Alumacraft 14'6" wide Restoration/Conversion

[bbartman713]

Hey guys my name is Brent and i currently reside in Suffolk, Virginia. Im 25 years old and am a nuclear machinist mate on submarines in the Navy. been in for almost 7 Years. i have been fishing the local lakes out of my 1960's Seaking 10 Ft V-hull jonboat for about 3 years now. and i wanted an upgrade for something a little bigger. was thinking of going full blown bass boat but every lake within 40 miles of my house is HP limited. so, I just acquired a 14.5' Alumacraft with a 1983 15Hp Evinrude. it came with a MinnKota power drive V2 trolling motor and pilled full of a bunch of junk.

My boat background Comes from growing up in Florida with my dad's 25 ft CC Fishing Boat with a 225 HP Yamaha and in high school I worked at a marina mainly doing small electronic installs and rigging new boats (installing motors, bimini tops, Depth finders and Stereo) so i have a pretty decent level of knowledge when it comes to marine mechanic's.

Any ways, I paid $1000 for motor, trailer, and engine. not the best deal but what i see on craigslist around Norfolk Va it was the best i found.

I wish i had before pictures. but the boat had a rotten wooden deck on the front and some rusty old crappy seats. filled with junk. i got all of that out there and basically got it to nothing. it doesn't leak a drop and even tho the paint is rough she is extremely sea worthy.

First off, the motor wouldn't start. so i threw a a new set of plugs and wires, a fuel pump rebuild, a carb rebuild and a gear oil change on the lower unit. After all that she started on the first pull and runs like a top. My water pressure seemed extremly poor wasn't moving water like i expected. i opened her up and see needs an water pump rebuild. i have a new impeller kit in the mail hopefully will get her tomorrow or day after.

The Trailer is a newer model EZ Loader in decent shape. she needs a new strap for the winch and i need replace the wooden bunks
and a new set of brake lights, they were smashed to all get out. I picked everything up from western marine last night and I'm going to launch the boat next weekend and do it all with the boat off the trailer so i can actually do it right. also would like to add a set of PVC rails so i can see the trailer over my tailgate.

My plans for the casting deck is to use all aluminum covered with a desert tan bed liner. so its weather resistant. i would like to have my garage back (By that i mean the skirt wants her parking spot back) so i want to stray away from carpet and wood.

I would also like a center livewell that is about 30-40 gallons. i am looking to have the ability to recirculate water and continuous flush. I fish the local tournaments and the aerator does seem to keep alive.

For the back i want a casting deck and a lid that covers the area infront of the motor to cover the gas tank and bilge pump also allow for a second fisherman to stand/ the skirt lay out if she decides i have to take her.


PARDON MY MESS IN THE GARAGE I HAD TO MOVE EVERYTHING AROUND TO FIT IT INSIDE AND EVERYTHING ENDED UP THROWN ABOUT



Any how. thoughts on using all aluminum??? how does the bedliner hold up on the aluminum. anyone have any inputs or ideas???

 

[PA Delaware Fisher]

Nice boat man! Good luck with it! Hope it serves its purpose for ya!

 

[bthompson92]

I would say a 1000 for all that was a fair price!

 

[brittonp83]

First off, congrats, that was a good deal. Second, thanks for taking the watch from a brother of the 'phin. I was an Aganger on Groton boats.

I'm redoing a 1448 now and I'm doing all aluminium decks too. Saves a good bit of weight and won't rot out. If you've got a nub on deck div right now, or a buddy, try to grab some nonskid, that'd work better and hold up longer than bedliner.

I fish in an all electric jon boat bass club down here in NC, seen a fair share of powerdrive V2's kick the bucket after short lives. Cable steer just seems to hold up better.

 

[JET4]

nice boat, good luck with the project

 

[bbartman713]

got most the framing done for my deck this weekend. I used 1.5"x 1.5" angled aluminum that was 1/8" thick. I used stainless steel 1/4"-20 bolts with self locking fasteners and self tapping screws. I'm happy with how its coming along. im not done but i weigh 215 lbs and it holds be fine. I had my buddy measure the sag and with me standing on it. and it didn't move a measurable about so i am happy with that. i have about 30 more feet of aluminum to play with so it should be plenty sturdy


i dont know if i want to use aluminum for the deck or use wood. im leaning towards aluminum i want it to be weather resistant.

also Im not sure where i want to mount my batteries. i was thinking where they are in the pictures but i think i need to move them to the back to balance out the weight.....IDK yet i am going to take it out with them loose and see how it balances.

 

[onthewater102]

You'll get better performance out of your outboard/less stress on your transom if the batteries are in the back section of the boat that remains in contact with the water when you've got it on plane.

 

[bbartman713]

You'll get better performance out of your outboard/less stress on your transom if the batteries are in the back section of the boat that remains in contact with the water when you've got it on plane.[/quote

You think it would make a big difference I really don't want that electrical running back and forth. There will be some weight in the back also.

 

[onthewater102]

Can't say for sure how much difference it will make on your hole-shot, but it's that much less weight the motor has to lift out of the water before the boat planes so there will be some amount of difference which will also be a function of your motor power and prop pitch etc... You can certainly test it fairly easily before you wire it up.

What's more important is the stress that much torque puts on both the boat hull and transom.

Imagine holding your arm straight out in front of your body and trying to support the battery in that position let alone lift it up 3"-6" (approximately the amount of hull rise in the bow when on plane) - now imagine extending your arm 10' out from that position and lifting the battery. While this is a crude example I'm trying to point out just how much torque is transmitted through the boat-hull and transom having weight forward that needs to be lifted out of the water to get on plane and stay on plane. That stress runs through the rivets and through the welds and will only be made worse on rough water.

Before kids I would use my boat 5 times a week during the open season, I'm hoping to get back toward being out at least 3 times a week next year - so that amount of stress would quickly wear on my boat and was a major concern to me when I was building it. I've been through a leaky rivet patch job once and I'd rather avoid having to do it again as long as possible.

 

[onthewater102]

someone else posted this a while back - good reference for running wire:

 

[Justfishin2]

This is my first post on here-I've been a member on crappie.com for some time and looked through all the posts over there about boat mods. I didn't find what I was looking for and thought I'd try here. First, this thread is basically what I'm starting on my boat and I'm wondering what thickness of plate you will be using for your deck material and why? My boat is a mod V, and I'm using 1/4" on the very front to support a heavy trolling motor, a folding transducer mount and an electric anchor. The main part of my deck will be dropped down about 8" and will need to support me and a stick steer set-up. It will be about 4 1/2'wide by 4' long. this is the part I'm asking about the thickness of. I may eventually also try spider rigging. If I build sides for this area should I just go ahead and use the same thickness? Then we come to the floor. It is presently 1/2" plywood and was poorly done by the previous owner. I can go back with plywood done properly but would really like to use aluminum if it doesn't get to be too expensive. Any thoughts on this as far as what thickness and which material? Thanks in advance, and hope I'm not posting in the wrong place-don't want to hijack someone else's thread. Just let me know if I need to move this.

 

[bassboy1]

You think it would make a big difference I really don't want that electrical running back and forth. There will be some weight in the back also.

I wouldn't. If you fish solo, you'll find there to be too much weight aft for the boat to plane correctly. If you've got a second person up front, it won't be as big a deal, but if you are normally running by yourself, I would absolutely want to throw some weight forward, and the batteries are usually the best thing to do that with.

Generally, tiller operated boats are too stern heavy. With the operator, fuel tank, outboard, batteries, etc. in the back, the center of balance is too far aft, and there just isn't enough weight to get the bow down a bit. Many people have to remedy this problem with pods, but I much prefer to fix it with weight distribution first, then look at pods.

If this was a delta pad boat, sure, the weight would be better suited in the aft, but in a lightweight jon boat, 'some' weight does need to be moved forward.