1436 alumacraft mod

[Jake11]

Hello everyone,
So I started out with a little 10 footer but after reading a bunch on here and taking it for a test spin I decided to scrap that project and find a 14 footer. Well the wife and I just had our first child so needless to say.... Money's tight. I ended up trading my old Mathews bow and tree stand for a 93 alumacraft 1436. The boat was/is in rough shape. Had several leaky rivets and a small crack in the seem weld on the port side as well as about ten layers of antifouling bottom paint painted over corrosion on the underside. The boat came with a 77 Evinrude 6hp in decent shape and last minute the guy threw in another 6 around the same year and a 66 Evinrude 9.5 that wouldn't run.
My plans are to sand down and repaint the exterior, build front and rear low casting decks with storage and resurrect the old 9.5 for my main motor with the 6 as. Back up.
So far I have replaced leaking rivets with ss bolts, patched the small crack in seem until I can get it welded and sanded down and repainted from the waterline down. This project will be slow going but hopefully the end result is as good as some of those I have seen on here.

this is what it looked like when i got it.

after some sanding and self etching primer other than where the 5200 was still setting up.

didnt have time to take the whole bottom to bare aluminum so it looks like crap but i will be redoing this this winter so i just slapped some cheap paint on for now.

these are the three motors that came in the deal. I managed to get the white 6 and the 9.5 running pretty well with a carb cleaning and impeller replacement.

 

[Jake11]

took sunday off and decided to take her out for a test run. not a drop of water in the boat and the 77 evinrude 6 hp performed surprisingly well.

 

[Kismet]

You are working on a boat project that was the sort of deal that inspired this entire forum.

Take your time, think about options to avoid costs, and remember 36 inches isn't that wide, so don't fill it up too much.

Best flooring in least space I've come up with is in my Model A link below. Inexpensive, doesn't rattle, low center of gravity, and removable without tools.

Be safe, have fun, your daughter's going to be the most perfect thing in your entire life, all the while making you slightly crazy as she does.

Welcome.

 

[Jake11]

Thanks for the advice Kismet. That's great looking boat and the decking is almost exactly what I was thinking of. I'm going to use 2 layers of 2 inch foam board (cut the first one around the ribs and level it off with the second) then top that off with 15/32 carpeted plywood. I figure this should stay pretty light, give me a slightly higher vantage point and only cost about a hundred bucks if I "measure twice and cut once". so far the only idea I have for storage is to possibly put a "hatch" in the bench seat and reinforce with aluminum angle or something so I don't lose structural integrity. Any tips on light storage that won't fill the whole boat would be appreciated!

 

[Jake11]

well... no progress sunday because i went fishing all day and i was stuck on duty yesterday so also no progress. plan to scuff up the paint from the waterline up on the exterior today after work and hit it with self etching primer on the few spots that are bare aluminum. with any luck i will have time and proper weather to finish painting the exterior wednesday afternoon. havent decided what color to use yet...

 

[amateurhour]

It's HARD to work on the boat when it's already set up to fish on isn't it? : )

I'm having that problem as well.

 

[Jake11]

It is VERY hard. Fortunately I planned on this taking a while so I have room for some zero days.

 

[Jake11]

Picked up an old trailer. Has some surface rust but is pretty solid all the way around. Plan to get it sanded down and painted this weekend. I also got about half of the above the waterline portion of the boat sanded. Have a 3 day weekend coming up so I plan to have all the sanding/prep work done for the boat and trailer then paint Monday afternoon.

 

[Kismet]

Trailer looks nice. Check the bearings NOW.

(last Fall's project boat was fun. The trailer would have been better sent to a recycle plant and it would have been cheaper to buy a separate one. Don't do as I have done. )

 

[Jake11]

Already checked them. One side has a bit of play so I'm just going to change them both out.

 

[Jake11]

Finished up the trailer today.

 

[Jake11]

well i havent made much progress lately due to work, the new baby and honestly... it's hard to work on it when i could be fishing in it instead. I promised the wife i would stick around the house this weekend because its the first one i've had off in about 5 weeks so i plan to get some work done to it. i'm going to strip it down to bare aluminum inside and out (the beginings of my paint job look like crap) with aircraft paint remover and at least get it primed. i also hope to pick up the materials for the floor i'm going to put down in the center and hopefully come up with some kind of plan for what to do with the rest of the interior. i thought about pulling out the center bench and running the floor all the way up to the front deck and putting in side storage front to back to keep the weight down and leave a nice open area that isnt sitting too far off the bottom like decking would be but i dont know how much structural stability that will take away or how i could sturdy it up if it does get squirrelly. any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. in the mean time i will continue browsing the forum in hopes of finding my "perfect layout" will post pics after the weekend with any updates.

 

[Kismet]

read somewhere recently that spraying, or saturating the carpeting on the bunks with silicone makes them slick as can be, and allows for ease of loading/unloading.

Haven't tried it myself as yet.

Have fun, be safe.