Steel boat owners

[SVTatia]

Just one more thing to add. Whatever efforts you'll put in now will certainly be worth it because steel boats invariably rusts from the inside out.

[Chinook92]

Not an owner but I commercial fished up in Alaska plenty and have spent a great deal of time on steel boats.

Steel will expand 900% I think? Well rather, the rust will.

Corroseal is a good product as in conquest or any of the chemical rust converters. Where it’s rusting is where the steel is getting exposed to oxygen. Seal it and it should be fine

If you get pinholes, I think the coastguard or navy has a spec for that, and they can be filled with weld.

A good chemical rust converter and a good sealing paint should do the trick

[AKA-None]

Needle gun or sandblasting pick one
No cheap paint
Never owned a steel boat but built and repaired many

[mako]

My older steel boat was finished with the normal enamels of its time. No epoxy. It was nothing but non-stop trouble.

Use the right materials.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Chinook92

... Steel will expand 900% I think? Well rather, the rust will...

Depending upon several factors, rust scale can occupy up to 10 times the volume of the original metal [ [sometimes called oxide jacking]. A jacking rate of 2 - 6 times is probably more common.