typed by ben's 2001 Lowe 1648M all aluminum build (UD 6/27)

[smackdaddy53]

thanks guys. im learning a lot doing this. as country dave pointed out ive been at it over a year... last thing i want to do now is compromise to "make due" like smackdaddy said. i dont want me or anybody else for that matter looking at this boat and saying "uhm, that took over a year to do?"

i still want to do some beauty trim between the deck and the gunwale to cover up the uneven gap that my bad jigsaw job did. after i figure out what im going to do there and get a piece of deck over the rear, ill be ready to paint. that day is going to be a little scary- first time ive ever used a paint gun.

What are you using over the deck for nonskid? I ran a bead of polyurethane sealant on my seams and Tuffcoat over it since It us polyurethane as well. It will flex with the boat and still seal out any water from getting inside.

 

[typed by ben]

smackdaddy53 » 27 minutes ago[/url]"]

thanks guys. im learning a lot doing this. as country dave pointed out ive been at it over a year... last thing i want to do now is compromise to "make due" like smackdaddy said. i dont want me or anybody else for that matter looking at this boat and saying "uhm, that took over a year to do?"

i still want to do some beauty trim between the deck and the gunwale to cover up the uneven gap that my bad jigsaw job did. after i figure out what im going to do there and get a piece of deck over the rear, ill be ready to paint. that day is going to be a little scary- first time ive ever used a paint gun.

What are you using over the deck for nonskid? I ran a bead of polyurethane sealant on my seams and Tuffcoat over it since It us polyurethane as well. It will flex with the boat and still seal out any water from getting inside.

tuffcoat, same as yours. caulk isnt a bad idea, hadnt thought of that. i wonder how well it would stick to aluminum.

 

[smackdaddy53]

smackdaddy53 » 27 minutes ago[/url]"]

thanks guys. im learning a lot doing this. as country dave pointed out ive been at it over a year... last thing i want to do now is compromise to "make due" like smackdaddy said. i dont want me or anybody else for that matter looking at this boat and saying "uhm, that took over a year to do?"

i still want to do some beauty trim between the deck and the gunwale to cover up the uneven gap that my bad jigsaw job did. after i figure out what im going to do there and get a piece of deck over the rear, ill be ready to paint. that day is going to be a little scary- first time ive ever used a paint gun.

What are you using over the deck for nonskid? I ran a bead of polyurethane sealant on my seams and Tuffcoat over it since It us polyurethane as well. It will flex with the boat and still seal out any water from getting inside.

tuffcoat, same as yours. caulk isnt a bad idea, hadnt thought of that. i wonder how well it would stick to aluminum.

Rough the aluminum up with sandpaper amd it will stick like...well polyurethane to rough aluminum!
I fabbed and installed aluminum hurricane shutters on the coast for almost 8 years and we always used polyurethane to seal up aluminum to whatever substrate we were mounting to and the shutters are all still around and not leaking.
I already finished my Tuffcoat and used Polyurethane between the deck sheet and transom on top, entire floor, gunnels and I ran silicone between the gunnel cap and sides on the outside. If you look closely in the picture you can see it.
I learned a trick to touching up areas you want more of the tuffcoat base and less texture. After your last coat is dry to the touch, take the leftover Tuffcoat in the can and don't mix it. Let the rubber crumbs settle and just use a disposeable brush to brush on a little extra polyurethane on areas you want to cover more and fill in. Worked like a charm.

 

[typed by ben]

been working here and there a few hours at a time. got the front deck riveted down so theres pretty much no turning back there. i still havent cut any material for the rear casting deck because, well, im out! kind of in a holding pattern there while i figure out if i want to buy a partial sheet or make do with a different thickness.

also tinkered with my rod and net storage:

heres my 7 footers, snug as a bug in a rug

ill also do "quick access" rod storage above deck with a couple of those rod saver setups.

thats it for today. i still need to order rivets for the piano hinges, cut holes for latches on the lids, devise some sort of cradle in the transom for the rear batteries, permanently mount the onboard charger, get some material squared away for the deck, and then to top it all off theres the priming and painting.

this thing still seems far away i have to say. but at least its not as far away as it was this time last year.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Nice progress!

 

[huntinfool]

Looking good still. Can't wait for the finale.

 

[typed by ben]

summer thunderstorm season is here and that means im spending a lot of time cleaning up the yard unfortunately. still sneaking in a few hours for the boat though!

rear deck is starting to shape up. i added beauty tabs to all the vertical elements so the tube weldment is completely encapsulated by sheet metal. i think it looks cleaner that way.

still need to rivet the deck down to the weldment and get the holes cut for the perko latches. might get into that tomorrow.

 

[typed by ben]

completed the rear casting deck today.

in the rear ill have a battery (or 2) as well as a fuel tank and probably some storage. because of the nature of those items i wanted a quick release cover for emergency access.

start out like this:

twist two handles and you get this:

very handy.

 

[typed by ben]

monthly ( :lol: ) update:

got the hinges fit which was more of a PITA than i expected. the finished product looks and works great though. i also got the pedestal mount in, which was ALSO a pita because the bottom of it requires a nearly 3" broad hole. so naturally i had to run and get a 3" hole saw at 9:30 PM.

heres everything in bare metal:


started sanding today as well. i even got some of the smaller parts primed (like the pedal recess which is missing in this photo), but theres still a lot more sanding to go. all the hardest to reach areas are going to be the ones where the paint falls off and messes up the whole job so ive gotta take my time and be thorough.

 

[Natedog57]

Looking pretty good, I have a question.

Where did you get the rod tubes, and what are the specs?

 

[typed by ben]

Natedog57 » Yesterday, 23:48[/url]"]Looking pretty good, I have a question.

Where did you get the rod tubes, and what are the specs?

they are actually golf bag divider tubes- i got them from golf galaxy for about 60 cents a piece. they are 1.375" around and roughly 36" long.

 

[typed by ben]

lookin more and more worthy every day... with an order of tuff coat on the way! hope i can get some time to sneak out and lay that stuff down soon.

 

[buzzbarto]

Very nice!

 

[smackdaddy53]

You are not going to use the recommended Tuffcoat primer?

 

[typed by ben]

smackdaddy53 » Yesterday, 23:16[/url]"]You are not going to use the recommended Tuffcoat primer?

no- had a jar of etching primer and tuffcoat tech support cleared it.

got a piece of material for the charger isolator. this is 1x8 UHMW. we use it frequently at work so we have drops laying all around. i think this is also used for cutting boards so that would be a way to get your hands on some if you dont have a plastic shop around.

naturally my space requirements were limiting so i ended up counterboring the mounting holes that connect the insulator to the hull.

mounting to the hull was done with rivnuts through the stringers, as ive done in other locations.

 

[typed by ben]

and this just looks sweet!

 

[gillhunter]

Your project is coming along great!! You'll be wearing out tires soon :LOL2: :LOL2:

 

[smackdaddy53]

smackdaddy53 » Yesterday, 23:16[/url]"]You are not going to use the recommended Tuffcoat primer?

no- had a jar of etching primer and tuffcoat tech support cleared it.

got a piece of material for the charger isolator. this is 1x8 UHMW. we use it frequently at work so we have drops laying all around. i think this is also used for cutting boards so that would be a way to get your hands on some if you dont have a plastic shop around.

naturally my space requirements were limiting so i ended up counterboring the mounting holes that connect the insulator to the hull. View attachment 2

mounting to the hull was done with rivnuts through the stringers, as ive done in other locations.View attachment 1

Looking great man! I like the charger mount.
I found out that thread lock (blue thread lock) and Tuffcoat do not get along so well. I left a little bottle on the deck and it got smashed causing a little puddle. That little puddle turned the Tuffcoat into jelly. I will have to clean that spot, prime and re apply.

 

[typed by ben]

smackdaddy53 » Yesterday, 20:41[/url]"]
Looking great man! I like the charger mount.
I found out that thread lock (blue thread lock) and Tuffcoat do not get along so well. I left a little bottle on the deck and it got smashed causing a little puddle. That little puddle turned the Tuffcoat into jelly. I will have to clean that spot, prime and re apply.

wow even tuff coat huh? loctite will go through almost anything. i got some on a pair of polyester work pants and tried to machine wash it out. the detergent apparently did nothing and then i made the fatal mistake of machine drying afterward- it baked that little bit of loctite into a hard little plastic disc that eventually ripped out out and ruined the pants.

i will definitely be careful with it once i get the tuffcoat on. good lookin out

 

[typed by ben]

bittersweet moment today- tuffcoat is applied! now im almost ready to take it out and prove (or disprove?!) my work.

really like the color and finish. may take a while for all the not-totally-cured rubber crumb to work itself loose.

couple notes about prep.

1. used etch primer on bare AND sanded/painted aluminum. followed the usual rules there. nothing special about what i used, just rattle can etch primer.
2. no sanding after that, just mineral spirits on lint free rags to get up all the overspray dust.

then i got ready to shoot the tuffcoat. i again hit the primed surfaces with mineral spirits to get up dust, then masked off with blue tape and .31 mil painters film. after that i wiped all the soon to be coated surfaces with a tack cloth.