1960’s Aerocraft 12' deck mod

Just purchased this boat and trailer. I'd like to put a deck from the middle bench to the bow, possibly with a step up at the front seat. I would also like to add a deck with hatch from the rear seat to the transom as well as a floor. And strip, prime, and paint everything.

The issue I am running into is whether or not I should remove the seats to replace the foam and then replace them. I worry that when I remove rivets I may end up with a leaky hull when I put everything back together.

I am a novice, but I plan to make the deck and floor as lightweight as possible, using aluminum and plywood.

I've looked over many of the other mod projects on here and have learned a lot and gotten some great inspiration. Just looking for some thoughts and advice.

Im working on a 12 ft right now also. It looks like there are chunks of plywood on top of the seats that are holding the seats down... what about removing the seats, cutting a hole in the center of where the plywood is sitting, then fill it with foam and close her back up? Wouldnt have to drill rivets or anything?

Im thinking of moving my middle seat to the back of the boat... but havent had any feedback on whether it would be a bad idea or not. Check out my post below! Thanks!

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=33516

Yeah, one of the previous owners mounted swivel seats on plywood there, I was going to remove those and cover with plywood deck, carpeted of course. I had considered cutting out the tops of the benches and removing old foam and replacing with new, not sure I even need to replace foam, although it seems like a reasonable and prudent thing to do.

If your going to put plyood tops on them I would say just cut it out on top. You can start by just doing one, to see if indeed the foam needs replacing, then determine if the second one needs it as well.

After looking at this project https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9912&hilit=12+foot I've decided to do the same thing with the middle seat and then incorporate the front seat into a raised deck.

Now that I have a plan for the deck and seats, I am going to ask whether or not anyone has ever soda blasted their aluminum boat. I have a quote pending from a local guy, and I'll let everyone know what he wants to charge.

Quoted $600 to have entire boat soda blasted. Seems reasonable compared to what others have paid. Not sure If I am going to follow through with it because the inside is the only area that needs to be repainted. The build project is scheduled for the end of March...I think I have all my ducks in a row. Aluminum angle and square tubing, plywood, resin, carpet, and misc hardware. Project pics to follow.

Is it a good idea to add expanding foam beneath the deck that I am going to put down? I've heard that expanding foam can damage the aluminum.

Thoughts? Just want to add a bit more floatation and possible offset the extra weight from the deck by adding buoyancy.

I can tell you that the po of mine put it under the floor he had. I pulled out 300lbs of water logged foam. Plus everywhere the foam bonded to the boat was pitting. I would not use the can stuff.

They do make an expandable foam just for it, but it is expensive.

I used noodles under mine. Easy to cut and pack tight.

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=346103#p346103 said:

bulrid8 » 24 Mar 2014, 17:39[/url]"]I can tell you that the po of mine put it under the floor he had. I pulled out 300lbs of water logged foam. Plus everywhere the foam bonded to the boat was pitting. I would not use the can stuff.

They do make an expandable foam just for it, but it is expensive.

I used noodles under mine. Easy to cut and pack tight.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll go with noodles. The stuff at West Marine was $114 for the 2 part foam, it specifically mentioned for use with aluminum, but i like the idea of using the noodles as an economic alternative.

Yeah, they work good. I went to the dollar tree and bought a box. Dollar a piece.

Finally had a weekend to work on this...90% complete. Bought seats, just need to find mounts.

½" plywood, oil based primer, marine carpet. Underneath is aluminum angle and pool noodles with a couple short lengths of 2x2 for added support.

Boat looks great. Nice job. I Am interested in doing the same to mine. How did u fastening alminum angle to boat under plywood floor?? My first alminum boat. I'm a little clueless.

I should've taken pics, but everything was coming together so quickly and smoothly I didn't want to lose the momentum.

I simply attached 2x2 across the seats, then attached 90° angle brackets so I could run the aluminum angle from front to back. Kept the spans as short as possible and they provide ample weight support. I also put pool noodles that I had cut under the floor and they filled in the gaps. The floor is silent when moving about and feels solid.

Did you rivet to angle to the boat?

Yes

Cool. Thanks for the help

Just a note on the dollar store pool noodles...I bought some 4 years ago to make catfish jugs out of, the good ones with pvc pipe and weights in them...Used them that summer and got out of fishing because of health probs...So I'm feeling better, went to check the noodles in the shed, most had deteriorated pretty badly... They were not exposed to rain or sunlight, and I'm thinking about redoing them....I definitely wouldn't put them in a boat stored outside after seeing these...

And the reason I ran into this thread is that I'm working on a Fisher 16' that I put a huge hole in about 10 years ago, so I'm looking for flotation advice also...This one had old waterlogged expanded foam in it when I started the tear down years ago....I'm thinking of using the "pink sheets" from Home depot or Lowe's in the floor... Anybody have any experience or ideas about this ? I really don't want to be doing this again in a few years....

So far the noodles have held up well. Boat is stored in a storage unit along with all my camping gear.

Have you noticed any additional flex in the hull after modifying the center bench? What did you use to sturdy it up? Considering something like this myself.

I did not completely remove the center seat. I left approx 2" at the bottom, and braced with some aluminum square tube and angle that doubles as floor joists.