Dustin's 14ft alumacraft conversion... lots of pictures!

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Dman23

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okay so i had the basic Alumacraft 14 ft model F-7 from the 60s. 4 benches 48 inches wide. Boat has been in our family for probably 20 years since i was just a little tike and last year my dad upgraded so i purchased the boat from him. Always loved this boat, with a 25 hp it goes in the upper 20 mph with just me in it and about 24 mph with a second person so it gets me where i need to go plenty fast. for a small 14 ft, its always been such a sturdy well build boat without a single leak. only thing that drove me nuts were those stupid benches! they take up so much room and i was sick of climbing over those darn things all day long to help my fiance up front. so after doing lots and lots of research on here i decided to take out the benches. here is basically what the boat looked like before (i stole the one picture off google because i forgot to take a good picture before i took out the benches. the other one is what my floor used to look like when the benches were in it.
 

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so first was the floor. let me tell you we probably did more than we had to but i wanted this floor to be sturdy!!!! we put one 2x4 cedar just offset from center down the middle front to back (with the 2x4 standing tall). then we put 2 8 ft ones down the outer parts laying shortways just so in most spots they hit the ribs of the boat close to the sides. we build up under the 3 bases of the seats with 3 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood for extra support, then ran branches of 2x4 from the middle to the outer 2x4s. screwed everything to the 1/2 inch plywood we used for the top. let me tell you this floor is rock solid. then i was very lucky that my brother owns a foam insulation business so he sprayed the whole bottom full of closed cell foam. the best part about this is the foam turns hard as a rock after to provide even more structural support on top of adding about 10x more foam than the benches originally had. then we just trimmed it to fit perfectly in the boat. this even made the floor more rock solid. we decided to spray it to the floor instead of the boat to provide the floor more strength while also allowing full drainage underneath.

i also sprayed all the plywood with about 4 coats of spar urethane for weatherproofing.
 

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i did forget to mention all that foam he added literally added no weight to the boat. i think the entire floor filled with 4 inches of foam added maybe 2 lbs to the whole thing. perfect foam for the job!
 
we carpeted the floor with outdoor carpet from Home Depot. I think the brand name is called "perfection". only downside to it is it is closed loop carpet, but at 49 cents a foot it was within my budget and it is a very, very sturdy carpet both the backing and the carpet itself is awesome. we used indoor/outdoor waterproof carpet glue and stainless steel staples. in the back i made a little shelf for my depth finder and phone holder (since i use an app called Navionics a lot for lake maps and depths i wanted to have it out all the time). i used the back bench seat bracket to secure the shelf to the boat. for securing the seat pedestal bases, i got some really really heavy duty screws. three middle ones on each base screw right into the middle tall 2x4 and the other 3 on the other side screw into the 1/2 inch plywood then the two layers of 3/4 inch plywood that cover about a square foot under the bases. then we drilled out holes for the pin of the base where it goes down into the floor for a perfect fit that provides even further support a couple inches through the floor. overall, the entire floor with carpet and foam probably weights 75lbs. maybe less maybe more but somewhere around there. for it being once piece and as structurally solid as it is, i was surprised how light it actually was. two guys could easily move it around and get it in and out of the boat for final fitting
 

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for the supports for the sides that we had to replace the benches gave, I copied another guy on here that used angle iron and also made them into rod supports (thanks Hanr3!!!). although without any supports this boat is very sturdy, it did need more. man with 2 supports front and back and on each side it stiffened the boat right up just as good as before if not better!!! plus made a great place for rod holders! since i kept the very front bench in i made a nice carpeted V top for it and riveted it to the bench. this will make a nice seat/table for my fiance up front :)

i put my depth finder on my shelf and also made a box for my electrical. i got a switch panel that still needs to be put on but already got the cutout on the battery box for it. it has 3 switches (one for front nav light, one for back nav light, and one that will turn on and off some LED lights for general lighting in the boat) and also includes a DC jack for a phone charger. wires to the front are already ran but not hooked up. i used some PEX pipe under the floor to run those up front and also have some in when i run the wiring to the back nav light. She is pretty much done now though!!! all i have to do is make mounts for the two nav lights and hook those up, screw on the LED lights where i want them and attach and hook up the switch panel. I am going to clean up the trolling motor wires with some black slit conduit stuff that will run along the back floor wall also. I want to thank everyone for all the great information i got from this site! without it, i would not have the awesome boat i do now.
 

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once i get out fishing in it some i may add another box right next to the battery box to match it for storage. i didn't want to yet because it would take a lot of room for the middle seat (although rarely do i fish with 3 people) im just not sure i want to commit to something permanent there yet. for now i have a grey Rubbermaid tote that fits perfect right there, but at least we can move it around if needed and it actually looks pretty good. if after a good month of fishing in it, we find we pretty much just leave it there, ill build a perminent box to match the other one.

hate to build something permanent in a boat newly rigged and find out its not what i want. I'd rather spend some time fishing in it and let that tell me what to do!

took me and my dad about 30 or more hours over 5 days to do this start to finish but it should be a fishing machine now!!!!!!!
 
You opened that Alumacraft like a country mile. It looks awesome. Did you get a chance to run it yet? I was curious on the stability of the boat.

Jim
 
Haven't had a chance to take it out yet. Probably not till next week but i'm hoping its plently stable. Its not a wide boat its only so stable but the floor is only about 2 inches higher than it was before so it should be fine. Definately safer than climbing over those darn benches all day! Haha.
 
I'm in the middle of my project with a very similar boat and this (to me) is the cat's ***.

LOVE the totally open floor. I'd really be interested in hearing about the stability.

If you find no flex and it's not tippy, I can guarantee this is what will happen on my boat.
 
Well i will tell you the 1 1/2 angle aluminum supports to the sides makes it super stiff. Every bit as good as before maybe even better since the supports are independant from each other. If you are worried about it you could even do 3 down each side. I felt with the two it was more than enough especially after hearing from others it worked for them with even less. Ill let you know as soon as i get out about stability, but i have no doubt it will be okay. Its a lot wider than my old floor but only two inches higher so i doubt it will be much different.

Hope to see pics of yours soon!
 
More updates. Gotmy switch box working tonight!!! Also cleaned up the trolling motor and depth finder wires along the back. All thats left is making mounts for my two nav lights and my project is 100% complete!!!
 

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For anyone curious and the same boat, the back few feet of the floor is exactly 4 ft wide. We used the full plywood for the few first feet till it started narrowing. Also, that put it exactly 1 2x4 high so the plywood width and the 2x4 stood upright made a perfect base against the boat
 
If the weather holds out she will see some water in the morning!
 
Arrgggg!!! Its about 38 degrees pouring rain and 40 mph wind today. How an i supposed to try this out with that going on!? Hopefully this week!
 

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