14ft Fixer upper

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Happyrocker02

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Hey guys so I've been reading through all these awesome modifications that everyone has done so I figured I would try to do my own! A little bit of background info. The last time I worked with tools was junior year in metals class. But I'm a quick learner.
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This boat is in decent shape for the money I spent on it. I got it from a guy off Craigslist that took it from a guy that owed him some money. I've already started to gut it out because a lot of the wood is rotted. I'm wanting to put a platform on the front and back made out of aluminum so it'll be lighter that what it is.


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Whoever owned this boat before had a great idea with the switches and the pumps etc. there is a live well in the middle bench, and a bilge pump wired in the back and the trolling motor and fish finder in the front that had wires ran all the way to the back to the battery. It all looked like a great idea but just very cheaply done..


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So I started taking off the front casting platform and taking all the wires out of the boat, along with removing all the screws this guy had put in the boat. I believe I will name it Holey Mary after I'm finished just from the amount of holes in this boat.
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So if you look at the front it looks like the guy cut a hole into the aluminum and then stuffed it with packing styrofoam...
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Okay the part I need help on. How do I get the transom off the boat to put a new one on. I tried drilling a few of big rivets out last night but my lord it takes forever.. Is there an easier way? And the bottom ones are below water level.?
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Congratulations and welcome.

Allow me to quote from my Alumacraft Model F thread:

Stripped the old wood transom off, destroying an historic carpenter ant community, est. 1995.
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Went after the transom, taking out the rusty and frozen bolts and screws. I stopped counting at 26. Maybe 6 or 8 were necessary. Go figgur. Finally took the sanding disc to the electric drill, and scoured some serious corrosion, but mostly discoloring and physical damage by the wholesale screwing that went on. (Gotta be a better way to put that.) Washed down, dried, wiped with rubbing alcohol, and took out JBweld, my forever friend. I'm letting it set for a couple of days, the weather here being unsettled, with alternating cold and warm fronts.

There's no easy way, but you will grow as a person of character and determination.


(Well, maybe)

Best wishes.
 
A sharp drill but will run right thru those rivets. Remember to stay one size smaller diameter than the rivet shaft. Not the head.

Put the rivets that are below the water line in wet (covered in your choice of sealants) then buck the tails.
 
Thanks for the advice! I got some of the rivets out. Enough to take off the top part above the transom. The aluminum piece is cracked on the back so I'll probably just replace it with a whole new piece. Can't wait to get this part over with.

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Got a little bit further today after work. I took out the back bench because I couldn't get the angle correct when drilling out the rivets. And plus I'm going to redo the back bench anyways.
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Soo onto some more depressing news. Which is definitely my fault for not filling up the middle part of the boat when I was buying the boat. I water tested it before buying it. But I kind of have a small leak. So more than likely I'm going to have to have someone weld it for me.
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And I might put a brace over it like like a skid plate.. I'm glad I didn't pay too much for this boat! [emoji28]


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Great project! I am a week into my 14' modification. Looks like you have a lot more work than me, but I also had 4 small leaks in the bottom. I found that out by flooding the boat about 3 inches. I just took a metal angle grinder brush to it lightly to get a great contact area for the JB weld I used. Did that last night and today it is as hard as steel and impossible to get off. Your boat looks similar to mine which I found out is a 1985 fisher. If your not aware and I wasn't until researching how to find the serial code on the boat. Near the outside starboard side of the transom on the top should be a serial number unless it has been taken off. I would suggest doing so because of the way the guy sold you the boat.
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I thought I've read in the forums that you're not suppose to use jb weld below the waterline but if that'll work I'll do it.


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perchjerker said:
I would have it welded

even if the JB weld held, it probably wont for long due to the flexing and stress in that area.

I would not chance it

I am just going to weld it. Just bought some rods that'll be here in 2 days to do it. Hopefully I'll have the transom off and at least have it sanded by then.


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Happyrocker02 said:
perchjerker said:
I would have it welded

even if the JB weld held, it probably wont for long due to the flexing and stress in that area.

I would not chance it

I am just going to weld it. Just bought some rods that'll be here in 2 days to do it. Hopefully I'll have the transom off and at least have it sanded by then.


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If you bought some of those brazing rods you melt with a propane torch don't use them. They are much harder to use and if you over heat the aluminum you will cause more problems.
 
lckstckn2smknbrls said:
Happyrocker02 said:
perchjerker said:
I would have it welded

even if the JB weld held, it probably wont for long due to the flexing and stress in that area.

I would not chance it

I am just going to weld it. Just bought some rods that'll be here in 2 days to do it. Hopefully I'll have the transom off and at least have it sanded by then.


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If you bought some of those brazing rods you melt with a propane torch don't use them. They are much harder to use and if you over heat the aluminum you will cause more problems.

Are they that hard to use? Have you used them? I want to at least give it a shot.


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Yeah the skins on these aluminum boats are so thin that when you get them hot enough for the braze to work they deform and cause more problems then you solve (speaking from experience.)

If you're going with aluminum decking to save weight (which is the WHOLE point to these tin boats anyway right?) I hope you dump that lumberyard worth of half rotted framing support in the process. If you have an air compressor solid rivets are so easy to set and so much stronger than pop rivets.


What type of boat is that? You've got 3 transom buttress supports - bench seats installed OVER support ribs - that thing is built like a tank!
 
onthewater102 said:
Yeah the skins on these aluminum boats are so thin that when you get them hot enough for the braze to work they deform and cause more problems then you solve (speaking from experience.)

If you're going with aluminum decking to save weight (which is the WHOLE point to these tin boats anyway right?) I hope you dump that lumberyard worth of half rotted framing support in the process. If you have an air compressor solid rivets are so easy to set and so much stronger than pop rivets.


What type of boat is that? You've got 3 transom buttress supports - bench seats installed OVER support ribs - that thing is built like a tank!

I'm not sure what kind of boat it is. I'll look when I get home. And I plan on removing all the benches and putting a platform on the front and back. Just removing the benches so I can have storage underneath.

So how should I fix the crack on the bottom? I'm open for suggestions. And I'll try to clean up the crack in the next couple of days so we can get an idea of what we're actually looking at.


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I'd take it to a quality welder and have it TIG welded, but that's going to cost you a bit but you won't be revisiting it the future.

Slapping goop on it will just require a future reapplication of goop when the first round of goop either separates from the aluminum or cracks as the aluminum moves and flexes.
 
perchjerker said:
you can fiddlefuck around with it all you want I would get it welded correctly and then dont worry about it anymore
I like the way you word it! I'm going to find someone to weld it for me


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