1985 Grumman 16' Aluminum Boat Restore

[Degn8er]

Hello,
I am restoring a 1985 Grumman 16' Aluminum Boat and I am looking for people who are experienced in restores. I have a lot of time on my hands and I needed a project. I am an accomplished wood worker and a fair handyman but this will be my first boat. I recently bought this boat/trailer on Craig's List and the boat was partially torn down by the past owner.

Below are a few photos of the boat. The last photo is what the boat looks like at the present time. I am committed to finishing this boat and trailer for fishing in Lake Lanier Georgia and taking my two sons out for a good time. I make a decent living so I am not in any delusion that this restore is going to be cheap or that I will be able to get my money that I put into this boat back from the sale of it. 

I am power wire brushing the inside of the boat first with an angle grinder brush and a few power drill attached wire brushes. I plan on stripping every single surface on  the inside and all the floor supports. When all this is done, I plan on stripping the bottom as well. Then when all is stripped, I will fill all pitting with marine jb weld and I am going to try my hand with low temperature aluminum brazing rod and map gas for the small holes that I have found thus far. I have not welded anything before so it will be interesting if I can do it.

I have posted this on another site as well to try to get some help with this build. The transom is completely gone so I will need to rebuild it one day. The boat is almost 7 feet wide so that is one heck of a transom to fix. One step at a time. I am a lifetime learner and I really love this stuff even though my 61 year old body does not like it much. I will continue to work on it with or without help but it sure would be good to hear from people that have done this before to help with the pitfalls.

 

[Degn8er]

Got the boat flipped over by myself. It took some ratchet straps and a tree to get it over. Two fails before it finally went over. Now the paint stripping on the outside.

 

[LDUBS]

Welcome to TinBoats.net. That style boat is among my favorites. Trailer looks like it fits well too. While I have not done it myself, you will find a lot of threads here about replacing transom wood. Looking at the pic's I wonder if the seller gave you the aluminum channel that would have capped the transom. If not, you will also find threads about replacing that here.

I would encourage you to continue to post pics of your progress and ask questions. A lot of folks on this forum have experience with rebuilds.

 

[Degn8er]

Welcome to TinBoats.net. That style boat is among my favorites. Trailer looks like it fits well too. While I have not done it myself, you will find a lot of threads here about replacing transom wood. Looking at the pic's I wonder if the seller gave you the aluminum channel that would have capped the transom. If not, you will also find threads about replacing that here.

I would encourage you to continue to post pics of your progress and ask questions. A lot of folks on this forum have experience with rebuilds.

Thanks, yes the seller did give me the cap for the transom. It is in pretty bad shape so I am not sure if it is salvageable. The trailer functions but it needs new wiring and I will need to check the bearings. The tires wanted to hop when I was bringing the boat to my home after the sale.

Question 1:
Does anyone have any experience with gluvit epoxy sealer. Is it worth $60 to put this one the rivets before painting?

Question 2:
I am planning on putting on a self etching primer on the hull after I prep to bare aluminum. Do I need to then add another regular primer after that, before the regular aluminum paint?

Question 3:
Does anyone have any suggestion on the kind of paint. Total Boat seems to be one of the best but it is so expensive. Maybe Alua Hawk or Duralux would be a good paint? I will probably need to roll the paint but I do have an electric airless paint gun.

 

[Degn8er]

Here is the latest

 

[Degn8er]

I stripped most of the paint and now I am checking for leaks. I am learning to aluminum braze. The next step is primer.

 

[Degn8er]

I started priming the inside of the boat. Self etching primer. It is going on very smoothly.

 

[LDUBS]

Did you figure out if the etching primer needed another primer before a finish coat?

 

[Degn8er]

Inside painted

 

[Degn8er]

Hull primed

 

[Degn8er]

Two coats of black. Tomorrow the red side strip

 

[Degn8er]

I got the outside hull painted up and looking into planning the center console.

 

[Degn8er]

Installed the new transom.

 

[Degn8er]

Splash well. I will treat the well with fiberglass resin and then paint it with an oil based enamel paint.

 

[sonny.barile]

There are plenty of Grumman boats still going in NY and NJ. They are built to last forever………..Most of them were made in NY state. The company has an interesting history and ended up being owned by Marathon Boats in NYS. They brought back the boats for a few years but have since gone to just making the Canoes as they also own another brand, Duranautic for boats. I have the Duranautic version. 16 side console. All welded……

They have a website if your interested. There is an area with the history………

The boat looks great. I like the black with red stripe. I have not seen one done as a center console and am interested in seeing what you come up with.

 

[Degn8er]

There are plenty of Grumman boats still going in NY and NJ. They are built to last forever………..Most of them were made in NY state. The company has an interesting history and ended up being owned by Marathon Boats in NYS. They brought back the boats for a few years but have since gone to just making the Canoes as they also own another brand, Duranautic for boats. I have the Duranautic version. 16 side console. All welded……

They have a website if your interested. There is an area with the history………

The boat looks great. I like the black with red stripe. I have not seen one done as a center console and am interested in seeing what you come up with.

Thanks for the comment. I tracked my boats history and it was built in New York but sold in Florida. It shows the salt water damage. I did some research on the company and you are right the company has a very interesting history.

Over all it is built like a tank and that is why I thought I would repair it. Thanks for the encouragement on the build.

 

[Degn8er]

First coat of paint on the splash well.

 

[Degn8er]

Making progress with the boat

 

[Jim]

Wow! Nice work man! Very impressive!

Jim


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Degn8er]

Thanks I have a long way to got. I am redoing the trailer as well. I need to get it going so I can move the boat to get a good motor.