New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please help!

JohngeorgeIV · Apr 9, 2013

Good Morning Members and New Friends. I have recently taken on a new project in the form of a 1984 Smoker craft 165 Pro angler. Its a 16.5 ft aluminum boat with a 50HP mercury, steering console, live well, and Foot operated trolling motor. The guy before me took all the floor out and then quit the project. He left all the steering, cables, and most of the electrical hooked up and just laid it out to the side which will save me a lot of time. I have removed everything and here are my first questions. I have read all the opinions of Marine treated vs Out door Plywood and will pick on of the two within the next day. I am planning on treating all the wood with an Epoxy resin BUT WHICH one is an easy application not too hard on the pocket book? There is atleast a couple hundred square feet to cover to do front and back. Is the epoxy really going to be that much better then just using a Water Sealer for outdoor decks? I live in the midwest and Fish only inland lakes and rivers. I will be finishing the Inside floor with Carpet. 2nd Questions. Alot of the....WELL all of the aluminum stringers were bent to hell and destroyed when I got the boat. Do those do something special for the strength of the hull or is it just suppor for the floor? I was planning on screwing and Bolting the floor to each spot where the stringers were attached. Was considering finishing the top rails of my boat with tuff coat or some of the soft rubber finishes. Any one had good luck with these? Any suggestions on which product? Well I know I will have a lot more questions but these are the Resin and Flooring question is what I need to go to the next step. I plan on posting pictures through this whole project. Oh yeah and I want to be done by May15th...LOL... And I work about 50 to 55 hrs a week with a wife and Son at home so this should be a challenge....Here are some pics of my boat and Please if you need any more info to direct me in the right way please ask and I will respond quick as possible. Oh, one last thing. I have seen the forums and ads for Pour in foam. I have about 8 or 9 spots that just need a few square inches of foam. Can you usethat stuff in the rattle can the stops drafty windows? It seems like the same stuff once it gets hard. I will post some pics later, I have to shrink the the photos at work today. Thanks guys and Nice to meet you.

JOHNIV New richmond, WI 1984 Smoker Craft 16.5

Bondo · Apr 9, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

JohngeorgeIV said:
Good Morning Members and New Friends.
I have recently taken on a new project in the form of a 1984 Smoker craft 165 Pro angler. Its a 16.5 ft aluminum boat with a 50HP mercury, steering console, live well, and Foot operated trolling motor.
The guy before me took all the floor out and then quit the project. He left all the steering, cables, and most of the electrical hooked up and just laid it out to the side which will save me a lot of time. I have removed everything and here are my first questions.

I have read all the opinions of Marine treated vs Out door Plywood and will pick on of the two within the next day. I am planning on treating all the wood with an Epoxy resin BUT WHICH one is an easy application not too hard on the pocket book? There is atleast a couple hundred square feet to cover to do front and back. Is the epoxy really going to be that much better then just using a Water Sealer for outdoor decks? I live in the midwest and Fish only inland lakes and rivers. I will be finishing the Inside floor with Carpet.

2nd Questions. Alot of the....WELL all of the aluminum stringers were bent to hell and destroyed when I got the boat. Do those do something special for the strength of the hull or is it just suppor for the floor? I was planning on screwing and Bolting the floor to each spot where the stringers were attached.

Was considering finishing the top rails of my boat with tuff coat or some of the soft rubber finishes. Any one had good luck with these? Any suggestions on which product?
Well I know I will have a lot more questions but these are the Resin and Flooring question is what I need to go to the next step.
I plan on posting pictures through this whole project. Oh yeah and I want to be done by May15th...LOL... And I work about 50 to 55 hrs a week with a wife and Son at home so this should be a challenge....

Here are some pics of my boat and Please if you need any more info to direct me in the right way please ask and I will respond quick as possible.
Oh, one last thing. I have seen the forums and ads for Pour in foam. I have about 8 or 9 spots that just need a few square inches of foam. Can you use that stuff in the rattle can the stops drafty windows? It seems like the same stuff once it gets hard.
I will post some pics later, I have to shrink the the photos at work today. Thanks guys and Nice to meet you.

JOHNIV New richmond, WI 1984 Smoker Craft 16.5

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard John,... Not tryin' to be a spellin' nazi, but makin' paragraphs makes readin' yer posts, Much easier....

Yes, the stringers, 'n bulkheads, 'n cross members are for Hull support, as well as where the deckin' gets riveted too...
'n, No,... Great stuff in a rattlecan Don't belong in a boat, period....

Others will be along for their take on yer questions, again, Welcome Aboard,....

ezmobee · Apr 9, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

Marine grade plywood is a superior product. Features offered vary but can include: fewer voids, more plys, diagonally laid plys, better glue. Unless it is advertised as being treated with something, just being "marine" grade does not mean treated. Many of us are just using exterior grade plywood. The Arauco plywood from Lowes/Home Depot/Menards is particularly nice.

Fiberglass is the best for sealing your deck. Epoxy resin is second best. There really isn't any inexpensive epoxy. Most of us are using US Composites resins. I got mine from Clark Craft because it had a simple 1:1 mixing ratio. How much you'll need also varies greatly depending on how thirsty your wood is. I managed to use up 3 gallons on the deck of my 18' doing two coats on each side and hitting the edges each time (and then adding a little fiberglass cloth to the seams once it was installed in the boat). Third best is marine spar varnish. A number of us have gone that route as well and may be a good option for you if you want to save some cash. However, since you're planning on carpet which holds water, I'd recommend you not skimp on your water proofing. The water sealers you mentioned (Thomson's etc) are pretty useless and worse, can screw up the bond between the wood and your flooring.

I put marine vinyl flooring in my boat and am a big fan of it. I just used carpet in the bow and for my side panels. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w200/ezmobee/New Boat/DSCF2502.jpg The vinyl is very durable, cleanable, and non-slip. I dropped a catfish once on the carpeted deck of my old boat and about had a heart attack at the slim mess left behind.

As Bond-o said, don't use Great Stuff foam in your boat. Either use extruded polystyrene sheet foam or pourable foam from someplace like US Composites.

JohngeorgeIV · Apr 10, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

Here are some pics of my project in current condition. Got a little work to do but it's just too much fun to pass up!!

Teamster · Apr 10, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

I would take a bunch of core samples of the foam from all over the boat to make sure there isn't any water trapped between the hull and foam,..........

JohngeorgeIV · Apr 10, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

And here are a few more....

JohngeorgeIV · Apr 10, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

Teamster said:
I would take a bunch of core samples of the foam from all over the boat to make sure there isn't any water trapped between the hull and foam,..........

And do I just remove the wet foam or remove all of it and start fresh?

joelybob · Apr 10, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

I would remove all of it. usually the bottom will be wet. I guess you could remove on section and poke around the bottom of next one too see if it is wet. but my guess is it is all wet. JMO. Good luck

Lwarden · Apr 10, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

How might one go about doing that? some of the foam on my boat is 12-14"thick in spots?

Teamster said:
I would take a bunch of core samples of the foam from all over the boat to make sure there isn't any water trapped between the hull and foam,..........

Teamster · Apr 10, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

JohngeorgeIV said:
And do I just remove the wet foam or remove all of it and start fresh?

I'd just start out taking some samples,...

A small diameter pvc pipe with the edges sharpened will poke down and allow you to check things,..

If everything is dry leave it be,....

If it wet dig it out,....

Just make sure you replace it,

JohngeorgeIV · Apr 11, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

Teamster said:
I'd just start out taking some samples,...

A small diameter pvc pipe with the edges sharpened will poke down and allow you to check things,..

If everything is dry leave it be,....

If it wet dig it out,....

Just make sure you replace it,

AND if you do end up takin git all out is there any easy way to calculate how much foam you will need to buy to replace it? I see it in kits 2LB, 4LB etc.

joelybob · Apr 11, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

2 or 3 lb foam will work. just measure overall area and figure amount. make sure temp. is warm before you pour. that will determine a lot. search threads. I used pour in foam but there is other ways too. good luck

Decker83 · Apr 11, 2013

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

Welcome to i-boats..
I would take a look at Jasoutside SN and also look a PMC's threads.

Jasoutside has a great thread on the pros and cons of using pour in foam for a tinny..

Both Jasoutside and PMC did an excellent job with the insulation board..

Grandad made a hot wire to cut his insulation board and probably did the best fit of all..

Great looking boat BTW..

alexr1905 · Mar 15, 2014

Re: New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please h

Do you have any more current pics I am going to look at a 82 a guy started restoring had rivets replaced and repainted side and has main floor cut but I am kinda curious what the interior looks like or how your going about the design phase I wouldn't mind bouncing ideas off you if I decide to buy it

New Member to Iboats with a 1984 Smokercraft 3/4 Restoration! Hello and Please help!

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