First time boat resoration, First time questions

[Piomarine]

I recently acquired an old family heirloom, a 14" Arkansas Traveler (date unknown). The boat was bought new by my wife's great grandfather. I have already started the deconstruction phase and successfully removed the seats and most of the rotted oak gunwales. Before I get too far along I wanted to reach out to the community regarding replacing rivets in the reconstruction phase. I have been doing a little reading on these threads and have found a few people saying that rivets should either be solid rivets with washers or all rivets simply replaced with bolts. My question is simply this, I want to use rivets in the reconstruction but I am not equipped to use solid rivets. Has anyone ever looked into the use of 2 piece mate-rivets in place of solid rivets for fastening parts below the water-line (namely the transom and related hardware.) I will begin posting pictures of my progress soon. All suggestions and recommendations are welcomed and encouraged.

For those that don't know a mated rivet is a 2 piece rivet with a sealed and capped receiving tube on one side and a basic mandrel type blind rivet on the other. If I were to use this system with the mandrel on the inside of the boat would this theoretically work long term?

 

[fool4fish1226]

You idea should work - however you could also just use closed end blind rivets. Good luck and keep us updated with lots of pics.

and :WELCOME:

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

You idea should work - however you could also just use closed end blind rivets. Good luck and keep us updated with lots of pics.

and :WELCOME:

All aluminum closed end rivet sealed with 3M5200.

 

[Piomarine]

As promised here are some photos of my project to date. Starting with where I found it and culminating with where progress is today. Before you ask...yes that is an elm tree growing up in the middle of the boat. I will post a project layout when I finish it/

 

[Piomarine]

Here is my design plan. All comments and tips are welcomed.

 

[ccm]

Nice boat! Cant believe I'm seeing one that has the same color scheme as my 61 runabout model https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?t=33352 ( same hull stamp different layout ). My only suggestion is to move your trolling motor batteries farther back by even extending your casting deck a little closer to the second bench. These boats are shallow v's so with the extra battery weight upfront the stern will actually sit an inch or two out of the water even with a motor, gas, & a battery when you stand on the casting deck.

 

[Piomarine]

I made some modifications to the plan based on your suggestions. I extended the casting deck about 14" and added a recess for a hydrolic pedestal seat (for balance reasons.) I moved the trolling batteries back as well. I have tossed around the idea of putting a break in the middle bench for mobility purposes, but part of me wants to keep it solid as a rowing bench in the event of a loss of power. Thoughts?

 

[ccm]

I'd say keep the middle bench. It's great for storage ( I like the ice well idea my cooler always seems to get in the way ), a good place for a passenger to sit while underway, plus it never hurts to have multiple ways to get back to the ramp ( lets say outboard issues & trolling motor batteries exhausted ). These boats are hard to paddle anyways; it's next to impossible to do it from the stern ( a slight breeze will blow you for a 360 ), & sitting on your knees to do it from the bow is painstaking after a mile or so. Good luck & keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Piomarine]

Deconstruction complete! Now on to cleaning and paint stripping.

 

[Mr Pike]

Looking good so far! Any updates?

 

[cgraham]

Deconstruction complete! Now on to cleaning and paint stripping.

I call that a thing of beauty! Happiness in the making!

 

[Piomarine]

OK so it's been a while, but I have the boat off the trailer and laid out in my back yard, tarp down, some chemical paint stripper, and a power-washer...Tomorrow morning, GAME ON! I got off what I could with the power-washer alone, but the rest will require some heavier artillery, so I picked up some aircraft stripper at the recommendation of a friend. Let you all know how it goes. Thanks for the encouragement