Hello,
I have been working on a 12' Ouachita boat due to some problems that it has. I have some pictures I will post in order so you all can see what I am dealing with.
To start out with I was given this boat by my parents. They got it from my Grandfather who passed away more than a year ago. I trailored the boat over 800 miles to Missouri and parked it in my back yard. Last fall I began the tedious work of getting this thing back up to par and still have not finished it. The boat had a 4 inch crack in the center of the hull and it leaked water faster than you could bail it out. The hideous blue paint was flaking off and revealing 3 other coats of paint. A thick silver aluminum roof paint below the ugly blue, another coat of gray paint and a coat of blue primer. The original Ouachita decals on the sides were almost completely faded.
I first began with laying tracing paper over the decals and got a pretty good reproduction of the original decals. I scanned those tracings into my computer then cleaned up the lines with MS paint. I will eventually take those to a sign / sticker company and have them remake the decals to the correct dimensions for me.
I began stripping the paint off the boat by using aircraft stripper, a putty knife, a razor blade scraper and a drill with a wire brush. After I had most of the paint stripped off the boat I took it to a welding shop and had the crack welded shut. Once I got it home I began removing the completely rotten transom board with one hand.
It never dawned on me before, but when I was removing the bolts from the handles that were bolted to the aft they were completely rusted. Once I got the transom board out and started grinding the paint away I could see the aluminum transom was corroded badly in spots do to two different metals contacting each other over the years along with exposure to water.
So now I am at a stand still with need of advice. I had two options in mind, #1 mix up some JB Weld and smooth over the inside of the transom. #2 take the boat back to the weld shop and have an entirely new piece of aluminum plate welded over the outside of the aft. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I will add a replay with an additional 5 pictures.
I have been working on a 12' Ouachita boat due to some problems that it has. I have some pictures I will post in order so you all can see what I am dealing with.
To start out with I was given this boat by my parents. They got it from my Grandfather who passed away more than a year ago. I trailored the boat over 800 miles to Missouri and parked it in my back yard. Last fall I began the tedious work of getting this thing back up to par and still have not finished it. The boat had a 4 inch crack in the center of the hull and it leaked water faster than you could bail it out. The hideous blue paint was flaking off and revealing 3 other coats of paint. A thick silver aluminum roof paint below the ugly blue, another coat of gray paint and a coat of blue primer. The original Ouachita decals on the sides were almost completely faded.
I first began with laying tracing paper over the decals and got a pretty good reproduction of the original decals. I scanned those tracings into my computer then cleaned up the lines with MS paint. I will eventually take those to a sign / sticker company and have them remake the decals to the correct dimensions for me.
I began stripping the paint off the boat by using aircraft stripper, a putty knife, a razor blade scraper and a drill with a wire brush. After I had most of the paint stripped off the boat I took it to a welding shop and had the crack welded shut. Once I got it home I began removing the completely rotten transom board with one hand.
It never dawned on me before, but when I was removing the bolts from the handles that were bolted to the aft they were completely rusted. Once I got the transom board out and started grinding the paint away I could see the aluminum transom was corroded badly in spots do to two different metals contacting each other over the years along with exposure to water.
So now I am at a stand still with need of advice. I had two options in mind, #1 mix up some JB Weld and smooth over the inside of the transom. #2 take the boat back to the weld shop and have an entirely new piece of aluminum plate welded over the outside of the aft. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I will add a replay with an additional 5 pictures.
