1989 Alumacraft Lunker LTD / 1990 Highway trailer

[dearl]

Ambitious build....I like it. Now that the slate is clean its easier to visualize what you want. Lots of room in that little boat, options are endless. Keep weight balance in mind during the design.

 

[Pector55]

Ambitious build....I like it. Now that the slate is clean its easier to visualize what you want. Lots of room in that little boat, options are endless. Keep weight balance in mind during the design.

Thank you for the feedback. I'm very open to hearing all of it from you more experienced guys. I've been thinking about the weight and if I move the livewell back a bit, how that would add to the rear so I was considering moving both batteries forward midway.

Part of me considers that if I don't have a gas motor on, she will be much lighter than designed in the rear but eventually, I will probably run a 9.9 to 20 on her so I need to plan ahead and not be trying to move exposed batteries around while on the water. Running a dedicated trolling motor on one side and a dedicated accessory battery on the other, sounds like a decent idea and I can't see any drawbacks to it. That space in the rear can just hold a nice stow for tackle.

My biggest concern is the 275 lbs of dogs that will insist on sitting on my lap!

Before I get to all of that I have to patch some holes in the side. From what I'm reading, I can use solid rivets and 3M 5200 above the waterline but I also picked up some Muggy Weld. I may go with rivets on the hull and save the brazing rods to attach the aluminum supports.

 

[dearl]

Even at 20 Hp that's not a lot of horsepower to lift and hold a lot of weight, keep in mind a motor has to lift and hold nose weight in order to plane the hull. If it cant you get what's called porposing. The nose will raise and lower on its on at speed trying to plane. Keep your heaviest weight in the stern, mid weight center, and lighter stuff in the bow. You can get away with some heavier stuff in the bow, a battery or fuel tank, but not much over that.

My jet Boat has 2 group 29 batteries, and a 20 gallon permanent fuel tank in the nose, I built it this way to balance the boat at idle, not speed due to idling shallow rock shoals. My hull still planes out nice with me standing at the bow and will run 36 mph emtpy, but I have 90 horses pushing mine. Just a comparison of horsepower to weight.

 

[Pector55]

Even at 20 Hp that's not a lot of horsepower to lift and hold a lot of weight, keep in mind a motor has to lift and hold nose weight in order to plane the hull. If it cant you get what's called porposing. The nose will raise and lower on its on at speed trying to plane. Keep your heaviest weight in the stern, mid weight center, and lighter stuff in the bow. You can get away with some heavier stuff in the bow, a battery or fuel tank, but not much over that.

Definitely makes sense and I could see how the porposing would make for some uncomfortable rides.

The only boat I have ever had that could plane was my old Bass Tracker. It had a 25hp on it so sprayed the cover in a matte black and bought old decals in 20 so I could use it on my local lake with the 20hp limit. That boat was really heavy and I suspect it may have had water logged foam in it but she still got up to around 20-22. I'm used to just plowing along at 5-9 mph with my old jon and pontoon. The HP I end up with will depend on price point since I only actually hit that lake a couple times a year and it's just not that big. I just like the huge population of white perch in that lake (evasive) and I go at will to stock up for a fish fry. You find the school and do a 1-2 mph troll through them with a worm harness and pull them out left and right.

I'm going to be doing the electric motors 90% of the time so I like your idea of balancing while idling.

I really like your framing.. looks very sturdy and well done.

 

[Pector55]

Quick update from last night - Trailer is finished.
I hit it Tuesday night with base coat and clear
Wednesday night I installed the new jack, installed new submersible LED lights and side markers, new winch, and put on the rebuilt hubs with bearing buddies. I also put on the new springs with better mounts.
I replaced a couple rollers too. She isn't perfect but for a 1990, she looks good IMO. To be honest I'm sort of bummed that she shows off how bad my truck is now (old 2003 Dakota).

I added a pic of the original for comparison. Now it's time to start focusing on the boat!

 

[sss]

Trailer looks great man! You’re making great progress, keep at it

 

[Pector55]

I've been struggling with how I'm doing the floor, foam, and frame but here is where I am headed. Please let me know if there are flaws in it.

1. Using the old subfloor plywood as a template, cut new 3/8" plywood and start sealing it. I have been flip flopping on fiberglass resin or just paint. After reading a lot of the threads on this site, it appears a good SPAR paint will do the trick just fine if I put on several coats. I want to get this started soon so I can work while these big pieces are drying.

2. I was going to build an aluminum skeleton and lay the board on but I got to thinking that since I want foam, I will simply fill the bottom of the boat with foam. I have 2 gal on the way and I don't feel like 8 cubic feet will do the entire bottom of the vhull so I'm thinking of getting the closed foam sheets to put down first, lay the floor over top, cut in a hole and pour in foam. After pouring in the foam, I can use small piece of wood across the round piece that came out of the hole, to screw the hole back over. I'm hoping that the foam will push itself outward, toward the edge of the wood and hull to force water to stay on the deck and drain towards the back.
I want the foam to rise up to support the floor and add the floatation. There is a center beam and previously the sub floor had none of this support so I feel as though it will be good.

3. Once the floor is secure over the foam, I will have a good base to start mounting my 1/16" aluminum angle for framing everything. WIth only building straight rows of storage, that should be rather simple. I have some ideas on how to keep up the weight savings.

Also, I pulled out the built in existing metal frames last night. They have been pretty worn so I don't believe I will use them. I pulled out the livewell and found that it is 46" wide but there are places that look like they are designed for partitions. I'm thinking that I may epoxy a piece of plexi in there so I can run with a lot less water and only half that size. I can keep the other side functional but split it off as a live bait well since I like to use fatheads for crappie fishing early Spring. I could add an aerator in that side. I would just have a plug between the two sides to allow me to only fill the bait side when I wanted to use it but save a lot of weight on the livewell. I'm mainly a catch and release fisherman who doesn't do tournaments but I do keep white perch and crappie for eating so I could get away with a 10 gal livewell.

 

[Pector55]

Went out back over lunch and started pulling the caps off the back to check the transom. Oh boy.. glad I did. It has not rained in over a week but the transom is definitely soft and when I put a screwdriver in it, water pooled up on the top edge. It appears this one isn't terrible to pull out and to be honest, there were parts of the back that I felt needed patched so I'll feel better going ahead and hitting that all at once. I think I will still get the plywood and start on the sub floor and painting so I can work on the transom between coats. I have holes to patch above the water line as well so I'll see how far I can get over the weekend.

 

[Pector55]

So this evening I got through pulling out the old transom. Tomorrow I'll be picking up plywood for the sub-floor and plywood for the transom. I'll be getting a bunch of fiberglass resin to seal things up and probably picking up a piece of aluminum to reskin the the back too.

I was at least happy that I was able to pull out the old piece to use as a template. That should save me a ton of time and frustration.

 

[dearl]

Nice progress...One word of caution, if you are dead set on sealing it with fiberglass use epoxy resin. It will cost more up front, but if this is a boat you will have for a long time, use epoxy resin not polyester.

Your plan for the sub-floor sounds like a good one, keep in mind your stringers will all be different lengths and widths, a lot of measuring and double checking before you start cutting, just saying things can get out of whack quick with V-hull stringers.

Foam.....just make sure the channels for the water to drain out the hull are open, and you don't foam yourself into a corner. You can set up a pretty nasty corrosion situation by not allowing the hull to drain. Im dealing with that very thing on my build, its no fun repairing either, very time consuming.

 

[CedarRiverScooter]

Epoxy resin will soak in much better if thinned with Xylol (about 25%).

If you place some PVC pipe at bottom before pouring foam, that can assure good drainage paths. Even better would be to have some non-porous corrugated sheet so the foam doesn't wick up moisture. You can get sheets of that at home supply stores, but it is a bit pricey.

 

[Pector55]

I have been looking and reading a lot of different posts about how drainage is supposed to work on these Vhulls because the ribs have no way for the water to run front to back. This is the logic behind building a subfloor and packing full of foam, then sealing it to the hull. It would then force the water to run on the deck, to the back of the boat.

 

[Pector55]

Nice progress...One word of caution, if you are dead set on sealing it with fiberglass use epoxy resin. It will cost more up front, but if this is a boat you will have for a long time, use epoxy resin not polyester.

Your plan for the sub-floor sounds like a good one, keep in mind your stringers will all be different lengths and widths, a lot of measuring and double checking before you start cutting, just saying things can get out of whack quick with V-hull stringers.

Foam.....just make sure the channels for the water to drain out the hull are open, and you don't foam yourself into a corner. You can set up a pretty nasty corrosion situation by not allowing the hull to drain. Im dealing with that very thing on my build, its no fun repairing either, very time consuming.

Rather than sealing with epoxy or fiberglass resin, would coating the wood in Spar Urethane be better? What do you recommend between the 3 and what specific brand? I'm hear to listen to advice. I suspect that once the foam rises and bonds with the wood, it won't be easy to replace so let me know your thoughts.

I have some "Total Boat" epoxy in my Amazon cart if that is good stuff. I have some time because before I put down the floor I am going to redo the seat placement, fix all the old bolt holes in the hull, and paint the inside of the boat. Then I'll put down the treated floor and pour the foam. After that I'll put down the carpet and frame for the sides. I plan on sealing all the screw and rivet holes with 3M 5200.

Yes! The first two boards were pretty easy. I took measurements every foot. I told the wife I was going to measure out the front piece quick and cut it before I cam in to eat. LOL at the word, "quick". Along with the width changing, the lift had things getting frustrating to keep the wood level.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

If you are going to use spar urethane or spar varnish to seal the wood look at using "Old timers formula"
Your trailer looks good, how old are the tires?

 

[Pector55]

If you are going to use spar urethane or spar varnish to seal the wood look at using "Old timers formula"
Your trailer looks good, how old are the tires?

Thanks for the tip. Im open to whatever is suggested.

The tires looked pretty new.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

There is a 4 digit date code molded into the sidewall of the tires. While the tires look good if they are more than 6 years old you should consider replacing them.

 

[dearl]

Here is the recipe, it makes a lot so half of this recipe should be a gracious plenty....

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

A better formula for the Old times is one part boiled linseed oil, two parts mineral spirts, one part spar urethane or spar varnish.
This way you can mix up as much or as little as you need.

 

[Pector55]

I like that old timers formula. I've done my own painting and I once polished the stock of my M1 Garand with the linseed oil so I'm well aware of the handling of that stuff. lol For giggles, I poured it on a bonnet and used my DA buffer to go over the stock. It made a beautiful finish but I had to stop when the foam pad started smoking. I sort of expected that but the results were well worth having to replace the foam pad.

I went ahead and picked up Total Boat epoxy to treat the wood. I appreciate all the suggestion. One thing I learned about the epoxy is that if the wood is exposed to sunlight, you have to then coat the wood in a varnish or paint since the epoxy offers no UV protection. I was not aware of that. Fortunately none of mine will be exposed.

I also filled the boat with water last night. After an hour I saw no leaks but I went out this morning and found two small spots on the patio. I am going to pause and apply Gluvit to be safe. I know it's another $50 but I literally have this thing gutted and access to everything so now is the time for the right preventative measures.

The inlaws are visiting this weekend so progress is slow. It's giving me time to plan out the project and figure out remaining needs. For instance, I have a rivet gun and an tool for the end of the drill to do the rivets faster. SOB, neither will take 1/4" rivets that I got to patch the holes above the waterline where the guy previously mounted the deck.

 

[Pector55]

Have not posted in a while but I've been chipping away. Since my last post I've completed the following:

Got entire hull patched where the old holes were drilled to bolt the wood to the hull with 5/16" bolts.
Remounted the seat braces
Completely sanded and cleaned the interior
Reinstalled the transom after doing 3 coats of epoxy, then going over the outer edges with some additional epoxy and then E6000.
When I bolted in the transom I used E6000 on all bolts and washers
I pressed in the two aluminum drain plugs
Epoxied the pitting in the aluminum that covers the transom on both the outside and inside
Painted the interior with Aluma Hawk gray
Managed to carefully flip the boat
Completely sanded down all the paint and epoxy that was dry and brittle on the outside of the boat.

Next up: Rain on Wed, Gluvit on Thurs, then touch up any spots and paint on Saturday.