New Journey

[Rasdiir]

Looking good, that's a hefty plate on the transom! Great to see the smiles on the young ones, that's really the point of all of this

 

[DLNorth]

Good seeing the kids w/fish.
And did I miss something? Are you putting on twin 115's?
If so, that will be fun.

 

[MNhunter1]

Good seeing the kids w/fish.
And did I miss something? Are you putting on twin 115's?
If so, that will be fun.

No, just one. I have two sitting there, one with low compression in one cylinder sitting around 100psi with the rest at 125-130. I'll get the main one running and then see what I can do with the 2nd one. Hoping I can get the compression up and it won't need a rebuild, but will cross that bridge when I get there and see if it's something I want to tackle.

 

[DLNorth]

I wish I had seen this 3 weeks ago, I just parted with my collection of TOP's, including 2 that actually had Ok compression.

 

[MNhunter1]

I wish I had seen this 3 weeks ago, I just parted with my collection of TOP's, including 2 that actually had Ok compression.

Me too

 

[MNhunter1]

Big hurdle completed! It's amazing how everything starts to fly together once the deck goes in. I'll give it a week to let the 3M5200 set up, lay out the Nautolex, hammer in the side supports with some solids and 5200, and another week of cure time. She should then be ready for hull paint.

Forgot to compensate for the doublers when laying the foam, but made it right after a bit more work and frustration. Used 3 sheets of 1" and 1 sheet of 3" below the deck with a bit leftover. Several place above deck will get stuffed with more foam as well.

Transom plate is now all cured as well. Will get prepped and painted along with the hull.

 

[redneck joe]

question for you and another 'tin heads' - why not use aluminum for the floor?

 

[Moserkr]

question for you and another 'tin heads' - why not use aluminum for the floor?

$$$$$$ I believe thats usually why.

 

[Rasdiir]

question for you and another 'tin heads' - why not use aluminum for the floor?

The "Tinyboat Nation" folks with jon and flat bottom boats love using aluminum for the floor, but they must be shelling out an arm and a leg for it.

 

[junkman306]

question for you and another 'tin heads' - why not use aluminum for the floor?

Because .090 4x8 sheets are around $130 each, here.

 

[Watermann]

question for you and another 'tin heads' - why not use aluminum for the floor?

The cost, more weight, more negative buoyancy, way more difficult to work with and you have to add more under deck support not too mention once done you're in an aluminum skillet under the summer sun.

 

[junkman306]

once done you're in an aluminum skillet under the summer sun.

You never know when the hankering for steak and eggs may hit you.

 

[MNhunter1]

Installed the bow brace/support and played with some clecos to get the gunnel tops all mocked up and mark all the holes I still need to fill before prepping for paint.

 

[MNhunter1]

Photo dump from phone…

 

[MNhunter1]

Been a busy week! Nautolex down, hull supports solid riveted in, gunnels attached, hull painted...making progress.
First pic of the vinyl was before I glued it down, so may look a little wrinkled. Also could have done a better job sanding some of my hole fills on the gunnels, but they'll still get a coat or two rolled on with the Epifanes beads, and some will be covered with rod holders, Cisco tracks, and other strategically placed cleats and the like, so shouldn't be too noticeable when all is said and done. Hull is battleship grey, with select interior sides, center console, and seat finished in a light grey. You can see the contrast between the two greys in some of the pictures. I was able to borrow a neighbor's 5.5hp gas compressor he used to use for roofing to shoot my hull and it was a night and day difference from my 1.5hp electric I struggled through all the interior parts with. I didn't thin any of the primer/paint and took a 5/64 drill bit to drill out my 1.4 and 1.5 tips on my HF hvlp guns to ~2.0. Worked like a champ!
I have the bow supports cut from 3/4 ACX ply, along with the side support/rod holder mounts, with the bow supports coated in spar and what was left of my epoxy on the side supports/rod holders. Still need to secure the bow supports and rivet on the bow cap, and the side supports will get a few coats of paint. Was going to use hdpe for the side supports, but figured I'll see how the epoxy coated ACX holds up and save myself a few pennies.

 

[MNhunter1]

Might be better suited for the trailer/towing forum, but I trust the opinions of the mob a little more than I do the general population. My drop axle/low slung wobble roller trailer fits the boat just perfectly, but I'm tempted to swap out the rollers with bunks. Problem I have is the low ground clearance at the transom cross member and finding a suitable bunk bracket that won't protrude below the frame and catch on everything as the lowest point. I currently only have 6" of clearance between the ground and the cross member. The forward cross member sits much higher and is angled, so no worries there, but I'm torn between just leaving the rollers, or finding a bunk bracket that won't reduce my already minimal ground clearance. Anyone have any suggestions/recommendations on leaving the rollers or converting to bunks, and if so, any bracket recommendations? I also thought I had seen on here where someone used two boards to make a T bunk - might be a solution for leveraging vertical L brackets over the traditional bolster brackets?

 

[Moserkr]

Cant comment on the trailer as I dont have enough experience there. But the paint and floor look great!!! I think grey is a good color on these boats, especially when geared towards fishing.

 

[MNhunter1]

FYI - added a post in the Trailer and Towing thread, tagging here for ease of following/sharing of information:
https://forums.iboats.com/threads/bunk-bracket-suggestions.769355/

 

[Rasdiir]

Might be better suited for the trailer/towing forum, but I trust the opinions of the mob a little more than I do the general population. My drop axle/low slung wobble roller trailer fits the boat just perfectly, but I'm tempted to swap out the rollers with bunks. Problem I have is the low ground clearance at the transom cross member and finding a suitable bunk bracket that won't protrude below the frame and catch on everything as the lowest point. I currently only have 6" of clearance between the ground and the cross member. The forward cross member sits much higher and is angled, so no worries there, but I'm torn between just leaving the rollers, or finding a bunk bracket that won't reduce my already minimal ground clearance. Anyone have any suggestions/recommendations on leaving the rollers or converting to bunks, and if so, any bracket recommendations? I also thought I had seen on here where someone used two boards to make a T bunk - might be a solution for leveraging vertical L brackets over the traditional bolster brackets?View attachment 388928

View attachment 388927

I actually kept the bar that the rollers are on and just bolted the board to the top of that. My transom will be about 18" back from my cross member and I wanted to make sure the 2x4 bunk was supported as far back as possible due to the engine weight. No bunk bracket required and the bunk is supported almost all the way!

 

[MNhunter1]

I actually kept the bar that the rollers are on and just bolted the board to the top of that. My transom will be about 18" back from my cross member and I wanted to make sure the 2x4 bunk was supported as far back as possible due to the engine weight. No bunk bracket required and the bunk is supported almost all the way!

I've contemplated this approach as well. Unfortunately, my brackets are not flat on top, so I would need to somehow adjust for that, but still something I am pondering. You can see the little bump where the rod is enclosed, but I could also just grind off the welded on roller arms and use the flats on the actual roller assembly as well.