1991 Alumacraft V-14 Project

[Kriseffinger]

I joined this site last year after finding it by accident when looking for information on boat I was looking to purchase and I have to say that the information on this site is GREAT!!

Last year my wife and I decided to purchase a v-bottom boat for our annual vacation to northern Minnesota. This past year we pulled my 20 Ft Ranger Fiberglass boat 15 hours one way, needless to say we burned a little bit too much gas in the process!!! After looking for a month or so we found this beauty, albeit pretty rough and in desperate need of some serious TLC!!

The boat is a 1992 Alumacraft V-14 with a 1991 20HP Mariner motor; the previous owner put the boat on a 1967 Moody trailer that was originally made for a fiberglass boat and proceeded to "modify" it for its current application. As you can see from the pictures the trailer has several nice homemade additions, see wiring harness and guides for examples!!

The first improvement I made to the trailer was to add fenders and larger tires; I got lucky and scored 3 tires and 2 fenders all in perfect shape from a guy on craigslist for $110. My father in-law manufactured some brackets to attach the fenders to the trailer and the project began!!

I am a little late in posting information as I have the trailer almost completely done except for putting new carpet on the bunk boards which hopefully I will complete tonight.

I will continue to post updates and pics as I finish the trailer and start working on the boat.

 

[Hanr3]

Welcome to the site. Looks like a great project boat. Nice start on the trailer.
=D>

 

[Kriseffinger]

I was able to finish the trailer last night, re-carpeted the bunk boards and attached them to the trailer. Here is what I did to the trailer.

I removed as much of the old paint as I could and any rust with a wire wheel on a grinder, worked great. I sprayed the entire trailer in primer then painted it gloss black. After painted I added a new wiring harness and lights, new trailer coupling parts, replaced all the rollers and replaced all the parts on the tilt mechanism of the trailer.

I also added a set of roller guides to help keep the boat centered on the trailer.

Now on to the boat!

 

[RAMROD]

Great looking job!

 

[walleyejoe]

I am working on the same boat. almost done with the painting .keep me posted on yours. Walleye Joes 14ft Alumacrat project.

 

[Kriseffinger]

Got to work on the boat last night, I removed the 2 rear bench seats first. I have a couple questions moving forward:

1. I have some leaky rivets and I bought a quart of Gluvit to seal them up, what type of prep work do I need to do, remove paint, rough up the surface, any tips on using this product?

2. I plan on painting the inside of the boat, what type of paint have people had success with and how much of the old paint do I have to remove before painting? I have seen a lot of people using Rustoleum marine topside, any opinions?

3. The very bottom of the boat needs to be repainted as well; I was planning on using a wire-wheel on a grinder to remove the old paint, pro's cons of this? What type of paint is recommended for the bottom of the boat?

4. I am planning on fabricating some half seats in place of the middle bench from aluminum angle or C-channel, is it ok to just use the existing brackets from the original bench seats on the side of the boat?

 

[Kriseffinger]

I picked up the aluminum angle yesterday to start fabricating my floor. I went with 1/8 inch, 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 angle; I went with the 1 1/2 because I liked having the extra material to work with when riveting the framework together and when attaching the angle to the ribs with L brackets.

I did have to notch out the 8ft pieces over the ribs so I could get the floor as low as possible when the frame is complete. Hopefully tonight I can cut the cross pieces and rivet the frame together.

I am planning on making my own L brackets out of 1/16 inch, 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 flat aluminum, I have access to an aluminum break and that should give me some nice clean brackets to rivet to the ribs.

 

[Jib2]

Hi,
Very interested in your project here as I have the exact same boat and would like to remove the rear and middle bench seats as you have done. Did it seem to weaken the structure of the boat at all? Do you plan to add some bracing from the removed seat brackets back to the floor? Please keep posting updates as you continue to progress.
Thanks,

 

[Kriseffinger]

Hi,
Very interested in your project here as I have the exact same boat and would like to remove the rear and middle bench seats as you have done. Did it seem to weaken the structure of the boat at all? Do you plan to add some bracing from the removed seat brackets back to the floor? Please keep posting updates as you continue to progress.
Thanks,

Jib2,
With the seats removed the structure of the boat does not seem weakened at all, the sides are still very sturdy and don't give at all.

I am planning on fabricating new middle seats that are half size and have storage compartments in them. I am planning on using the existing seat brackets to attach them to the sides of the boat. I will anchor the new seats to the floor frame work or the actual plywood floor to add support to the sides; I haven't worked that part out yet. In the back I am planning on making a split seat configuration that goes all the way back to the transom with storage underneath for gas tanks, etc.

Good luck with your project.

 

[Kriseffinger]

I was able to cut the cross pieces to aluminum floor framework and rivet the whole thing together last night. I was a little skeptical about how strong the framework would be but I have to say with two 3/16 rivets per connection point the frame is unbelievably strong.

Hopefully this weekend I will get the L brackets made so I can attach the framework to the ribs and get started on the actual floor.

 

[Kriseffinger]

I was able to finish the framework for the floor this weekend by adding the center supports and using the L brackets I made to attach the frame to the ribs. I also added pieces of old garden hose to the aluminum frame between the ribs where the frame has a chance to rub the hull.

I was also able to seal the 3 places where the hull leaked when I tested it, the two back corners and the bottom of the front V. I mixed the entire quart of gluvit because I wanted to make sure I had the correct ratio of activator to epoxy and I wasn’t confident in my ability to get the ratio correct without mixing the whole thing. Helpful hints for mixing your gluvit/epoxy, buy a 1 quart/gallon paint mixer from hardware store, worked like a dream and made the job much easier. Once I had the leaky spots covered with plenty of epoxy I used what I had left to seal every seam in the boat just to be safe.

 

[bigwave]

Looking good, If you can I would use two rivets side by side on each of the brackets......PSG-1 gave me that tip.....with two rivets there is no way the bracket can move. Its a cheap thing to do and gives you two things that have to break before the bracket can move. I could tell the difference on my mod after I went back and put two screws and rivets on each bracket.

 

[Kriseffinger]

Looking good, If you can I would use two rivets side by side on each of the brackets......PSG-1 gave me that tip.....with two rivets there is no way the bracket can move. Its a cheap thing to do and gives you two things that have to break before the bracket can move. I could tell the difference on my mod after I went back and put two screws and rivets on each bracket.

Thanks for the tip, i will add a 2nd rivet to the side brackets. Never can have too much strength in the floor!

 

[walleyejoe]

Your looking good .My prodject is very similar Im allmost done with the frame work . I should have some more pics by the weekend

 

[Kriseffinger]

I accomplished quite a bit in the last week or so. I ran a piece of 3/4 plastic conduit the length of the boat under the decking frame for running electric and I was able to cut out the foam and put it under the floor. I used 1 1/2 and 3/4 extruded foam sheets under the floor and I was able to get both 4 x 8 sheets to fit.

This weekend I framed up the front deck with aluminum angle and made the tray to hold the battery under the deck from aluminum angle as well.

After finishing the frame work I was able to cut out the floor and the front deck and test fit everything together. I went with 1/2 plywood and I am going to coat everything with Spar before putting down vinyl to finish off the floor and front deck.

 

[walleyejoe]

Looks like its coming along Are you going to put a live well in ? I've got the same boat I should be ready for decking by the weekend

 

[Kriseffinger]

[*] Pp

Looks like its coming along Are you going to put a live well in ? I've got the same boat I should be ready for decking by the weekend

No I am not planning on putting one in.

 

[Kriseffinger]

Been awhile since I posted an update to my project, so here you go.

I coated all the decking with SPAR and after test fitting I decided I needed some cross supports for the floor so I added those as well, the floor is rock solid now!

After test fitting the front deck I cut out a hatch and used the aluminum frame work to support the hatch when closed. This will make for a nice storage area and I will have the battery mounted in here as well to help with the weight distribution.

I primed and painted the inside of the boat, I used Rust-Oleum rattle can primer and Rust-Oleum Professional in Smoke Grey for the top coat. I love the color and I think the paint turned out great. I took Walleye-Joe's tip and bought the $20 paint sprayer from Wally world and it worked like a dream, way easier than trying to roll the entire thing!! After that I added 4 coats of clear coat, I couldn’t find much at the local hardware stores so I used rattle can clear coat, hopefully it will hold-up.

Once that was done with that it was time for the vinyl flooring. For the floor I had to cut the vinyl to fit and then glue it down without wrapping the edges, not the way I would have preferred but I didn’t have much choice. In the end I think it turned out pretty nice.

For the front deck pieces I glued them down then wrapped the edges and stapled it tight, same thing with the hatch lid.

After that I ran the main wire from the battery in the front to the back of the boat where my switch panel will be mounted.

Next step is to fab the middle and rear seats, I have some 1” aluminum angle on the way for that. I will post an update once i get that completed.

 

[mbarrett1379]

Where do you buy your aluminum at?

 

[livetoride21]

awesome project! seems to be coming along real nicely, I'm looking forward to see what your floorplan looks like.