New Boat - Alumacraft 1648 NCS

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wmk0002

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I just picked up a brand new boat this morning from the dealer. It is an Alumacraft 1648 NCS with the short transom on a Tennessee trailer. This is the first new boat I have ever purchased and it is really nice to have a blank canvas to go forward with. I'm a pretty poor photographer but here are a few pictures.

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My plans for this boat are very simple, but I will track whatever mods and rigging I do in this thread. Right now the only true modifications I would like to do would be to put in an aluminum floor, a custom hatch in the opening on the rear deck, and do a nice hydroturf install. Rigging will include the basic stuff for now including installing and wiring up a trolling motor, navigation lights, bilge, and putting in seat pedestal bases, rod holders, etc.

I already have a bigger tin bass boat, but bought this one with the plans to fish a couple 10hp restricted lakes that are very close to my house plus use this boat in some skinny water I would rather not risk my other boat. I have a few motor options as I have a 1967 Evinrude 9.5hp, 1982 Evinrude 9.9hp, 1982 Evinrude 15hp, and 1959 Evinrude 35hp (35hp is the boats max rating). The condition of the 35hp is kind of unknown as it has sat for a while but the other 3 all run and have good compression numbers.
 
Sweet boat. I went with the MV NCS. I miss the room I had on my old one though. I had a flat before the one I'm building now. Good luck with the build...you've got a great boat to start it with. Check my thread if your looking for ideas. I just installed a flooring like hydroturf. It worked out great.
 
Sweet boat, same one as mine.

You might want to consider 1.5 inch thick foam board between the bottom ribs, before putting the floor down. Will be a little quieter when hitting waves & somewhat supports floor. Water still drains thru the channels.

Another easy mod is 1/4 floor underlayment plywood over the gunwale ribs. Paint it both sides.
 
Slough Runner said:
Sweet boat. I went with the MV NCS. I miss the room I had on my old one though. I had a flat before the one I'm building now. Good luck with the build...you've got a great boat to start it with. Check my thread if your looking for ideas. I just installed a flooring like hydroturf. It worked out great.

Thanks! I have checked in on your thread here and there lately and it has been great to follow.

I got the flatbottom primarily for the little extra room in the front and for the perfectly flat floor. I want to keep it nice and open so it will be safe and stable for my my two year old twin boys. I don't plan to take them out anytime real soon but hopefully they can start going next summer.
 
CedarRiverScooter said:
Sweet boat, same one as mine.

You might want to consider 1.5 inch thick foam board between the bottom ribs, before putting the floor down. Will be a little quieter when hitting waves & somewhat supports floor. Water still drains thru the channels.

Another easy mod is 1/4 floor underlayment plywood over the gunwale ribs. Paint it both sides.

I will for sure put foam down under the floor. My ultimate goal is to use pour foam there and when I do the mold ensure I keep the channels clear and to top it with the thinnest possible aluminum floor (the pour foam is more supportive than the foam board from what I understand). However, for now, I am going to do a temporary floor and use the foam board you mentioned and top it with a heavy duty rubber mat.
 
I think my first order of business needs to be installing the trolling motor mount and trolling motor. Like I mentioned, most of my motors run and are in decent shape but they are also relatively new to me and I haven't used them in the water but a couple of times...so I need TM power as backup for my first few times out.

I got the cheap Alumacraft TM mount from the dealer. It is a very simple design, and really doesn't look like it will last IMO. It seems like it will not resist some of the twisting the TM will create when directing it to the sides. For now though, that is what I will go with. I can probably beef it up considerably with a few simple additions after I see it in use and see how it needs to be additionally supported. Here are some pics of the mount sitting on the boat in the approximate mounting location.

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So my question on the install is what exactly is the deck composition under the first layer of sheet metal on these boats? From what I could tell by looking/feeling up under the front storage compartment it appears to have 3/4 plywood under there. Is there then another layer of sheet metal? If it is a layup of sheet metal, wood, sheet metal do you think I should go with 1' or 1 1/4" sheet metal screws and just make sure and go through both layers of metal? Or just use heavy duty wood screws into the plywood?

Then also, any recommendations for the front fasteners where it attaches to the gunnel/gunwhale? I was thinking just doing SS nuts/bolts and going completely through it or simply just riveting it on.
 
While I'm on here, here is what a little 15hp Evinrude looks like on a 1648. The size of the boat makes the motor look absolutely tiny.

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I love the Alumacraft NCS boats! Got the 1442 right now and want to go to the 1648 soon. Clean slate with lots of floor space is excellent.
 
There is a layer of 3/4 board under there. My front mount it actually over the very back of the storage compartment so I used SS Bolts nuts and washers. The back base I used wood screws and pre drilled the aluminum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Catch Release Repeat said:
There is a layer of 3/4 board under there. My front mount it actually over the very back of the storage compartment so I used SS Bolts nuts and washers. The back base I used wood screws and pre drilled the aluminum.

I appreciate it. I will install the pedestal bases as soon as I get the trolling motor mounted and follow your advice.
 
I got most of the hardware I need last night. A couple of days ago I emailed Alumacraft and a rep responded that he recommended riveting the TM mount to the round gunwhale up front and using wood screws for anything that attaches to the decking which has plywood underneath it (like others mentioned here). However, I couldnt find any large wood screws without a tapered, countersunk head which I don't need/want for the TM mount, so I will go with some long sheet metal screws and ensure they pass all the way through any aluminum which may be on the underside of the plywood.

To topic of my pedestal bases, I already ordered some nice 7" x 7" Springfield bases that were on sale from iboats which I really like. But I also ordered some other unique ones directly from Springfield's scratch and dent site for somewhere along the lines of $10 each. Check these out below.

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They are 7" x 10", with two pedestal inserts that are 5" apart. Im contemplating using one of these for the front deck base as it would allow me to have two slightly different seating positions up front by placing it so the pin holes line up bow/stern. I guess 5" may not make that much of a difference but I really don't know. The potential downside is that it will reguire drilling two large holes plus fastener holes and it may be hard to find a matching size 2 hole base in the future if this one gets damaged or the bushing wears out. I'm gonna have to think about this a little while before I decide.
 
I got the TM bracket and trolling motor installed this past weekend. I went with the advice from an Alumacraft rep and riveted the front to the gunwale with the biggest rivets Lowes or Home Depot seemed to carry, 3/16" Aluminum ones. For the rear, I used #14 sheet metal screws. The TM I have is a Motorguide Freshwater Series 46 lb thrust and I mounted it to the bracket with 1/4" SS nuts/bolts. I can get some pics today after work to add. I have to admit it is much sturdier than I thought it would be. Time will be the ultimate test though.


Yesterday evening I also put the boat in the water for the first time. I had my 15 hp Evinrude on it and had my 9.5 hp Evinrude in the boat to also try out. The boat is still pretty bare but I threw in a group 29 battery from my other boat to run the TM (temporarily wired up with alligator clips), my dry box from my other boat with some emergency supplies and tools, my tackle box, 4 or 5 rods/reels, and a couple life jackets. My gas tank only had about 2 gallons in it. I was trying it out with my dad. We both are about 160 lbs.

First trial with the 15hp was a failure. It only got up to 6 or 7 mph and never close to on plane. I was kind of worried at this point thinking my plans of running a 9.9/15 hp on this hull were crazy, despite me knowing that the 15 hp has some carb issues.

Next I trailered it and swapped over to the 9.5 hp. This motor itself isn't in prime running condition either due to an exhaust leak and running a little hot so I wasn't expecting much from it either. However, punching it WOT it took off pretty well and got pretty much on plane and ran 15 mph and turned about 4600 rpms. So now I was happy again lol. I still have a 9.9 hp Evinrude to try which seems to run much better than the 15 hp in a barrel...I just have to swap their lower units to convert it from longshaft to short. Fingers crossed the 9.9 runs good and gets me a little faster and more fully on plane.
 
The trolling motor bracket seemed more sturdy on the water. When I dropped the TM down on the trailer and pushed on the head side to side it seemed to twist the bracket slightly which had me a little worried. But with it dropped down into the water I didn't notice that at all. And 46lb of thrust seemed to be plenty for a boat this size. On the higher speeds it would whip the front end around like it was nothing and could throw you out if not careful. I think it will be perfect.

Regarding the general stability of the boat, I was seriously impressed with it. I was getting on the far back corners of the boat fiddling with the motors' trim angles and it was barely leaning. I didn't get a true measurement but it seemed to only be drafting maybe 3" of water.
 
I promise I will post some pics soon but I have been busy messing with my outboard. I am trying to convert my 9.9 hp long shaft to short. I thought it was going to be a simple procedure swapping my 15hp short shaft LU unit with the 9.9's longshaft one....but the 9.9 has some corrosion and the driveshaft is stuck in the motor. I'm letting some PB Blaster soak down the shaft into the splines. So I guess in the meantime I can get back to the boat.

I found a local building material store that carries 1 1/2" thick foam board so I am leaving work a little early to grab a sheet. And then stopping by TSC to get some of the stall mat they sell. Hopefully I can get that floor installed, my front seat pedestal base, and my motor converted to short shaft over the long weekend. This is one of those times when it's nice to have a second boat lol.
 
Ok, here are some pics of the above progress plus some new stuff.

Here is the installed TM mount as mentioned above.

Riveted to the front gunnel:
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Sheet metal screws attaching it to the deck:
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The picture above also shows my 7"x7" Springfield Kingpin pedestal base installed. It is mounted over the small storage area under the front deck so I was able to use 1/4-20 machine screws along with fender washers and locking nuts to secure it down. I used 2" long screws which are a little too long, one bolt bent somehow before snugging it down, and I used oval head screws instead of flat ones so I'm going to replace them soon or at least the next time I am at the hardware store.

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I also got the 1 1/2" foam board cut and put down between the ribs and then topped with some 3/8" horse stall mat from Tractor Supply. It performs well like others had said and am happy with how it turned out. Now it gets scalding hot in the sun but the aluminum decks do too, so until I get some Hydroturf down on the decks, I probably won't worry about making it "cooler". In the event I Hydroturf the decks before getting an aluminum floor installed, I will get some cheap outdoor carpet to lay down over it and just let my tackle hold it down when trailering.

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Next up, I got the below bow stop from etrailer.com. The trailer came with a basic roller which was fine but this one seems more fitting.

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As you can see it needs to be raised some on the bow. But as these pictures hopefully show, the front bow bunk on the trailer also needs to be moved forward to allow the flat bottom sit sit totally flush on the rear bunks. Hopefully doing this will put the bow stop in a good position plus the boat will be more evenly supported.

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Last thing...right now I have my old 9.5hp Sportwin mounted on the boat. My 15hp needs a carb kit and I am trying to unsieze the longshaft driveshaft on my 9.9hp in order to convert it to a short for this boat.

With the motor mounted directly on the transom the anti-vent plate was probably 2" too low. I shimmed it up maybe 3/4" with a piece of scrap wood. It can go up another 1/2" or so and barely grab the top of the transom but may still not be enough. I guess I need to consider a mini jacker or something along those lines. I'm welcome to suggestions on how to approach this.

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That's all for now. I'm going to take it out this evening to test out the new motor position and this will also be the first time on the new floor on the water.
 
Are there sny supports under that front bow deck? I got the same bost just different configuration.
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Sent from Mossy Oak Swamp Bottom
 
mrdrh99 said:
Sweet boat...I think a 1648 will be my next purchase.... What about the 35hp?

I haven't messed with the 35hp at all yet. Right now I'm just trying rig it out the best I can and get one of these 3 smaller motors going for use on a new lake they are opening near me which has a 10hp limit. As soon as I get at least one of these going good, I'll move onto the 35hp...at least that's the plan.
 
beagler1 said:
Are there sny supports under that front bow deck? I got the same bost just different configuration.

I can't really tell from what I did. It has 3/4" plywood in there and the bottom layer of aluminum under the wood was also a good bit thicker than the sheet metal that covers the top. But I put the seat mount directly over the storage area which is totally open, with no extra visible supports under the deck in it.
 

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