Recent content by jpfieber

I checked on McMaster-Carr to see if they had them (they didn't) but found there is another type of rivet I wasn't familiar with that solves the same problem. "Sealing Blind Rivets". "Also known as closed-end sealing rivets, they prevent water and air from passing through or around them. Use...

I think most would say use bunks instead of rollers. The boat bouncing up and down on the rollers will likely result in dents in the aluminum. The bunks should provide more support, spreading the weight out over more surface area.

I have a 24v trolling motor on my 12'er, and will probably add a few 12v accessories (lights, radio, etc). I already have a 2-bank charger for the two 12v batteries I'll need to have wired in series. I don't have an electric starter to worry about, and I don't want to add a separate battery and...

I'm in Mequon, just north of Milwaukee, south of Port Washington and Grafton (where the boat was made).

Nice find, thanks!

Thanks VinTin, it's been mentioned before, but with your pics, it's now obvious to me that the hull is the same (and the rest looks VERY similar as well). Very cool, I'm getting a better understanding of the history of this thing, and it's fun and interesting! If anyone else has pictures or info...

Thanks to the lead that James gave me, I contacted the company and was initially told that they didn't have any info on the boat, and that the original owner had retired 5 years ago. Then this morning, my inbox lit up with 10 emails of pictures that the previous owner sent them for me. You have...

I used an aggressive round file, and I found a small bit from a mill I had laying around that I put into a drill. Takes a long time as the metal is pretty hard, and I still have a little to go. There's probably a better way, but this is the way I'm doing it...

I ordered the parts from McMaster-Carr, a great place to get just about anything you need. Here are the parts I used: #4452K675 Type 316 Stainless Steel Threaded Pipe Fitting, 3/4 Pipe Size, Locknut, 150 PSI 2@$6.62 #4452K171 Type 316 Stainless Steel Threaded Pipe Fitting, 3/4 Male X 1/2...

I suspected that company was related, but didn't see the whole story, thanks, I'll have to do some investigating!

Glad you reminded me of that issue. I'm getting ready to start priming and wanted to have some ventilation. I had a spare dust collector laying around (gathering dust, bazinga!) that seemed perfect for the job. Took the motor and impeller off, hung it from the ceiling and ran a duct out the wall...

So I looked around at options for my drain, and decided that if a pipe fitting was working before, why not try it again? I got a stainless steel version of the same. I added two lock nuts, to reinforce the whole thing, and used some 3M 5200 on the threads and around the hole in the transom. Had...

I'm going to be repainting my aluminum boat exterior and interior (see link in my sig). I'd like to match the colors of my 1954 Mercury Mark 20 motor. From what I've seen Googling around, Dupli-Color DE1650 is a good match to the "Dull Aluminum" color, and Dupli-Color DE1644 is a good match to...

Thanks, will have to look into that...

Please forgive my ignorance, I'm pretty new at the boat motor thing. I have 2 motors for my 12 foot tin, a 1954 Mercury Mark 20, and a 1982 Mercury 7.5. From what I've found, I should be using 50:1 for the 1982, but I'm uncertain about the Mark 20. My mechanic said 32:1. I found a doc on the web...