Re: Aluminum boat----flooring material?
I had a very V bottom, high sided, 14' alum boat once and wanted to make a bass boat out of it (front swivel seat with bow mounted trolling motor). I got some angle alum (like angle iron...steel, but aluminum) and cut it into the desired lengths (for deck mounting brackets) and took the material and the boat to a welding shop and had the material welded to the stringers of the boat......didn't even blister the paint on the outside of the hull.
Then I took some marine grade plywood, treated it with a linseed oil/turpentine solution and installed it with screws. Long pop rivets might have worked. The marine grade was used because of the waterproof glue and the strength to weight ratio over conventional plywood. Alum sheet would have worked too but I didn't know where to get any.
Took some enamel paint and added about 1/3 by volume of clean sand (for antiskid) and painter her up to look pretty and provide a non-skid surface.
Made all the difference in the world and was not that expensive. Had a vintage (late '50's era) Mark 35 Elect Start on it with remotes and a side console. Very sweet.
I liked to fish the headwaters of a local lake and you had to go across the lake to get there. Lake was usually rough and a John just wouldn't cut it.
Mark
