My first Boat - 12' 1963 Starcraft Pram

[SuDZ]

Moved the boat inside to my shop area. It was getting to be chilly out there, plus a pain working on it at night now that it is dark so early. Other than that, I got the rest of the insulation cut for the floors, removed the middle seat, and did a little interior painting.

With the middle seat out I can get a stencil of the floor. I am going to grab some thick poster paper from work tomorrow. It's 3' wide by however long I need it, so I can lay it down, trace a good stencil out of the floor and then transfer it to my plywood for the floor.

It looks bigger in the garage than it did outside.

 

[SuDZ]

Does anyone think I could safely remove the middle seat? As seen in the pucturess, there are ribs every 12", and there are ribs underneath the seats as well. Is the seat structural at that point?

SuDZ

 

[nctlspider]

I'd say its definitely structural. There are lots of guys who take them out, you just have to build something to replace them...
Do a search and you'll get a better idea of what you can get away with.

Its looking good! Have you been able to fish it yet?

 

[SuDZ]

I haven't yet. This was actually supposed to be a winter project, but one thing lead to another and I kept moving along. I dug out a trailer from the woods the other day that's going to be the part 2 of this. I'll have to put up a picture of that shortly.

SuDZ

 

[SuDZ]

I was given this little "gem" after dragging it out of the woods.

 

[nctlspider]

Nice score. Check it good for cracks, like around the leaves and u-bolts. I got one from a buddy for free too. Needed bearings and wheels. Its actually too big for my 12 footer, but I've used it for a 17' canoe for a couple years now. If you need some help thinking of ideas how to reinforce, let me know and I can input some links.

 

[SuDZ]

I'm all ears when it comes to ideas. I'm pretty green at all of this and learning as I go

SuDZ

 

[SuDZ]

Got my floor cut out.

SuDZ

 

[SuDZ]

I got my floor cut out and installed. I need to screw it down into the ribs still, but I have the ribs locations marked, so that will be easy enough. I'll get around to it the next night or two.

SuDZ

 

[SuDZ]

I was given this trailer recently and it needs some work. One of my main concerns is the tongue. It was once overloaded on a trip when the previous boat on it was used as a landscaping trailer one day to transport flowers.

It has a twist in the tongue that makes me a littler nervous. I wasn't sure if this is a big deal, or not. Is it something that would need to be replaced outright, or do you think it's a deal breaker as far as trying to get this trailer back up to snuff. It's not a sideways bend in it, just just sort of like someone grabbed it, and turned it a bit.

I tried to get a good picture this morning, but the shadows were making it a bit tough. If better ones would help, I'll be more than happy to take some.

Also, when I turn one of the wheels, it gives me a loud clicking. it's pretty synched up with wheel speed, getting closer together as the wheel turns faster. Think it could be a bearing?

SuDZ

 

[SuDZ]

I got the front piece carpeted and installed the bow mounted motor.

SuDZ

 

[SuDZ]

Got out on the water for the first time. This was actually a bit after we started unloading, but my father and I were able to catch a few smallmouth and have a good time.