My first boat and V boat mod.

[Kevin D]

Hello, I'm a new member and a first time boat owner. I got tired of fishing from shore and I like to bass fish the shallows, so I found this on craigslist last september, a 73 12' starcraft, boat, trailer, motor, trolling motor and fish finder for 500 bucks! I couldn't give the guy the money fast enough. By the third time my fishing buddy and I had it out, I realized we need more room! With a bigger boat out of the question, I browsed the web for mods. That led me to this site. First thing, remove the seats. I also noticed everything in the boat that wasn't attached, moved to the middle.... I need a flat floor. picked up some heavy duty plastic greenhouse table tops from my buddy and there ya go! I will post more as I go, got all winter.

 

[WPS]

Welcome to TinBoats! :mrgreen: .... A lot of great info' here and a nice group of members!

Nice boat!.. That's a good price too with everything that you got!... never seen anyone use greenhouse table tops on a floor!

Remember this before you get started:.. Never use ''pressure treated wood'' in an aluminum boat.

Also, make sure you don't have any leaks ''before'' you start on the mods, especially if you plan to repaint it, and make sure the transom doesn't have any rot!

Good-luck!... Post plenty of pics!

 

[fool4fish1226]

:WELCOME: and keep us posted with lots of pics

 

[Kevin D]

Thank you for the warm welcome, I've been doing alot of work to the boat, I thought I would explain a little more about the floor, since I'm probably the only guy who's ever used green house table tops as a floor. First, I put water in the boat to find my level and to check for leaks. Marked my lines and drained it. These tops are 2' x 6', I set one in the middle, toward the back. Using a straight edge, I set it on the table top and it was perfectly lined with my marks! So i cut and made pieces to fit in the sides, alot of trimming and fitting. Then bolted them together. I cut small pieces of pvc to go to the floor for extra stability. The front part of the floor is removable for storage underneath. It all lays on rubber roofing membrane left over from the roof I put on my house a couple years ago.

 

[justinsain1026]

What are your plans for seating?

 

[KMixson]

I would rethink the PVC braces. After bouncing on them a while they may start to dent the bottom of the boat with only a rubber mat between them. PVC may cut through that rubber matting. Looks to me that they may need more foot area to prevent that.

 

[Kevin D]

The table tops actually sit on the ridges of the boat, I added the pvc after the fact for extra rigidity. I'm gonna double up the rubber mats. Thanks for the heads up! As far as the seating, here's a mock up for ya...

 

[bthompson92]

Pretty creative build using the greenhouse material. Are they light or kinda heavy?

 

[Kevin D]

It's heavy duty plastic, and it weighs less than a sheet of 1/2" plywood

 

[bcbouy]

it looks like it'll be a pita if you drop something on the floor though.

 

[rscottp]

it looks like it'll be a pita if you drop something on the floor though.

I was just thinking that, would hate to drop a lure or something. Also a pain it leaves and debris get down there. Perhaps you could get some of that interlocking foam flooring to go over everything. Its cheap light and removable.

 

[Kevin D]

Thanks for the tip. I thought of that and I plan on covering the floor with carpet. I do need some help with a small leak. I found this leak when I filled it with water. As you can see someone has tried to fix this before, unsuccessfully I might add. So, I cleaned this out as best can and and in the last pic it's hard to see but part of the rivet is exposed. So, what do I use to fix this? liquid steel? epoxy? silicone? I could really use some advise in this area. Thanks for any help!

 

[rscottp]

First I would try to rebuck the problem rivets or you could drill it out and replace with a SS bolt, washer and nylock bolt sealed with 3m 5200. If you want to seal it it should be done from the inside. There a lot of products that you can use to seal, 5200, Gluvit, GFlex, ect.

 

[Kevin D]

Thanks for the tips, I really don't want to replace any rivets, they seem to be holding ok. I sealed it up with 5200 on the inside and the problem area. It wasn't a major leak, I thought I should try to seal it up while I have in the garage.

 

[earl60446]

Those bench seats are usually part of the boat structure, meaning they add rigidity and strength to the sides. Might want to consider that before you proceed. Plus where is the flotation foam going? You need enough foam to keep it afloat if swamped with people in it, any less requires swimming.
Tim

 

[Kevin D]

Thanks for the tips, I do have a plan for the side rigidity and the foam. The floor is roughly 4' x 8' and 3" thick, I'm going to attach a sheet of plywood to the top side, flip it over and fill all the voids with expansion foam. Trim off the access and a 4' x 8' x 3" sheet of foam should suffice. Better than the two chunks of foam that was under the rear seats. I also have a bilge pump I'm going to install. As far as the side rigidity you'll have to wait to see what I'm gonna do for that. Besides, this boat was made in the late sixties early seventies, this is very rigid boat, thick strong aluminum made in America! And being in the Finger lakes area with small rivers and lakes the water is pretty mellow and I wont take it out in rough water. So don't worry my friends it will be solid as a barn beam before I put this in the water, I don't want to swim to shore. This might be my first boat but I didn't just fall off the turnip truck! LOL

 

[Kevin D]

Finished the bow casting/storage deck, made with repurposed materials.

 

[Kevin D]

Here's a few pics of my progress, rear deck, bilge pump and carpet. Bolted down the seats.

 

[Insanity]

Very nice. Where did you find the camo carpet?

 

[Kevin D]

Thanks dude, I was gonna do it all in the gray carpet, then one day while walking through the automotive section at Wal-mart. I come across some 3' x 5' rolls of camo carpet. Not really carpet, but thick felt. It's 12 bucks a roll and 2 rolls did the job. Works great for what I did with it.