Aero Craft 12' Mod.

[Action762]

Ok soooo Im a bit pissed right now.... :evil: Ive got a hole! :evil:

Im not sure how to fix this but none the less I need to patch it so I am able to at least get some use of the boat on my pond. I would still like to mod it but I am not sure if the 1950ish aluminum is going to hold. After looking at it from the inside of the boat I found this. Also looking closer at the bottom I found where the previous owner has put bolts through the belly of the hull for some reason. I assume it was to patch a leaking rivet but I cant be sure because there is one that is just hanging out in the middle not near any rivets. Here is what I am talking about.

And not a major problem but something I would like to fix if it is going to pose a problem in the future is a few rotten spots on the back rails of the boat. All in all I think for the money "$175" it was a good buy but let me know what you think. Here is a pic of the rails.

It was far too cold to do anything today so I just went outside and took a few pics and inspected the boat a little closer. I was going to put it in the water today to see if there were any leaks but if I would have done that... well I think I may have been retrieving it from the bottom. Ill be back throughout the next few weeks. I have to have surgery on a torn ligament in my wrist so I will be occupied with that for at least 4 weeks but will still follow the forum with yall. I will start back at it when the weather breaks to post more about the cleaning and the start of the build if I hear that it is an easy fix, but either way it will get fixed so Im not just throwing 175 bucks away. Let me know what yall think of that hole and the possibilities of a patch for it or new aluminum. Thanks guys...

 

[aaron86]

I have a 12 foot Thompson aluminum when I got it the previous owner split the hull with a gash about 6 inches long he used fiberglass to patch it 15 years ago still the same patch to this date not a drip has come thur

 

[Action762]

Thanks Aaron. Is that the fiberglass strips. I saw a patch on here along the rivets and I think it was done the way you are talking about. Let me know more about it and if it doesnt leak today Id say that is a pretty good way to patch it. Thanks again Aaron.

 

[aaron86]

I think it was strips used

 

[aaron86]

Over the gash as for rivits just rebuck them

 

[wingsnhammers]

Was that the soft floor issue you were talking about in my thread? As far as that crack...I would make a patch and rivet it on the inside of the hull. I can't figure out how big the crack is, but the patch should be at least 2 times the size of the crack. It would be a good idea to lay the patch out and predrill the rivet holes, then place the patch over the damaged area and drill the holes around the bad spot. Remove patch, wipe away metal flakes, apply a sealant to the patch and start shooting rivets from the outside in. With your patch on the inside, the hull would remain smooth and a patch with the correct number of rivets will be incredibly strong and watertight. If you want to know more as to rivet layout and patch fabrication, I can give you more info.

Hope the surgery goes well. I had a major back surgery a year ago. I doubt I will ever work on aircraft again, but I have a few manuals and guides on riveting and patch fabrication.

 

[Action762]

Wings and Aaron, Thanks for the info. You will be able to see a better picture of what I am talking about with the crack in the next series of pictures. Today I figured since it was such a nice day and I will be having a wrist surgery Thursday I will knock out the cleaning of the boat. Although my wife says im crazy, "Because it is still going to snow and you will have to do it again", I guess she just doesnt understand when a man feels like he got screwed..... he wants to make the situation look better :lol: Im just kidding. I picked up some Fabuloso today. Its a great cleaning agent if anyone reading this doesnt know what it is. Get some and see... then you will know what Im talking about anyway moving forward. So I will post a few pictures of the boat before I cleaned it and then a few of the same angles after the cleaning. It looks much better that I thought it was. I will let the pics speak for themselves.

So those are the before pics. And here are the after.... Im very satisfied!!!

Ok so that was the progress I made today. I think I did a good job making this old boat clean. A little Fabuloso and a hard bristled scrub brush goes a long way. Here is a few more pics where I was standing on my deck and then I will put one on there of the crack so you can see the inside of the crack. And Wings if that is still the best route to take with patching it then that is the route I will take.

Well that is pretty much it for now. I will post more when I am capable because like I said that surgery is going to put me out for about 4 weeks at least. Anyway thanks for checking out the pics and let me know what you think. I will have nothing but time on my hand :wink: for the next few weeks so I will be on here and learning from all you very knowledgeable guys...

 

[Scott Mac]

I hope your surgery goes well and you are back in full operation mode soon. You know....There are fish out there dying of old age that have never been caught. Just something to think about. Good Luck!

 

[wingsnhammers]

That crack is right in the middle of a contour, isn't it? If it were me, I would put a patch on it, but it's no big deal to me. I have everything I would need already. For you, you may could have someone go in and weld it and still come out cheaper than buying a rivet gun and all the accessories you would need.

 

[Action762]

Thanks Scott!! It should be good just a slight tear on a ligament. Best part is it happened at work so it paid for... and while off so am I :lol: Oh yea its those fish that fuel my drive to fish because I do NOT have a picture of a huge fish like most... Hopefully this is the summer I can get that pic! [-o<
Thanks Wings I will probably have somone weld it up so I have no worries about it. I know a buddy of mine has a nice rivet gun he told me I could use to fix it but I know nothing about riveting so I would have to read up and watch a few "youtube" videos to get the hang of it. Anyway I did this last night when I was bored. I dont have any fancy programs so dont make fun of the billy in me... but there is :lol: so anyway I used paint to just draw up a generic "blueprint" of the round-a-bout design of what I want. The wife is bugging me to go run some errands so I will talk to you guys probably next week as I work late Wed and Ive got my surgery Thur. Talk to yall soon...

 

[Scott Mac]

Hi Action,
Thought I would send along a project that I did last summer. It is a 12' MirroCraft that was a basic model like your AeroCraft. I only cut the center seat ou and covered the front and rear bench. I tied the two (front & back with alum. angle along the top and framed in the bottom with alum angle as well. I used rattle can bed liner on the plywood as the surface coating. It served me well for the summer and I sold it last month to a co-worker. Just another twist to ponder.

 

[Action762]

Hey Scott. Yea I really like that modification of your boat! Are those side compartments for storage? The front as well does it have storage? I like the way it is set up though! What is the walking area from side to side in the middle? Where did you place the seats because I dont see any seats or seat mounts. Because after I looked back at my mod and the pic of what I want. I was wondering if I was aiming to high with the seating? I mean it will be just ME 8) ... and maybe the wife from time to time lol. So do I really need 4 seats what do you think? And is it going to cramp the moving space within the boat if I do use three seats at a max? Let me know what you think.

 

[Scott Mac]

Action,
The sides are full of foam but could have had storage. I did not do that. The front has a large storage area. If you look close there is a parting line and that is a continuous hinge. The lid opening is the front nose piece. The front bench is still there so it was quite a large area because the front bench was just a flat board with no foam below it. The distance between the side walls is about 30". I did not add seats because I just sat on floatation cushions. I thought that a seat up front on a pedestal would have been a little tippy because the center of gravity would the been a little too high. I carried that concept to my latest project where I cut out the front bench and secured the pedestal to the floor that was at least a foot lower than the top of the front bench. Check out the link in my signature. When I was in the 12' boat, alone, I could stand up front on the platform just fine but with someone in the rear it made it hard to stand when they would move around. In that situation I would just stay seated. I found that the added weight of the conversion makes the boat sit down in the water better making it more stable. The 10 hp motor pushed it along just fine with the added weight. I did not have covered storage in the rear because the gas tank was too high so I left it open and added that storage bin. I did not know about tin boats when I converted that 12' boat so I did not document the progress and only have before and after photos. As far as your modification and the seating arrangement I think 4 seats would be too many. If you plan on being alone most of the time and having your better half along once in a while I would start with two seats and use it a few times before I added more (just a suggestion). I picked up the seats in my latest Q-14 project from Wal-Mart and paid $44.00 each without the swivel base. The swivel under the pilot seat was around $10.00 and the front one was $44.00 both from Wal-Mart. The quality appears to be very good for the money. I have added a couple pictures of the 12' boat prior to the modification that may help explain.

 

[Action762]

Yea I love your 14' build!!! I have to make this quick because I have the surgery in the a.m. and need to get some shuteye but I really like your second build "14' ". I do like the advice and will take it because you have done this in a 12' so you know. Your 12' and mine look to be just about the same dimensions so I think I will go with something similar with the first but carpet it because I like the look. I thought about rhino liner or something similar but when I saw your second build I fell in love with the carpet! After taking a step back and looking at the drawing that I made in paint I do think that 4 seats are WAY to much and I will only go with 2. I see how you have the hinge in the front deck of your 12' and I will probably do something, again, similar because it gives more space in the front. Let me ask though was that cooler in the back the live well? I had thought I was going to have to use a cooler for this boat because the lack of space. Well my wife is yelling at me that I will never get up if I dont go to bed now, 6 am and shes probably right :shock: , so thanks again for the advice and I will be back on in a few days so Ill talk to you then.

 

[Scott Mac]

How did the surgery go? I said a prayer for you.

 

[Action762]

Hey Scott and thanks, that was nice! Well it went ok. Im in pain now but dealing with it like I do... going to make this short because I dont want to tweak my wrist so here are a few pics my wife took after I got home from the surgery... Ill say I was a bit loopy :shock:

To discribe this picture is basically, the doctors put a "block" in my shoulder to numb my whole arm. well it did just that for over 24 hours... this is my arm swinging and me having no control over it at all. I thought you might get a kick out of it so I put it up... My wife said Im now a weirdo... but as long as someone smiled at it I got the job done... :lol: Talk to you soon Scott...

 

[Action762]

Oh I also picked up a used trolling motor from a guy my father in law knows for 100 bucks... Ill post a pic in a few days but it is a Prowler 55lb thrust... I think nice for the price... Talk to you soon.

 

[wingsnhammers]

Glad to see the surgery went alright. Those blocks can do a number on you! Just be sure to take the Doc's recommendations on the workout and rehab. You will be recovered in no time.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Hope you have good speedy recovery. Anxiously watching your thread as I work on mine. Your boat is pretty similar to mine as far as shape and size.

 

[Action762]

:lol: Hey guys. Wrist is feeling really good. I think it is going to be a speedy recovery thanks to all the help from prayers :lol: Thanks a lot Wings and yes it did a number alright. My wife said that when they started to put me under she came in to get my wedding band and the few things that I had on me before surgery and I guess I was doing nothing but laughing and joking around..... :shock: I do NOT remember any of it... LOL Anyway all is well. Thanks BoatDawd Ill have to check out yours in a little bit wife is yelling at me to go eay dinner. I have picked up a few things for the boat... A used trolling motor "BPS" Prowler T55, a rivet gun, a small sheet of aluminum for the patch and some JB Weld and flexible silicone sealant to go along with the patch. I will be getting my trailer and tow package next week so Im excited about that. Thats it for now. I will post a few pics that I will take tomorrow. Wife is really yelling now.... Ill get on later guys, See yas!