The whole shebang. 16' aluminum shell to fishing machine.

[dysco]

Re: The whole shebang. 16' aluminum shell to fishing machine.

Cool old boat. The only thing I have to add is that I don't think that Honda 5 hp will get this boat on plane, though I could be wrong. I checked one of these out a few weeks back to maybe pick up as a kicker, and it was louder and shook more than my 2 stroke twin cylinder 4 hp. If you can find a 9.9 or 15 hp 2 stroke it will be a much better match. You could probably sell/trade your 4 stroke for a higher hp 2 stroke. Just my $0.02...good luck with the project!

I've heard that before. I really like the little motor and we truly have small water here. Going anywhere fast just means we save a couple minutes getting across a lake. Is getting up on plane more important than going faster? I think I'm burning less fuel with the 5hp pushing water than I would with a 25hp on plane.

What am I missing?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: The whole shebang. 16' aluminum shell to fishing machine.

I'd be surprised if that drain plug gasket is water tight, or stays water tight after a season or 2 of use.

Yes remove any & all steel fastners, replace w/ aluminum rivets, closed end blind or solid ('real' rivets requiring a bucking bar & a rivet set) or stainless steel. That gunwale endcap was probably riveted on originally, but removed to r&r the transom, and can be riveted back on rather then bolted. Seal the transom well & maintain the boat & the transom may never need to be replaced again. If it ever does need to be replaced, by then your great grandkids can have their kids help them do it.

The boat isn't particularly wide, for it's depth & length, if you put a deck in, I'd run it the full width of the hull. And I'd use aluminum 'L' channel, riveted to the bench sides. this will create a shelf for you to run aluminum channel from bench to bench every 12" +/-. Rivet those to the 'L'. You can now have a little more room under the deck for flotation foam if you choose, AND have a nice rigid frame work for 1/2" plywood decking. In the center you can add an additional cross brace just in front & just behind where a pedestal seat will mount AND double the thickness of the plywood at that location. You'll have to reduce the amount of foam under the pedestal.

Finish sealing the deck however you choose & once it's done, rivet it down to the aluminum L and fore/aft channels

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: The whole shebang. 16' aluminum shell to fishing machine.

If the boat won't get up enough speed to level off & run 'flat' (plane) it will be plowing thru the water, not very efficiently. Will a non-planing 16ft boat of this size & shape w/ a 5hp modern 4stroke engine use more or less gas getting from point A to point B, then a 20hp older 2stroke motor? IDK, but on the off chance I wanted to get back quickly, I'd rather have a 20hp motor.

Fat guy, perhaps a tad large motor for a small boat are certainly not helping, but see how it's pushing water ^^^

Better, but it's more of a balance problem, that's why he's leaning his weight forward ^^^

Both of those ^^^ aren't cruising on the water:

^^^ well balanced, by my favorite ballast , look how close the bow is to the water allowing the boat to run flatter over the water, NOT plowing. The water is spraying up & out of the way of the boat, not boiling up under the keel at the bow like it is in the other 2 pix

BUT: Since you own the 5hp, I'd get the boat water ready & plan to use the 5hp for now, it will get you were you want to go, but definitely not quickly. I'd still be looking for a larger motor while you are working on the boat. You might find a good deal on a decent motor. Then the 5hp can be used as a kicker for trolling or moving along a shoreline casting at the bank/weed beds.

Since the hull is likely rated for up to a 40hp, a 20hp might get the stern up & out of the water.

Any bare aluminum needs to be hit w/ self etching primer

To get the best finish from your top coats, you should also then primer everything you want to top coat.

prep prep prep before every & between every paint step.

that's the basics for the exterior hull ^^^

For the interior, I'd replace the drain gasket I mentioned eariler, or get an entirely new drain that uses a typical bilge drain plug:

And check for leaking rivets. On the trailer, you can fill the boat up w/ enough water to reach the chine/waterline and mark any that are leakers. We can deal w/ them if you find any.

If you plan to deck the boat, you should spend some time and scuff all the interior rivets below the waterline and seal all the seams & rivets w/ GluVit or Coat-it. Then if you want, follow the same steps as above.

There are some gaps in the above, for speed of posting, so there are prep & inbetween steps not listed for painting the boat.

 

[laurentide]

Re: The whole shebang. 16' aluminum shell to fishing machine.

Yeah, what JB said regarding the Honda and hull displacement ^^. Those engines are very reliable and extremely fuel efficient, but they are single cylinder engines which makes them a bit loud and vibration-prone, at least in my very limited experience (well, I do have a 30 year old Honda lawnmower that'll probably outlast me). It will certainly be fine if you don't need to go far, and a 3 gallon tank would last at least a full day. Run it and see if you're happy with it.

 

[dysco]

I'm back on the project! Duck season, dog training, and a two-year-old can be time-consuming....

Old transom with new pieces for new transom. I'm good to go on this. I'll have a piece of stainless bent for the motor mount.

Wear holes in the back end where the transom has been beat up. I can't find any other spots on the boat like it. The big hole is a mount for transom. What's the quickest, easiet way to patch theses tiny holes in aluminum?

What do I use to seal these seams?

 

[64osby]

Tiny holes use JB Weld -

Seams use Gluvit or Coatit on the inside, prime and paint if it will be exposed to sunlight.

 

[UConnMRB]

For the small holes I have heard people mention JB Weld and that is what I plan on using too, for similar small holes. Someone mentioned putting duct tape on the outside of the hull, over the hole and then applying JB Weld to the inside, once dry, remove the tape.

 

[minuteman62-64]

Had similar "pin holes" on my transom. Based on my reading, caused by resins leaching from un-sealed plywood transom. Patched with MarineTex, on exterior, 3 years ago - still holding strong.

 

[dysco]

What is the replacement part called for this whole thing? I need a two-piece unit, plus a plug, right?

 

[jbcurt00]

Is that the drain plug for the bilge? Or something else, i cant tell if its at the bottom of the transom or somewhere else.

 

[dysco]

It's the drain hole for the bilge. Also, if I'm replacing that, should I add another through-hull fitting for a live well? I don't plan on adding one right off, but it might save headache down the road.

Edit: I have a buddy who can weld aluminum. Best to weld in fittings?

 

[MTboatguy]

That is at the bottom of the transom, it is the same one that I have in my Mirrocraft.

I just call it a transom drain, they make them out of plastic and brass, the brass one which you see in many boats are crimped in place. If you do a search here on the forums, you will see many inventive ways to crimp them if you don't want to buy the tool to do it.

 

[dysco]

I'm going to sand this brown stuff off before I do anything about the holes. Is there anything I should avoid doing to it?


Oder of operations (please let me know if I'm doing it in the wrong order):
1. I'm going to cut my transom today to get it done and test fit.
2. Prep and seal pin holes in transom area
3. Prep to replace rivets, measure holes for best fit.
4. Replace rivets with pleumatic riveter and pop rivets with 3M 5200, cutting out the material that squeezes around the rivets
5. Gluvit every seam
6. Finish the wooden transom with UV resistant epoxy (we have crazy UV rays here in the mountains)
7. Paint boat
8. Install transom
9. Add floation, benches, and drop-in decking
10. Figure out hull support for the bent aluminum struts I cut out
11. Add an oarlock system mounted to the benches
12. whatever I forgot
13. Launch!

 

[MTboatguy]

No Title

The oar lock system can be mounted to the edge rails of the boat, if you use a pin style oar lock, I have them in my Western Aluminum boat and they work great, saves you having to figure out how to mount them to the bench. This is the ones I installed in my aluminum boat. Just need to drill the hole, then use taper head SS machine screws.

 

[dysco]

Actually, I just pulled the old oar locks that were attached with ancient galvanized steel hardware and they are really solid. I think I'll reattach them, and I might powdercoat them instead of paint. They were way nicer than I thought they were.

 

[MTboatguy]

Actually, I just pulled the old oar locks that were attached with ancient galvanized steel hardware and they are really solid. I think I'll reattach them, and I might powdercoat them instead of paint. They were way nicer than I thought they were.

Good, it is always nice when something is in better shape than you figured they were and you can put that money to something else.

 

[dysco]

There was more damage from the old transom that I thought. I used a brass brush to clean it up, removed some MORE rivets to get more room to work, and Marine Texed it up with a putty knife. I'll have some sanding to do, a little more tex to put in, and then I've decided to gluvit both sides of the metal to make it a bit stronger and fill all the pits.

I'm thinking of mounting SS eye hooks here through the transom to make a more secure and less damaging trailer mount point. Any reason that's a bad idea? We have a local guy who does special webbing projects who could rig up straps with carabiners and a cinch.

The bow eye- I feel like I should replace the wood. It sounds like a bit pain in the butt. Alternately I could spray a bunch of paint in there and hope it doesn't rot before I'm too old to work on the boat again.

I also removed all but two of the old galvanized steel fittings and glued and screwed the wood for the transom using nearly a whole bottle of waterproof wood glue and SS screws. I might paint it a different color than the rest of the boat, but I'm definitely not going with natural wood- it was far more warped than I thought and I ended up using a lot of screws in random places. Next time I clamp, then draw and measure out where I want the screws to be.

Next up I'm goint to epoxy the rest of the holes, repair a few useless screw holes, and figure out the drain situation. I'm probably going to run brass fittings with ball valves at the stern to PEX tubing under my removable decking to a removable cooler-livewell. Once the holes are in it's sanding time, then more prep, then glu-vit, then paint. I am not looking forward to prep.

 

[pckeen]

Replace that wood in the bow eye. It's an easy repair.

 

[dysco]

No Title

I'm back on the project. It's going to float within 30 days. This thread keeps coming up when I google how to solve the problems I'm having, so I figure I'm going to add some content for the next guy.

Here's the boat I started with a couple weeks ago. I had been stuck on the transom for a long time. I made it and it was OK, but it was too thick. I finally asked a local woodworker for help who suggested I have out local cabinet shop sand it down. He warned me that it could warp the wood but figured if it was two pieces of laminated ply, it should be OK. He shaved off almost a 1/4" and it tweaked just a hair but not bad enough to start over. Transom fit and painted, I was ready to do everything else.

I started a couple weekends ago with a sandblasted hull, destroyed seat brackets, and a completed (finally) transom.

 

[dysco]

No Title

The same picture everybody takes of their Gluvit. I learned to put it on really thin. It drips slowly so you can get the first few drips and think you're good, but it'll drip over the next few hours.