16' Mirrocraft Northport Troller VHull Build

[Maxamillion]

Hey all, exited to get started on my second boat, this one way bigger than my last 1236. Lots of pictures to come, stay tuned.

 

[Maxamillion]

Here's the blank slate, 16 feet and nice and wide. Picked her up for 150 dollars. It came with some extra goodies as well. No trailer or motor. Practically stole it haha. I pressure washed the inside today and filled with water to test for leaks, only found 1 leaky rivet which I will be fixing with jb marine weld. Also pulled out the transom wood and will be replacing that this weekend and epoxy sealing it. I'm going to also pickup stainless bolt and screws for the cleats.
stay tuned

 

[Maxamillion]

Quick question for you all, i want to put a flat floor in the boat a little more than halfway up the boat before it reaches the future raised deck. I was thinking of using Aluminum square tubing and laying it down on top of the ribs, which will give me a flat platform to lay my marine plywood. My only question is how to secure the square aluminum to the ribs. I was thinking of having someone weld the bottom lip of the square to the rib, but was wondering if anyone has done this with rivets or has any ideas for me.
Thanks

 

[Maxamillion]

I picked up a boat today for 300 bucks , I purchased it strictly for the 1980 35 hp Johnson and trailer. Motor needs a new water pump but trailer is freshly rewired and had guides and pulls great. Getting closer to getting out on water. The motor came with full steering wheel, and all the steering cables. The motor has electric start.
Exited to have this build be a side console.

 

[water bouy]

This is probably how it used to look. Lots of pics:

https://bid.hinesauctionservice.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/13238/lot/1739409/?url=%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F13238%2F

 

[Maxamillion]

Thank you so much! I've been trying to see what it looked like before, those wood grain pieces were bothering me haha! Im setting it up totally different but this is awesome to see how it was originally built!

 

[Maxamillion]

Patched all my above the waterline holes today from the steering console and other accessories. I used JB marine weld after wire brushing the surfaces and cleaning. I may go back and do a second coat to fill and imperfections after it fully cures. Then I'm going to sand it down flush on all the holes, strip all the paint from the boat and give her a fresh paint job.

 

[Maxamillion]

Replaced the cleats today, used 4" polymer cleats. The previous owner had just used self tapping screws to secure the cleats into the gunnel. I drilled all the way through the gunnel, applied silicon sealant to the holes and used stainless machine bolts, flat washers and locknuts to secure the cleats to the boat at all 4 corners. I also had to trim the bolts down because they were a little too long.

 

[Maxamillion]

Worked on the motor this weekend. Degreased and cleaned up under the hood, changed my lower unit oil, and replaced some old wires. The new water pump is working perfect now. Nothing left to do with this motor other than reshaping the prop. She's ready to go.

 

[Maxamillion]

Got the transom almost complete as well. Just need to spar varnish it. Cut a solid piece of oak to shape, dropped it in drilled all my holes and drains and mounted the motor to drill the motor mounting holes. I drilled the holes first so the spar would cover the bare wood inside the holes. This solid oak is gonna be rock solid with the 35hp on it and last forever. Can't wait to be done with the transom and painting the boat so we can move on to the fun stuff.

 

[Maxamillion]

Got the transom stripped and painted today. I am doing the transom alone first to see how the paint looks, and so I can hang the motor on the boat quicker. The process I went through is gonna be the same when I paint the rest of the boat.

-strip all paint from aluminum(wire brush on drill)(sander)
-Sand all bare aluminum with 150 grit paper to give the paint something to stick to
-clean all surfaces with mineral spirits
-give all surfaces a bath in white vinegar and let air dry
-wipe clean with dry cloth
-prime with zinc chromate primer (2 light coats)

This is how far I got today, I will be rolling and tipping on the rustoleum topside black marine paint on Saturday.







Here Is the zinc chromate primer after the two light coats

 

[Maxamillion]

Was very impressed with the zinc primer

 

[ADKMtnTrapper]

Looking good so far Max! I have a 14ft Mirrocraft ill be doing a similar build to. I look foward to seeing your progress.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Captain Ahab]

Quick question for you all, i want to put a flat floor in the boat a little more than halfway up the boat before it reaches the future raised deck. I was thinking of using Aluminum square tubing and laying it down on top of the ribs, which will give me a flat platform to lay my marine plywood. My only question is how to secure the square aluminum to the ribs. I was thinking of having someone weld the bottom lip of the square to the rib, but was wondering if anyone has done this with rivets or has any ideas for me.
Thanks

I have a MirroCraft (simliar to yours but wider) and I used hex head SS self tapping screws to hold the aluminum frame to the top of the ribs - just make sure you use the correct length so you do not go through the bottom of course

like these:

 

[Maxamillion]

Thanks so much! Did you use tubing or angle for your floor braces that you attached to the top of the ribs?

 

[Captain Ahab]

Thanks so much! Did you use tubing or angle for your floor braces that you attached to the top of the ribs?

I used L shaped brackets that are then bolted to the framing - because of the angles involved. The L brackets are not coming off at a true 90 so the "legs" up to my deck are bolted and then run up at a 90 from the boat to make a level platform to mount my deck to

 

[murphy67]

Nice work so far...are you planning to make the boat a console instead of a tiller based off the motor you got on that Terry 440CM being a console/remote sterring type.

Also that Terry 440CM seems like it would be a fun little project as well to fix up as well as its a smaller boat and might be fun for 2 people to cruise around with, but seeing as you got it for only $300, with a motor and trailer thats a steal!