My first boat build 70's Mirrocraft 14'

[enginerd]

I've seen a few Lone Stars that the owners have done in polished aluminum and they look pretty sharp. I toyed with the idea myself, but decided I liked the original paint scheme better.

If you're near Southern Colorado, I have a 1968 18-hp Evinrude Fastwin that I'd sell you for $200. I haven't gotten it running, but I know my cousins had it running about 10-years ago and it has been used very little over the past 30-years (my uncle had the boat sitting beside his house and virtually never used it). I would guess it had low hours and shouldn't be too onerous to get running again, thought it will definitely be a project. Not sure what a non-running engine is really worth.

 

[DiverJosh82]

I've seen a few Lone Stars that the owners have done in polished aluminum and they look pretty sharp. I toyed with the idea myself, but decided I liked the original paint scheme better.

If you're near Southern Colorado, I have a 1968 18-hp Evinrude Fastwin that I'd sell you for $200. I haven't gotten it running, but I know my cousins had it running about 10-years ago and it has been used very little over the past 30-years (my uncle had the boat sitting beside his house and virtually never used it). I would guess it had low hours and shouldn't be too onerous to get running again, thought it will definitely be a project. Not sure what a non-running engine is really worth.

Thanks but I'm located in Kittery Point Maine. I'm actually debating on just saving through the winter and buying a brandy new motor come next spring/summer.. That way I'd have a warranty and wont have to mess with getting one going. I just can't decide between a 20 or 25 horse. I motor around more than I fish. I realize it's not a speed boat but I do like to get to places with a speed induced smile...

 

[RebelRob]

Hey! Another Mainah!

 

[enginerd]

Thanks but I'm located in Kittery Point Maine.

Yeah, that's a little far to go for a nearly 50-yr old engine. That area of the country is beautiful...at least some of the year. When I worked for NOAA I spent some time in that neighborhood.

 

[oakchas]

Gotta say, you've done a heck of a job on getting down to bare aluminum. I quit after not having much luck with chemical stripper... but I did get most of the old paint off. Where it was particularly stubborn to even mechanical removal, I just accepted that as a good base.

I'm hoping my build goes quicker than the paint removal.

 

[DiverJosh82]

Gotta say, you've done a heck of a job on getting down to bare aluminum. I quit after not having much luck with chemical stripper... but I did get most of the old paint off. Where it was particularly stubborn to even mechanical removal, I just accepted that as a good base.

I'm hoping my build goes quicker than the paint removal.

I actually just got done yesterday with the interior. I seriously will never strip a boat again lol.. Above the floor line its clean to bare aluminum, below its like 90%. I am pretty sure it's enough. I definitely have all the seams and rivets cleaned up enough for gluvit.

Does anyone know if gluvit can go on bare aluminum?

 

[fish hooks]

Hey Josh! Im new here as well and also undergoing my first boat resto. Looks good so far! Let me know how you patch the tough spots

 

[enginerd]

Manufacturer recommends roughing the surface with 80-100 grit and applying an Aluminum Prep Wash over bare aluminum. I've seen others recommend putting on a Zinc Chromate primer prior to application, but manufacturer does not have that in their literature and what I've read said bare surface is preferable. I put Gluvit on bare aluminum for sealing my seams with no issues thus far.

 

[DiverJosh82]

Hey Josh! Im new here as well and also undergoing my first boat resto. Looks good so far! Let me know how you patch the tough spots

Thanks for checking out my thread! I will definitely let you know. Right now I'm debating on Filling it with JB Weld and putting on a keel/bow protection strip of some sort. Do you have a build thread on this site set?

 

[DiverJosh82]

Manufacturer recommends roughing the surface with 80-100 grit and applying an Aluminum Prep Wash over bare aluminum. I've seen others recommend putting on a Zinc Chromate primer prior to application, but manufacturer does not have that in their literature and what I've read said bare surface is preferable. I put Gluvit on bare aluminum for sealing my seams with no issues thus far.

Thanks for the info. Did you have any leaking or were you just putting it on to prevent future leaks?



Another thing I'm now questioning is the building of everything out of aluminum. I'd like to but **** it's going to get expensive.. Plus being a carpenter by trade I know I could probably build very light but still be strong with wood. I dunno, we'll see I guess.

 

[enginerd]

I leak tested my boat before I started and just had a faint leak along the back seam where the transom met the bottom of the hull. I put Gluvit on all the seams as a precaution; I didn't want to put all the work into this boat and then find out I didn't get it sealed properly and had to undo a portion and repaint to address it.

I don't have much in the way of framing to do, just some bench tops to mount seats to, which I plan on making out of mahogany, but I hear you on the cost of doing things out of aluminum. it would be nice to do it out of aluminum, since it's light and you'd never have to worry about it again. I might lean towards wood myself though, as it's easier to work with and I think if you seal it well (old timers formula) it should hold up.

 

[DiverJosh82]

Ok so finally got some progress on the ol' tin!
Saturday morning the GF and I went to the local marine supply place and picked up a quart of gluvit, and also a bunch of cans of good old rustoleum self etching primer. Now it has been a week since I had finished removing all the paint and I hadn't scuffed it up yet and washed it. So we went over the whole hull inside and out with sanding sponges to scuff it, and then washed both sides with a TSP/hot water solution, followed by a good rinsing. Then into the shop it went with the dehumidifier directly underneath it and me with the air compressor blasting water out of all the crevices and crannies. By Saturday night it was completely dry and ready for primer.

5 or 6 cans of the self etching primer later and I had the hull (exterior) done. I did a very light "tack" coat first allowing it to dry for a few minutes (per instructions on can) then a second coat to fill it in a little more. All in all I think it came out pretty good. This afternoon we carefully flipped it over back on to the trailer so that I could apply the gluvit to the interior. Yes it was a little early to flip it but the primer seemed pretty well dry plus once I get the topside primed it will be flipped over, scuffed and and spots that need touch up with be hit, then painted.

So anyways I mixed up the gluvit and began to apply. Man I came close to that 60 min pot life putting it on by myself. I hit all the rivets and seams and a few spots I though would benefit from it. I came back in the shop an hour or so later and there were some runs here and there but they're all below the floor line so I'm not concerned.






So one question I have is..
When can I prime over the gluvit? The can says full cure after 48 hours but can you prime after say 24 hours? I already found out that you CAN use the self etching paint on top of it, but do I need to wait two full days? I really want to get the rest of the hull primed so I don't have to worry about oxidation anymore. Also don't pay any attention to the dirty shop.. lol, I'm currently storing a bunch of my dads stuff while he builds his new place..

 

[DiverJosh82]

Ok a little more work today on the boat. Finally got to do some fun stuff! My uncle was generous enough to donate 3/4 of a sheet of some marine plywood he had laying around. (He/we used to work at a fancy lumber yard) It's 3/4" Sapele plywood. He only needed a small portion for a firewall on the ultralight he was working on and told me to "use it up" lol. I traced the old transom on to it, and milled it up.
Using a chip brush I "painted" on some titebond 3 onto both inner faces and then a small worm of glue for extra measure. I decided to use some nice treated wood compatible GRK screws to clamp it together from the side that will be hidden. Tons of squeeze out and that bugger is solid as a rock!


I decided to temporarily slide it into place as theres a slight bow to it once it's in place. I think the motor supports are a little skewed or something. It's really not that much though so I am going to leave it be.


I'm not too excited about how the ends of the transom fit to the boat. The ends of the boat are curved in such a way that the top is shorter. I wanted to have the plywood fit tight to the sides but you cannot physically get them in. Oh well I have a few ideas as to fix this.

On a side note I'm not sure how well the rusto self etching primer is going to hold. I barely dug my fingernail into a hidden spot and it scraped right off. I'm pretty sure I did my prep right. Scuffed the bare aluminum, washed with tsp and thoroughly dried..
The first time I put a little test area of the rustoleum self etch it stuck solidly! I'm going to give it a few days and then scuff it with a scotch brite pad in the full sun. Maybe it needs to cure more?

 

[DiverJosh82]

Oh and while the glut was hardening yesterday I replaced the rotten bunks on the trailer and threw some new carpet on them. Not much of a pic for that but heres one.


Also if any of my readers remembers my serial number was worn off on the placard and couldn't get an exact year of the boat. Well when I removed the aluminum piece from the exterior of the transom there was a number stamped into the hull in the center of the transom near the top. Could this be a serial number or hull identification number? I emailed a copy of the pic to Mirrocraft to see if they could help me.
I'm not too worried as my uncle said when he registered his old aluminum the town hall people only needed to see a bill of sale, and it didn't have a serial on it. They didn't care. $25 and there ya go. (we live in the same town)

 

[oakchas]

Primer looks good! Your sides, at the transom, seem to have less flare than mine... I'm about to put the transom in mine and it's not nearly as pretty as your ply.... I used treated lumber (approved for direct contact with aluminum, wet or dry. Unlike the stuff they call yellawood) so it's just SYP.

I really ought to use some gluvit on the interior of mine.... but it never took on water when I used it fishin' last year... so I'm hoping for the best.

 

[lvhish486]

What method did yous use to remove the transom? Is there a trick into popping out the bolts? My PO was very generous when securing the transom to the stern.

 

[DiverJosh82]

What method did yous use to remove the transom? Is there a trick into popping out the bolts? My PO was very generous when securing the transom to the stern.

I used a combination of an angle grinder and a sawzall. Two of the bolts came free naturally with a wrench but the others were a b*tch. The transom wood itself was pretty soft and spongy on the sides enough to where it slid out pretty easily once I got all the fasteners out.
My only problem is the aluminum C channel cap piece is unusable. But others have said that you can make it yourself so thats what I'll do.