Hey guys, so I am currently in my first boat project, looking for some help. I picked up a boat, motor and trailer for real cheap last summer, and everything's condition matched the price, but I finally had the boat. So over the past year I have worked on the motor and the trailer, both are finally online. The last piece is the boat. I have been reading this forum and learning a ton, and figured I would start sharing what I am working on. I am a beginner, I'm hoping you guys can share with me all the basics that may seem super simple to you, that I don't know.
So I attached a pic of the boat last summer before I started anything, pics of diagrams/measurements, and a pic from when I started on the benched last weekend. The bottom half of the hull is brown, top half is a dark green. All the wood in the boat was rotted out, so my first step is replacing benches. I got barn boards from a buddy's step dad that I cut to size. This week I am staining them and covering them in spar varnish. I got a cool wood grain vinyl wrap I'm going to put on the air boxes underneath the benches as well (which are currently flaking off with old paint). Before I proceed, I got a couple questions for you guys if anyone can point me in the right direction.
First question is about sealing the boat. I filled it with water yesterday and found some slow seeps at various rivets/seams. If I clean out around the rivets and seams ( with steel wool), pressure wash the inside, dry it off with compressed air, can I just use flex seal to seal up the leaks? How long do I have to wait for it to set/cure? Can it be painted over? I'm considering painting the inside of the boat a cream colour to help with reflecting sun.
I want to put floors in between the back bench and the front one (leaving the front and back sections open). Can I just cut plywood to size, shape it to fit in, seal it and wrap it in marine carpet then just lay it down? Do I need to add any bracing underneath, or flotation?
If I want to experiment with adding floors and modifying the boat, at what point do I need to consider a bilge pump? I am assuming this boat won't need one, but I plan on doing a bigger project next.
Thanks for reading!
So I attached a pic of the boat last summer before I started anything, pics of diagrams/measurements, and a pic from when I started on the benched last weekend. The bottom half of the hull is brown, top half is a dark green. All the wood in the boat was rotted out, so my first step is replacing benches. I got barn boards from a buddy's step dad that I cut to size. This week I am staining them and covering them in spar varnish. I got a cool wood grain vinyl wrap I'm going to put on the air boxes underneath the benches as well (which are currently flaking off with old paint). Before I proceed, I got a couple questions for you guys if anyone can point me in the right direction.
First question is about sealing the boat. I filled it with water yesterday and found some slow seeps at various rivets/seams. If I clean out around the rivets and seams ( with steel wool), pressure wash the inside, dry it off with compressed air, can I just use flex seal to seal up the leaks? How long do I have to wait for it to set/cure? Can it be painted over? I'm considering painting the inside of the boat a cream colour to help with reflecting sun.
I want to put floors in between the back bench and the front one (leaving the front and back sections open). Can I just cut plywood to size, shape it to fit in, seal it and wrap it in marine carpet then just lay it down? Do I need to add any bracing underneath, or flotation?
If I want to experiment with adding floors and modifying the boat, at what point do I need to consider a bilge pump? I am assuming this boat won't need one, but I plan on doing a bigger project next.
Thanks for reading!