14 ft. Alumacraft T14V Project

[Rat]

Have a look in this thread:
Electrical/Wiring Diagrams

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Thanks for the info Rat. Those diagrams will come in handy. So all black wires should be ran to the negative directly on the battery? Where is the bet place to add fuses? Will most switch panels come with fuses? What exactly is a bus bar? Is a breaker necessary? Any more help would be appreciated. Thanks guys. It's amazing what some of you have done with jon's and v's. This is a great sight!

 

[bassangler33]

Best bet pick up a 50 amp breaker @ auto pts store or marine supply. I just bought one this week it cost $6 come right from battery to it then out to what ever else motor ect.mine had markings on it which wire went where

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Alright, while planning the wiring routes for my lights, bilge, etc. I decided to do a little work on my trailer. Seeing as how I usually fish alone or with my two year old little boy, I've been wanting to add some trailer guides for some time now. Well thanks to Hydrilla, I was able to run to Home Depot and pick up a few item to make some on my own instead of dropping $100 for a pair from the boat shop. Some of you may have already seen this done but when I saw it on Hydrilla's aquatic ride, I had to try it for myself. Basically all it is a ladder stabilizer (I'd never heard of one before this) which can be found in the ladder section at the Depot. It cost me $25 but also comes with some of the hardware needed to mount. Then I got a 10' section of 2" PVC pipe ($6) and two 2" caps ($1 each). I walked out of Home Depot with about $35 less in my pocket.

When I got home I cut the stabilizer in half using a hacksaw. Then I cut the PVC into 40" sections. Then I drilled a hole in each cap and glued those on to the pipes. Next I slipped the PVC on to the stabilizer half and, voila, trailer guide posts. Haven't attached yet since I'm playing Mr. Mom tonight while the wife is at work but I'll attach tomorrow and add another pic or two. I'll probably run back to Home Depot to get a couple more u-bolts to attach the guides securely but this is what I have so far...

Thanks again Hydrilla for the idea and advice.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Started the rear deck. Here's the basic framing, I'll add some more pics tomorrow.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Got some more work done today. I finished the rear deck framing and waterproofed it. I had to paint some of the framing gray since it will be viewable from the rear of the boat. You can see in the picture that I attached the rear of the framing to the transom support. After getting the framing done, I started cutting the plywood for the actual deck. I'll waterproof that tonight and possibly do carpeting tomorrow. I also still need to attach the trailer guides I made.

 

[BottomDweller]

Looks great man! I'm planning something similar with my back deck as soon as I get the transom replaced. Do you anticipate standing on the back deck while fishing or is it just for looks and to conceal tank etc.?

 

[BottomDweller]

Utah..2 other quick question...Where did you find the gray bedliner and did it make walking around in the boat quieter? I haven't decided if I am going to carpet or use bedliner on the inside bottom of mine.. I do know that I am however doing steelflex on the bottom outside.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Looks great man! I'm planning something similar with my back deck as soon as I get the transom replaced. Do you anticipate standing on the back deck while fishing or is it just for looks and to conceal tank etc.?

I don't plan on standing on it a lot. It will be able to support the weight of someone standing on it but it's mostly for storage for the gas tank and battery. I plan on running wiring for lights and a bilge pump too so it'll conceal that stuff also. I'm going to mount a toggle switch panel on the face of the decking when the wiring is all figured out, that's why I put the 2x4's on the front of the framing.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Utah..2 other quick question...Where did you find the gray bedliner and did it make walking around in the boat quieter? I haven't decided if I am going to carpet or use bedliner on the inside bottom of mine.. I do know that I am however doing steelflex on the bottom outside.

I found the bedliner on Ebay for about $115 I think. I'm not sure I'd recommend it though. I've only had it on for a month and it's already separating from the surface in some places. I spent hours on the prepping and followed the instructions to a "T" but it still didn't work like I'd hoped. It does create a nice surface for traction and noise deadening but the fact that it's already coming off is quite disappointing. I'm planning on doing carpeted floors on top now to try to preserve the Herculiner for as long as possible. I will also be letting Herculiner know about my disappointing results after hours of hard work that turned out to be wasted time. Any other questions let me know, I'm definitely not an expert on this mod-ing stuff but it sure is fun.

 

[BottomDweller]

Thanks for the response UtahBassKicker...Have you taken a look at steelflex? If you did not want to carpet, you could use it. I might end up putting it on inside and out.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Thanks for the response UtahBassKicker...Have you taken a look at steelflex? If you did not want to carpet, you could use it. I might end up putting it on inside and out.

I've heard of steelflex but have not ever used it for anything. I'm kind of liking the idea of have level floors since I take my 2 year old fishing with me quite a bit and he's constantly tripping on the ribs of the boat. Also having floors will make it easier to hide the wiring. Thanks for the suggestion, if my rivets start leaking I'll definitely look into steelflex.

 

[idahoguy]

UtahBassKicker-

I am in the process of building the same trailer guides you have there. I am working on the best way to attach these to my trailer. Have you come up with anything yet?? I might end up attaching them to the top of the fenders....I am unsure if that would be stout enough to hold them with driving and such. What to you think? Great looking boat by the way.

Seth-

 

[Troutman3000]

Thanks for the response UtahBassKicker...Have you taken a look at steelflex? If you did not want to carpet, you could use it. I might end up putting it on inside and out.

I've heard of steelflex but have not ever used it for anything. I'm kind of liking the idea of have level floors since I take my 2 year old fishing with me quite a bit and he's constantly tripping on the ribs of the boat. Also having floors will make it easier to hide the wiring. Thanks for the suggestion, if my rivets start leaking I'll definitely look into steelflex.

Steel flex as the interior floor would be very slippery, its more of a sealer than a floor medium.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

UtahBassKicker-

I am in the process of building the same trailer guides you have there. I am working on the best way to attach these to my trailer. Have you come up with anything yet?? I might end up attaching them to the top of the fenders....I am unsure if that would be stout enough to hold them with driving and such. What to you think? Great looking boat by the way.

Seth-

I bought a couple of extra u-bolts and am planning on attaching mine to my trailer frame. Hopefully I'll get that done tomorrow and I'll post some pics of the finished product. It's hard to say whether the fenders are stable enough for mounting. I think mine would be but I guess it depends on the trailer.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Thanks for the response UtahBassKicker...Have you taken a look at steelflex? If you did not want to carpet, you could use it. I might end up putting it on inside and out.

I've heard of steelflex but have not ever used it for anything. I'm kind of liking the idea of have level floors since I take my 2 year old fishing with me quite a bit and he's constantly tripping on the ribs of the boat. Also having floors will make it easier to hide the wiring. Thanks for the suggestion, if my rivets start leaking I'll definitely look into steelflex.

Steel flex as the interior floor would be very slippery, its more of a sealer than a floor medium.

That's what I thought. I'll eventually be doing removable carpet-covered plywood floors. I will use steelflex in the future on the exterior for sealing purposes. Thanks Troutman.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

I got the rear deck done and the trailer guides attached (finally!). Here are the updated pics...

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Here are the storage hatches...

Here is the space I've reserved for wiring and a switch panel...Do you fellas think this will be enough space for a switch? I've never installed one before and could only find cut-out dimensions, no depth dimensions.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Here is the final product of the self-made trailer guides...

I used the supplied u-bolts along with other carriage bolts that I had to attach to the trailer frame...

I also attached the guide to the bunk supports for reinforcement.

So that's it for now. I plan on doing some stuff to the middle bench in the future. Plus, I still need to attach my seats. More posts and pics to come!

 

[sturdi87]

Looks awesome. Great Job!