New member, New Boat, 1st Boat!

[mcateercustom]

Man that sounds like a great idea I'm defiantly gonna need some! Thanks for letting me know!


Well I got about 30 mins of work done today cause I was busy all day doing non boat stuff ](*,)

But here is what I got done. I did however get enough stuff together to keep my boat work going for a while.

I started this morning stripping the console. This is what I used.

Be careful about getting this stuff on your skin. It does not feel great!


It seems to work pretty good. I'm still having to sand it afterwards and clean with acetone befor priming. This is all the actual work I got done.

I will post more when I get to it.

Now for the surprise I have been waiting for! And the reason I got pulled away from the above work.

My new trolling motor!!! \/
I have always wanted a minnkota. I found what I call a heck of a deal. It was brand new never opened which I was thinking the warrenty may still apply. Maybe. It has the card in it but I don't know what to put down for where I bought it, cause it was from a person not a business. Anywho it's a foot controlled 50lb for $350 I couldn't pass her up.

Coolers are going to be livewells I hope!


All purty and new like!

Here is what I am planning for my live wells.

I got to thinking about the whole cooler thing. I found two coolers for free so I think I am going to try it and just see how it turns out. They are a little taller then my original deck but I think I can make them work. They will be hooked up just like a regular livewell and not the cooler kit(no offense) lol. I am thinking I can remove the lids and set the decking right down on top of them. I will foam around a little just to add some good support. I am thinking of a good way to put my deck on top of them maybe glass really good the area that would be the top of the live wells. There would be two which I like. And then I could just seal them real good where the fiberglass meets the top of the cooler. Then......Man there's a lot of steps lol ..... Then cut the wholes for the tempress hatches. I think it will work because it will look good on top and pretty much cover everything underneath with foam anyway. I still can have my professional look but it would cost a lot either. I didnt pay anything for the coolers so if I screw it up all I have lost is a little time. They fit perfectly between the ribs.

Last but not least I got some stuff in the mail finally ready to use it!

I will see if I can actually get in a good days work tomorrow! Have a good night guys!

 

[Captain Ard]

You ain't messing around with this boat, I'm impressed. Are you going to use the Gluvit on the transom?

BTW nice catch on the TM!

 

[mcateercustom]

Thanks Cap. I am planning on putting that stuff all over everything lol. I have heard it doesn't work on vertical
But I'm gonna try anyway. I am mostly just gonna make sure it gets all ove the ribs and corners of the boat the only reason I want it on th transom is because of very small pitting and I want to make sure it gets covered I thought about paint a little between the transom wood and aluminum. Tons more to do. I need to hurry and get on the water!

 

[rivercity]

Lookin good!. That's a lot of work you have done. Glad mine has an all aluminum transom, though I have had several glass boats w/ wood. And yes, people do tend to sell their problems rather than fixing them. I guess that is why I never have good luck selling stuff or when I do, I sell it too cheap. I always tell them everything wrong that I know of.

Arkansas? What part? I'm in Little Rock and we use the boat mostly on the White River near Mountain View. Depending on your timeframe, I might know another aluminum welder at $40 or $45/hour. It is an older guy that came into my body shop late last year. I took an iphone pic of his hat which had his company name and number. I think around Morgan or Mayflower. Been doing it forever and had done a gazillion boats. I'm planning on looking for that pic for my needs.

 

[mcateercustom]

I'm from down south. In a place called Bodcaw. It's about 15 miles south of hope, so I don't know if it would be that much of a savings to bring it up there considering gas, but I really appreciate the help. I don't think it should take more than an hour or two for what I need done. However if it takes a lot long I would consider coming up that way. I used to hunt on the white river up north its nice up that way. My sister lives in mayflower, may convince her to bring my boat up that way lol.

 

[BigTerp]

Your really knocking it out man, nice work!!! Sweet deal on that trolling motor as well. Craigslist??

I had some pitting on my transom as well. I just sanded really well and hit it with 3 coats of self etching primer. Thinking maybe some of my left over epoxy might work well there??

Keep the pictures coming. Looking forward to seeing how she turns out.

 

[mcateercustom]

Thanks man!

Yep! Craigslist is great! I think im going to apply left over epoxy on mine to just because it sounds like it would work.

 

[DJBombar]

Boat is looking great and so is the duck call!!!!!!!!

 

[mcateercustom]

Thanks man, you should order 20 or so!?!?

Well I still haven't had much time but I managed to get it preped for the welder tomorrow.

If you look at the flat spot there, you will see a small bump. The's were all over the place from the various rives and screw holes. I needed them smooth so I used a hammer and an old auto body tool. Any heavy flat piece would have worked. Just put the flat piece against the outside and hammer the inside. Worked great! I have hammered hot steel before and aluminum is awesome! So easy to work with! Here's the tools!

Here's the bump.

This is a crap load of silicone! They were serious about it! lol

And a ton of bondo!

And after three hours of chipping,hammering,cursing,sanding,hand sanding, cursing, wire brushing,grunting and maybe a little more cursing, I managed to get through the half inch thick jb weld and silicone and bondo! I broke out everything but the air hammer! Lol

 

[spotco2]

Looking great!

Here's a tip for getting old bondo out. A propane torch will cause it to break free and fall off in chunks. Some will burn but most will just fall off.

 

[theyyounggun]

Its lookin great! =D> Hey I didnt realize you were from Arkansas. Im in Conway.

Hey rivercity PM sent.

 

[mcateercustom]

Heck! Conway ain't that far off! Maybe we can hit a lake if I'm ever up that way!

 

[Rippen Lips]

Hope... now I am convinced you are a Clinton. :wink:
That makes 4 of us from central , south Arkansas. I can see a little friendly competition in the future.

 

[mcateercustom]

Hahaha! I have heard that one a lot lol! :lol: I would love to do some fishing with some good ol boys from Arkansas. Need to finish my boat first though. I haven't fished out of a boat in probably 5 or 6 years! I'm probably pretty rusty but it would be a lot of fun no matter!

 

[rivercity]

Hope... now I am convinced you are a Clinton. :wink:
That makes 4 of us from central , south Arkansas. I can see a little friendly competition in the future.

Make that 5.

BTW my old next door neighbor in Atlanta was a dead ringer too. Then I found out he was adopted ...

 

[Captain Ard]

How's the boat coming along?

 

[mcateercustom]

How's the boat coming along?

Man I have been busy but I did get some welding done! I plan on getting back to it Monday or so I will post up some more pics. A good combination of busy and procrastination can keep you held back lol.

 

[jmcaswell]

Great work! About to start a new mod and wondered If you had picked a paint process yet?

 

[hueydr]

What happened? We all need to see this finished!!!