Brand new here - 14' Texas Maid (Lots of pics!)

[TexMaid]

First post, been lurking for a few weeks looking through builds and getting ideas! Figured it was time to join and show what I'm working with, and also track my progress!

I picked up this little boat, motor and trailer a few weeks ago for $200, figured I couldn't pass it up for that price, and could afford to put a little money into it to make it what I want. From what I looked up on the TPWD site, it's a Texas Maid. Measures right under 14' long, and 61" across the beam at the widest point. The motor is a 1967 Johnson Seahorse 6hp, and the trailer is a homemade one. Honestly thinking of just selling the trailer for whatever I can get, and buying a new one. Also, I picked up a 1970 Evinrude 18hp last night, got it for $100 and it's in a lot better condition than the Johnson, plus I figured it would push me around quite a bit better. Can't go wrong for $100 right?

Only question I have, is what is the best way to go about replacing the transom? I could not get it out in one piece, unfortunately, so I have nothing to trace. There is also a big steel plate that was used to hold everything together, and there is some obvious places of some kind of chemical reaction between the two (see pics). This is my first boat, so honestly not too seasoned in any of this. Just going off what I've read. Oh, and also...on the bottom of the boat, there are the "fins" going across, and theres two spots where it's busted up pretty good (see pics)...what is the best way to go about fixing that?

I've wire brushed some places down...I was planning on doing the whole boat to prep for paint, but I might just switch to sanding to rough up the surface a little. I plan on painting it, I want to go with a glossy almond color, with either a deep red or deep blue strip on the top, and maybe build a carpeted floor later down the road, but for now just want to get it water worthy and go from there!

Anyway, enough talking, I have a ton more to say, but on to the pics! I'll ask more questions as they come to me.


Original pics sent to me from previous owner-






And what I've done so far...

















And here's the Evinrude I picked up for $100



Let me know what y'all think guys, glad to be here!

 

[Rat]

Sweet hull! Love those old Texas Maid hulls.

For the transom just trace the outside of the transom on a piece of cardboard or plastiboard. Trim it until it fits on the inside of the transom and then transfer that to your wood. You will probably need to remove the corner caps when replacing the transom wood. Leave the steel plate or whatever (looks like a transom cap) off; you don't want steel and aluminum touching. Get a metal shop to break a new transom cap for you out of aluminum or see if your local welder can fab one up for you.

Those 'fins' on the bottom of the hull are called strakes. Looks like they were damaged by roller bunks on the trailer; don't use roller bunks on the new trailer. Easily fixed if you can weld aluminum, even easier if you take it to a welder and get them to zip 'em up for ya.

Gonna be a good build!

 

[huntinfool]

Solid advice there. Replace the transom as described above. If you don't have an aluminum welder nearby you can use epoxy. Wish you were closer I'd lend a hand.

 

[typed by ben]

wow quite a beautiful hull! shes gonna look great when youre done.

 

[Macrosill]

Welcome aboard!

That is a nice project you have there. Lots of potential. Keep us posted on its progress and the more pics the merrier.

Any idea what year that evinrude is? I just picked up a 1978 9.9 and am intrigued by the older outboards now.

 

[TexMaid]

Rat » 06 Mar 2014, 00:13[/url]"]Sweet hull! Love those old Texas Maid hulls.

For the transom just trace the outside of the transom on a piece of cardboard or plastiboard. Trim it until it fits on the inside of the transom and then transfer that to your wood. You will probably need to remove the corner caps when replacing the transom wood. Leave the steel plate or whatever (looks like a transom cap) off; you don't want steel and aluminum touching. Get a metal shop to break a new transom cap for you out of aluminum or see if your local welder can fab one up for you.

Those 'fins' on the bottom of the hull are called strakes. Looks like they were damaged by roller bunks on the trailer; don't use roller bunks on the new trailer. Easily fixed if you can weld aluminum, even easier if you take it to a welder and get them to zip 'em up for ya.

Gonna be a good build!

Awesome, thanks for the advice! I'm guessing I just drill out the rivets for the corner caps, and then rivet them back in? I've never worked with rivets, so that will al be new for me. Also, how does the transom cap that they previously had in there look? Do I just have them make a replica of that in aluminum?

Also, the previous transom was bolted in using all kinds of random bolts/nuts in random places. Guess I need to rivet it in as well, or can I use nuts/bolts again?

Thanks again for the advice.

huntinfool » 06 Mar 2014, 07:00[/url]"]Solid advice there. Replace the transom as described above. If you don't have an aluminum welder nearby you can use epoxy. Wish you were closer I'd lend a hand.

Thanks! I moved to Lubbock from Houston about 2 years ago...wish I would've stayed around for the help! Any idea what it would cost to have them weld up the strakes?

typed by ben » 06 Mar 2014, 07:13[/url]"]wow quite a beautiful hull! shes gonna look great when youre done.

Macrosill » 06 Mar 2014, 07:31[/url]"]Welcome aboard!

That is a nice project you have there. Lots of potential. Keep us posted on its progress and the more pics the merrier.

Any idea what year that evinrude is? I just picked up a 1978 9.9 and am intrigued by the older outboards now.

Thanks for the kind words guys. The Evinrude is a 1970, 18hp. Honestly looks like it would fire right up with some gas, but I'm going to tear it apart and replace the impeller before I attempt it. From what I've read, thats the best route to go.


Here is the trailer that came with it...really think I'm better off getting a new trailer for it.




Also, unfortunately, I cannot find the drain plug. It was no where to be found in the boat, and from what I've read...it's a real nightmare to find a replacement for these Texas Maid's. Any ideas?

 

[huntinfool]

What size is the drain plug? It doesn't look threaded. Worse case, drill out that fitting and put a new bung in that you can put a new plug in. We do them at our shop all the time. It takes a special tool, two flare ends on a long bolt. But it will install easily and you could use a standard plug.

 

[rscottp]

huntinfool » 07 Mar 2014, 07:24[/url]"]What size is the drain plug? It doesn't look threaded. Worse case, drill out that fitting and put a new bung in that you can put a new plug in. We do them at our shop all the time. It takes a special tool, two flare ends on a long bolt. But it will install easily and you could use a standard plug.

Looked at close up of picture, it does appear to be threaded.

 

[huntinfool]

Blowing up the pic on my phone I don't see that. Most of those threaded plugs are NPT. You should be able to get a threaded brass plug at the local hardware store. However if it is a proprietary thread, you may have a very difficult time finding one. I personally haven't found that to be the normal though.
What size is it?

 

[ccm]

Very cool boat! Jealous of your find on the 18hp Evinrude. Searched for a year and a half for one. Saw a lot of overpriced clunkers. Finally settled on a new old stock 4hp 4 stroke Tohatsu. Your trailer frame looks pretty good to me. I'd ditch the rollers and custom fabricate some bunk supports that's what I did to mine. If you think your trailer is hideous should have seen mine before I started working on it. :LOL2:
You got a great boat and project with lots of potential cant wait to see the finished product!!! I'm currently in the middle of my boat project too; 1961 Sea King built by Arkansas Traveler.

 

[TexMaid]

huntinfool » 07 Mar 2014, 06:24[/url]"]What size is the drain plug? It doesn't look threaded. Worse case, drill out that fitting and put a new bung in that you can put a new plug in. We do them at our shop all the time. It takes a special tool, two flare ends on a long bolt. But it will install easily and you could use a standard plug.

It's definitely threaded. From what I've read its 7/8" -14 thread, but I haven't been able to find any solutions to finding a drain plug for it.

ccm » 07 Mar 2014, 07:40[/url]"]Very cool boat! Jealous of your find on the 18hp Evinrude. Searched for a year and a half for one. Saw a lot of overpriced clunkers. Finally settled on a new old stock 4hp 4 stroke Tohatsu. Your trailer frame looks pretty good to me. I'd ditch the rollers and custom fabricate some bunk supports that's what I did to mine. If you think your trailer is hideous should have seen mine before I started working on it. :LOL2:
You got a great boat and project with lots of potential cant wait to see the finished product!!! I'm currently in the middle of my boat project too; 1961 Sea King built by Arkansas Traveler.

Thanks bud! Yeah, I've gotten really lucky so far on everything. $300 invested total so far...I'm sure that will continue to tick up as I do things!

Got any before/after pics of your trailer?

 

[ccm]

My trailer is still a work in progress, Me and my dad did just enough to get it road worthy and safe + street legal, It's homemade and stronger than it needs to be. Still got to cut out and weld in center beam + lower the bunks ( made them to high originally ). But this isn't anything that cant be fixed with a little bit of ingenuity and a nice Saturday to kill. Also still have to add some supports for the bow. My trailer is crappy but still salvageable. Your trailer seems to be in great shape compared to mine. I also put on new tires with valve stems, bearing kit, and bearing buddies.

Pics were taken during the ice storm

Did this two years ago and have pulled it many times since then

 

[cantfishenough]

Hi, new here also, I've lurked a lot in the past when restoring an old Ouichta john boat and when I first got my Texas Maid a few years ago.
First congrats on the boat at a great price. I got my rig for about 500 and was happy (~1958 or so Texas Maid with tilt trailer, and a 15hp '95ish (don't remember exact year) Evinrude).

My results with 15hp Motor:
The motor was full of fire ants at the time but was able to clean out the carb/ replace the water pump and flush it out good and it's good to go. You'll definantly want that 18 hp over the 6 if there are more than one adult in it. Mine is great for one adult and 2 kids maybe 21 or so mph, functional with two lighter adults and two kids - about 17-18 mph, but pretty lacking for 3 adult guys and one kid (maybe 10-12mph on a good day) especially if there is much wind - it will get out on the water but not anywhere very fast).

On prepping the Aluminum:
One thing I can suggest (not that it's absolutely necessary - but the way we handled corrosion on Aircraft when I used to work at a repair shop) is that before you do much with the corrosion on the aluminum that you give it a quick acid etch and use the self-etching primer on it. To Acid etch it get all proper safety equipment (proper gloves, respirator, and splash proof goggles - it sounds scarier than it is... not that you'll absolutely need them, but why risk it just in case...). We had a specific acid and alodine chemicals with a top coat of Zinc Chromate primer that we used, but I wasn't able to get them when I was working on my boat hull due to cost and I moved away from my buddies who still do aircraft maintenance... you may be able to find out more about this now online (search "how to acid etch and alodine aluminum")

Anyway I found some info on line about acid etching and it seemed to work fine... then I used the I don't I'll have to go back and figure out exactly the ratio [[[***EDIT here is one of the links I looked at about acid etching - note he's doing it for "art" I was doing it to get rid of corrosion: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-etch-aluminum-panel-labelsdesigns-with-a-r/?ALLSTEPS ***]]] , but I mixed 90% hydrogen peroxide (the type you get from a medicine shop - in my case a vitamin shop- or a drug store not the diluted type you get at the grocery store) [[[***EDIT I apologize, the Hydrogen Peroxide percentages are 3% for home use and the "strong one" that I was referring to that I got from the vitamin shop was 35%.****]]] and muriatic acid the type that goes in swimming pools. You don't need a lot so you may be able to bum some acid (not meant to be a joke but it does sound bad in a hippy sort of way) from a neighbor with a pool. Use an acid brush and put the mixture on the corrosion to make sure you get down to bare aluminum- you wash it off with water and then put a couple thick coats of self etching primer on the metal... it may be over kill, but it seemed like it worked ok and like I said sounds worse than it really is...

NOTE: Just don't put the acid/peroxide solution in an enclosed container!! I tried a spray bottle and the solution reacted with the metal ball valve or spring in the sprayer and would have "exploded" because of air pressure if I hadn't opened it back up. just take your time, be safe and don't get it on you.
FURTHER WARNING: I did this and lived :wink: But I also used proper safety equipment - a good quality respirator, elbow length acid resistant gloves, old pair of Long pants and old long sleeve shirt, work boots, an old cap and safety glasses... if you decide to do something similar do your homework and read up on what others have done - there is a wealth of information online but also some stuff that will get you hurt - use common sense and don't attempt if you don't have the safety equipment or know what you're doing...

More on the Transom:
I also agree that that steel transom bar looks like a bad fix. Steal and Aluminum are not a good combination especially when you mix in some water... If you know anyone who does aircraft maintenance or have a small flight school near by you may be able to get a favor out of a mechanic to do the rivets for you if you take him fishing once it done or something... It wouldn't be hard, but it could be expensive if you don't have the right tools.

You may also want to read up on fiberglassing the transom boards. I have not done this personally, the only one I did I used a nice birch plywood and a lot of coats of something like Thompson's Water Seal. Especially on the edges. I also only used stainless steel hardware when mounting it, and I covered the bolt shanks and insides of the washers with a hardy coat of 3M 5200 Marine Adhesive Sealant. Used stainless Nylon locknuts on the other end. It may have been over kill, but I didn't want to take any chances of it needing to be redone any time soon.

At least semi-permanent Hull repair idea:
Also for the scraped up keel fins (or stakes i guess) in your pictures if you can't get them welded, I have used a kit of aluminum boat patch from Cabela's that is like a stick of plastic that you heat up with a torch and "melt" into the cracks/holes. it seems to make a nice semi permanent bond. I have it all around the drain plug rivets on my Texas Maid and on the back seam (see pics below). Some of it on the back scrapped off when the back rubbed on some rocks but other than that it has worked well for me. My boat is also on rollers and I don't have those issues with the stakes (If it is the rollers I probably need to deal with that on my trailer also)- it may be the rollers - I can't quite tell if those spots hit the rollers or not from the pics) or it may be that the other guy just smashed it into some rocky lake shore... either way:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-ALUMINUM-BOAT-PATCH/533864.uts
I believe it was about $25 for two sticks. I used about 1 1/2 between the two boats. It is sandable to some extent if you don't use an electric or air sander that gets it too hot. If you don't have leaks but are only trying to plug the holes on the stakes it may do the trick for you until you can get it welded.



As for the drain plug please see my threads on iboats and fiberglassics for my experience - I boats has at least one other thread as well:
mine: https://www.fiberglassics.com/fiberglassics-forums/home/alumi-classics/drain-plug-mod-for-1958-texasmaid-need-advice
mine: https://forums.iboats.com/boat-restoration-building-hull-repair/possible-mod-texas-maid-drain-plug-make-more-standard-good-bad-idea-472236.html
not mine: https://forums.iboats.com/boat-restoration-building-hull-repair/drain-plug-1964-texas-maid-365011.html

 

[cantfishenough]

I'm also interested to know what your plans are for the seats... what type of foam are you going to put back in or are you using the original? Are you putting in a live well? or anything like that? cooler or something?

I had a link on repairing Evinrude/Johnson engines that did a good job talking about the water pump and some other stuff. You've probably found it by now, but I'll try to post it if I can find it. I think I've switched web browsers since then and didn't get all my bookmarks into the new one.

 

[cantfishenough]

Just a wondering about your boat's status? I guess it's been a year since you got it at this point.

Any updates on the aluminum repairs on the stake or transom?
I was about to start working on the paint on the inside of mine and need to reseal the wood on the seats and transom... and I remembered some of these old post.
Also wondering if you had any success redoing the seats and foam underneath?