Custom 12ft v hull

Hello all.
I have a 12ft Starcraft V hull I picked up from a friend at work. The boat came with a trailer with new tire and even a spare tire also a trolling motor. Still working on a outboard

After spending countless hours reading everyone's forms on here I decided to start my own project.
I currently removed all the seats, replaced the wood in the rear seat and redid the middle seats all together and made a deck in the front, I'm working on sealing the new wood then will carpet it all.
Here is some pictures of the project.
I hope to paint the boat but will have to wait for better weather.
Still want to add storage in the back behind the rear seats as well

Nice looking boat good work.

I have the same hull and my girls love it! One thing about carpet - gets wet - stays wet - keeps the wood wet. My friend's 12-footer has carpet across the seats and he and his girlfriends keep complaining about wet azzes even days after it rains!

I just stayed with the sealed wood tops and bought these closed-cell foam seats, $4 each at the local 'dollar' store. See the built-in handle? I took some 1/8" rope and tied about a 4" loop around the handle to a wire mount glued in front of the seat at the top. When not in use they just drop down vertically and hang against the front bulkhead.

In use, just flip them up and put them on the wood. Gives the butt some cushioning and are much lighter than carpet and weight is crucial on small boats. Simple, works, and they stay dry hanging vertically. No fuss, no mess ... no wet carpet!

Welcome to our Bayou

yep, you are off to a good start !!
just don't get overwhelmed by trying to do too much at one time.
make a plan, set a goal, and HAVE FUN doing it !!

I can only imagine that the California Sun is much like our Florida Sun.
Paint and coatings don't last long when exposed to the elements year round.
so when you do something, keep in mind that you may have to redo it in a couple of years.

Thanks for the input Dale, I just don't like the plain wood color. maybe staining the wood darker would help. Im also adding a rear seat and maybe a seat on the deck up front.

Hey Johnny, yeah it gets a little warm out here I just don't like the color spots on the inside of the boat I was just thinking of repainting the inside and leave the outside the same.

Michael, I have painted the inside of 4 tin boats in the last few years
with the general exterior Valspar (flat) Latex 30 year house paint with excellent results......
I use a light tan or light brown as the darker colors just get too hot.
(I switch the colors around every 2 or 3 years when it comes time for a facelift).
The red bow deck is a SCORCHER on a hot summer day !!! (but, looks good).
a white interior is just too bright on the eyes and hard to keep clean.
I don't strip down to bare metal - just power wash all the loose paint off and repaint over the existing paint.
(of course attending to any issues such as scaling paint, corrosion, etc first).
This is my pleasure boat ('59 Crestliner 1448) - no floors - wood seats - lots of FUN. Lightweight and FAST.
This boat is for cruising - not fishing.





Keep in mind: it's only a BOAT - not your grandmothers antique china cabinet.
so don't drown yourself in details that will get you overwhelmed with no direction.
please post some photos as you progress through your project so we, the gallery, can enjoy the ride with you.

happy boating !

How are your 2x4 deck supports attached to the boat? Are they just freely sitting on it or attached somehow? Thanks!

MmmFishing said:

How are your 2x4 deck supports attached to the boat? Are they just freely sitting on it or attached somehow? Thanks!

Click to expand...

I have it just sitting in the loosely. So if I wanted to removed the whole deck I could.

Here is an update on the boat. I added some hatches to the front deck for storage and I pulled the trigger and got a 9.9 4 stroke mercury, which I love and is plenty of power for the little boat. I'm still trying to decide if I want to carpet the boat or not. I also redid the wheel bearings and added the bearing buddies. Hope you enjoy the update

Just an idea, I did my deck in the Rust-Oleum restore 10x and I love it. Now of course this will be the first season so I have no idea how well it will hold up. It looks really good and is a very nice non slip finish.