new to me 12 ft v hull

[aarongreen123]

got this old aluminum boat for free! plan to use it with my little girl or maybe a buddy. my question is whether or not i'll can sit in the back seat or if i will have to get a tiller extension and sit in the middle, due to the weight being in the back. thoughts? good plans for making a tiller extension?

also, i would love to replace the seats in this thing with something with at least a little storage, anyone done that?

 

[fender66]

Hey aarongreen....welcome to TinBoats. Nice tin you have there and the price was perfect.

Take a look around the "Jon and V boat Conversions and Modifications" section and I bet you'll find your answers. OR....post your questions there and I bet you'll find someone who's done exactly what you are wanting to do.

Happy to have you here.

 

[Brine]

Welcome aboard aarongreen123.

Please update your profile with your location. That may help people advise you on local work that can be done. Not to mention, we like knowing what part of the world our TinBoat family lives in

It's hard for me to see what is going on with your benches. It looks to be a piece of lumber that's been carpeted with a foam block underneath???

 

[aarongreen123]

thanks fender, i will delete this post and post in that forum. thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[fender66]

thanks fender, i will delete this post and post in that forum. thanks for the warm welcome!

I'll just move it. No worries.

 

[aarongreen123]

i am particularly interested in the seating position part of my question, if anyone has any insight let me know. thanks!

 

[lucescoflathead]

I would try sitting in the back first. If you have someone with you seat them in the front. That should help you balance your weight. You can always move your heavier stuff around like you trolling motor battery and fishing gear. Good luck and keep us posted. Todd

 

[fender66]

I'm not familiar with how these V bottoms float, so my advice would be to sit in it, in the water before you make big modifications. Wouldn't be fun to rip out and redo.

 

[freetofish]

HIgh AG welcome aboard...your gonna like this site..I haven't modefied a tin boat to any great extent but having had a boat that looked exactly like yours I offer you some suggestions.
first. as soon as you said you would use this with your daughter then I must tell you that if you
come to shore and beach the boat be very very careful as the bow will be very tippy. A
young person I took with me once fell out onto the ground and almost flipped the boat.
second. I didn't add a tiller extension to my motor and sat in the back and had no truble.. I am a
pretty big fella so you shouldn't have any trouble as long as you keep your extra
weight up front.
third. If you remove any seat you will (in my opinion) effect the structual regitey of the craft.
also as you know you will loose some of your floation foam.
good luck. sounds like fun...I espically love the price
Peace
Ron

 

[aarongreen123]

thanks for the suggestions guys. we have a couple of pristine lakes up here that have hp restrictions, hoping that little 9.5hp johnson won't be too much for this boat. this boat sat in the woods at my dads house for 20 years, was my uncles. when he moved out of state i asked him about it and he gave it to me. he didn't have any paperwork for it so i'm having a ***** of a time getting it registered in New York state, think i have my angle worked out now though. i found out today that its actually a 1974 crestliner. anyone know about these? the front seat rotted out, but it looks like it was just a bench seat with no flotation. the back seats are ok structurally but rodents have eated a lot of the foam out of the bottom of them, so i was looking at replacing them with something with storage, but with flotation in the bottom. was thinking about some small storage along the sides of the boat that would connect the back seat from the middle seat, with flip up lits that lock,, figure i might get a rod or two in there or at least a place for some loose gear. anyone seen that in a little tin can like this?

the boat seems to haver a little twist in its symmetry, you can kinda see it in the pics. will this matter? is there anything i can do about it? i was gonna paint it but i think i'll leave it the way it is and call it the ugly duckling.

 

[aarongreen123]

finally got around to painting this old boat, man did it come out sweet so far.

 

[Busbey]

turned out nice! what did you use to paint it? looks nice and shiny. what steps did you take and what kind of primer?

 

[fender66]

Looks amazing. You must give details of your process. :wink:

 

[223nbecker45]

Paint turn out really nice! =D> What materail did you use?

 

[Dragonman]

Nice paint, Wife wants me to paint ours, what paint did you use?

 

[benjineer]

I think 9.5hp will be just right. It might even handle a 15. Weight distribution won't be that much of an issue unless you are very heavy. It might feel better with a big ice chest up front. You can always get a long hose and put the fuel tank up there if you are alone and don't have anything else to weigh it down.