Recent content by Starkfishes

Thanks for the feedback Johnny. I am in College Station, Texas (near Houston). The boat will be stored indoors and likely never left in the water. Good idea about mixing the Rustoleum gray and white. I'll give that a go. I am going to spray the boat and really don't have any bare metal that...

So I've reached the painting phase and am having some difficulty deciding which paint to use. I am likely overthinking this a bit but since I have very little painting experience, I tought I wold check with you guys to see what you've had success with. I will be painting the inside and outside...

I am getting so close. I tested all of the wiring and everything checked out. All of the decking and flooring is in. I just need to paint the boat and then I'll be ready to lay the carpet and then tackle the lids. I am somewhat dreading the hatch lid construction. I suppose I should be...

I finally have all of the framing complete and of course forgot to take a picture of the completed framing before skinning the first section. I used cardboard to make a template before cutting the aluminum sheet and it sure made it easy. Johnny's latice trick looks great too but I had some boxes...

Made pretty good progress this week. I have the rear deck finished and the main storage compartment in the front deck complete. I primed the bare aluminum and then used truck bed liner to paint the interior of the boxes. It is taking a lot longer than I imagined but for a first build I'm pretty...

I cut and was ready to mount my first cross member for the vertical support of a rear deck rebuild and I got to thinking. Why do I need to screw or rivet the cross member prior to installing the aluminum wall sheet (1/8")? I have cut the cross member to the exact size needed so that there is...

I made some decent progress this weekend but ran into a few problems and learned. First off, the rear deck that was already installed had a swell in the port side that wasn't too noticeable until I started measuring everything to make sure I was square and level across the back of the boat. I...

Got the wiring laid in place and the rear well floor installed. I've started with the divider wall framing and it is coming along nicely. I hope to have the divider wall in place tomorrow and then get everything in the rear well primed and painted.

I got the rear well framed for the floor and was able to cut the sheet for the flooring. I am going to run the wires before screwing down the floor to the frame. I plan on countersinking the #10 screws used for the flooring, flipping deck, and all hatch lids so that I won't be able to feel...

I have decided to make my own hatch lids by skinning a 3/4" square tube frame with 1/8" aluminum sheet. The framing for the door will be 1/8" 1 1/2" channel with 3/4" square tube for the 'stop' along three sides and a stainless piano hinge on the fourth. Anyone see any issues with this design?

All of the treated lumber has been trashed and I am going back in with aluminum. This gave me reason to reconsider the rear well design. I decided to cut into the boat, remove some foam, and open up more space for storage. Original Deck Layout Design: This is the original deck layout I was...

I am about to begin the framing on my xPress 1652 and am concerned that I may have a poor design when it comes to the deck lids. The front deck will have two lids. One is 22"x40" and the larger other lid is 22"x48". Does anyone have any experience in how to properly support this size lid? I...

Still needing help if anyone has experience with this.

The boat is a 1652 xPress. It already has good ribs. I plan on adding some cross bars for stiffness and then installing 1/8" sheet for the floor. The rivet overload is going to be on the front deck extension. I am going to have a flipping deck that will be approximately 60" across by 110" bow to...

So I have tossed the treated plywood floor I just installed last week and am about ready to start installing an all aluminum floor. I have a potentially dumb question about rivets. If I use rivets to mount the floor to the tubing, or the angle to the ribs, won't it cause high spots when...