Delhi 1430 Build - Completed - New Pictures 7/13

[Dockside85]

So here's my layout of how I want the rest of the build to go. I'll see how ambitious it is when I actually start doing it. Biggest concern is keeping the weight down, so on the sides I'll be doing a rather thin plywood. I tried to balance the weight with the batteries and trolling motor on opposite sides. Think it's doable?

 

[Ictalurus]

I tried to balance the weight with the batteries and trolling motor on opposite sides. Think it's doable?

Try to keep the batteries centered, you'd have a pretty good stbd list if you shifted any of your weight to that side with both batteries there. I know when I had my cooler livewell full on one side of my 1440, if I stood on that side it would list more than you would think. On that size boat, you could probably get away with one battery, a dual purpose could crank and run the TM. Also, you may find that storage in both seats would be the biggest advantage, and using a cooler for a livewell only when needed. Then again, I don't know if this is a tournament only boat.

Just trying to give some helpful suggestions, as the 1430 will get small fast out on the water. Boat looks great, your removal of the seats looks sharp.

 

[Dockside85]

I tried to balance the weight with the batteries and trolling motor on opposite sides. Think it's doable?

Try to keep the batteries centered, you'd have a pretty good stbd list if you shifted any of your weight to that side with both batteries there. I know when I had my cooler livewell full on one side of my 1440, if I stood on that side it would list more than you would think. On that size boat, you could probably get away with one battery, a dual purpose could crank and run the TM. Also, you may find that storage in both seats would be the biggest advantage, and using a cooler for a livewell only when needed. Then again, I don't know if this is a tournament only boat.

Just trying to give some helpful suggestions, as the 1430 will get small fast out on the water. Boat looks great, your removal of the seats looks sharp.

I always welcome suggestions! I've had bassboats before but this is my first aluminum jon, so some of the concerns are still new to me! I considered a cooler livewell for a while also. Ultimately I ruled it out because the of the size of my boat. Mostly because there is no where good to secure it to. If I secured it to the middle of the rear bench, it would be right in the way of me sitting while driving. If I offset it and secured it to one of the sides the weight would cause the boat to list pretty good since it is only 30" on the width. Although the ease of getting it in and out of the boat and the fact I could throw it in the back of the station wagon (yep, I drive a wagon, love it though) and just plug it in on the drive home was appealing to me, I decided I didn't want to hassle with the balast issue so I remembered Brine's setup of getting a RV water tank and thought I could rig that up in the middle of the boat. I would have to step over it when moving from the back seat to the front, but that's not a big issue to me. If it turns out that building a livewell is more trouble than it's worth I will go back to the cooler idea!-

 

[Ictalurus]

No doubt there is a hassle to the cooler livewell. My suggestion was that if you didn't need the livewell, the space may be better suited to some storage area as floor space on the 1430 will be extremely valuable. I agree, it sure is nice to have a livewell though. I thought and thought about it on my 1470, decided not to go with one, the wide open floor plan was more appealing. Most of my fish either head straight for the ice chest or released at time of catch, not sure I've ever left one in the livewell all day and released it later, but I'm not a tournament bass fisherman either. Again, great work on removing the seats. I'm sure you'll have fun working on the boat, and just about the time you get near completing it you'll be thinking of doing another or what you want on the next boat!

 

[Jdholmes]

I think your measurements may be a little off...

You plan on fitting a battery, tackle, cooler, life jackets and a fire extinguisher all in the back bench...that's a lot of stuff...have you actually tried fitting that all in there?

 

[Dockside85]

I think your measurements may be a little off...

You plan on fitting a battery, tackle, cooler, life jackets and a fire extinguisher all in the back bench...that's a lot of stuff...have you actually tried fitting that all in there?

No I didn't have a full size cooler in mind. I was thinking more of one of the Playmate coolers with the top that rotates down. And yes, I already tried putting most of the stuff in there at once. It all fits!

 

[Dockside85]

I'm sure you'll have fun working on the boat, and just about the time you get near completing it you'll be thinking of doing another or what you want on the next boat!

Already have man, already have! I bought this boat from a buddy because it was a good deal. Just with fixing up the trailer I could sell it for more than I paid for both the boat and trailer together. Also this is my first build so I'm not against starting small. I think the next one around would be at least a 1648, maybe larger.

 

[Dockside85]

Got the new transom braces in today. The old transom wood was riveted in, so I had to remove all the rivets to get it out. Since I don't have the tools to put back in rivets that size, I replaced them with stainless steal machine screws and washers with nylon locking bolts. Should hold just fine. Each piece of wood has two coats of Helmsman water sealing varnish. I don't want to Steelflex over the transom wood on the back of the transom in case it needs to be removed later on, so I'm just going to put some marine sealing silicone around the exterior and bolt heads to make a watertight seal. I have an aluminum plate that will be bolted in at the top where the motor mounts will sit, I just bolted it all in temporarily to make sure all the holes I drilled lined up with the holes in the transom aluminum. Should be finished up tomorrow. In-laws are in town for Easter so not sure how much I'll get done this weekend!

 

[wcbond4]

Lookin good brotha.

I see you went OD green too!

I saw another build on here ( sorry I cant remember whos it was) where they cut the top off of a cooler and fit it in a bench to make his live well. Just an idea. I know you said something about an RV holding tank? Old cooler might be cheap at a yardsale or what not. Just an idea I saw. GET THAT STEELFLEX ON! :lol:

 

[TimRich]

The boat is looking good! Looking forward to the build!

 

[Dockside85]

Lookin good brotha.

I see you went OD green too!

I saw another build on here ( sorry I cant remember whos it was) where they cut the top off of a cooler and fit it in a bench to make his live well. Just an idea. I know you said something about an RV holding tank? Old cooler might be cheap at a yardsale or what not. Just an idea I saw. GET THAT STEELFLEX ON! :lol:

Love me some olive drab! I'm a little concerned with how the color will come out. I think Fascoe sent like 4 oz of pigment for the Steelflex, but I've heard it's really dark if you use it all. I'll have to ask around and see how much to use.

Also I ditched the livewell idea. I want to keep the floor of the boat open and I would have to build "bench" around the livewell. More time, more weight, more money, more hassle, less space. Decided to just outfit a cooler I have with the bilge pump and PVC pipes I have and I'll strap it somewhere on deck.

 

[Dockside85]

Well time to work on the boat has been few and far between the last couple of weeks. I was able to get in a couple of hours tonight though. Finally got the wood for the floor cut to fit down over the ribs. I'm using 1/2" plywood on the bottom and 1/3" plywood on the sides. Should keep the weight down more than a thicker ply but should still be plenty sturdy. I got some pink foam to pack underneath the floor and sides to help replace some that I took out of the seats. Should have base deck carpeted and secured by Saturday afternoon so I can start on the wiring and front deck.

 

[wcbond4]

Floor looks good man! I wish my decks were gonna be that easy! I started laying them out tonight...ugh. PITA

 

[Dockside85]

I started laying them out tonight...ugh. PITA

Tell me about it man. My boat is in the garage on sawhorses and the sheet of ply for the base deck is 8 feet long. I had to put it in and take it out a few times to get all the measurements right and the placement of the ribs to cut out. Plus I can't just lift and swing. I have to lift, tilt, swing, lift again, etc. Talk about a PITA.

 

[Dockside85]

Got a little time to work on the boat this weekend.

I started with the front where the small deck will be with the storage compartment underneath. I had some leftover truck bedliner spray from a different project so I sprayed the hull where the storage compartment will be. If you guys haven't used the Rustoleum Truck Bedliner spray I'd recommend it for small projects. It's quick drying, very resistant to scratching, and about $5 a can! I don't know how well it would stand up being on an actual truck bed, but it works great for smaller projects. There was a little bit of overspray on the first rib, but that will be covered by the floor deck so I'm not worried about it.

Next I cut a hole in the rear right corner cover to mount the stern light. The original 1" hole I drilled wasn't quite big enough, so I had to bend up the edges and grind it off. Not the cleanest of cuts but it got the job done. I didn't secure it in yet because I am covering the area in Steelflex, but it fits well.

Today I started building the frame for the front deck. I got 2" frame joints and riveted them into the side of the hull. I wanted to do this before I applied the Steelflex so the rivets on the exterior would be sealed and wouldn't leak, although since the holes are up near the gunwales I'm not too concerned about them leaking. If water was up that high on the sides of the hull I'd have bigger problems to worry about!

Then I connected the two frame joints with a 2x2 and did another right behind the bow.

Tomorrow I should have the floor deck carpeted and installed and the frame complete. I also bought the carpet I am going to use today. Originally I was going to go with a kit from Bass Pro Shops or Cabella's, but I found another outdoor carpet at Lowe's that I liked. It's a decent looking outdoor carpet, I think it's 20oz. I got 72 square feet of it (12'x6') for about $55 bucks. The kits from Bass Pro and Cabella's go for about $100+ shipping so I saved probably $50 or $60 bucks with this stuff. If anyone else is interested in using this its called Graystone Cascade. I think they are discontinuing it so I'd get it soon if you like it!

I'll post more tomorrow!

 

[Dockside85]

Started today by carpeting my floor deck. I used outdoor carpet adhesive and stainless steel staples.

While the adhesive was drying I got the boat outside and cleaned it out again. I wanted to coat the surface of my rear storage bench and the floor behind the bench in front of the transom. I decided to use the truck bedliner again!

Boat after spraying the bedliner in the storage and rear floor.

Almost finished framing the front deck.

Floor deck before it went in.

And finally floor deck installed!

You can barely see the sheet metal screws.

Lastly I started the mount for trolling motor. Using a 2x6 that I will carpet and secure to the front deck with countersunk lag screws.

Next step will be to finally Steelflex the exterior since I'm done putting rivets through the hull. I have a buddy coming over to help me with it in a couple of days. That's it for today!

 

[Dockside85]

Has anyone used the olive drab pigment in their Steelflex job? I'm trying to see how the color comes out if you use all 4oz of pigment provided. If anyone has pictures of their olive drab steelflex I'd be really interested to see it!

 

[bguy]

looking foward to some more pics...

=D> looks good.

 

[Bugpac]

I got a bunch of that pink foam if you wanna come get it, you can pack that front deck full, I have 5 or 6 sheets of it.

 

[Dockside85]

I got a bunch of that pink foam if you wanna come get it, you can pack that front deck full, I have 5 or 6 sheets of it.

I might just take some of that off your hands for you! Let me check my schedule this week and see when I'd be able to make it over to Duluth. Actually now that I think about it I'm actually going to be over near Pleasant Hill and 141 for work on Wed if you're anywhere around there.