14' Mirrocraft Deep Fisherman Restoration

[jvanhees]

Sharp paint job!

 

[bigwave]

Nice paint job, are you going to paint the rail with a contrasting color? Badbagger did his in black and it turned out real nice.

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Sharp paint job!

Thanks!

I plan on leaving the top rails bare.

 

[Country Dave]

Hey man that thing is coming out great. I wish I had a metal lathe in my shop….. :mrgreen:

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Nice paint job, are you going to paint the rail with a contrasting color? Badbagger did his in black and it turned out real nice.

I really do like the rails on Badbagger's too, Awesome! Just for whatever reason dig mine as aluminum.

Thank you for the compliments Dave!

Here is a better daytime shot.

 

[DOBSONFLY]

More in process photos.

 

[Andyg]

Boats looking good man, looks huge without the seats.

 

[Scott Mac]

Doin' right! Keep it up it looks amazing. Fish On!

 

[TheMaestro]

Just curious what size rivets are those you used on the bow cap? Thats a Huge boat! Great work thus far =D>

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Just curious what size rivets are those you used on the bow cap? Thats a Huge boat! Great work thus far =D>

They are aluminum 3/16" dia x 5/8" max grip length https://www.fastenal.com/web/produc...Search&rfqXref=&rfqKeyword=&rfqId=&rfqLineId=

 

[TheMaestro]

Thankyou... Are the strong enough for you to lift the bow by the bow handle?

 

[DOBSONFLY]

So far yes. The rivets I drilled out when disassembling were the same as these. As far as I could tell these were original. I do have some stainless rivets also the same size that I can replace them with if it ever is an issue.

 

[jvanhees]

I think you will be fine with those rivets..

And it is true, it looks huge without the benches, which is gonna turn out nice.

 

[TheMaestro]

So far yes. The rivets I drilled out when disassembling were the same as these. As far as I could tell these were original. I do have some stainless rivets also the same size that I can replace them with if it ever is an issue.

Thanks for the info, I plan on using those rivets for mounting a bow cap extension. They look solid. Cant wait to see your next steps!

 

[Makai]

Seat plans are fantastic. I was planning on doing something like this for my 16' restoration. How do you plan to build the lower portion of those seats?

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Seat plans are fantastic. I was planning on doing something like this for my 16' restoration. How do you plan to build the lower portion of those seats?

If you download the 2D print it may be more legible versus if you are just viewing the image file. I plan to weld the seams and will attach to the underseat section with stainless steel button head screws. You could just as easily use a rivet for joining the pieces and modify my design to include an extra tab to be broke in a sheat metal break. When I get to building these, I will post pics and details.

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Getting some easy ones checked off of my list. Also got new pieces made for the inner and outer transom plates.

 

[DOBSONFLY]

I know that when I ground the old rivets out they were solid on the outer transom plate. Versus using solid rivets, which are stronger than these, I decided to use aluminum sealing blind rivets and a conventional hand pop rivet gun. I don't have the tools to do solid rivets, and figured that this is a non-structural part that they would be sufficient. I put marine grade sealer in the holes before riveting the plate in place, at least on the bottom 4 rivets nearest the water line.

Sealing Blind Rivet Domed, Alum, 3/16" Dia, .251"-.375" Material Thk
https://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/119/3276/=mht5l2

 

[Alex_c]

The top ones might get in the way when you install the transom. If they do, you could use a button head SS screw, and pre-drill and then apply some 4200 or 5200 to the hole before you screw them into the wood. I like the shiny though.

 

[DOBSONFLY]

The top ones might get in the way when you install the transom. If they do, you could use a button head SS screw, and pre-drill and then apply some 4200 or 5200 to the hole before you screw them into the wood. I like the shiny though.

Yup good insight Alex,Thanks! I figured I may have to do something creative when putting the transom back in. Either what you said or drill a recess in the transom for the top two :? speaking of which, started on it today. Made some home made clamps from some 2 x 4's that were laying around when I ran out of regular clamps.

I used cabinet grade 3/4 plywood instead of marine grade. Marine grade is around $70 a sheet. I picked up 2 sheets of the cabinet grade at nearly the cost of 1 sheet of marine grade. Did do some looking around online and information I read claims that cabinet grade plys aren't quite as good as marine grade but comparable.

Pieces are glued together with Titbebond III - https://www.titebond.com/titebond_wood_glues/Ultimate_Wood_Glue.aspx
I used Cabot Gloss Spar Varnish - https://www.cabotstain.com/products/product/Spar-Varnish.html