Lowe 16x48 Restoration

[Waterwings]

Lowe and some other mfrs (WarEagle, & Triton I believe) have the feature, may be others I can't think of. It's part of the gunwale itself, and besides using the track as a raceway for wires, it can be used to add accessories such as rod holders, cup holders, oar locks, etc. that attach in the track and are normally tightened through the use of a thumbscrew.

Here's a link to the '09 Lowe site. Mouse-over the top middle flashing dot on the boat pic and a view of the track will show: https://www.loweboats.com/showroom/welded-jon/roughneck-jon/r1655.php

 

[wyodeputy]

 

[CrappieReaper]

You gonna need a whole bunch of Battleship Gray when that rig is complete. Looking great!

 

[Nick Jones]

looking good man!

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

lookin great

 

[Zum]

Boats going to be bullet proof.
Way to go.

 

[daltonmcgill]

lookin good

 

[caveman]

Hello,

Let me start by saying your boat looks good your doing a great job. I just have a few questions for you , if you can take the time to answer them.
1 How far do the seat mount stems protrude into the floor.The ones I have here are 2 1/4 " and the ribs are only 1 / 1/2 "
I'm mounting mine on bench seats so it doesn't matter just curious .

2 How thick is the blue board you are using? All I have been able to find is 2" and ribs are only a 1 1/2" ?

3 Last but most important . Did you use the .080 alum or did you use something else for the front deck ?

I hope you can find time to answer my questions ? As looking at what you are doing is helping me out very much.

Thank you and you are doing a great job on your boat .

 

[wyodeputy]

Hello,

Let me start by saying your boat looks good your doing a great job. I just have a few questions for you , if you can take the time to answer them.
1 How far do the seat mount stems protrude into the floor.The ones I have here are 2 1/4 " and the ribs are only 1 / 1/2 "
I'm mounting mine on bench seats so it doesn't matter just curious .

2 How thick is the blue board you are using? All I have been able to find is 2" and ribs are only a 1 1/2" ?

3 Last but most important . Did you use the .080 alum or did you use something else for the front deck ?

I hope you can find time to answer my questions ? As looking at what you are doing is helping me out very much.

Thank you and you are doing a great job on your boat .

Hey there,

The ribs on my boat are also 1 1/2" deep and the bases are the same as yours (2 1/4"). I had to cut mine down to fit the 1 1/2" depth. I was worried about the seats being less than sturdy before cutting them down but I took extra care and consideration and welded them around the entire edge of the bases and looks like it worked as they are still pretty stout. I also used 1 1/2" blue board. My local lumber yard stocks 1", 1 1/2" and 2". Maybe try a different supplier in your area. If not, you maybe able to "score-cut" the 2" board with a table saw, then cut out the right depth with a hand saw? The front deck has not been "decked" yet but I intend on using .125 aluminum and have the material on hand ... just haven't gotten around to it yet. Hope its going well, send more questions my way ... if you have them - thanks

 

[caveman]

Thanks for taking time to reply just one more thing for a 4'x12' .080 alum is 50$ a good deal?

 

[wyodeputy]

Thanks for taking time to reply just one more thing for a 4'x12' .080 alum is 50$ a good deal?

As long as its a good quality alloy, then 50 bucks is a screamin' deal. Buy it and get me a piece too!

 

[ben2go]

6061 I believe is marine alloy.

 

[caveman]

Hello wyodeputy
I just want to first thank you for all your help and taking time to respond.
1 why did you go with rivets vs screws for the floor??

2 What size rivets did you use and what size hole was drilled for them (i am dumb and don't understand rivets size)

3 What are you plans for the finish floor cover????

AGAIN THANKS AND POST MORE PICS. SOON
CAVEMAN

 

[wyodeputy]

Hello wyodeputy
I just want to first thank you for all your help and taking time to respond.
1 why did you go with rivets vs screws for the floor??

2 What size rivets did you use and what size hole was drilled for them (i am dumb and don't understand rivets size)

3 What are you plans for the finish floor cover????

AGAIN THANKS AND POST MORE PICS. SOON
CAVEMAN

Hey Caveman, no problem ... happy to tell you what I know (which really ain't much)

I had the rivets so I used them. They're cheaper than stainless steel screws. Also, because we're welding the seem (where the sides meet the floor) its pretty much permanent. Even then, grinding off the head of the rivet and drilling it out isn't a real big deal but the screws would be easier. In the back of my mind, I know if I ever HAVE to get back into the floor, I can cut out the welds at the seem with a plasma cutter ... but I'd rather not go there.

I used 3/16" aluminum rivets and I can't recall the drill bit size... I'm not at home right now so I'll have to get back to you, but it only needs to be big enough to fit the head of the rivet in.

And on the floor, I'm looking at using some craftsman shop floor mats cut to fit the floor. I have to credit the site administrator (Jim) for the idea of a floor mat and Ryan saw the craftsman style at a job site and noticed they were very light-weight ... so he suggested using those and I'm gonna follow through with that idea. They're very light and will blow out when trailering so we're gonna glue them down with contact cement or other adhesive.

Thanks

 

[wyodeputy]

Not a whole lot here but we did get the other interior side in place today which is kind of a landmark for us as we knew this would be the hardest part of the restoration/rebuild. This side was actually much easier than the first piece which was a relief to both me and Ryan. Mainly just wanted to show the new look of the inside with the floor and sides in place.

 

[Waterwings]

That's looking really good! 8)

 

[lizard drager]

thats gona be so cool,cant wait to see the finished product.

 

[wyodeputy]

FINALLY !!! I got the steelflex ... and its not like it took an unreasonable amount of time to get from Florida to Idaho but its just the waiting ... I'm like a kid waiting on Christmas for this stuff ... And then I don't know if any of you have a UPS guy like mine but he's sneaky ... like he turns down my road and goes into stealth-mode. I gave him till 6 pm and then gave up on him for today ... then at 12:45 am, I went out to check if it was snowing and there on my doormat is the package ... I don't know when he came .... anyway

Not sure I like the pigments that I chose ... I was thinking beige would've been darker ... also got olive drab and was gonna experiment with mixing the two for the right shade. The guy at Fasco also said any polyester based paint should mix with the steelflex so I'll have to figure that out before I start putting it on. Here's few shots of the stuff and the flyer that came with it. Hope to have more accomplished in the next few days. Thanks for looking. .

 

[baptistpreach]

PUT IT ON!!! PUT IT ON!!! PUT IT ON!!! PUT IT ON!!! PUT IT ON!!! PUT IT ON!!! PUT IT ON!!! PUT IT ON!!!

 

[wyodeputy]

At the request of Baptist Preacher, I have put it on....

I called up Jerry at Fasco to get a little more info on the tinting and colors. As I said before, I was way off on my tint choices and rather than send them back and wait for another shipment from Florida, Jerry offered some other options. At his direction, I went to a hardware store and picked out the color I wanted. I then asked them to give me just the colors they'd normally add to paint ... but not the paint. I had to do some guessing as these colors are usually added to a can of white paint to formulate the actual color on the sample card. Once satisfied with the color, I came home and tested a small amount of the Fasteel part 2 hardener with the coloring from the hardware store and they blended well.

As directed by the instructions, I mixed the tint with the entire batch of hardener for an even color throughout, then added small portions of the epoxy and hardener together and applied this to the boat, which I'd previously wiped down with acetone. This steelflex is a real pain to apply ... like spreading cold molasses ... but after a couple hours it was done and I'm pretty happy with the finished product (although not yet cured). I had earlier pm'd Brewfish and Ouachita with questions about the steelflex and they were very helpful and gave me lots of guidance, so thanks again to them... this really is a great site. Now that I've got some experience with the steelflex, I'm happy to pass along some of my insights to anyone needing a little guidance. Thanks for looking