boat build, 197* tri hull bass boat to cc conversion

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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Ok guys, so i have been around, owned and operated boats for pretty much my whole life. Far back as i can remember anyways. But, as for building and creation im pretty new to it. I know how to lay glass, and the general concept, but an expert i am not. I have this 1970 ish....i wana say a 73 or 75, but cant remember exactly...... 15 ft sport fleet tri hull bass boat. Its a small, cheap built bass boat that i want to completely rebuild and convert to a center console for my sons first boat. Its a project for him and i to build into his first skiff. The goal is a CC for real skinny water, but still practical for bass fishing in some lakes round here. We live on the coast in se GA. So we have tons of grass flats, intercoastal water ways, coastal jetties and such. I also plan to set up the outboard with as little work possible to mount/demount, so that if he wants to fish some of the local bass lakes here he can use the same boat by pulling the out board and going electric with trolling motors.... the only bass lakes round here within a 2 hour drive are electric motor only.
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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35
Sorry, i hit post by mistake, better to break this up anyways i think. So i got my work cut out for me i know. I have a general idea of how im going to lay out the deck i think, but i have some pretty general questions. Im thinking about running a 40hp outboard, though a 25 would do, i want a little more umph in it, is 40hp seriously over powering a boat this size though?

The rear stringers look pretty good, but the transom is toast, and the forward stringer that runs the keel line is garbage, so since im already doing those, i figure its jus added piece of mind to do the 2 rear stringers as well, since everything else is getting gutted are replaced anyways. The upper parts of the side of the hull are super thin, i would say 1/16th of an inch, 1/8 max.....ill measure them tomorrow

So, i was thinking of re enforcing the inner hull for strength, and adding a strip of glass along the keel for beaching re enforcement, on the outter side of the keel.

My biggest question is for the cap. I removed the old cap as im posting pics of, and was left with the choice of, do i modify the existing cap to fit my needs,or just build a new cap from scratch? Old cap is already removed, but i still have it. For the cap, can i build the form of the new cap with wood/foam, and glass over it to mold my new cap, remove said wood/ foam and mount new cap? Or is that step1 and step 10, and missing everything in between?

I can draw up some deck plans/ layouts n post on here to help with visual aid of my goal, but is building a new cap nearly impossible? Time i put into this thing has no limit. I got all the time in the world, and want to get it done right, even if i have to mess up, and restart the process, though, trying to avoid that of course.

Some other questions, what glass would yall recommend? Biaxial i know, but 28oz, 18oz, ect? What epoxy have yall found that works good, is fairly easy to apply, easy to mix. Or are they all really the same? I will be mounting a poling platform in the rear, and probably dual 24v trolling motors on the back, beside the trim tabs. I will be using foot controled trolling motors, and im thinking of wiring them so that they can be joy stick controlled from the console......assuming that is possible, though i dont see how it would be impossible either.

There are tons of screw, bolt, and thru hull fitting holes i have to plug and seal too. Can i just epoxy and glass them over, or should i wood plug, and glass over them,,, mostly refering to the holes that are 9/16 ish in size and bigger.

I also understand the stringers sit on peanut butter against the hull, but do i do the same with the transom? Has anyone done or seen this extensive of a job done? Any suggestions?

Major Things im missing here? Im sure i will have many more questions, but this is my post for it to get me started and follow the project and seek advice. Thanks for any advice yall have.
 
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sphelps

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 16, 2011
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11,429
Solar Welcome aboard ! :welcome:
A free photobucket account is how most here post pics .. Really easy once you set it up.. I,m just a little south of you in N.FL and currently doing the same type set up as you and your son .. Can't you just leave the outboard on and just use the T/M on the lakes ?
Get some pics posted up and we will help out as best we can along the way when needed .. Bunch of great folks here with a ton of knowledge willing to help however they can ...
Again welcome and good luck with the project..!!
btw, my current project is the Save the Manatee thread which is pretty close to what you are doing if your interested ...
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
Without seeing pics. I don't want to comment or advise on doing a bass boatto CC conversion. Some boat are constructed so that changes could weaken the boat, but pics are needed first.

Click on the Forum Help link in the sig below and look at the Photo Upload Tutorial. Option #3 using a free photo hosting service like Photobucket is the easiest of all.
 

solareclpse2000

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Messages
35
The rules to the lakes here require no mounted gas motor. Wether your using it or not, you cant even have ot on the boat. Working on the pics now
 

jbcurt00

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Oct 25, 2011
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So you want to mount and unmount a 40hp outboard and mount dual 24V TMs when you want to fish the electric only lakes?

I recommend using a hard return and an extra space between paragraphs when posting. 1 long run on paragraph is hard to read/follow.
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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35
ok here are some pics. the decking that is there, doesnt look factory, but it does look like whoever re did it, coppied the factory plans.
im thinking i will re do the deck the same way, but build the cap on top of it, so that when the cap goes on the top deck will be part of the cap, and sit on top of this deck for structural support. the original fuel tank was in the rear by the bilge, but i instead want to move it more central, so i can remove part of the factory deck to put it there, and will have to raise the deck 2 maybe 3 inches to support the fuel tank. the sides of the hull i measured this morning are 1/8, and appear to be 90 degree standard weave glass. single layer. about 6 inches down looks like it goes to multi layer and is ok. but i want to reenforce that top 6 inches with another layer of biax. not sure if the pic is good enuff but that forward keel stringer looks like it has actually separated from the hull near the front. or it was jus build that way, which leaves a gap with little support in the keel about 12 inches long. the deck looks ok, but has 2 basket ball sized soft spots, and looking under it from the bilge it looks as if the glass is shredded and falling apart under the deck?

so i think the decking is going to get replaced in that case. i was considering adding 2 more stringers aft, and 2 forward along the secondary keels? in the tri hull. but if its not necessary then i wont. depends how much added strength ill need. one of my concerns is the weight of a 40hp outboard in the back, and up to 2 people on the back, plus 4 batteries. as a solution i was thinking of adding 2 foam filled blisters on the bottom of the back of the hull, along each side of the keel line. if you look at the pic of the back of the hull, im thinking of placing them near the 2nd step of the hull from the outside towards the keel line. im not sure really how much more bouency this would give, but if it would help compensate weight i may do it. i also plan to foam fill the hull interior. i would like to get enuff bouyancy to keep afloat if taking on water, incase my son slams into a stup and breaches the hull or something, but again if possible great, of not, closest i can get. lol i think thats all the questions for now. sure i will have more along the way.

sphelps, i looked at your manatee last night and it does appear to be very similiar to my project, i will be subscribing to your post for sure. lol. when i was a kid my dad had an old dual console manatee, i wana say a 17 or 18 foot, and man i remember fishing on that thing like it was yesterday. loved that boat. so as for outboard power, do yall think a 40hp is too much? i was really wanting to go 80hp, but for a young boys first boat, i decided against that. lol. but i didnt really wanted to go as low as a 25hp, so i thought a 40 or 50 max was good enuff to give it some good power, but not so much that my son will get himself into trouble. lol.

jbcurt00 i want to have the dual trolling motors mounted permanently for shallow water, so the motor could be trimed up for the skinny water, and the trolling motors push it, which will serve as dual purpose for the electric only lakes, where the trolling motors are there already, so all we have to do is pull the outboard, and then be ready to put in at the electric only lakes. ill post a pic of what im refering to if i can find a good example. i will be building an outboard hoist/stand combo all in 1. where the hoist lifts it off the boat, and then it has a mounting plate built into it, where u just turn the motor 180 degrees and lower it onto the mounting plate.
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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jbcurt00 a setup like this was 1 option which mounts the trolling motors to the trim tabs, but i was looking more into a setup i had seen before and cant find now, which mounts them to the poling platform on each side of the outboard. ill post it if i can find it again
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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another option i had found. this is the same thing, but instead of mounting it to the transome, i would like to mount them to the poling platform,,,, i just cant find the pic and forum of it i had found before. but i think this will serve enuff to get the idea out.
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 16, 2011
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Looks like it will be a nice set up when your done ... I can honestly say I have never seen trim tab mounted trolling motors before ...Pretty cool ! :cool:
Btw when you post from your photobucket . You can click on a pic from your library then over on the right hand side you will see an IMG code in the square box .. Click on that and it will flash a yellow copied sign ... Then go back to your iboats post and right click then left click paste .

And it will show up nice and big like this ... That way you can add it into the conversation and that makes it easier to follow along and see what your discussing ...
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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sweet thanks for the tip on pics. i was wondering how everyone else was doing it and still keeping it in the 2mb limit. lol and same for me, today while i was trying to find a pic i had seen of a setup before was the first time i saw those. pretty neat idea for rolling on batt power, but i would think it would render the trim tabs worthless when running in a river or on the jetties on out board power. wouldn't that cause a ton of drag and undesired results?
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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i also had forgot, most important advice,,,, i need a name for her. im building it for the marsh and skinny water round here for my son, and since the common term for the shallows and flats round here is skinny water, and as a first boat it will likely be his chick ticket, lol, i was thinking a name like skinny dipping or something like that. idk, what do yall think would be a good name for a skiff which is a first boat for fishing/girl chasing for a boy? considering by the time he gets it in the water alone he will likley be a teen, n have fishing hunting and girls on the mind n thats bout it
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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What do yall use for wood? For the transom and stringers mainly. I plan to fully glass it all in, but i have seen before where ppl have used normal pine plywood since they were glassing it. Personally i want a little more security than that. But would yall recommend something like treated marine grade board, or something like cypress or cedar as the core, and fully glass it all in? I would really like to use something composite, and not use wood at all, but i don't know how to build my own fiberglass planks to do this, at least i havnt done it to a point where i would feel confident, without a ton more research. Has anyone on here made pure fiberglass stringers/transome, or know of a fairly priced composite alternative?
 

sphelps

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Nov 16, 2011
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Well I have used seacast pourable in my current project .. But fairly priced would be a stretch .. :eek:
Any good quality ext grade ply would work if encased properly .. Don't use reg P/T ...
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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I saw something interesting today while i was at lowes. Apparently they sell pvc boards now? They are just like wood boards, 1x4, 1x6, x10, ect. But are all pvc, and water/rot proof, has anyone heard of this before? Would this be acceptable to build stringers out of, and then encapsulate? No worrys of wood rot doing it that way. And if they make it in 4x8 board iwould maybe be interested in using it for the deck, i would of course glass it entirely too. I see if i can find it on their website and share
 

solareclpse2000

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Nov 26, 2011
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Here it is. What do yall think about this? Is this possibly a composite alternative to using wood in stringers, transom, and the deck. Again, still glass8ng everything as well.....
 

sphelps

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Nov 16, 2011
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Fiberglass does not stick very well if at all to pvc ... Epoxy ? I'm not sure ..
 
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