Alumacraft 1648 Project - Getting Ready, Again

[gillhunter]

If you stumble onto this old thread you can walk through my build and see me age a decade+. This is our rendition of a bluegill boat. The wife and I are still fishing together at 71. We have caught 1000's out of the boat over the years . (we only keep what we eat and release the rest.) The picture below is the latest version of the boat. Enjoy.

I am new to this site, but have been enjoying looking at the projects. After relocating from northern Indiana to Georgia a few years ago my wife and I were having to tow a couple of hours in each direction to be able to fish with our Polar Kraft 168 SC. We have several small lakes within 15 minutes of the house, but most are total electric or have a 10 hp restriction. We decided to put together a boat we could use locally. We decided on an Alumacraft 1648 as a starting point. We did start with a new boat and trailer. I have a lot of respect for those that take on total restoration projects. Our first boat was a 1982 14' Crestliner that we bought in 1996 with a 20 hp Mercury (pull start, I was younger then) which we put decks, seats etc. The Alumacraft will be our 5th boat, kind of going back to where we started. We plan on putting on a 9.9 Mercury 4-stroke at some point in the future. (that ended up being a 9.9 Honda)

 

[Honky Tonkin]

That is a nice boat!! What kind of trolling motor are you putting on it?

 

[gillhunter]

Its a 50 lb Minn Kota. (We ended up with a 55 lb) I decided to try attaching the photos on this post.

 

[gillhunter]

We fish for panfish basically, so the boat is set up for what has worked for us in the past. We have owned a few boats over the years and have a pretty good idea of what works or doesn't work for us, which may be one of the few advantages of aging. The longer term plan is to mount an electric start 9.9 4-stroke, probably a Merc, (We ended up with a Honda) that we can pull off and on easily. With that in mind I installed 2 trolling motor batteries with a switch and a starter battery that I am running the sonar with and in the future, the engine.

 

[Troutman3000]

Nice battery set up. FYI for the future, you can use a deep cycle battery as your cranking battery too, which can double for your trolling motor.

 

[gillhunter]

You are right, and I thought about that but I have had some electronics in the past that did not like to be on the same battery as the trolling motor.

 

[Froggy]

Looking real nice so far

 

[gillhunter]

Thanks. With our schedules the weekends are the only time that we can really get anything done on a project so on to the decking installation. I might not have put carpeting on all the seat surfaces if I were still up north, but our experience since we have been in the south is that you can fry eggs on bare metal in the summer, so all the surfaces were carpeted. Used all stainless screws. I wanted to keep the boat as simple and light as I could. The front lower deck was a bit tricky to follow the contour of the boat. I had the choice of either raising the deck a few inches and keeping it level, or keeping it it low and contoured. Since my wife will be fishing out of the middle seat it was her choice. We got about 18 inches of storage in the bow deck extension.

 

[Honky Tonkin]

That is some very nice work! I would shoot for a 15hp if you could find one. The older 70-80s models are lighter for moving around, but the newer 4 strokes are quiter and create less pollution. I have an older 9.8 merc because that is what I can afford + it is really light so no problem taking it off and storing it/traveling with it in the truckbed and what not.

 

[gillhunter]

The hull is rated for 30 hp. Rule of thumb would be to put on at least 50% or the 15hp that you suggest. The issue is however, the lakes I want to fish on are total electric or 10 hp max. Thus, I will putting on a 9.9.

 

[Honky Tonkin]

I think what you need is a 15hp with a good set of 9.9 stickers!!!hahaha!

 

[reedjj]

I think what you need is a 15hp with a good set of 9.9 stickers!!!hahaha!

Agreed!

Very nice work. That wood work is really good. The way you made it fit the mod V is nice. Carpet looks great too.

 

[reedjj]

How much further did you extend the front deck? Looks like you went to the next rib?

 

[gillhunter]

Thanks, I extended the front deck about 18" - 2 ribs. This picture is a little clearer

 

[gillhunter]

We finally got the boat finished enough to try it out this weekend. Everything worked fine and the boat balanced nice and was very stable. We even caught some fish!

 

[mbhutton]

Well done. I love that deck. One of these day I would like to use all of my equipment and do a build on a 1648 all weld boat. Looks great

 

[reedjj]

How did you do the flooring in the front of the boat. Did you use two separate pieces and make them meet in the middle to follow the countour of the mod-V front? The glued on carpet would hold it together in there.

 

[gillhunter]

mbhutton, Thanks, I had never done this before, but got a lot of really good ideas from this site.

reedjj, I thought about doing that but instead I cut 3 datos half way through the plywood and filled them with silicone so the wood followed the contour before putting the carpet on. It is a trick I learned doing some furniture building.

 

[reedjj]

Wow... I don't even know what that means? LOL!

 

[gillhunter]

reedjj, I looked where the ribs of the boat were cut and welded to form the mod v in the hull (see picture) I then cut 3 slots 1/2 way through the plywood deck close together so the deck could be bent to match the hull and not break. I could have formed the deck with 2 pieces of plywood as you suggested before, but this was how I decided to do it. The one thing that I have seen on the site are several different solutions for the same problem, which is neat.