Lowe L1648 mod

[Glenn B.]

Greetings from PA. I am a new member here and love the site. A ton of information! I am getting ready to begin a mod on my recently acquired Lowe L1648. I will be adding front and rear decks and center flooring. I am going to start with the front deck. Assuming I have done it correctly, I have attached a "paint" draft of my plans for the front deck. Let me know what you think.

Question - I am planning on carpeting the already existing front aluminum deck. Do you need to prep the aluminum at all before carpeting directly to it or can you simply glue and carpet? Obviously I want it to be secure and last a while. Any insight appreciated.

I will try to post pictures of my progress.

 

[Ictalurus]

Nice size boat Glenn, well worth it.

Question - I am planning on carpeting the already existing front aluminum deck. Do you need to prep the aluminum at all before carpeting directly to it or can you simply glue and carpet? Obviously I want it to be secure and last a while. Any insight appreciated.

For my deck I added wood over the front seat. In your case, extend the floor portion of the front deck all the way to the front of the boat, that way there's one solid front deck, helps structural integrity.

 

[Glenn B.]

Thanks for the insight. I had been thinking of overlaying the whole front with plywood as you mention but then backed away from it in order to reduce the added weight. Is the structural integrity so great that it trumps the added weight (aside from making it easier to lay the carpet)?

 

[bassboy1]

Hit the aluminum with a wire brush to rough it up. You'll have no problem with the carpet sticking.

On your design, I think you could do away with the aluminum angle, altogether. Since your hatches and deck material are the same (.75 plywood), you won't have to offset the hatch supports as you would if they were different thicknesses. Therefore, have your deck rest on 1/2 of the 2x4, and the hatch rest on the other half.

Take a look at the picture of the bow hatches open in the 1436 mod in my sig (14th pic, if I'm not mistaken).

 

[Ictalurus]

Is the structural integrity so great that it trumps the added weight (aside from making it easier to lay the carpet)?

Probaby not that much weight and not much integrity, just easier to layout rather than sink your supports to anticipate deck height. Also gives more support when mounting things up front, like fish finders.

 

[mangelcc]

I have done something simular with my front deck. I used 2x4s between front and middle bench for support for my front deck and storage compartments , ruffed up front deck and glued that carpet like bassboy1 said and i have not had any problems with it.

 

[Glenn B.]

Bassboy1 - first off, your mods are awesome. Great work. Thanks for the tip on carpeting the aluminum up front. Concerning the aluminum angle on my design - my concern is that with the size of my hatches and only 1.5 inches on the 2x edges it would be insufficient space. That would mean only 3/4 inch area for hatch support and another 3/4 inch for the deck. And the 3/4 space for the deck would also need to accomodate the bolts or screws securing the deck. My thinking was to utilize the 2x edge to support and secure the decking and the angle to support the 3 hatch edges, except the outside which will rest over the top of the 2x.

 

[PartsMan]

For my deck I added wood over the front seat. In your case, extend the floor portion of the front deck all the way to the front of the boat, that way there's one solid front deck, helps structural integrity.

I bet it would take two pieces of plywood to cover clear to the front.

 

[Glenn B.]

So I decided to alter my front deck layout just a bit and finally got started on it over the weekend. Here's a couple pix of the new layout and progress to date. The blue square will be my ped. seat base and the pink squares represent 2x2 supports (if needed) from the ribs to the 2x framework. The aqua are the hatches. I may shift the two side hatches back slightly towards the bench seat though.

Nothing is completely secured yet since I need to break it all down and treat it. Since the built in livewell in the middle seat is too small for tourney use, I am planning on sealing it up and making it my TM battery compartment. Still trying to decide if I want any flooring under the front deck also.

 

[Oldgeek]

I like your second layout a bit better with the continuous floor from the seat to the front. I may do the same except make the front hatches a bit bigger. I'll drop in some big plastic bins for the dry storage for life jackets etc. I wish I had a warm dry place to start working on mine. I'm starting to wonder if the built in live well is worth the hassle? I'm going to keep the mid section decked to the floor so when I take the grandkids fishing they can't walk off the boat so easy. :lol: