1951 14' Starcraft Semi-V Conversion

[Dyin2Fish]

GPS registered 22.4 mph before I had to turn. I think it will probably do 25 with more water to work with.

 

[MikeA57]

Beautiful restoration D2F!! It's good that you are enjoying it and getting a good feel for what you want to do to it before just trying to do it all at once. That is really nice looking.

Mike

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

very nice job! that wood just makes the boat stand out looks amazing

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I am well into phase 2 now of the boat project... took another vacation day today to try and get a bunch done with the framing. I picked up over a hundred feet of aluminum angles and tubes yesterday and have started framing at the floor. I can already tell what kind of a challenge the semi-v is going to be to frame, but look forward to the end results. Here are some updated pics that show where I'm headed with the design. Any advice would be appreciated if you see me doing something wrong or if you have any tips as far as framing this beast.

 

[ben2go]

That will be a sweet set up.

 

[fishinchef]

Very nice, can't wait to see it when its done

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Thanks, I can't wait to get it done. We are doing the framing right now... will post some updates later tonight. This sucker is tricky to frame to say the least. Back to work!

 

[ober51]

You should fiberglass that set up and sell that as a mold. That must have taken a while just to freaking do with cardboard, awesome work.

I feel your pain with the framing - it's much more intense than I realized myself.

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Up till 3 am last night and here's as far as we got with the framing. It's a slow painstaking process! Cleaned the garage up a little this morning and getting ready to start working some more... just wanted to get some progress pics posted.

 

[Zum]

You do some nice work.
Interesting framing,are you going to use many supports to the floor?
I know I should go back and read but are you using aluminum decking as well?

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Yeah, I plan on doing some tube columns down to the floor to support the decks. I considered aluminum plate for all of my horizontal surfaces, but it would be alot more expensive so the cheaper route for now. If I want to upgrade to all alum decks later, I will at least have nice templates to work from. Too tired to get much done today... three steps forward two steps back, but here are some updates. I'm going to bed!

 

[ben2go]

That's gonna be a great set up.Never seen anyone do a boat with curve decks.

 

[JustMel]

I have the same boat! Wow, you inspiring me! I have a big question: how did you bend the wood for the gunnel? I need to know how you measured, cut, installed (basically any info you have on that). That part has discouraged me from going any farther thus far because I don't have a clue how to tackle it.

 

[Dyin2Fish]

I decided to use white ash because it's easy to bend without having to steam it. White Ash is a relatively light hardwood and also highly impact resistant while being able to hold a screw and other hardware firmly. I purchased the raw wood from Noah's Boat Building supplies online. It took two 1x6's (Actual dimensions) that were approx. 8'-6" long to have enough for my 14 footer. I believe it cost me 85 bucks including shipping for the wood and I had it within 1 week. Luckily I have a buddy that has access to a high school wood shop and a table saw. I had to rip ea. board in half to get them down to 7/16" thick (1/8" saw kerf)... in the end you have eight 7/16" x 2" x 8'-6" gunnel boards after alot of ripping of the boards. I then sandwiched the upper edge (1 inch) of aluminum between the two boards. Using a bunch of clamps, set your boards in place and drill and screw. Every other bolt goes through the aluminum and the wood while the rest of the bolts go through just wood (see photos). The real key to being able to sandwich your boards together tightly is to cut a saw kerf in the lower half of one of the halves so that you allow for the thickness of the aluminum. I made this "groove" 1 in. tall along the lower half of the gunnels. This groove makes it easier to set your boards in place along the top edge of the aluminum too just prior to clamping. This is hard to describe, so if I'm confusing you let me know and I will try harder and take better photos. Since UPS can only ship 9 foot long boxes, I had to splice two peices together to get the full length I needed and just hid the splice behind a set of oarlocks (see photos). I also worried about this step of the restoration more than anything else, so I hope this helps others. When I was searching the internet for others with a similar boat, I couldn't find anyone!

 

[Nick Jones]

dang man! i can't wait to see more.

 

[Dyin2Fish]

This framing **** is for the birds!! I'm not sure this phase of the project is ever going to end, but I thought it was time to post some more pics of the progress as of this morning. I got a good night sleep last night and soaked my feet this morning, so I'm hoping to get alot done today... I'm getting too old for this! I really just want to be done!!

 

[Waterwings]

Wow, that's one great looking rig, and the wood gunwales really add to the overall look! Outstanding work!

 

[Zum]

Looks like you have that framing almost all done,looks great.
Nice job.

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Thanks guys. We figured out how to do all the lids today and I will be posting some more updates later, so check back. It's all starting to finally come together. I have a bet with the neighbor that I will have it done by my birthday on August 9th. Gotta keep busting you know what!

 

[fishinchef]

Its looking great.....best of luck with your deadline