Thoughts On 1ST Planning Stage

[LarryA]

Spent some time coming up with an idea for the replacement floor in my boat. This is for a 14' V Hull.
The idea is to build a 2X2 frame with something on the base to act as a means of keeping the wood from direct contact with the aluminum hull. I want the flooring to be removable so I don't wish to secure it and have no way to do so with the construction of the boat. The following picture shows the frame in Blue and the Red dots would be the base pads. I figured on a storage compartment just behind the front seat to hold the battery and other items on each side. The idea is to use 1/2" plywood for the flooring and cover with marine carpet. The front and rear storage would have opening top doors. The very front would just be a small flooring section. I figure on running all my wiring under the floor.
This is just a first idea. Any comments, ideas, suggestions?

 

[smoody]

I like your layout, but I suggest using Aluminum L Channel as the bracing instead of the 2x2's. Its cheaper then you think as I just bought 50' of 1" x 1" x 1/8" for $54.

Make sure you seal the 1/2 ply decking with a sealer or good marine paint, I like epoxy resin. If you use a water sealer such as Thompsons check the label as some of it contains a chemical that will corrode aluminum, I think regular Thompsons is ok, but the Thompsons Advanced has slighty different mix of chemical.

As for the electrical, I would run it on the walls through the ribs to keep it out of the floor in case you take on some water your wires wouldnt be submerged, but it looks as if your boat is a bit different and you may not have that option. Get some electrical conduit and run it length of your boat, that will make it easier to fish wires for future electronics/repairs.

Good luck

 

[fowlmood77]

BUild your framing with something the same thickness as the bracing in the floor of the boat and use a few screws into the bracing. I know you said you didn't want to screw it down, but if you are running fast enough and hit a few wakes the floor is gonna bang around quiet a bit, and possibly fly up and out.

 

[LarryA]

BUild your framing with something the same thickness as the bracing in the floor of the boat and use a few screws into the bracing. I know you said you didn't want to screw it down, but if you are running fast enough and hit a few wakes the floor is gonna bang around quiet a bit, and possibly fly up and out.

Not much of anything to secure it down to. The only thing would be the cross brace ribs and they afford very little margin for error before you go through the hull floor. This boat doesn't have the larger boxed style ribs that many JON boats have.

 

[SlimeTime]

I'm with Fowlmood. I used oak 1"X1" garden stakes from Lowes (I think). It was the same height as the floor ribs. I'd go atleast 5/8" (and probably 3/4") on thickness, you aren't going to be adding that much weight, no more than you're doing.

Just use a couple pieces of angle, screwed into the sides of the seats, and the bottom of the angle holding the decks down. If you want to remove the floors, remove the couple screws & remove them.

If you aren't running a bow-mount TM, I'd leave the battery in the back & save some $$ on wire. You could always carry a 2nd battery in the front, or just move all your storage to the front. Another nice addition would be a mounted cooler/livewell towards the front.

If you're just running enough wiring to the front for navigation lights, see if a piece of garden hose will fit under the ribs, into the V of the bottom of the hull.

ST

 

[fowlmood77]

Not much of anything to secure it down to. The only thing would be the cross brace ribs and they afford very little margin for error before you go through the hull floor. This boat doesn't have the larger boxed style ribs that many JON boats have.

NO problem there. it would only take a few screws and the easiest way to get it right w/o going through the hull is:
First measure your deck thickness that you are adding. Buy some SS screws about an inch longer than the thickness of the deck ( I wouldn't think the braces are less than an inch high, if they are go shorter). Now mark the location of the ribs on each side, you want to mark the center of each end. Lay your deck in the boat with whatever bracing you decide to use, adjust to where you want and mark the floor where the marks for the braces are. Draw a line connecting the two marks. Drill your first hole on one side making sure not to move the floor. Put a screw in and drill one on the other side. Now she wont move around on you. You can take the floor out and cover it as needed. Mark the ends of the floor so you have a reference point to find the holes and line everything back up.

 

[bobessary]

i used styrophoam to support my wood floor in my vhul works great

 

[LarryA]

Found more leaks today and am disgusted with having bought this boat.
I should just bury this boat in the yard and put water and goldfish in it, but the water might just leak out and kill the fish.
=D> :shock: :lol: :evil:

 

[dedawg1149]

dont let it get to you leaks are easy to fix

 

[SlimeTime]

Found more leaks today and am disgusted with having bought this boat.
I should just bury this boat in the yard and put water and goldfish in it, but the water might just leak out and kill the fish.
=D> :shock: :lol: :evil:

Didn't you just have the place you got the boat from fix some? Perhaps it's refund time........

ST

 

[LarryA]

Found more leaks today and am disgusted with having bought this boat.
I should just bury this boat in the yard and put water and goldfish in it, but the water might just leak out and kill the fish.
=D> :shock: :lol: :evil:

Didn't you just have the place you got the boat from fix some? Perhaps it's refund time........

ST

I'd have a better chance at winning the lottery. The boat was stripped today of everything that was not built in by the manufacturer. I'm going to see what I can do about getting things fixed correctly or if I should just swallow my losses and move on. The repairs they did are not goig to last and the trailer needs attention also.
At this point I just don't know what I'm going to do, fix it myself or just forget it and wait until I can get something new or much/much better.
I'm not going to let it piss me off anymore.

 

[dedawg1149]

post some oictures of the problem areas we should be able to help you fix it

 

[FishFry]

Today may not be fun, but now you know what you have and what it's going to need, post a picture and you'll get lots of help. Get another boat, get a different set of problems to fix.

 

[ben2go]

What's your location LarryA?Someone here may be able to lend a hand.

 

[LarryA]

First, let me say thanks for the help offer. I'd like to just fix this boat and I'm sure I could get it much better than it was and be happy with it. I'm not happy about the way they handled things but then the wife says I'm too picky about most things. Anyway, here are some pictures and an explaination before each one on what it shows.

This one shows the great repair they made. This is typical of all the leaks I knew about when I originally took it back. The area enclosed in red is a weld bead (now covered with sealer). This weld appears to have been where the factory rivets were either torn lose or severly losened. These welds are at every cross brace on both sides for the area between the rear and middle seat. Other rivets were installed and are evident they are not original due the size as compaired to all others on the boat. These rivets are circled in yellow.

This picture has red arrows pointing to the six locations where rivets were replaced. All are the same as the picture above.

This is a closeup of a set of replacement rivets withoutthe sealer on them.

Another picture of the sealer added areas. There are actually more than a couple over the bottom of the boat and all are at rivets.

This one shows what appears to be corrosion under the paint. This is widespread over the bottom of the hull.

This one is a pretty bad rub which I have to guess is coming from the trailer bunk contack upon loading/unloading.

Should I pursue fixing this or forget about it? I already figure that the entire botton needs to be stripped and sealed/painted, in wich case I might as well repaint the entire boat. I also have small leaks at two of the rivets that run along the keel piece and go through the kell gaurd and hull. I guess I'd have to reset these and seal inside if possible.

 

[ben2go]

I am one that can't leave something alone.I would fix it.I think Marinetex putty would work good,then I'd coat the bottom and repaint.That's just me tho.I have 4 motorcycles 2 are junk but I'll keep messing with them until they are better than new.Just can't seem to scrap anything.I wanna save everything I can.

 

[dedawg1149]

have you thought of having it welded or you might be able to do it yourslf look at this repair kit https://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat21324&id=0001390010655a&navCount=3&podId=0001390&parentId=cat21324&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IJ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat21324&hasJS=true