Duracraft 17

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nsfr1206

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We have owned a Duracraft 17’ boat for 20 years or so. It has a Mercury 70 on it and was built in 1979 or so. We redid the inside about 18 years ago and I just started today taking the decks and carpet out. I plan to fill holes that show and repaint and then redo the decks and carpet. One thing I don’t care for is the livewell is part of the console and it’s low and uncomfortable. So I plan to put a new livewell in the front deck and put a new side console in it.

So for a few questions-

What’s the best way to fill the old holes from screws and where old transducer was mounted?

What should I use for decking on floor and decks? I may use marine vinyl instead of carpet.

I’ll want to do new hatches etc. Will probably have more questions.

Paint- strip old paint off the outside, self etching primer and then paint with a couple finish coats?
 
Aluminum rivets have lasted for 30 years in unneeded holes. Freshwater boat.
Exterior plywood with at least 2 coats of U V resistant paint on all edges and surfaces.
Hatches have rust proof Piano Style hinges about 4 to 6" long with S S or Bronze hardware.
I use a soft Metal Wire Wheel to knock off loose paint. Then a light wipe down with Acetone before applying a primer.
DO NOT wire wheel any bare metal surfaces. Unless you want to paint it also.

The joy of DIY is now yours :)
 
I think you will be very happy with marine vinyl. Wrapping the edges of the 1/2 ply provides a lot of extra protection, IMO.

Piano hinges came up in another thread recently. If you are going to use piano hinges, get the offset ones. A typical piano hinge is fastened only to the edge grain. A screw in ply edge grain is more likely to work loose. Offset piano hinges are fastened to the edge and face and are much more robust. In case you have not used them, here is a pic of some in use on a tool cabinet in my garage. You can see how the wrap around feature provides superior support -- these 3/4 ply doors are heavy because they are full of tools. No sagging in 15+ years.

tempImageRXrAmS.png
 
Ah a fellow hand tool lover. I’m not much of a user but I enjoy messing with them a bit.

Thanks for the info. Today I pulled everything off of boat except one old transducer I’ve never used. We washed it out and then took over to my dads pressure washer with hot water. It cleaned up the interior quite well and took the stripes off of the exterior. I have some aircraft rivets from the last time we redid boat and I’ll be replacing some blind type that were used between redos and using jb weld in small screw holes before paint.

Question-
My trailer has surface rust etc. it is a channel iron frame so might be a bit of a pain to grind rust out of the channel. Any ideas on how to get it cleaned up well enough to paint? The out side of frame should be pretty simple to clean up…
 
A Gluvit question… do I apply to rivets at inside of boat or outside of hull?
 
Picture of your boat? I’m a fan of aluminum and/or Coosa Board for floors/decks/transoms. Upfront cost is expensive compared to plywood but both are permanent non-deteriorating solutions that will never need replacing again. Actually cheaper in the long run. Holes can be filled with rivets, brazed, 5200, etc. Just depends on the size and location of the holes. If you’ll be using your boat in wet cold weather, vinyl tends to get slippery. Carpet holds water, dirt, oil, and assorted other substances. EVA foam or SafeFloor are, IMO, the best route for an all season boat. I put one new aluminum hatch and one new aluminum dry box/hatch in my recent total rebuild. They aren’t cheap either but there again, they’ll last forever. I used Raptor paint on the interior and will be painting the exterior next spring. Still undecided on which brand/type of exterior paint.
 
My floors are painted with sand sprinkled on them. While the walk on paint was wet. Lasts forever.
 
Looks like I’ll go with carpet. I have a bunch of rivets to replace and hope to do that tomorrow
 
Well… I ended up ordering some different rivets. We did get some in. And then I bought my neighbors boat so I guess this one will be for sale. Neighbor had an 1860 Duracraft that has a welded hull. There are some rivets inside boat but I don’t think any on bottom. Larger boat, came with 70 Yamaha.
 
Update- I stripped out the 1860 and replaced transom with starboard and aluminum. I had to pull off corner braces. When I got the transom replaced I took to welder and they welded up holes, cracked welds and they put a cap on the transom. It looks fantastic and should never need to be replaced again.

So now I need to put in some chases for wiring etc from front to back and to the console area before I put foam and aluminum sheathing back in. I plan to put battery in now for Terrova and Garmin and livewell. I’ll have one in back for starting etc. My question here is how many wire chases do I need from front to back?
 
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