1648 Lowe Refresh part II

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Abraham

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Posted a build thread in May of last year but deleted all my posts while throwing a fit over having trouble posting pictures. Was going to just start on the old one but it would have taken a bunch of editing and figured a new thread would be easiest. I purchased this boat last May for $1000. It's a 1648 Lowe Line with a 40hp Mercury. Here is how I picked it up.



It has some rough spots, including cracks on either side towards the rear but seems like a solid enough platform to work with. The worst part was that a po had used liquid nails to apply carpet EVERYWHERE. The console, sides, etc. First order of business was getting that removed and it was much tougher than I expected. Tried aircraft stripper and a scraper for about an hour one day and found out I'd have to change course.



Plan is and was to strip it, put a floor and a deck on it for looks more than anything and use it for bass, crappie, setting lines, and bow fishing.
Any tips or advice would be great and I look forward to having this back on the water at the start of summer. Thanks for reading.
 
Once we got the hang of it the liquid nails came off pretty quickly and we were seeing progress.








 
More sanding. We used rolok discs for the hard to get spots and a sander in the large areas. Don't remember what grit off hand but will post later.



Here's the cracks that will need welded.






Pretty well gutted. Got rid of the live well for good and took everything else out of the way.


There's some missing progress pics in here but we got it all sanded and were ready for primer and paint,
 
Started getting the floor and deck wood ready. Used three coats of spars and got some marine carpet from a dent and ding place a town over.




Used a DuPont self etching primer and started spraying.

 
Picked out what I thought was a forest green but it turned out to be more of a tractor green.



Decided to just stick with the primer since it seemed durable and I liked the color. Carpeted all the wood and started installing it.






 
Can't forget the steering wheel:) Sandblasted and a friend cerakoted it for me.




And here's how it looked after the last bits of decking.


 
Heading over to my friends where it's sitting and try to take an inventory on what else it's going to need. Ordered a seat mount and pedestal to try, that should be here tomorrow. If it's solid enough, I'll order two more of them. Going to have my friend who cerakoted the wheel make me up an extension for the pedestal mounted up front. Get the seat up in the air. When it's not in use I can have two seats side by side at the console and put the extension in a storage box to keep the front open for when we're setting lines or whatever.

I'll need a trolling motor, another battery, maybe a new crank for the trailer and a switchboard of some kind. Thanks for reading and I'll add more later.
 
Thanks Dac :beer:

As far as the year of the motor I have no idea. Did have an ignition module go out on it right after I bought it but have been told they are good engines. I can get the serial number tomorrow probably.

Got the seat parts in today and wasn't that impressed tbh. Of course it isn't mounted or anything but I think they'll wobble, especially if I get that front one up in the air much. It was a fairly inexpensive setup with all three coming in around $40. Shoreline marine is the brand.


One thing that scared me were the warning labels on all three pieces saying not to use them if going over 5mph. What good is a boat seat if you can't sit in it while traveling?

Ordered a new winch for the trailer as the old one was terribly rusty and the braid I made from 550 cord was not going to work. All the stress is on the loops going through the hook :evil: New one is 1500lb capacity and only cost $25 and comes with a new strap and hook. Seemed cheap enough.
Also have 32ft of red and green led strips for the interior and exterior coming.

I'm going to need some type of switch panel if anyone has suggestions. I'm thinking a panel with eight switches in case I need to add something later down the road. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any help.
 
Got the new winch and the leds in today. Winch looks great the lights look cheap:) Also think I found the paint I'd like to use and was curious if anyone else had used it.

Duralux Marine Paint. Claims to not need primer first and can be used above or below the water line.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Duralux-Marine-Paint-1-gal-Aluminum-Boat-Green-Marine-Enamel-M736-1/205128316

Anyone have any experience with it? Any opinions, yay or nay would be appreciated.

Next step besides ordering more parts is finding someone who welds aluminum. Only know of one guy in the area and not sure how confident I am in his ability. Once the cracks have been remedied I can paint it and start with assembly.
 
Found a guy this morning who says he can weld up the cracks in the boat for 15-20 bucks. He's 30 miles away but that's still cheap imo. Might have to see if I have anything else aluminum that needs welded:)

Plan is to take it to him Saturday morning and wait on it. He says it won't take too long. After that maybe start with the paint prep. Besides the trolling motor and two batteries, most of the stuff still needed is fairly inexpensive. Might come together sooner than expected. Paint will be ordered in the next few days and I need to figure out rod holders, battery storage tray, and some other small things.

On a side note I was sent a warrant for the $14.61 I owed in boat taxes lol
 
Productive day boat wise. Took the boat by the welders about 10:00 this morning and installed a new crank on the trailer.






 
Been getting some good work in the last two weekends. Last weekend took it all back apart to get it ready for paint. Should have took some pictures but it's just a pile of parts under the carport:) This weekend the paint should be on. Sanded last night and for about 5 hours today. Should have used some chemical strip for a first step. My back and shoulders would be grateful right about now lol.

This is what she looked like when I headed for home about 7:30. One of the previous owners apparently got into some tar with one wheel of the trailer some time and sprayed it all over the back on one side. That was time consuming, as was removing the three stripes it had down the sides. They were cooked on with time and wouldn't just peel. A razor blade and sanding to remove all the adhesive.


Going to finish up the rest of the sanding in the morning and scuff up the interior with scotch brite before laying down the Duralux Aluminum Boat Green sometime around 3:00. Supposed to get up to 75 around then. After that all it lacks is putting everything back together :LOL2: Thanks for reading.
 
Got back to it around 2:00 today. Had some tar left to remove from the one side and some other small spots to sand but was done in no time. Weather was overcast and cooler than expected but the sun came out around 3:30 and the paint was laid. First off, LOVE the color. Used the recommended thinning formula my buddy had it painted in probably an hour and a half. Had one small run but very happy with the Duralux Aluminum Boat Green.

Pictures incoming.








 
I really like the contrast with the gray and green but almost wish I had a brown or tan mix on the carpet. Thinking it might have looked better, oh well. Put the engine back on before I left and will next mount the console and figure out where the seats are gonna end up. Still need a few things. Switchboard, rear light, trolling motor(ugh...), various fasteners, and safety stuff.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the build because it should be a cakewalk other than the wiring which shouldn't be too bad. Fingers crossed. Will post more once it's closer. Thanks for reading.
 

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