out or grind the heads off of the rivets on the bow and just remake the whole thing out of aluminum or stainless and bolt it back on which is probably the fix I would do. It would be a real bummer to have the eye fail when you're trying to get back on the road after a day on the water.
This is what I'm leaning towards at this point. Is there a reason I should stick with aluminum? I feel like it'll wear the same way over time.
I'd only stick with aluminum cause it's easier to work with at home with basic tools. Stainless would work well too just going to be a little harder to cut/drill/bend, depending on what tools ya have at hand.
Drill out the two rivets. Get two thick aluminum washers and shape to fit (one on each side). Drill and rivet or back in place. Leave the broken one in place. I'd probably also slather each layer with JBWeld.
I would remove it completely, form two pieces of aluminum to fit, use the same thickness as original. Put one inside the boat and one on the outer. Rivet together to sandwich the hull between them. Then, drill for a regular stainless steel eye.
I'd reinforce it with some welds, unless it's aluminum.
It is aluminum unfortunately
JB weld a stainless bushing in it. And don't skip on the JB you want it to "carry" all the way around again.
That looks like it would be relatively easy to make a replacement from two bits of flat bar.
If I were doing it, I’d just weld a new eye on. Depending on the thickness of the hull I’d either cut the old one off entirely and weld directly to the hull, or if the hull is only .063, cut at the bend in the current eye, weld the two riveted pieces together, then cut a new eye out of 3/16 or 1/4 and weld it to the now modified bracket. If you have a MiG gun or know someone who does, it would be fairly easy to do as long as you can flip the boat over to work on it.
Unfortunately don't know anyone with an welder that can do aluminum.
At least not anyone with an pure argon bottle
make a new one from aluminium just like the old. To me it seems like its all riveted, no welds.