1963 "Homemade?" 14' V-Bottom Conversion

Got myself a 14' v-bottom with a trailer off of Craigslist and started my first conversion.

Here's the boat as it was sold to me

Junky Trailer

Trailer stripped, primed, repainted, and New Bunks. Got the whole thing rewired and ready to go.




And the boat again. Nothing done but the Transom ripped off and junked.

Looks like my buddy's Lonestar. He put a 25 on it and it screams! Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Got a pretty good buy on an 83' Suzuki 9.9 again off of craigslist. Bought all the couplings for the gas tank and sat around perplexed for quite some time. Turns out I had an 87' gas tank and once again had to buy all new fittings, but it's working like a champ now. Also got a 40# thrust bow mount trolling motor off my dads buddy who said it was a lost cause. Did some trouble-shooting and bought a new foot control off E-bay and had a perfectly good troller for minimal Cost. If you look close at the pic you'll see I put a new Oak transom in. I plyed together 3 pieces of 1/4" oak and then put on 3 coats of fiberglass resin over the top. I think it should hold up nicely. Also Rhino-lined the interior and started a deck.


Well.... I guess I missed a step or 2. Sorry about that, I have all sorts of cross Framing and it's level. Also ran 2 conduits as the battery is going in the Bow. When I take it back apart to put a ton of foam underneath I'll post a pic of how I framed it out.

Heres that step I missed. Got this jam-packed with foam underneath now too

What type of foam is best for this? Need to add foam to mine as well...

Got rod locker and storage framed out

MmmFishing said:

What type of foam is best for this? Need to add foam to mine as well...

Click to expand...

I used rigid insulation and just cut it to fill the gaps. I suggest asking someone else though because all I know is that it floats, but there probably is something I don't know about that will make the rigid spontaneously combust sending me to the bottom in a fireball. We'll see I guess.

Here's a Link from Jim courtesy of Brine that explains how much foam you will need. Hopefully it helps you a little

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25283

Good progress, I like the rod lockers good use of space. I got the same boat 2 foot shooter though. Got it done this summer, great little boats. By the way its a Richline there is a couple on this site that turned out real good. Have fun.

Thanks on the info on the Brand Saw. It definitely is a Richline.

I finally did some more work and got the rod locker done. I found out that if you decide to frame out, carpet, and finish the openings in the basement rather than on your boat, you have a good chance of screwing it all up. I do plan on buying some Perko flush pulls for the latches as I would probably get made fun of for keeping a Flathead Screwdriver around to open up the bins.

That boat is looking good. =D>

Nice boat. That looks like a Richline. Looks just like mine. I look forward to seeing the progress. I've been thinking about adding rod boxes down the sides of mine like you did. Same trolling motor I have also.

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Ok, I finally got the other sides storage done. Here's a couple pics, I need to clean up the boat and add a few pulls to make it so I can open the last 2 openings.






Now I gotta get to work on a custom livewell and wiring everything out. I'm gonna compartmentalize the left side too.

Looking great! I love the side storage you've added.

Thanks, I finally got the last pulls put into the rod locker. I'm needing replacement corner brackets, I destroyed mine in an Ill fated attempt to place rod holders through them (In Hindsight, I should have noticed the downward angle would tilt them so my rod tips would cross).
Has anyone ever used a Lowrance Elite-4x DSI Fishfinder? This one seems like a good deal from Gander Mountain and I was thinking about picking it up.

Alright! Finally got it painted. Quite the chore when you have loaded it up with what feels like 900 lbs of 3/4" ply. Next one, I paint first then do the interior.

I am doing it the same way as you, rebuilt interior, now on to paint. I saw my mistake halfway through but its kind of hard to paint when its -5 degrees out! haha

I got some Vinyl put on the boat from doityourselflettering.com