12' Valco Project w/ pictures

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

Looks good, that hull really looks wide compared to mine seeing the benches stripped down, that paint should adhere well Great work and fast progress too

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

thanks for the compliments everyone. i was stoked to finally get a chance to work on my boat this weekend that i worked on it pretty much all day to get a coat of primer on. from 9amuntil just before dark...its like a full time job.

I started again early this morning, my plan was to try and frame the supports for the rear deck, then disassemble it, primer it and set it aside until i got the final coat of paint done. that didn't happen! what did happen was a lot of head scratching. once i dove into it, i quickly realized my plans for the support system was going to be some very intricate work do to the size of the fuel tank, the shape of the hull, and having to make sure i could still access the plug.

one of my buddies stopped by and we both discussed a few different ways to do it. i think what i officially decided to do is to run 2x3's laying flat from the transom to the front of the aluminum bench seat support, fastened at each 'X' in the "top view" drawing below. fastened at transom and on each aluminum bench support. and then lay the plywood on top of the 2x3's. i know that by placing the 2x3's flat means the weak axis of the lumber will be supporting whatever loads will be on them, but all 150 pounds of me only deflected a 2x3 laying flat by 1/2" in 4 feet of length. the longest unsupported span going in this section of my boat is 18" so these should be plenty strong.

any thoughts, recommendations, or advice is more than welcome.

side view...

top view...

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

yesterday i got some free time to work on my deck supports. the first two pictures were just my idea of how i wanted the supports to be.

my idea seemed to be work out well so i went forward with framing the supports as i had planned. i am pretty pleased with the way the transom and supports came out. i wanted the supports to be held together with something beefier than just some screws, so i got some corner brackets and 1/4" bolts at the hardware store. This is how i connected everything...

And the final product ready to be installed and hopefully everything fits like a glove...

 

[Azonic]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

I like the support bracing ...

Looks very sturdy...

Are you going to treat that raw lumber prior to final install?

That pine will not make it very long before she rots if un treated...

I think you are headed in the right path as far as the deck is going....

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

I like the support bracing ...

Looks very sturdy...

Are you going to treat that raw lumber prior to final install?

That pine will not make it very long before she rots if un treated...

I think you are headed in the right path as far as the deck is going....

thanks azonic. and yes, i will be treating the bare material before installing it. i painted the inside of my boat today and have about a quart and a half left over from that so i am prob going to just make sure all the bare lumber is primed, then put 2 coats of paint on.

i took some pictures of my boat after i finished painting today, but there were some wet spots from touch ups that did not look very good, so i will be taking more pictures tomorrow morning and will post them as soon as i do.

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

yesterday i got my boat painted. there are still a few small spots that i need to touch up, but for the most part i am done painting. here are some pictures as promised...

texture of paint

here is the transom when i test fit it...

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

got a little more work done today. got the stern deck/storage supports all framed out and installed to insure proper fit. also got the box deck/storage supports framed and installed. Everything fit great so i disassembled everything and primed all the bare wood. tomorrow i should have time to paint the supports and then i am off to Santa Rosa for a few days at home with my family. When i get back, i will get the plywood, carpet, and glue to keep pushing towards getting my boat back to fishing condition.

here are some picture of the stern deck supports...

and pictures of the bow deck supports...

 

[Azonic]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

the progress looks really good.

That is going to be very usable, and sensibly done!
It should last a good long time too!

Great work!

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

so today a friend of mine asked me to come check out the heater blower in their truck cause it wouldn't blow any air. i did that and figured out what the problem was. quick 10 minutes of reading the user's manual and finding the right fuse and guess what my compensation was...

she had this in a shed she was using as storage and when she cleaned the shed out, she found this motor and didn't have any use for it. its a Minn Kota All Terrain Turbo with 33# of thrust. don't know what year it is or if it even runs. i was gonna hook it up to my truck battery just to see if it worked or not, but i went with my better instinct and researched a bit about it to make sure it wouldn't ruin the battery in my truck...glad i took the time to do that first. anyways, it looks like this motor will need quite a bit of work and i really don't know much about them at all because i was not planning on buying one in the near future.

if anyone could share some helpful knowledge of some things i should check out on it before i try to get it running it would be appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

[Azonic]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

even with some work, you got a heck of a thing going...

I am looking for one like that around here, and they are not cheap!!

Well done!

 

[BWR1953]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

Score! You're doing great on this refurbish. And getting that trolling motor for the auto work is awesome.

I'd just recommend connecting it to a battery and see if it works. If it does and you can use it, great! If it doesn't... put in on craigslist as is and make a few bucks!

 

[Nobody]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

Looks good.

Keep an eye on the floor paint in general and the area under the seats in particular - my 14' Valco had the floor painted ages ago by a previous owner who chose to stop at the seats (rather than pull them and paint under them) over time the paint started to peel at the edges (where the seat frames are riveted to the hull) and water along with dirt became trapped underneath the peeling paint leading to a few recent holes in the hull.

I'm sure my use of the boat for inshore fishing (lots of saltwater in the boat) along with constantly washing all of the fishiness out of it didn't help the situation at all.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

Hey now, that TM is a nice score, perfect for your little tinny, A little sanding and paint on the motor housing and it should be good to go,,, if it goes I agree with BWR, hook it up to your truck battery and see if it works, just make sure the prop isn't going to whack anything when you connect it, my buddy almost whacked his leg showing me his new/used TM. The short amount of time you are going to have it connected to your truck battery for testing won't hurt anything, a couple minutes at no-load, no problem.

On your front deck A frame, you might want to put 2 pieces of plywood under the ends of the 2x4's so the corners are not resting on the hull, kind of a pad to help distribute the load. If you are standing on the deck, the corner of the wood will dig in and dent the aluminum hull after a while. Even if you don't stand on the deck, I think it will dent after a while, deck bouncing on waves, trailering. Just shave the corner down to the angle of the hull and tack on a scrap of plywood.

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

Hey now, that TM is a nice score, perfect for your little tinny, A little sanding and paint on the motor housing and it should be good to go,,, if it goes I agree with BWR, hook it up to your truck battery and see if it works, just make sure the prop isn't going to whack anything when you connect it, my buddy almost whacked his leg showing me his new/used TM. The short amount of time you are going to have it connected to your truck battery for testing won't hurt anything, a couple minutes at no-load, no problem.

On your front deck A frame, you might want to put 2 pieces of plywood under the ends of the 2x4's so the corners are not resting on the hull, kind of a pad to help distribute the load. If you are standing on the deck, the corner of the wood will dig in and dent the aluminum hull after a while. Even if you don't stand on the deck, I think it will dent after a while, deck bouncing on waves, trailering. Just shave the corner down to the angle of the hull and tack on a scrap of plywood.

hey fishrdan...now that is a simple idea i hadn't even thought about. i bought some pipe insulation that i was going to place between the 2x3's and the bow of the boat to protect from damage and dampen any bouncing the deck does. but all it really needs is a piece of 1/2 inch plywood under both 2x3's to increase the contact area. great thinking and thank you.

im out of town for the next couple of days but now i am eager to get back to working on my boat.

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

man its been awhile since i have posted anything. i have not got much of a chance to wrench on my project in a while cause i went home for a few days for thanksgiving with the family and then once i got back to chico i had to get back to the grind of school. with finals coming up i have been really busy.

Anyways, today i got a little time to finish up the decks. all cross bracing/support for hatch doors are in place and the decks are secured to the boat. here are a few more pictures (not much different than the ones you have seen, but they show a little more progress).

Bow Deck:
blue outline shows where the hatch will be.

Stern Deck:
blue outline shows where the hatches will be. red outline shows the area that will remain open for access to fuel line and to secure my outboard to an eyebolt.

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

i decided to post one more thing. had no intention of posting this, but figured it may help out someone else in my situation (no where to keep project out of the elements).

i have been covering my boat with a tarp whenever i am not working on it, but no matter how tight i get the tarp secured over the boat and how many grommets i ripped out of my tarp trying to do so, rain water still pools up in the tarp every time it rains. i know my luck is going to run out soon and this unusually sunny weather we are having here in california for the winter time is going to come to an end very soon. so today i took an hour or two to rig up a system to keep the center of my tarp higher than the sides so i will not have to go out and scoop water off of it in the rain.

here are some pictures...

i have seen people do the same type thing using pvc, but for me being a carpenter, i always prefer to work with wood. plus it only cost $10 for all the 2x3 material i used. i had some extra pipe insulation left over so i decided to stick it on the top 2x3 to prevent any rips in the tarp. just wanted to get my idea out there in case anyone was struggling for a solution.

and here is how my tarp sits now. should be good for the entire winter. kind of a sad sight though.

 

[Azonic]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

Oh man...

That tarp rail gets and A++ (110%!)

I am going to use something similar!!
Hope ya don't mind!

 

[zehnd]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

Great looking boat, and I like the tarp solution. That's my dilemma right now. Just hit -33 C this am and the wife wants the garage back!

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

Oh man...

That tarp rail gets and A++ (110%!)

I am going to use something similar!!
Hope ya don't mind!

hey man, go for it. thats why i posted my idea. if you do end up using my idea be sure to let me know how it works out.

 

[Azonic]

Re: 12' Valco Project w/ pictures

yeah man...
With my center console I will make it in two parts...

But yeah, alot better to use a good tarp for me than have a custom cover...

Super awesome!