14ft V-hull mods

Ok, well I picked myself up this little 14ft V-hull boat. I am wanting to give it a fresh coat of paint, put a floor in, and maybe do some storage areas. This is my first build and first boat ever, so bare with me.

First question is what is the best way to strip the paint off of the areas that need it? Second what is the best way to support the floor? With the bottom being round, how do I support the floor with out doing damage?





I want to close this up and put in an access covered in carpet...


I was thinking about taking out this bench...What do you all think?? would it hurt the structure of the boat?


Also thinking of covering this bow section and put in access for battery and maybe tackle.


I am looking for any suggestions on all things.

Thanks again

Seth-

Nice clean looking boat.
The link to mods is a good place to start...
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3156

Thanks that is an awesome link!

So I started striping the flaking paint on the bottom of the boat floor. The guy who had this before me did a pretty good job painting it, he had also thrown silicon sand into the paint to add traction to the floor. There has got to be 3/16 of paint in some spots. I plan on putting floors in so I am getting all the loose paint off and then going to repaint it before the floor goes in.


I also started doing templates for my storage areas. This is the back, I plan on having two storage areas one for the gas and the other for my tackle. I will be carpeting this area, and am unsure of how much of a gap I need for the access doors.




Seth-

Looking good..

Thanks! I am getting real excited about this bad boy!

So I framed in the bow storage area..


I can't decide to if I should leave the bow like this:


Or like this...


I would put in a access in the front for the battery in this raised up section



Seth-

you have a really nice looking boat there. i have a 14ft Alumicraft that looks just like it. even has that small seat at the bow too. i was thinking about doing one of the two options your talking about up front as well. im thinking about having the two levels and have a hatch installed in the top one to store the battery for the trolling motor that will be attached up front as well. maybe thats an idea for you. did you plan on mounting a seat on a pedastal to the second bench seat? ill post some pics of mine so maybe we can bounce ideas off of each other. this is my first boat too.

I would go with option two on the bow layout. If you are going with a bow mounted trolling motor you will need an area like that to mount the base, and you can also use it as an anchor locker; this will keep the wet rode out of the lower locker.

Rat said:

I would go with option two on the bow layout. If you are going with a bow mounted trolling motor you will need an area like that to mount the base, and you can also use it as an anchor locker; this will keep the wet rode out of the lower locker.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing!

Nice job and planning so far.

On option two I would use it for the battery. I am going to get a transom mounted trolling motor eventually, and run the electrical up front. On option one I would still have the battery up front, but in a battery case mounted to the deck area.

phxbuckeye said:

you have a really nice looking boat there. i have a 14ft Alumicraft that looks just like it. even has that small seat at the bow too. i was thinking about doing one of the two options your talking about up front as well. im thinking about having the two levels and have a hatch installed in the top one to store the battery for the trolling motor that will be attached up front as well. maybe thats an idea for you. did you plan on mounting a seat on a pedastal to the second bench seat? ill post some pics of mine so maybe we can bounce ideas off of each other. this is my first boat too.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I am going to mount a seat up front on, basically facing toward the transom, but able to swivel around if need be. It is going to be on the second seat back from the front.

Seth-

Lookin' good!

i think you made a good choice with the front seat location. it will definately be nice and sturdy. how do you plan on storing the battery? will the door be on top of the deck or on the drop wall leading to the second deck? just curious cause im in the "same boat" (haha) as you with this idea.

I think you should go with option 2 also; your not going to be standing on that part of the deck most likely, it would probably be a little unstable up there, so with option 1 your really just wasting some space, no matter what you decide to use the compartment for, battery, anchor, or to store your lucky charms, it doesn't matter, your gaining that much more storage area is the bottom line, otherwise your really just kinda wasting space and we all know in a 14' space is valuable. I plan on doing something similar in mine.

Something else to consider, I have read that batteries don't necessarily like riding in the front of the boat because there is more movement, vibration, getting knocked around basically up there than in the rear. Nonetheless I am highly considering mounting my battery in that same location basically, because I just don't think I will ever notice whatever damage is done to the battery, as I plan to mount it pretty securely. I could be wrong about this, anyone know if this is a wives tale or if some real damage could be done to your battery? It would sure be nice to get that weight up there too.

if you have a motor on the back, and it's not strapped securely, you could have problems. There is still going to be some vibration, not much you can do about that.

The main thing with putting a battery that far up front is weight. You'd be surprised what only 40-70lbs can do to a V when there is not as much water displacement as in the rear or middle of the boat.

I placed my battery in the front of my 14 ft Deep V hull Lund by cutting the seat and designing a compartment for it. I will be moving it back to the rear very soon. On choppy days you would much rather be "Bow High" slamming through the waves than plowing nose first through them. It can really send your boat lunging wildly in any direction. I have found my boat does not handle well when running wide open across the lake. It's a bit dangerous with the 65LBS of battery and 180LBS of person up front plus the weight of plywood, seat, life jackets, anchor and whatever else I put in the front compartment (built similar to yours.) Take what russ said into consideration, I sure wish i had before spending $50.00 on battery cables to run the electric start on my outboard!

ok, I started on cutting out the ply today and it went pretty good. I started at the back and traced it out and cut it.



Then decided the best way to get my jigsaw into the ply would be to drill a 3/8 hole into each corner.


Once I got the doors cut out, I then flipped over the deck and attached some 1x2 to support the doors when closed.


I have the bow section completed as well as the floors....kinda. I plan on notching the floors to fit around the ribs of the floor. I still haven't figured out how I am going to provide support for the floors. The "deck" areas are 1/2 ply and the the floors are 3/4 ply. I got the 3/4 for a steal at HD for $2.00 in the cull bin.


Fishing partner.....


Seth-

I'm kinda in the same situation as you. I've got that V-Hull and i'm not exactly sure how i'm going to brace it up inside with all the curves. I'm kinda envious of the flat bottom John boat guys.. that's pretty strait forward.

Oh well.. I've still got lots of work to do on the exterior of mine before i start to tackle the inside mess. I'll figure something out, maybe whatever you do will give me some insight. I'll be keeping my eye on your work.

You can put legs cut at different lenghts to support the floor, or make a template and cut a curved support. I've seen both options in the mods sections.

Ok, I now have the bow section of the boat carpeted. It is a simple process, but I still made a few mistakes here and there.

I traced out the deck portion:


This is the glue I used:


I didn't get any pictures of the underside of the deck due to my hands being covered in the glue. It was a freaking mess.
But here it is all carpeted:



I am going to need to cut down the door for my storage hatch. I have already trimmed it but , dry fitting it now with out it being covered it doesn't fit at all, so I will need to take off a bit more. Hopefully I don't take off too much.

Seth-

Finished the hatch up in the bow section today. I am pretty pleased with how it came out.


I attached the hinges with small nuts and bolts with washers.


Started on the floors.
Before:


After:


Seth-

Looking very good! I like the mini nuts and bolts for the hinges... great idea