My 1986 Alumacraft Classic Deluxe project

[murphy67]

Well, now that Labor weekend has passed, I figured it was time for another update.

The Reese Towpower hitch I ordered from Amazon had a manufacturer defect and 1 side of the bolt holes were off by 1/2 in or so, so I ended up picking up a new hitch from Uhaul and got that installed Thursday night, and also got the wiring for the van done.

I got the engine running Friday morning, which i wanted to do before trailer'ing the boat up north for the weekend. After changing to my old gas tank (as new one would not keep the ball hard) it started right up:



All connected and ready for the road



On the shorestation:







More pics on the water and such from the weekend:





She had a great 1st run...no engine issues at all...started right up everytime, got up to about ~42mph at wide open.



Now I still need to finish the stereo, some LED light strips, and a few minor things and then she will be all set til next season.

Great maiden voyage!! Thanks again to all on these forums for the help, and knowledge along the way!

 

[Fire1386]

What a change from the start pics to the last ones, well done.....now enjoy it.....

 

[murphy67]

Thanks Fire! It has been a great project/journey, although I still have some more work to do to complete the re-build...and then plan to fully enjoy it starting next season.

I never intended to even get it on the water this year...but once things started coming together, I had to try to get it water-ready for Labor day and am glad I did, as I now have confidence that it is a great solid hull, and the motor is also running great too!

 

[murphy67]

So almost a year has passed since I got my boat on the water last Labor day, so thought it was time to finally get back to posting a few more updates that I have completed this summer on my boat.

I installed some rope LED light strings on a rocker switch for the bow of the boat as well as for under the splashguard area in the back:

Bow: (that large opening in front has now been covered by a speaker so its not that bright, and the lights are really nice when on the water at night)



Back of boat:




Got my JBL stereo mounted to the right of the driver seat. I really like the unit so far, its not too big, has bluetooth/USB/Radio/Aux input and a remote USB/Aux that I mounted under the console. I am running 4 speakers off it, 1 in front, 1 in back, and 2 under the console.





I then added a LED light inside the Rod box which will make it nice to see when out night fishing/cruising around:



Then I got the rodbox in, and added a new locking perko latch for the rod box:



Lastly I had to give the motor a nice cleaning as I think it had not been done in like 20 years, nice what a little Simple green and elbow grease can do:



A final shot of the boat before covering it to take it up north 2 weeks back for a week on the water, and also picked up 2 more of the Tempress High back seats for a total of 3 now (really like those seats and think they are worth a bit of extra $):




Boat had a great week on the water, no issues at all; no leaks (not even a single drop came out when I pulled the plug after taking it out of the water) no problems with the motor either and got it into the low 40's again at WOT.

Few shots from up north:





Tomorrow I am getting my new Raymarine 4Pro locator/GPS to replace my old Eagle Optima, so that will be my next task and then I am taking the boat back up north for labor day again, and plan to sand some rust off my trailer and paint it (exciting stuff!!). That will most likely do it for this season for work on the boat and for getting the boat on the water as well.

 

[murphy67]

I ended up getting all my old transducer and cables from my old fish finder removed Friday night and fished the new transducer and power cables for my Dragonfly through the side of my boat, and got it wired up and powered on. Then Saturday I got the new transducer mounted and everything cleaned up from the install.

Cant wait to get back on the water in a few weeks to try it out!




Next I installed my emergency gas tank, its a 0.75 Gal Alloy-Park can which is meant to be mounted on a ATV or motorcycle with the bracket kit, but I just used some SS bolts and lock washers to install it under my console so it is secured.






I also found my dad's old windshield which was cracked where the left side mounted to the console, and at least for this season I just used some Loctite Super glue gel and so far it seems to be pretty solid, so the plan is to see if it lasts through Labor day weekend, and then I plan to get a new one for next season.





Lastly, I installed a dual rod holder on the side of the console, and a 2nd cup holder:

 

[benjineer]

This is really nice! Congrats on finishing it.

 

[murphy67]

Thanks! I still have to get 2 new Anchormate II's for the front and back and might get a bow mount trolling motor sometime next year, so not quite done, but close. The rest is just luxuries at this point. I do want to replace the carpet in front of the splash guard and maybe re-enforce it and mount a seat post there so when anchored/stopped it would be a nice 2nd higher casting/fishing spot. Its funny now that I have made it this far and surpassed what I thought I could even do, and with seeing what everyone else around here does; I am excited and wanting to start another boat project...maybe next year we'll see.

 

[fowellm]

Very nice job! I'm just starting my repair on a boat almost identical. Just wondering what you did around the livewell? Did you get it pulled out? I have everything else pulled up, just haven't figured out if I need to go around it or if there is a way to get it out to go underneath it.
thanks

 

[murphy67]

follwm,
Sorry for the delay, its been a bit since I have been on here...

As for around the livewell, I used a multi-tool and flush cut the floor to go around the livewell. I then put some new wood under the livewell for support and once i put the new flooring down, you cant tell that the floor doesnt go all the way underneath. The biggest problem I had with doing my flooring in the back area was the the boards were not in good shape and one piece was worthless for a template so i had to make my own template out of paper (or cardboard would work too) then I laid that on my wood an cut the floor piece and kept putting it in the boat, and seeing what needed to be trimmed where, etc...and finally everything fit nice and snug. I also just used some 1 3/4 or 2 in self tapping hex screws to go right through the carpet and floor and into the aluminum ribs in 1 go...worked well.

What kind of boat are you working on?

I finally just got my boat running for the 1st time this season, and hope to get it on the water in the next few weeks, but nice that it started up on the first crank after sitting since last Sept in my garage.

 

[toot]

This was an excellent job of restoration! =D>

 

[murphy67]

Thanks Toot!

I did finally get 2x new Anchormate II's installed this week, and added a new LED bar, so will eventually get those pics up to just show a "more complete" state of the restore

 

[murphy67]

Here are a few pictures of the last couple of changes I have made.

New front and back Anchormate II's installed...then moved my LED bow and stern lighting to both be on at the same time (where previous the rocker switch would light either front or back only)...and thus it freed up 1 switch, and I threw a 6in blue LED strip under the console....which is more for novelty than for anything I assume I will actually use..lol.












So other than that, I plan to get the anchor rope and anchors attached, give it a good vacuum and cleaning, and then i am taking the boat up north in 2 weeks for a week at the cabin and my first use this season. Better late than never

 

[murphy67]

Rope and anchors installed. (need to "smooth" out the back rope with a 2nd person, or by dropping anchor in less than 2 weeks on the lake...but they are at least tied off )

 

[murphy67]

Had a great week on the water with the boat...and also added a few new things:

Installed an on-board 1.5a charger and battery tender inside the rod box:



I also installed a magnetic iPod touch holder on the console (which holds strong enough and I didnt have any issues with it coming off while on the water...i also didnt keep it on there going fast in choppy water...but I do feel it would hold regardless)



The last thing I have done is to replace the trailer winch with a nice heavy duty one:




Final shot coming out of the water after a week up north...I will get 3 more days over labor day and that will probably do it for the season. I am planning to tow home our 14ft alumacraft with a 15hp motor and add some flooring and do some wiring during fall/winter so I am really looking forward to my 2nd boat project and will start a thread at some point once (if) that gets under way.




Thanks again to all on this awesome forum for the help and ideas along the way!!

 

[MrGiggles]

I noticed that you changed the steering wheel, where did you get it?

 

[murphy67]

Mr.Giggles,
I got the steering wheel on Amazon...and really like it compared to the original Alumacraft one from 1986.

I just checked Amazon and they still got it got like $38.00:

Just search for : Attwood Marine 8315-4 SOFT GRIP STEERING WHEEL W/CAP

Thanks

 

[thomasdgs]

You're doing some nice work. Great looking resto project.

 

[DaleH]

Looks great! Glad you had some quality time with it!

 

[ppine]

Nice job. I really like how tin boats can be saved and kept out of landfills.
One step that a lot of people seem to miss is that you can encapsulate wood with epoxy resin and make it waterproof.

 

[murphy67]

ppine,
I will say that prior to doing my floor i did read all about epoxying the wood and sealing it and such on multiple threads...however I guess at the time I was doing my floor I was on a short schedule to get the floor done so I could finally get a proper water test over labor day...so i opted for just a few coats of Waterseal on the floor with a few days to dry... and then just the marine carpet adhesive and the 20oz marine carpet.

Now...part of my mindset was that I never "plan" to have the boat get soaked from tons of rain(or snow/weather), as I keep the boat in a covered shorestation when I have it up north (where i use it 99% of the time)and when home it stays in my garage. I also read other posts where people who didn't even do waterseal were getting about 4-5 years from the flooring and that was with it getting wet from time to time. So in my mind at the time i said, ok...even if i have to replace the floor in 5 years, I would then have very nice existing templates from the current floor (which I didn't have when i started my restore) and then could go more of the permanent route of fully sealing the floor...and I still have enough left over carpet to redo the floor if needed and wood wouldn't be that expensive, or take alot of time...etc..etc.

So ultimately, thanks again for the mention of epoxy sealing and such, better to know for sure!! I might go that route down the road(and prob will if/when i start my 2nd 14ft project as that might get wet a bit more, but so far after year 3 with my boat, I have yet to get the boat really wet at all, other than when the kids (or myself/wife) got in the boat after a swim...or maybe the occasional spilled beer or drink