1989 Duracraft 1648 Project - Dad's Boat

Hey folks,
I've been lurking on this forum on and off for years, but this is my first project. The boat is a 1989 Duracraft 1648 powered by a 1989 Johnson 40hp. It belonged to my late father, and is very sentimental to me. I've spent countless hours hunting and fishing in this boat with him. Unfortunately, the boat has declined significantly since his death in 2012 as it has been sitting in a friend's boat yard in coastal South Carolina, which is five hours away from my home. I abandoned the boat for years because I could not cope with the loss. Anyways, I have moved past everything, and I'm eager to bring this boat back to life in honor of him.

Thank you all in advanced for following, contributing, and helping me with this project.

Good on you. Your dad probably wanted you to make your own memories in it.

Looks like a good foundation to build on. Thanks for letting us follow along!

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I made a trip to work on the boat and trailer last weekend. Unfortunately, the new trailer I ordered was not ready, so I could not swap trailers. I also planned on doing some work on the motor, but the trailer under the boat right now is so shot that I didn't want to risk rolling it down the road to a friend's house. I did what I could by removing debris from the boat, and doing a general inspection.

Here are the immediate next steps:
1) Replace the trailer
2) Motor work: replace the water pump and spark plugs; rebuild the carburetor if needed
3) Repair cracked rib and welds

Here are some pictures of the cracked ribs and welds:


The crack in the rib was crutched with some JB weld


Broken weld at rib


Broken weld at rib

I am most concerned about the cracked rib. I found a local welder that said he can repair it with some aluminum angle. Not sure how I feel about using angle because I think U channel would be superior. How have you all seen cracked ribs repaired?

I am seriously considering removing the center bench because it would open up the boat big time. However, I am concerned about structural failure. There are quite a few mixed opinions on this topic. Any thoughts on if I can remove the bench without welding in supports/reinforcements?


The bench is not weld to the floor and does not even contact the floor


The welds to the side wall are cracked and were repaired with JB weld and through bolts


The ribs appear to be equally spaced

Angle aluminum would be ideal to fix the ribs. If he is proposing what I think, this will ADD material to the horizontal flare on the u channel where it contacts the floor and have plenty of surface to tie into the vertical surface of the rib itself. You can see how thin the rib is on the flared flat edge which is the problem.

You can remove that middle bench without any issues. The ribs on either side of the bench are providing the important structure. There are tons of tin boats operating just fine without them.



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