Here's what I mean....

Here are two pieces of 1.5 x 1.5 x .125 angle.

Notice the radius shown in the horizontal piece prevents the vertical from butting up tightly at right angles to both sides of the horizontal. In my case, the gap is 1/8" wide. Also notice that once joined like this with a spacer of .125 behind the vertical, that the vertical now sticks out from the horizontal a total of .25



Therefore, I used 1.5 angle as the horizontal, with 1.25 as the vertical. Once the spacer is installed, the pieces align like this...



On the boat, it looks like this...



Doing it this way added material, more labor, and longer rivets than originally planned, and this finished product (although extremely solid) just isn't clean enough for my taste. Tubing simply attached with angle brackets would be easier and cleaner IMO.

I used the Rustoleum Marine Topside paint. If I did it again I wouldn't use the gloss, I had a tough time getting a decent finish.

Wow, thanks for the info Brine. I never considered that the inside of the angel wasn't squared off. I'll have to keep thinking this through.

I made the decision to stick with wood bracing on this boat for a number of reason, the tow biggest reasons being cost and a lack of a local supplier. I have a week off from work and it would take at least that long to get the aluminum delivered.

I wouldn't count out the aluminum angle..... what brine used is only one type of angle. The stuff I used didn't have any radius to it.

really woods only advantage is price.... That being said my next one will be with wood

Figures....

I guess I did use the one designed for Structural support though.



6061 angle has rounded corners and is generally used for structural applications where strength is important.
6063 angle has sharp corners and is generally used where surface finish is more important than strength.

Acutally, now I don't feel so bad......

6063 Aluminum

6063 is often called architectural aluminum for two reasons - first, it has a surface finish that is far smoother than the other commercially available alloys, and second, its strength is significantly less (roughly half the strength of 6061), making it suited for applications where strength is not the foremost consideration.

I'm a big boy

Okay, I've been doing some work on this project over the past few days. I've reworked this bracing more than a few times and I'm still not sure this is what I want, but I figured I post up some pictures.





Rough fit with nothing attached.

That looks really good....What don't you like about it?

I'm just not sure how strong the deck is going to be out on the edges. I guess I'll know when I get everything fastened down good and tight.

Few more pics.

Looks good...I like the way you added support to the sides...Is there room for the batteries on the front shelf attached to the boat? That is where I was thinking of putting mine....I only have one battery though...

Also in your battery area I see that the self had to be raised up...what is under that piece of plywood?

Thanks and keep up the good work....

I’m not sure if a battery would fit on that shelf or not, I never considered it. If it would, you would still need a way to access it in order to charge and remove it. I’m running a 12V trolling motor at this time, but the next one will be a 24V so I wanted a big enough area for two batteries.

The floor in the compartment has a 2X4 mounted under it. The floor needed to be raised in order for it to fit inside the V of the boat.

Thanks.

Thanks.... I was thinking of making the forward section open up to access the battery...I would rather use the bigger space for other stuff....

Thanks again for posting all your work as I have the same boat..you are paving a nice trail for me...I hope to get started on mine next month when my fishing slows down...

Have you had this boat on the water yet? Mine is very light in the water...my 40lb 12v trolling motor pulls this around with ease....I have a minn kota transom style mounted to the bow for now....after I deck the front i will be shopping for regular bow mount with foot controll...

Nope, I havent had it in the water yet, It's taking me quite a while to get this done. I have two little girls that demand a lot of my time. I do most of the work on this after midnight when I get home from work. I've found some time to work on it during the day so I was able to use the power tools. My neighbors bedroom is rather close to my garage so I try to keep the noise level down at night.

What kind of speed do you get with the 20hp Yamaha?

~ 20mph with 1 adult,2 kids and gear...The fastest we have seen on the GPS is 23mph.

Thanks.

I'll be anxious to know how the boat is with your deck, I plan to build the exact same deck, but I am going to extend it to the 2nd bench seat as well. Let me know how the boat acts in the water.

I'll do that. I haven't had much time to work on it lately. I did put some time in today and got a little done. With the help of my father we ran all the wire, and got the trolling motor mounted. The front deck and framing is done, sealed, and carpeted. I'll post more pictures soon.

I considered running the deck back to the next bench, but I figured if I left it open I would have two areas with a low floor, one for each of my girls.

Hey, I'm brand new to this site because I bought a 1980 starcraft 160 super sport today and want to redo it as you did. Do you have finished interior pictures? Thanks! Your post has been very helpful!

I'm still working on it. I put in the front deck today and mounted the trolling motor, battery, depth finder, and seat. I also got the rear deck cut out. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Thanks for looking.

The front casting deck. The hatches are just sitting in place at this time.


The rear deck is cut out.


Switch box.





My carpet layer!

Wow that looks awesome!!!

Do you have any pictures of the rear floor framing and under the rear deck?

What did you seal your wood with?

Thanks for sharing!

I don't have any pictures of the framing, but I will get some. The back deck does not have any down supports; I have no plans to use this as a casting deck. Under the back deck is a floor that takes up about half of the area, I put this in for a level area to place the gas tanks.

I sealed all of the wood with three coats of the Helmsman Spar Urethane, the edges got six coats.