1976 Duracraft Flooring question

[Swampfox88]

I have an old 1436 jon boat. The boat has a factory flooring in it that is riveted all the way around , I was curious to what was under the floor so I lifted a small portion to check, from what I could see it has foam and ribs. the foam was sogging wet. My question is should I try to remove all rivets and replace foam? or should I let foam dry out? is foam still good this old? and last question is , is there foam under the side panels that sticks out and is that worth replacing as well, I will attach a couple of pics to hopefully get you a visual, thanks in advance for any help.

ps. the flooring over the foam is like an 1/8 inch thick slab of what I assume is aluminum. It must be removed flat or it will never go back in right so I know it would be a very tricky process

 

[pootnic]

Re: 1976 Duracraft Flooring question

That foam would take a long,long time to ever dry out.
Your going to have to remove it,IMO.
Take your time,maybe buy an air rivet gun to put the rivets back in...lots of people go through this.
Iboats or tinboats.net are good resources to help you along your way.

 

[Swampfox88]

Re: 1976 Duracraft Flooring question

That foam would take a long,long time to ever dry out.
Your going to have to remove it,IMO.
Take your time,maybe buy an air rivet gun to put the rivets back in...lots of people go through this.
Iboats or tinboats.net are good resources to help you along your way.

thanks for the advice , im gonna start drilling out rivets tonight, and see how easy the floor will come up. hope air rivet guns are cheap

 

[pootnic]

Re: 1976 Duracraft Flooring question

You can do it by hand(can get tiresome),there are some cheaper pneumatic rivets guns though.

 

[Swampfox88]

Re: 1976 Duracraft Flooring question

You can do it by hand(can get tiresome),there are some cheaper pneumatic rivets guns though.

This boat just kicked my butt, I took out 180lbs of water logged foam though I think I will definitely invest in a pneumatic gun now.

 

[Swampfox88]

Re: 1976 Duracraft Flooring question

 

[UncleBuck81]

Re: 1976 Duracraft Flooring question

Looks good! Been there. Anyway harbor freight sells cheapos that are good for hollow core or pull through rivets usually under $90. If that's what you are putting back in it will work. The harbor freight ones just won't pull cherry max or steel rivets very well at all