14' MirroCraft Resto/mod

[fla_cracker]

Hey everyone,

I'm new here but have been lurking for a bit. This is quite a forum you have here. Many talented members with lots of great info. That is why I decided to start a thread for my boat project. Hopefully some of the wisdom around this forum will rub off on my boat.

A little about me, I'm a middle aged young man with two boys that really want to go fishing among other things. My wife is neither excited or put off by the idea of boating. I think she just needs some good experiences in one to win her over. I live in central Florida and work as a firefighter/paramedic in SW Florida. This gives me plenty of time to work on projects.

The Project boat is a 1960's ish 14' Mirro Craft. I purchased it through my father inlaw from the local boy scout troup. $200 for the boat, trailer and 3hp outboard circa 1960's also. It was running when stored in a shed.

 

[jasper60103]

Welcome aboard, fla_cracker.
Enjoy your project with the boys.

jasper

 

[fla_cracker]

Here is kinda what I am looking to do with this boat. The only differences are make the front a deck to the first bench. Cut the two middle boxes into seats for the boys. I would like to also make the rear area a deck with a hatch to sit on and steer the boat from. I will be keeping this a tiller boat. One other thing I am trying to do is keep it light weight as my tow vehicle is a suzuki sidekick..... :mrgreen:







First things first, lets get it home....

It needs new tires, so after surfing the internet I decided that $65 per tire/wheel is a bit steep. So I went to the local junkyard and found these...



With some spacers added to give a little wiggle room for the springs I've got $86 in both wheels and tires. I just need to adjust the wheel wells a bit yet...

 

[fla_cracker]

Thanks Jasper,

The boys are already excited about working on the project. One is 13, the other will be 12 soon.




I guess I should post a pick of the inside as well to show were I'm starting at....

 

[jasper60103]

I like the lines of that boat. And the trailer looks stout.
That's great deal for $200.
He even threw in a couple reindeer, eh?

Keep the pics coming. Thanks for sharing.

jasper

 

[Captain Ahab]

I would not add the two middle "decks" - you are gonna find that very tight

Deck teh front to the 1st bench - low deck the middle and deck the rear to the last bench


That is how I set up my MirroCraft and it worked out great



BTW - when you deck - make brackets and use alum "L" - run it starboard to port and that is all you need to do.

 

[fla_cracker]

Captain Ahab » 11 Sep 2013, 06:46[/url]"]I would not add the two middle "decks" - you are gonna find that very tight

Deck teh front to the 1st bench - low deck the middle and deck the rear to the last bench


That is how I set up my MirroCraft and it worked out great



BTW - when you deck - make brackets and use alum "L" - run it starboard to port and that is all you need to do.

Thanks for the heads up on the "middle decks". The main reason for those is to seat my boys some where towards the front half of the boat. Any alternatives to the "middle decks" ?

Also what size L channel are you using? I have been eye balling square alum screen porch members.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I think I used 2' x 1.5" for the main supports and smaller stuff for some other bracing we built.

I will see if there are some photos on here

 

[Captain Ahab]

You can kinda get an idea of what we did

Built the center bracing for the pedestal seat - really did not need to build like that - it is overkill

And what it looks like finished (more of the L beams were used across teh bow portion off of brackets bolted to the sides

Here you can see the lower deck

and the rear deck

 

[fla_cracker]

Capt. Ahab,

Looks pretty stout. I like incorporating the existing bench seat mounts into deck mounts. Less holes to fill, Less holes to drill... Is all of your structure made from L channel? or is any of it C channel? And is it screwed or bolted? hard to tell in the pics.

Also were are you putting your fuel cell? From the pics I'm guessing infront of the transom? I like the battery location near the front?


I think my front deck will be a bit shorter. I don't intend to sit up there, just need a place to deal with the anchor/ropes from and maybe cast a net from.

My original thoughts were to have a console as well but I changed my mind. I tough space savings and ease of modification out weighed the benefit of a steering wheel.

Plywood decking?

 

[Captain Ahab]

All L

Bolted - 100s of dollars worth of SS bolts, lock nuts, etc. It is an expensive way to go but it worked for me

Fuel tank (removable) sits in the stern

2 class 27 batteries midships and one class 24 gel under the console

2 TM - floor control in bow and a fixed mount in the stern for Elec only lakes

There is storage under the front an drear decks - there is a hatch for the rear deck stern area but I never installed it after we built it - no real need at there is sufficient room to stand behind the seats anyway


I got lucky and found a guy on craigslist selling all sorts of aluminum - he tossed in a few bags of brackets that really made things easy - just drill and bolt to secure stuff


If you need any close up photos of anything let me know

 

[fla_cracker]

So I managed to find some time yesterday and got the boat all cleaned out. I was able to get it off the trailer quiet easily by myself. Lots of leaves and some growing plants. The trailer has rollers so it was easy to reload also... :mrgreen:




So my question is Should I check for leaks now ......... or after I disassemble the things I don't want or need?

or both?





Sorry this is going to be a slow build.