1988 12' Valco Restore Project

[Duke84]

This topic will be for a new project that Im beginning this evening. This boat and trailer was given to me within the last year from my grandparents. Ive been fishing out of this boat for many many years so its exciting that I get to clean it up and keep it around for many more. Im hoping to get a lot of advise and support along the way as I am just now getting really into fishing. I own a wakeboard boat but the fishing boat should be a new learning curve for me. I see many tin boats that have been modified as a cross between bass and down rigger trolling so thats the concept I'm shooting for. so far I have had to haul the boat home in a trailer other than the actual boat trailer because it needed work on the bearings and new tires. Subscribe to this post, send your input to help me along the way and thank you!

 

[Duke84]

......... =D>

So happy I got that part out of the way. I stripped the entire boat last night and it was disgusting. Years of composted leaves and dirt and crap piled into every nook and cranny of the poor little guy. So I scrubbed everything with a wire brush then vacuumed and washed out. Its drying out today in our 100+ degree weather so itll be ready tonight for some more action.

note: whatever substance wasps use to create a hive is EXTREMELY strong. It took some serious elbow grease to scrub off the pukey stuff with a hard wire brush and the boat was full of hives when I opened up the seat panels. I was sure happy to see that they were all inactive tho. [-o<

 

[Duke84]

Last night I removed the old transom board, it was completely rotted away and all of the bolts holding it in place had been rusted in half. I pulled it out and cleaned inside the boat once again and then began priming it with an aluminum primer. I taped off all edges that I wanted to keep an aluminum finish on. After the primer set up, I sprayed in a textured outdoor liner. Its similar to a bed liner. Went on very easy and dried pretty quick. Tonight Ill replace the board with a new one thats been treated and stained to waterproof it. after thats in place I start with the fuel cell, batteries and all wiring and bilge pump install.

 

[wingsnhammers]

Looks good! If you don't mind asking, what was the textured product that you sprayed on and the color? It looks like it might look real good in the bottom of my boat, too.

 

[Duke84]

Heres a link to the exact product I used. At first I was skeptical about something cheap that comes from a spray can but after researching some reviews on it, it turns out this is an awesome product. It leaves a powdery residue on surfaces in the area where you're spraying but it doesn't stick, Its like dust. I sampled it on a piece of scrap aluminum first just to test the durability and its pretty tough stuff. We'll see how it holds up after time.
https://rustoleum.com/en/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/textured

 

[Duke84]

Finally got the transom board replaced and I used steel wool to somewhat re-finish the outside of the boat. Got all the templates made for the decking and then cut out my deck inserts. Next I will reinforce the underside of the decking for support and weight baring. I have heavy ga. sheet metal that will be inserted as a hatch stop and support for the hatch doors. First I need to get this decking upholstered and all of the finger-pulls and hinges installed. More pics soon.

 

[barelyrunning]

awesome work man. Im also restoring a valco. What did you replace the rivets on the brace for the transom board with? I dont know if i should just use bolts with plastic washers and some 5200 or to find some closed end rivets.

 

[Duke84]

Honestly I still haven't decided. I got new stainless bolts, lock washers and nuts but I'm debating replacing the old rivets with new ones. Im moving to the back end of the boat this week to get the tank and batteries tied in.

This last week I was able to get all of my hatch doors cut out and resized to be upholstered. I sanded all edges then used upholstery staples and outdoor carpet glue to upholster the deck and hatches. After that I had to lay out seat post supports and hatch supports so that all areas of the deck are strong enough to hold a good sized person. Here are some updated pics of where I am today.

 

[Dave53]

Everything looks great!! I'm starting a project on the same hull!! Did you replace any of the flotation foam in seats? Also where exactly did you put your hatches?

 

[Flatbotm]

I'm curious how stable it will be. I'm leaning towards doing this to my 12 foot crestliner but I'd like to hear from someone w a decked 12' v bottom.

 

[MmmFishing]

Looking great, have you tested the stability to stand and cast?