12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

I've been looking around on Iboats for a few days looking what to modify my ol' 12' into, just spent about an hour pondering over this thread, it's been great to see everything you've done to your boats!

Thanks patriot! It's a nice little boat and super easy to work on. I have some more plans for her, and since I won't be out fishing all winter I will actually be able to work on her again

I've got the new epoxy sealed transom wood ready to paint and install. That should be done tonight or tomorrow depending on whether or not I'm out on the Starcraft fishing

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Here are the photos as promised.

Some zinc chromate primer being sprayed on by my number one helper, Roslynn (I did the prep work)

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Transom rebuild 2.0

I used 3/4" plywood and sealed it with epoxy resin. I wish I had gotten the edges a little bit better, but I ran out(what can ya do?).

Here it is after being painted with Rustoleum smoke grey enamel. Our two boys helped out rolling it on and Roslynn smoothed out to finish. A few more coats will be applied.

I considered covering the resin with some polyurethane or other clear coat, or even some spar varnish, but opted for the paint.

Depending on how long this takes to rot I might switch over to synthetic material like cutting boards that will not ever rot. Bob_VT did this on a small aluminum boat and I really like the idea of a lifetime transom

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Sounds like the whole lot of ya are having a good time rebuilding this old 12 footer! Sweet

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Mike...thats cool that Ros is doing alot of the work on this little bugger....and that trailer of yours looks pretty militant! kinda remonds me of a tow behind howitzer for some reason? mebbe its the gray primer!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Sounds like the whole lot of ya are having a good time rebuilding this old 12 footer! Sweet

Yup the kids have a blast helping out and we're happy they are interested in learning stuff and having fun making messes(we don't tell them it's work).

Mike...thats cool that Ros is doing alot of the work on this little bugger....and that trailer of yours looks pretty militant! kinda remonds me of a tow behind howitzer for some reason? mebbe its the gray primer!

Yeah this little trailer is something else...like a Frankentrailer made of various items leftover from some type of war machine.

I'm a lucky guy to have a girl that is willing to spend time fixing up a trailer for the 12 footer for the THIRD time!

Thanks for checking in fellas, more photos on the way soon.

 

[coolness]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Sweet 12 footer!! I'm working on a 12' Sea King. Check out the 12' Sea King thread... I used the Smoke Gray on the interior of the boat and Hunter Green on the outside. Almost ready to put it back together.

What are you going to power it with?

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Sweet 12 footer!! I'm working on a 12' Sea King. Check out the 12' Sea King thread... I used the Smoke Gray on the interior of the boat and Hunter Green on the outside. Almost ready to put it back together.

What are you going to power it with?

Hi coolness, thanks! I love this little boat

I like the grey/green I'm sure it will look sweet. I happen to have 4 boat seats that are a combination of white, grey and blue so I'm trying to stick with blue and grey on this boat.

I graduated from MSU so green would be nice too

I've got a 1955 5.5hp Johnson(CD-12) that my dad bought for me last year for my birthday. She's a sweet little outboard and pushes the rig about 8-9mph with me and a buddy.

I'd like to get a '55 7.5hp too as that is the recommended hp for the rig.

I'll check out your progress, good luck with the Sea King

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Well the progress was halted quickly last week when I flipped the rig over and went out on the Looking Glass river fishing.

We caught some big Crappie but no Pike as we had hoped.:redface: The levels are pretty low but at least the weeds are starting to die.

Back to work on it soon enough, and I might even store it up north after I get the new transom installed and she's all painted.

I've been having a hard time locating Zinc Chromate primer locally for some reason. I will probably resort to HD or Lowe's since smaller stores don't seem to know what it even is.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

I was able to locate 3 more cans of self-etching primer last night, so I can finish the exterior hull. I also picked up some high-build primer to spray over the zinc in order to fill in some of the many scratches on the hull.

I'm testing out a new tactic while painting...take the boat on the river in between primer coats to rinse it well

I know it's not recommended but hard to resist at times.

I have a small drain plug to install in the bilge, this rig did not have one from the factory and I'm tired of flipping it over to empty.

Hopefully I can get my rivet tool fixed soon(mandril stuck in it) so I can get this project finished. I'm going to hold off on the new transom until I'm done using it for the fall season so it will be all brand-new in the spring.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

I took the "old" transom wood off last night and finally got a full coat of zinc chromate self-etching primer on the little rig.

It's surprising how quickly we were able to paint it being so small. Flipping the hull was a walk in the park compared to what the 16' Starcraft will be like.

I have some photos but photobucket is not resizing very well.

Looking forward to getting the rustoleum rolled on since our garage is now cleared out enough to park the boat and trailer indoors.

Check my thread in the freshwater fishing forum if you're curious why progress has been slow this week. We had the boat out sunday and monday and had a great time catching some Pike.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Well here are the photos. There are some spots where the Gluvit got pooled kinda thick and it looks bad, but I'd rather have too much than not enough

Not many folks are going to see the underside keel either for that matter.

I will be hitting it with 1-2 coats of the high-build primer before rolling on the Rustoleum Smoke Grey.

It feels good to paint my first boat. I painted my dad's 17' AeroCraft canoe back in the day but that doesn't count.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

She is going to look real sharp buddy!

 

[fshngho]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Mike check the primer and make sure its not like I used. You have spray and I rolled mine on but it came off easy. I think it said latex on the can.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Mike check the primer and make sure its not like I used. You have spray and I rolled mine on but it came off easy. I think it said latex on the can.

Great...now I'm afraid to go check. I might go have a beer for courage. What if it is latex, then are you gonna tell me to strip it all off and start over?

I might try to ignore what you are saying

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

She is going to look real sharp buddy!

Thanks man! Sure hope so. I know she's good for catching fish, if her looks improve at all she will be a keeper (who am I kidding, this boat is gonna be in the family forever even if she gets moved back up north)

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Here she is with the full coat of self-etching primer. I'm going to move into the garage to roll on the rustoleum. I have friends that are not happy- I told them I'm not taking the boat out anymore this year.

I will be fishing from the Starcraft so I can at least get this thing painted

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Got the first coat of the smoke grey paint on the AeroCraft tonight. We rolled some, and used a variety of brushes on the rivets, seams and sponsons.

Roslynn helped out quite a bit, and she is better at getting the paint on thick enough to lay down nice and smooth. I'm glad someone has skills.

It seems like good paint, though I'm certainly no expert in this category.

Here are some photos of the Rustoleum Smoke Grey...

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

Some more photos of the paint...so far one coat on the exterior hull. I am very happy with the color, not too dark and not too light of a grey.

I'm looking forward to getting the new vinyl sticker for the AeroCraft logo, new registration numbers and a new name on the stern.

And one shot with no flash.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 12' 1960s AeroCraft restoration

She'll be a good looking 12 footer Mike!