1968 16ft Richline

I bought this boat last year, and had a pretty successful summer of fishing. But It needs some work. First is the cosmetic part so i am stripping off the original paint and giving the Old Floater a new look. I want to add a casting deck and some livewells. Would it be better to go with one large livewell or two smaller ones? and how will the casting deck affect the stability of the boat? And I have no idea what size of trolling motor one would need for this size of a boat.

Also, Do I need to use a self etching primer if I am wirewheeling the entire thing? or would some other primer work as well without the self-etch base coat?
I wish it didn't start snowing again, i am really itching to get outside and finish the hull. I still need to do the inside.

How exactly do i read this? What do the numbers mean?

I figured I would share this, since it is snowing and i can't get out to work on the boat. To strip the paint I tried three different things. One was a aresol stripper i got from the lumber store, which didn't work very well, unless you packed it on, i would have had to buy atleast 15 cans at 10 dollars a pop to get good results for the entire boat. then i bought a small can of stripper that came with it's own spray bottle. This was no better than the aresol, and 20 dollars a can. So then I went and bought aircraft stripper from Napa. This stuff worked like magic. It was 45 for a gallon, and after doing the entire outside i still have about 1/2 gallon left for the inside! If you are really wondering if you want to buy the stuff I would definatly go for it. Next time it will be my first choice for a paint stripper.
Now I am using a wire wheel i got for 6 dollars that you can use in any regular or cordless drill to scuff the aluminum and also remove any residual paint, as there still is some left on the hull.

The inside of the boat, the makeshift seat backs have got to go. When I got the boat they had those and couch seat cushions set up for it. I want to make a casting deck from the bow to the back of the first bench seat, with either one or two livewells under it. then drop it down, with some pole storage/tackle storage on the sides. and bring it back up and deck the back.

Cool!

AHHHH nice to see another Richline boat! My boat is like yours just 10 yrs older. I put a casting deck up front and floored it all the way to the back except the last 18 inches. A casting deck up front on mine, stability wise its fine I fly fish from it. Got three seats in her and fishes three ppl fine. I got a 50 lb thrust bow mounted trolling motor on her and it moves along fine.

Steve

P.S.
This is a older pic I have added some things since then. Havent put carpet down yet. I love my old boat!

Wow I really like how your richline looks. You have the same paint scheme that mine use to have, only a whole lot better looking! I was thinking about a 30# or 50# thrust tm.

Go with a 50! I ran a 27 on mine on the transom and it wasnt big enough too slow on a electric only lake and pretty worthless in the wind. I call her "bobber" because of the red and white paint.

Steve

Bobber! i like that. Thanks for the advice! i will surely take it.

Rough scetch of future plans.

I like the concept and cant wait to see progress pics. Did you price sand blasting. A ironworker friend of mine works at a shop. That will do it for eighty a hour and they don't believe the whole boat will take a full hour. How many hours do you think you have in stripping?

Not I after I started stripping already! My friend had his boat done and it only cost him 100 dollars. I have about 8 hours into it now I think. the wire wheeling takes forever, although i am trying to get every little speck of paint off. not sure if i really need to do that since i am going to repaint it any ways.
I may just take it to the sand blast place and get it over with. The weater is so cold at the moment I can only work on it for so long before I have to stop. And I really only have the weekends to do anything.

Ya thats why I had to ask, our old boat has been painted so many times I wouldnt want to try to wire brush it. If your painting it the cleaner the better right. :lol:

Yes I agree. but if you can't take it to a sandblaster, using the Aircraft stripper and covering it with Plastic Wrap works wonders. 15 minutes and the paint pretty much just slides off the aluminum.

You were asking about primer earlier, and self-etching is the most recommended type. I have also used a primer that Sears used to sell called "Gutter-Grip" made for aluminum gutters. When I stripped my hull last year, it was still tough to get off. I tried the self-etching this time, and have mixed feelings about it as I have had some minor spot peeling, mostly on the gunnels, but also on the transom where i lamp the trolling motor. The Gutter-Grip is a transparent yellow zinc chromate based primer, and I recommend it if you can find it.

Thank you for that personal insight. I have been looking into this stuff forever it seams like. And I know that if you use the self etching primer you are supposed to just put one light coat over the alumimum. this is becuase it etches itself to the aluminum and forms a base for a high build/epoxy primer to adhere to. But i could be wrong. I will look for the gutter grip. Sounds like a good deal. But do you roll it on, or can you spray it on?

Maybe this stuff would work
https://www.amazon.com/Valspar-Professional-Galvanized-Metal-Primer/dp/B0042U2QUG/ref=sr_1_10?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1359600856&sr=1-10&keywords=metal+primer

Here's a picture of what I think is a newer version of the Gutter-Grip primer. I put this on with a roller or brush.
The self-etching primer I used on this hull was the rattle-can type from Lowe's (Rustoleum, I think).

The Valspar you linked seems to be available cheaper too...
https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...ial-galvanized-metal-primer.html#.UQ3pWKVZWSo

I haven't tried it though.

Well i finally got the entire outside of the boat wire wheeled down. So i cleaned out the inside and decided to fill it up and leak test it. Along the seams of the boat, in about the middle of the hull, on both sides the boat leaks pretty good. Now it doesn't look like the rivets are leaking, they all look and feel sound and intact. But it is leaking through the gasket between the seams. How could one fix this without replacing all the rivets? Or would just Primering and painting the hull work as I plan to do anyway? I am sure it would fix the problem since the primer would fill in the seams, but I don't really want to do a temporary fix. Then once the paint gets worn away have the leaks again.