Beat up Valco

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Sep 12, 2014
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Location
Dixon, CA.
I was given a 14ft. Valco and trailer, basically just to get it off the Ace Hardware property and thought I'd take a crack at getting it back to being sea-worthy.
This is going to be a long... long process, I think.
I've started by completely stripping down to bare metal, removing all of the old fix attempts, pulling the wood and removing all lower seat rivets (since every one leaked.)
I really like some of the Valco conversions I've seen in this forum, so that's my goal.
Thinking about removing the center bench and installing a deck to take the stress off the lower rivets.
I'm completely open to any ideas!
 

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Stripped the paint and corrosion off the sides. Took about four days, working a couple hours a day. I used a couple 3M Sanding Paint & Rust stripping pads and a wire brush (both attach to a drill.)
I found the wire brush easiest and most effective to use. Plus, it doesn't wear down like the 3M pads.
 

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Wire wheel all that crud off the bottom and either tighten rivets with a bucking bar and rivet gun, weld them all or drill out bad rivets and buck new solid rivets to fix them. Or a little of all three.
Doing it right the first time is best!
 
Drilling out rivets and cutting off rusted bolts that the previous owner used to patch holes.
Sanded every rivet point to remove old tar, sealer and what I think is Marine Tex.
Tried brazing a couple holes/cracks, but the metal is too thin. Talked to a local welder/fabricator and he said that aluminum boat skin is almost impossible to weld.
 

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Working on the transom...
 

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There were some pretty significant holes and cracks in the old rivet spots on the bottom.
I attempted to braze a few, but it failed miserably.
Bought some Marine Tex at $45 a can, but before I opened it, I found another product called PC-11 which can be applied underwater, etc. and hardens up like Marine Tex.
It was $6.45 and comes in smaller tubes than i can get Marine Tex locally, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
It seams to work very well and has bonded to the metal. Still need to sand it down.
I've filled all of the holes in the aft section, so tomorrow I'll turn the boat over and water / flex test it.
 

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I absolutely love what LMBDave did here:
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=32024

My end game is something similar.
Anyone know how he attached the wood stringers, particularly in the forward, tapered section?
 
A good aluminum welder can weld that for you, they have to be good to not blow through but it is possible. The area he is welding has to be super clean. Use a stainless wire cup brush on a grinder and have him weld it right away.
 
I did some calling around, they're wanting around $350 to weld it... not paying that much for a free boat.
I'll see how the PC-11 works out, if it doesn't... I'm going for the new boat for $1500. Won't be as much fun as customizing one, but at least it'll float.
 
Looking good man! That was interesting to see the old sticker under the boat. I made my own replacement decal if your interested in the file.

Good luck man looking forward to see the finished!
 
[url=https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?p=366219#p366219 said:
HendersonPhoto » 14 Sep 2014, 18:50[/url]"]Any stability problems with building the deck over the middle and front bench?
No, my valco with deck is very stable. Just don't go much higher than factory bench height.
 
Try brazing (Alumaloy.com) for the cracks and holes.
It worked for me.
 
What an amazing looking hull, I love the way it looks. Great work so far.
 
Leak checking the aft end of the boat after new hardware and applying PC-11.
Looking pretty good. Still leaking rivets at the base of the transom support in the center, but I knew they were there and haven't worked on 'em yet.
All the places I have repaired held up.
Time to start planning the new flooring layout.
Still not sure how to (or if I should) attach new wood foundation to the hull...
I'd love to hear from anyone who has reconfigured the seating inside.
 

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Well, fire season ran into Halloween, which turned into Christmas, which turned into spring... boat work virtually non-existent.
But, I've ramped it back up to full speed now, hoping to have this project completed by the end of April.
Here's what I've been doing:
- Since most of them were leaking, or at least shady looking, I drilled out every rivet on the bottom of the boat, replacing them with new rivets, coated with 3M 5200 Marine Sealant. Many of them needed washers as the holes had been worn too big for the rivets, JB welded all of those.
- Added 1 inch, 90 degree aluminum angle-stock at the base of every seat support, most of the rivets were pulled out and the aluminum on the seats had bent and broken. Clearly a weak spot in this design. I riveted to the bottom of the boat and to the bast of the stock bench seats.
- Drilled out several running cracks on the bottom and used JB Weld on both sides of the cracks.
- Coated every seam and rivet on the boat with Flex-Seal, inside and out.
- Found a crack on the bow that leaked during testing, JB Welded that on both sides, about five inches on either end of the crack.
- Cleaned the entire outside of the hull with Acetone and sprayed two coats of Self-Etching Primer.
- Painted lower half and bottom of the hull with two coats of gray Ace Rust Stop oil-based paint. Keep in mind that the oil based paint is getting harder and harder to find here in California. Ace is slowly replacing oil-based Rust Stop with a water-based, latex version. (Boo)
- Next step, paint the top half a nice Red, again oil-based Rust Stop.
 

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