My Ouachita 1648 redo

My 1973 Ouachita 1648 redo. I picked this boat up cheap late last year. She had been sitting, uncovered, in the man's yard for three years. Needless to say the seats, carpet and the heavy cables to the 36 volt Harley-Davidson golf cart outboard are trash. This Spring I took the cover off and pondered what to do first. A previous owner evidently used it for duck hunting I assume. He added a vinyl "marsh grass" wrap to the outside of the hull. Over time it had shrunk to the point it was cracking all over the place.


First job was to remove the marsh grass wrap. What looked like a tan color turned out to be yellow with a brown pinstripe underneath. Needless to say, it will be another color when completed. My in-house interior decorator has said RED, red it will be. Next I decided to remove some or most of the carpet in the boat. Previous owner had carpeted this thing completely. The rear well, the battery box, locker inside the front deck and it was wrapped all the way up the sides including the gunwales. Inside color of the boat looks like it was brown and that was the color of the carpet. Here is what I saw:


After removing the carpet I got another surprise. The previous owner had covered the whole boat inside in this thin rough surface aluminum. The rough surface is kind of a small pebble finish that reminds me of the old swimming pool forms you used to get for your kids. The one the blue liner used to go inside and then get capped off on the form. BTW, he used this in small squares to do the floor in the boat operating area. Now I have to tell you I am not a lightweight. Walking across that floor it gives, a lot.


I would say this might have had a center console at one time, maybe. Next came demolition on the front fishing deck. After removing the rough surface aluminum from it I found the structure was made from 2X2 metal framing and pop riveted. Again, this moved under my weight and no longer exists. Next demolition will be the rear battery storage area under the rear pedestal seat and under seat storage.


I removed all the electrical for the golf cart motor from the rear well and found that the whole area had that aluminum under the carpet. I pulled back the aluminum covering the transom yesterday and looks like I need to replace all the wood in there. I have to remove the battery storage box to get to all the screws anyway.

Once I get to the original bare hull I plan to rebuild the transom and run support from the bottom of the front locker to the transom. Batteries underneath and gas tank(s) on top. BTW, I have gotten much information on what I should do from TinBoats. Thanks, I will try to keep everyone up to date on progress.

Well I got a little time to work on it yesterday and today. I am still removing the previous owner improvements that were not to my liking. From the pictures above the front fishing deck is removed, and all but the front wall of the big battery storage box. I am trying to get the flimsy floor up and check the flotation underneath. Once I find out its condition then I can start reassembly in my design. I was just thinking that I can put the floor in, console and seat. That way I can go fishing in this boat and not my Grumman. Then the Grumman can be sold.
I have decided to use "plastic wood". I know it is more expensive but won't rot. That is what supports the floor in the Grumman. Still undecided on using the plastic sheet goods (only comes in 3/8) or marine plywood (1/2) for the actual floor.
Lots of cleaning, scrubbing and sanding to do. Good luck everyone on your projects.

Well I finally got a full afternoon to work on the Ouachita today. On my last time working on this I found that the screws holding the aluminum covering inside the stern were beneath the aluminum of the floor. I finally removed the rear box where the golf cart batteries used to be stored so I could lift up the rear section of the floor. Today I took out that section of floor and removed that piece of aluminum covering the stern. This is what I found

both ends of the 2Xwhatever are rotted off. From what I can see getting the old piece of wood out will be the hard part. There was also some wet plywood under but it hasn't started separating yet. I think I am going to remove the piece of wood and then get someone to weld up some spots on the transom and starboard gunwale.
Then I pulled up the floor because I wanted to check the flotation under it. The boat is a 1973 so I figured it was beyond help. This is the surprise I got


Once I pulled up the complete floor I was where I had hoped to be today, bare hull. Some of the hull supports were cracked and repaired. I see a couple of others that might need a little help. Since getting the wet insulation out of the boat it has started to dry out. Here is what I wanted to get done today

Cleaning the garage out tomorrow but might get some time to start removing that rotted wood. I think it is coming along nicely. I want to get this transom back together so I can hang this outboard.

I got that rotten wood out today. Used an automotive seal puller, prybar and a big flat tip screwdriver. Easier than I thought. Going to replace it with plastic wood I think.