Boat Restore

[sawmill]

Hi everyone
This is my first post on here and I have been reading on here for the last week or so. I finially decided to join.
I have rebuilt several boats in the past with the largest being a 21 foot Slickcraft. Earlier this year I sold our 20 foot lund as it was bigger that we needed anymore. We use to fish Lake Mich all the time
and after we moved to our retirement home we are to far away from the great lakes to use it. Most of the area lakes here have shallow landing so this boat was not a good fit.
I bought a 12 foot Smoker Craft but grandkids are gettin older and want to go so it is time to step up a bit.
I am looking at a couple different ones with one being a 16 foot lund and the other being a 16 foot Starcraft. They both need a lot of work to get going. I am leaning toward the Lund as it will be the easiest to work on.
All the boats I ever had to paint before was glass boats so ppaint aluminum will be something different. I will have to add floors in both boats now matter which I purchase and was wondering about the materials used in the floors. I have a larger supply of old growth cedar sawed into 2 inch thick planks that I plan on using for the stringers in the floor. I am planniing on painting them with epoxy.
I plan on having an open floor plan with a livewell added some where.. I am the type of guy that puts things down on paper but when it comes to doing the job I just do whatever works. With this whole project my biggest concern is weight. I have a 15HP motor now but will change it later if need to be. I am not looking for speed just something to get me out to where I want to go. I also plan on making this boat tiller steer. So let me know any ideas and mainly if the cedar will work for stringers Thanks Ivan

 

[sixgun86]

Hey Sawmill,

Do you have any pictures of these boats? Or the one your planning on building? I'm no expert when it comes to wood but I've never read about cedar being an issue.. Mainly stay away from pressure treated lumber and ply that are made from particle like OSB and MDF.

 

[Kismet]

Welcome.

Neat idea, and you sure have the practical boating experience.

Have fun with the project boat, and take a lot of pictures, if you would.

 

[sawmill]

I bought the Lund. I have to go and pick it up next week as it is located about 150 miles from me. I will take pictures of it and of the restore as I go along and then will try and figure out how to post them on here. I thought about using the cedar for my floor under the carpet also. The grain in the wood is so close together that you cannot hardly see it.

 

[Vermonster]

Hey Sawmill!
Congrats on the boat. If the cedar is what you have and you're looking at saving a few bucks I think it will work. Just be careful about the weight you're adding to the boat would be my only caution. As long as it's sealed up really well I think it will serve. I would coat it 3-4 times top and bottom with spar urethane, and a more permanent fix would be to use epoxy.

For added water-proofing you could use Henry's 263 carpet adhesive - it's waterproof. Have fun and keep us posted!