1978 Lund Mr Pike 18 Foot

[soccertoad20]

So I took a bunch of measurements of my boat to figure out the size of the casting deck and the side rod locker/storage areas. I have a rough estimate of 102 feet of aluminum angle I need. At around $20 per 8 foot piece I'm looking at over $2000. My wallet isn't that fat. I've decided to go with 2x2s. The wood will be cheaper, screws instead of bolts will be cheaper, it'll be easier for me to assemble, and cheaper to fix if I screw up a board. My question though is should I put a few coats of spar urethane on them?

 

[soccertoad20]

Sorry did the math wrong. It would be about $260. A little better than $2000! I'm still thinking 2x2s would be better for me though.

 

[Kismet]

My question though is should I put a few coats of spar urethane on them?

If it were my choice, I would. Time flies by and moisture is almost a constant.

Have fun, best wishes.

 

[rscottp]

Order aluminum angle online. Much cheaper. Look at materials thread for suppliers. I got mine at onlinemetals.com.

 

[soccertoad20]

That site is very cheap! I'm going to try and compare the wood vs. aluminum frame. Prices, time for install, weight, etc.

What is the reason many people go with 3/4" plywood for the decking? Is it mainly for the strength? If so couldn't I add a few extra supports in the frame and get a thinner piece of plywood, maybe 3/8" or 1/2"?

 

[rscottp]

I used 1/2 mdo for my floors, its plenty strong. 3/4 is really heavy and overkill imo. 5/8 would be the thickest I would use.

 

[soccertoad20]

So when I screw/pop rivet the aluminum angle to the boat did you have to bend it a little to get flat surfaces for the wood? The boat isn't exactly vertical and horizontal where I'll be attaching the framework.

 

[rscottp]

I did bend it to match hull contours.

 

[soccertoad20]

So I'm starting to buy the materials I'm going to use. I was about to buy some paint but I was wanting some suggestions first. I was really looking at getting the Rustoleum Stops Rust Protective Enamel oil-based paint, but I don't know if it'll last in the water. Their Professional line says on the can that it is not for immersion in water. I couldn't find anything on the Stops Rust cans. Any thoughts?

 

[soccertoad20]

So I finally was able to start to disassemble the boat now that I picked up my new trailer. I have a space away from my apartment to work on the boat but I needed the trailer in order to get it there. Due to the screws being rusted together I picked up a cut off wheel from Harbor Freight. I'm having to cut the bolt head in half, rip off the two halves and then push the threaded portion and nut through the hole. I got about a dozen off so far with about 4-5 dozen left. It'll take a couple hours but I don't have any other way to get them off. I got the front bench and front floor section out. I found something pretty interesting. Apparently someone else worked on this boat before because I found an interesting way for flotation under the floor. Take a look at the picture.

I also went to Home Depot today and picked up most of the materials I'll need. I got 4 sheets of 4'x8' sanded pine plywood (it is rated for exterior use), 2 heavy duty saw horses, 2 quarts of spar urethane, 1 quart gunstock color wood stain, 1 brush, 2 cans of white rustoleum primer, 2 cans of hunter green rustoleum protective enamel, 220 and 100 grit sand paper for my orbital sander. I'll be ordering the aluminum angle soon.

Since I'm not going to cover my plywood I wanted to give it a deeper color so I got the gunstock stain. I didn't want too dark to where it holds too much heat but I didn't want too light to reflect the sun. I'm going to be painting the boat first so when I get to staining the wood I'll be able to adjust the color a little bit to make it work well together.

 

[soccertoad20]

It has been a while since I posted on here. Here is the first update. I took the boat to a local painter. I decided to get some better paint than what I got. I picked up a gallon of Duralux Aluminum Boat Green Marine Paint, $75 from Home Depot. I found a local guy who painted it for me for $350 and did all the prep work. I had 2 coats on the bottom and one on the inside with probably a quart still left over for touch ups.

 

[soccertoad20]

After painting I ordered 18 pieces of 1.75" x 1.75" x 0.125" 6061 aluminum angle from onlinemetals.com. I got it for about $11 per 8' piece. I also got some plastic storage containers to help ease the organization in the boat. The aluminum framing is almost complete. I have a few small pieces left to do. The biggest thing is making a lip for the compartment lids to rest on so there is support underneath them. I'm probably going to get some flat plates to bolt onto the angle to make a bigger lip. I ended up only making 4 holes into the side of the boat, which I'm happy about. I was originally thinking I'd have a lot more than that. I'm thinking they are going to be above the water line too.

 

[soccertoad20]

I was persuaded by my uncle to get 3/4" plywood instead of the 1/2" that I originally got. It'll be a lot stiffer and wont give as much. Towards the bow I wont have support for the plywood at the very edge so going for the thicker plywood will help strengthen that.

Along with the thicker plywood I'm going to be ordering some seat mounts/pedestals/bases, hinges and latches for the storage compartments, and I'm going to break down and get some trailer guide ons for the back of the trailer to help loading/unloading. I found the 2' ones from Overtons that has some good reviews. Anyone else know of some good ones to get? I really don't want to spend too much on them. Or does someone have a good way to make your own?

 

[rscottp]

Paint looks great! Can't wait to see the finished product!