1967 Lund S-16 rebuild

[mikejjmay]

so while i wait for my paperwork, im starting to plan the floor and make marks for where my angle will mount on the front and back of teh existing seats (essentially, where the bottom of my 3/4 ply floor will rest). My question is this - what does everyone level the floor relative too? Since the bow is deeper than the stern, there are several ways i could see doing this

1) What i did but seems off - lay a board across all 3 seats bow to stern with a level on it, and use the trailer jack to level across all 3 seats relative to the ground essentially. Then starting at the rearmost seat cut the widest piece of wood i could across the floor at that seat to maximize the width of the floor, and then mark the bottom of that piece. This is where the back of the floor will start.

I then made the widest piece i could at the middle seat, marked it the same. Then the same for the back side of the front seat. Since the floor tapers toward the front however, and the boat gets deeper, etc, toward the front, this naturally made the front floor slope upward. If i were to make it level to the ground/seats, the floor would have to be narrower the farther forward you go, and you would not be utilizing all your floor space. This is also making the floor level to the ground. Obviously, this is not necessarily how the boat rides in the water.

2) Maybe i should just measure down from the tops of the factory seats at all 3 seats consistently and put the floor supports there. So rear seat measure down 20 inches, mid seat down 20, front seat down 20. While this wont be level to the ground, the floor will always be equi-distant from the seat tops, and i assume the manufacturer made the stock seats to be level to the water, not the ground, so maybe this is best? i would have to play with the height to maximize floor space. The only problem i see here is if i cut the middle seat to make it walk through, it may have a height change through there

3) Measure off something else i am missing here.

Thoughts?

 

[water bouy]

If you lay something straight across the 3 benches and they're fairly even with each other, you're good to go measuring off of them. Level off the ground doesn't matter on water.

 

[mikejjmay]

yea they are, i laid a board across all 3 and there were no obvious gaps or anything like that. As soon as i got done measuring the way i did it i was kinda like, "gee that was dumb, who cares if its level to the ground, ill be in it on the water!"

I think what i will do is measure the cut out of the walk through on the middle seat (off the top of the middle seat). Once i get that cut out, i can run a board all the way through the walkthrough essentially from the frontside of the rear most seat the the backside of the front seat. This should then tell me where the front and rear angle supports should be mounted.

Sound like a plan? Let me know if someone thinks my thought process is off.....want to get all the cutting done before painting the inside. Gonna go float it tomorrow to see if I have any leaky rivets that need fixing first.

 

[water bouy]

If the middle bench goes all the way to the bottom, you could leave some of it intact for side to side support. You could rivet a piece of angle low across the front and back before you cut it. I would measure the beam before and after cutting to see if it spreads any.

 

[mikejjmay]

Yes the middle seat does go all the way to the bottom, and yes I am gonna leave the piece that would essentially be at or below the floor. Basically, it will be like making a big U shaped but in the middle seat, but obviously flat along the bottom of the U, and thats where the floor will run through from front to back. This will be flush with the angle i mount to support the floor (I am essentially planning to sandwich the remaining bottom part of the factor seat with angle on either side, and use that to support my floor). Ill try to draw it on there tonight with a dry erase marker or something to show the thought process

 

[water bouy]

This is how Lund does their SSV benches. They rivet all the way down and across the middle piece but it's probably put together in a rack of some kind to support the sides.

 

[mikejjmay]

Yes that is essentially what i am modeling mine after, i will still have a piece of the original seat support running all the way across for support, it will just be hidden under the floor.

The black lines show the planned cutout form the middle bench. The cuts will be along the lines,and duplicated on the front of that same seat (same measurement down from the top, same width, identical), and the top of the angle (the angle will be mounted like an upside down L) will run across that black horizontal bottom line, so the floor will essentially "rest" on the remainder of the stock cross bracket and the reinforcing aluminum angle that was added, to give it a wider platform to rest on. The walkthrough is 21" wide. I think thats plenty, and still leaves enough of a small bench that someone could plop down on if they so desire.


After cutting the U shape out of the front and back of the middle seat, i think i will cut a board that runs all the way from the back to the front bench, and rests where the floor will (at the bottom of the U). where the bottom of this board or straight edge hits the front and back seats, that is where i will mount more angle to support the front and back.


i can then lay ply across and tell teh height needed for any bracing across the spans, etc. This picture shows the orientation the angle will be mounted to provide a nice wide surface for the floor to rest on/be bolted to. Obviously i will use full 1x1x 1/4 or some such angle running the whole width, i just didn't have any right now and this 90 degree bracket was just for illustration.



Sound like a good plan of attack? I think that will give me a more consistent front to back floor height than trying to level it to something else on the boat.

 

[mikejjmay]

well she floats! just wanted to get her in the water to see if there were obvious leaks. Just a few spots of seepage, nothing gushing in or anything like that.

 

[water bouy]

Looks good. If angle is going across the bottom of the cut out, the cut might need to be a little higher so water can drain through the openings. It looks like there's maybe 1/2" at the top of the v-shaped hole which could weaken over time.

 

[mikejjmay]

Yea the middle bench may stay, at least for this year, and just do drop in floors between the rear and mid, and mid and front benches. I removed the seat top from the front seat to work on the casting deck, and REALLY did not like how much the sidewall flexed without the support all the way across.

Since this is a 2-3 yr boat (till we get something slightly longer and wider with a totally open floor, think 1860 modv), i may just leave the benches, as i think i would have an easier time reselling too if i didn't hack out any structure.

Figuring out the whole casting deck first, should be starting on that tonight

 

[mikejjmay]

Starting on the casting deck frame

 

[mrdrh99]

Looking good! If I were in your situation I'd be thinking about a removable deck.... That'll make it a more versatile sale in a couple years... Maybe! :-k

 

[Prowelder]

Alright so got my letter from the State of MN saying it was never titled there (PS WI is pretty crazy on boats without titles, even if they were built in 1967, MN statutes say they don't title anything before 79, and you have a signed registration and bill of sale), they still need verification from MN it was never titled there. All the paperwork is in the mail, so hopefully a quick turnaround.

Planning ahead - the casting deck supports will be aluminum, with a ply deck covered in vinyl or carpet. Local supplier had 1/8"thick angle aluminum, which i know has been used with some success (i would prefer 1/4" thick but they don't have it. They also have 1/16' thick square aluminum tubing.

Which is stronger? The power of Google seems to have the consensus being the box tubing, while thinner, is stronger than the angle aluminum. Thoughts? Anyone use 1/16" square tubing?

**edit** i found a local supplier that has 6061 structural aluminum, 1.5 x 1.5 x 3/16 thick angle is $48 per 25ft, so ill likely go that route. 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/8 is $33 per 25ft

I use 1x1x1/8 tube and angle for everything

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[mikejjmay]

Got the casting deck frame in
View attachment 1

 

[schukster]

Good job. It reminds me of my build.

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[mikejjmay]

Thanks Shuckster!

Question for ya - i am gonna use the 5/8 ply (same as you) for the deck, treating it with spar, etc. Wish 3/4 would fit in the brackets, but there is just no way. Every single piece of 5/8 was really really cupped so i couldnt get one today. Assuming i can find a nice piece, any tricks to keep it from cupping/warping over the 4-5 days of coats of spar/gluing the carpet, etc? Just nervous all that work will be quickly ruined - its still so dry here with how cold its getting every night, etc.

 

[schukster]

I don't remember having a problem with cupping. As I remember I used untreated A-C 5/8. The AC was better quality than what i needed since in my case it was covered with vinyl. Maybe I just lucked out. It was a tight fit to get the decking into the seat channels on the sides. Carpet may even be tighter. If it appears to be cupping I would set some blocks on some 2x4 on top of it after applying the spar. I would recommend a minimum of 2 coats maybe more with carpet covering.

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[schukster]

I don't know how big you are. I'm 250+ so I wanted the 5/8. If you are lighter you might get by with 1/2" . Your call.

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[mikejjmay]

hmmm....i have to have a seam somewhere anyway since it is both wider and longer than 4ft at its widest and longest point (so cant do the whole area out of a single 4x8. I may just do the area were the original seat was out of the 5/8, and since it is reinforced below almost all over the thickness of the ply wont matter and that is where my springfield kingpin base will go), then i could do the seam and have literally the entire walking space of the casting deck be out of 3/4 for a real sturdy and non-flexing casting deck. I dont think the little 1/8 difference would drive me crazy -might not even notice with carpet - maybe worth the tradeoff for the added strength/rigidity.

 

[FishinLite]

I used 5/8" marine plywood in my build. It was plenty stiff. I biscuit joined about a 8" piece to the side of the 4' x 8' sheet to satisfy the width requirement. I also biscuit joined about a 3' piece to one end to accommodate the bow. The seam at in the bow was unsupported so I reinforced both sides with epoxy and fiberglass fabric.