Recent content by 62lonestar

A lot of people say to not remove the middle bench seat but it is not that big of a deal as long as you support the sides. I converted my 62 lonestar into a flats boat. I got sick of jumping over the middle bench to go up front. I converted my 15hp to remote steering(side console) instead of...

1/4in is way to thick. Jack plates that hold up to 50hp motors use 1/4in aluminum and the force on that is not straight down. You should definitely use 1/8in or even thinner. when the weight is straight down the framing is more important and as long as that is solid the thickness of the deck...

You should also take the exhaust cover off and replace the gaskets. I had a motor over heat so I shaved the head flat again(definitely get this checked for warping cuz it sucks if you put it all back together and it still leaks) and replaced the gasket. After this i still had water getting in...

You definitely need to coat the wood with something such as spar varnish. If you don't the wood will rot out eventually(who knows how long) but will immediately absorb water making it heavier than it already is. I would even do your framing but at minimum I would definitely do the decks. For...

You can go even thinner on the aluminum decking. I used the stuff in-between 1/8in and 1/16in(can't remember the exact number). I used diamond plate so this could potential make it stronger(not really sure?). I think 1/8in. is good to be safe but if you build a solid frame you can use...

So I've been member of this forum for a little while but haven't posted anything. I just tend to look around for new ideas for my boat. This is what I came up with after looking at many peoples different boats. I took a 1962 lonestar big fisherman completely redid it and converted it into a...