Western 17 update

[norcal17western]

Greetings all,

Just found this forum and realized that everyone on here is doing *exactly* what I am doing to my old Western 17.

I bought the boat about a year ago with plywood floors that had rotted through, a rock solid 30HP Tohatsu 2stroker, and a 5 year old trailer. Fast forward, blood has been spilled on the decks, a new 50hp evinrude has been rehabbed, and I thought quite a bit about the layout and what I want to do with her.

A few things on the list:

1) Move foam from the side bunks to underneath the floor (or not at all)
2) Move the gas tank to a topside closer to the bow and extend the fishing platform over it
3) Install two scotty down riggers
4) Install perko switch and dual batteries under the console (weight distribution)
5) Re-inforce transom to accomodate 50hp 4 stroker (weights about 250lbs)--boat was originally rated for 65
6) Install 1/8" aluminum sheet on narrow spans and 3/16" aluminum on wide spans down the middle
7) Install diamond plate lockers on the back bunks
8) Rehab her for another 25 years of service!
9) Install a few swivl'eze mounts around the boat for mobility

Will provide a few progress pictures as we move along and thank you for the questions I am sure will come!

Outside view:


After cleaning out 25 years of gunk off the bottom (pressure washer and shop vacuum)


Plywood layout on aluminum scraps I bought, borrowed and had laying around:



My best friend for this project:


First weld of many (give myself a solid C), note I have spare material on both sides so the finished product will look good, just wanted to lay a bead today!


Thank you all for the inspiration..

 

[Jim]

Awesome man!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OutrageGIS]

Nice boat, love the high sides and the bow angle!

 

[norcal17western]

Hey everyone,

Started putting the floor boards in today! Since the boat was setup for 5/8" plywood, I used 3/16" down the middle with 3/8" x 3/8" solid bar stock around the edges and beams to raise the metal up to the level of the stringers. Still have some grinding to get the fit down perfect, but one thing I notices is that as I weld on the underside of aluminum it starts to bow. Fortunately the bow is up when the pieces are placed upright, so they will be weighted down/riveted and become level. Not sure if there is a way to keep from deforming the aluminum sheet, short of *Very* slowly welding or ditching the MIG gun.

You can see the floor board in front of the console, not sure if the bow is visible (but it is there probably 1/4" that levels out with 220lbs of downforce)



Test fitting the 1/8" diamond plate, found out that I needed some reinforcement with the 220lb test.



Reinforcement added to the bottom side of the deck lid, with this angle addition was able to bounce up and down and 0 deflection. I used 1x1x0.125 angle, the angle looks haphazard, but every cut and length is there for a reason as this piece will eventually tie into the other two side pieces (that will provide additional support too). Still fine tuning the spool gun on the underside work (had to up the wire speed a bit)



Here is the completed center compartment with the perko locking pull installed and ready to start on the other two compartments. The next two should be much easier now that everything is fitted together and my aluminum mig welding is getting better.



I am debating how to raise the storage compartments above the bottom of the boat (to keep everything dry). I have some really light gauge (like 20 ga) aluminum that I could quickly fit/bend and just rivet in.

And on another note, I intentionally did not make my hatches waterproof. Figured with a fishing boat the water is going to get in there anyways, why fight it!

cheers!

 

[ProduceMan]

I really like those hulls. You live in Nor Cal so if it's going to be an ocean boat, why not put flotation back in the sides AND under the deck. Unless there's a plan for extra storage in either. Just run some extra pieces of electrical conduit under deck before you pour the foam in case you want wire up more stuff down the line. You can also run your steering /throttle cables the same way. Looking forward to the build! If I had one of those hulls I'd be able to fish La Jolla kelp in **** near any conditions around here.

 

[norcal17western]

Hey Produce Man-thanks for the floatation vote.

The foam floatation I pulled out was in good condition, assume that I can just put that back in the sides and under the floor? The pour in foam is pretty expensive so trying to reuse/cut to fit as much as I can.

The boat will be in a garage when not on the water so water logging should not be an issue. I was also thinking why don't people use plastic water bottles for floatation?? They are form fittable, last for years in the water, especially without sun/uv, and are lighter than foam and easily removable.

And one more question, do most people put a bilge pump in for their rehabs?

Cheers

 

[heron2000]

i put a bilge pump in my build after hand bailing water that got in from large waves from a huge power boat when i was beached eating lunch - just need to add an auto switch now

 

[norcal17western]

Made some progress the last week, but have been mostly focusing on winning the bread at the day job

Moved the boat out of the metal shop and to the home garage (I still have a few welds/grinds to do, but most of it is finish work now).

Got the motor mounted, added a piece of 1x3x0.125 box to stiffen up the transom, bolted the top motor bolt through this. The bottom motor bolts were too long (they only thread the last 1"), so will go by the store on Friday and get shorter ones (and add some 4200 adhesive as it close the water line).

Also started getting the gauges mounted to the console, added the rpm and system check gauge. Still have to add the switches, fuse block, and horn.

Is there an easy source (i.e. lowes) that I can get rubber grommets for my cutouts through aluminum? Just don't want the cables to fray over time. Assuming most people do something on metal cutouts??

Sitting down on the job..


Trust me everything will lay flat once riveted down, or I will add more rivets. Or get the sledge and realign!


Evinrude 50hp efi mounted and almost ready for duty.


RPM Gauge and SystemCheck gauge mounted in Console


Hope this is right insulation/floatation?? It was called R-Max and said it was closed cell (online).


Blue sea 6 position switch, fuse block and sump pump (stainless thru hull here on Friday)


Some of the cable routing that has me worried, would like to put a rubber grommet around the cutout.


Cheers all!

 

[norcal17western]

Quick update:

Insulation in the floor, had to piece cut it and squeeze it into every nook.. The ribs make the boat super strong, but also a PITA to get floatation under the floor.



Back floor riveted in and ready to go! With the bracing and rivets this floor is strong (even with all the doors)



Switch panel installed, for now just using four switches (Horn, Nav Lights, Accessory, and Bilge). Two spares for the future!



Down riggers installed, fuel tank fits in the back compartment (just hadn't stuffed it in there yet). Ready for memorial day weekend.



Crew ready to go slay some fish (next to my other tin pontoon boat)



Still left to do:

1) Front fishing platform (just put the plywood back in for Memorial day)
2) Install mid mount fuel tank and water/fuel separator
3) Reroute throttle and shift cable, installed new steering cable
4) Install bow rail (just using sch 40 aluminum conduit)
5) Install trolling battery and bow mount trolling motor

Going to be a great summer!

 

[perchjerker]

wow looks great

does that diamond plate get real hot in the sun? Looks like it would