Late '50's alumacraft mod

[infernoxd45]

I'm new to posting here but have been lurking for a long time. Ice gleaned a lot of info over the past months and decided to start my project a couple of months ago. Since this would be primarily a fishing machine I chose to forgo the aesthetics and focus on functionality.
This is what I started with:

I added the seats when I first got the boat 3 years ago just to make it more comfortable.
Here's the tear down:



The PO had added the seat tops and the little front deck with regular plywood, 2 by's and some carpet :/

The transom was shot..

 

[infernoxd45]

For some reason my pics are posting in revers order.. Hopefully you can follow along



I'll just post the pics and then type lol
I sealed the seams and most rivets with 5200 and sprayed rustoleum rubber coating on the inside and she was good and dry after leak testing.
I had some help along the way.. That's my #1 fishin buddy who's equally excited to see this project get done! I used angle aluminum 1/8" x 1-1/16" and 1/8"x 3/4" for the framing.
I started with the manual rivet gun and quickly realized that if I was going to make it through this project I would need an air riveter.. I broke my hand two years ago and it hasn't been the same since!

 

[infernoxd45]

I'm lucky enough to live within driving distance of the RV Capitol of the world and as such there are lots of salvage places that get seconds and scratch and dent supplies from all the manufacturers around here. I came across this 3/4" FRP and thought it made a lot of sense to use for my decking. I estimate it's a third of the weight of plywood and is plenty strong enough. For my livewell system I used a livewell pump that had two inlets and put a T on the outlet so I can pump in from the lake to fill, or from the drain to recirculate or just drain it, depending on which valves I close/open.

 

[infernoxd45]

In the end, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.. Things I will be modifying in the future: expanding the battery compartment by an inch or two so I can put them in boxes. The on board charger wasn't part of the original design so I didn't account for that in the space.
I will also be adding some rod holders along the side and a removable trolling rod system so I can pull 6 lines out the back of the boat.

And my buddy broke the boat in with this 22" 4.25lb bass on the first trip out!

 

[fool4fish1226]

Nice set-up - job well done :beer:

 

[infernoxd45]

Thx! I think I caught the sickness.. Just picked up another tin!