Slick17
Active member
Hey Guys, This is my first thread on Tin Boats. I've been lurking around quite a bit getting ideas from everyone else for a recent purchase and first boat.
A little background: I wanted at least a 16' jon boat that was wide as well. I've been out on my buddies 1648 and loved how much room we had. So I began the search for something that I could build to my liking and not spend a fortune.
Found this 1967 16' Ouachita on a 1995 Hualrite trailer with a 1990 15hp Evinrude for $1200. The prior owner had used it for duck hunting and said there was just a "minor leak". Once I got it home for further inspection, I found a small crack in the center rib towards the front. The top of the boat is camo and the bottom had a rubber coating like that flex steel or 3M's rubber under coating.
So since I had read so much about SteelFlex on here and wanted to do the boat right the first time. I decided to strip the whole boat down to raw aluminum to find any other issues it may have, have it welded and then prepped for SteelFlex. Below will be some pics of the process so far.
I've gotten it stripped down. Past 5 layers of paint, fiber glass patch, JB weld in some areas and the rubber under coating. Not fun at all even with a grinder and flapper disk.
A little background: I wanted at least a 16' jon boat that was wide as well. I've been out on my buddies 1648 and loved how much room we had. So I began the search for something that I could build to my liking and not spend a fortune.
Found this 1967 16' Ouachita on a 1995 Hualrite trailer with a 1990 15hp Evinrude for $1200. The prior owner had used it for duck hunting and said there was just a "minor leak". Once I got it home for further inspection, I found a small crack in the center rib towards the front. The top of the boat is camo and the bottom had a rubber coating like that flex steel or 3M's rubber under coating.
So since I had read so much about SteelFlex on here and wanted to do the boat right the first time. I decided to strip the whole boat down to raw aluminum to find any other issues it may have, have it welded and then prepped for SteelFlex. Below will be some pics of the process so far.
I've gotten it stripped down. Past 5 layers of paint, fiber glass patch, JB weld in some areas and the rubber under coating. Not fun at all even with a grinder and flapper disk.