1988 Alumacraft Lunker V14 Redo

[fishin98]

Back in May of this year, I purchased this boat up near Waupaca WI off of Craig's list. I kept it at my brothers home, until I could drive up from Central Fla to do some walleye fishing this past June. Did some shopping at Fleet Farm, new wheel hub kits and new tires, got it road ready, and back home to Fla. I have puttered with it since then, but since I worked all week out of town, did not get much accomplished. Now that I'm officially retired....it's full steam ahead...the upcoming pictures are what I've done till this time...so bear with me.

The carpeting and all the flooring was shot, the Shorelander trl was covered in surface rust

 

[fishin98]

Next thing was to remove the seats and the flooring....don't let the pop rivits fool you...the factory also spot welded everything in place. The previous owners also decided to drill holes in the darnest places.

 

[fishin98]

I have the new floor cut using 19/32 BCX plywood, going to seal with spray on polyurthene. Then cover in Blue Marine carpeting.

 

[fishin98]

The boat trl was covered in surface rust, rather than wasting time with a wire brush and sanding....I stripped all the hardware off it and had it sandblasted $200, spent another $60 in Rustoleum spray primer and paint...turned out rather well

 

[fishin98]

After I cut the new floor sections I decided to fill the boat with water and check for leaks.....sure enough found 4 places that showed leaks, all along the sections where the panels are riveted together, rather than use gluvit, I'm going to reseal with 3M 5200, using a heat gun to warm the metal, then put a thin bead down inside and out. On the section with the drilled holes in the stern, there were pop rivets that leaked...going to use JB weld on the holes.

 

[fishin98]

I have everything I need to put the boat back together, new high back seats, live well aerator, MinnKota Endura 55Lb electric motor, Blue Sea switch panel and Blue Sea fuse box, 2 battery on board charger, 1999 Merc 15hp 2stroke long shaft, 2007 Merc 5hp long shaft 4stroke, all the rod holders and a Lowrance Elite 4 Chirp DI and GPS....just have to get the leak issue resolved. enough for now!

 

[bonz_d]

fishin98 it's nice to se you working on this again. Looking very good from here and sounds like a nice list of equipment you're adding..

Trailer's looking great. Wish I had a place close by that did blasting it would sure save me a lot of time and effort.. Just guessing that your transom holes are from an old transducer.

My question is why you decided to not use WOG's formula on the plywood and just use straight poly. I know you've been following my build and I've been very pleased with the formula over these past few builds. As you've probably noticed my work has come to a halt because it's been rather chilly in the old garage, can't get it warm enough to paint.

 

[jbcurt00]

Did it have flotation below deck or inside the bench seats?

Spray on polyurethane? Like bedliner?

 

[fishin98]

fishin98 it's nice to se you working on this again. Looking very good from here and sounds like a nice list of equipment you're adding..

Trailer's looking great. Wish I had a place close by that did blasting it would sure save me a lot of time and effort.. Just guessing that your transom holes are from an old transducer.

My question is why you decided to not use WOG's formula on the plywood and just use straight poly. I know you've been following my build and I've been very pleased with the formula over these past few builds. As you've probably noticed my work has come to a halt because it's been rather chilly in the old garage, can't get it warm enough to paint.

I read all the comments about what wood to use, just decided to use what I could find at Lowes, The holes in the transom are from past owners mounting their transducers.I'm going to mount composite material I have on hand, then screw the transducers on that. Believe me sandblasting is the way to go, he got every bit of rust and paint off the trailer, the 1st trailer picture is after I brought it home, that is the bare metal, springs and all. The 2nd is after 3 coats of spray on primer, I let it set 3hrs between coats, then a week before painting it with smoke gray enamel, again 3 hrs between coats. BTW....Easy to work on boats down here in Central Fl, been in the 80's lately, supposed to cool down into the 70's next week...HA!

 

[fishin98]

Did it have flotation below deck or inside the bench seats?

Spray on polyurethane? Like bedliner?

I am just going spray a thin coat on both sides, then thicker coat on the edges.....just a little added insurance.The stuff comes in a spray can, you can buy it at Lowes. Carpet glue will stick to it. The only flotation was under the bench seats, I'm going to install those swimming tubes kids use under the floor, I'll just cut them to fit

 

[jbcurt00]

I'd suggest you use rigid foam insulation, pink or blue, not pool noodles.

To float me a noodle depends on my natural buoyancy, your boat isnt naturally bouyant if swamped. Noodles also waterlog easily, they are more sponge like then foam like.

I'd suggest you consider buying the polyurethane in a gallon not the spray cans. IIRC a gallon will be about the same price as 6 spray cans and yield significantly more poly. It can probably be applied quicker per coat too. You'll also likely get better coverage and sealing applying it then you will w the spray cans.

 

[fishin98]

Little more progress today....patched the holes at the bottom of the transom with JB Weld, then sprayed a few thin coats of spar urethane on the plywood I cut out for the floor.

 

[fishin98]

.more pic's

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This is how the trl looks after I painted it with Rustoleum ..Smoke Gray

 

[fishin98]

More Pic's

 

[bonz_d]

Coming along nicely. Trailer come out looking great in my opinion.

 

[Woodonglass]

Uhmmm, spray on Polyurethane or Spar Varnish will not provide very good protection for your wood. It will only provide a very thin layer to the top of the wood and provide NO penetration to the inner layers. The edges of the plywood are CRITICAL and the spray will do a very poor job of sealing them. I really encourage you to purchase some varnish in a can and at the very least do a thorough coating of the edges of the plywood to ensure that water won't be able to easily penetrate them. The wood really needs to absorb the poly as deeply as possible.

 

[fishin98]

All the floor panels have already been sprayed, I will although take your advise and roll the edges. I posted the picture of the wood type, because I knew you would be looking in. I felt the type of wood used would be a better and cheaper alternative to marine plywood. This floor will outlast me and the next owner. I am going to installing carpeting on the floor and using the spray will allow the carpet glue to adhere to the wood, rolling or brushing vast amounts of varnish or urethane would affect adhesive adhesion to the wood. The boat is going to be stored in my garage and will only be exposed to the outside elements when in use. Thank You for your input! FISHIN

 

[jbcurt00]

Treat the plywood how you'd like, it is yours to do how you see fit. Good that it'll be stored indoors when not in use.

But no, well sealed w poly or spar will not hamper adhesion of carpet. Numerous examples of well sealed decks. No others using spray poly.

 

[fishin98]

After I cut the floor panels, I decided to fill the boat with water to check for leaks....sure enough found 4. 2 at the rear, I along the left side seam, 1 where all the hull sections meet at/near the bow. After cleaning the hull sections, I went to West Marine and purchased a tube of BLACK 3M 5200, slow cure. I used a heat gun to warm the hull sections/seams as I went along. waited 5 days, then refilled the boat, let it sit full of water for a day...NO LEAKS! Then then set the floor panels back in the boat, along with the seats and mid section storage /live well, after I sanded and primer them, to see how everything fit..here are a few PIC's

 

[fishin98]

More pic's