my 16'' alumacraft

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V8_TITAN

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Sep 8, 2011
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Location
Tampa Fl
well this is my first post ( of many hopefully ), anyways just want to say hello to everyone from Tampa Fl. I just picked up this welded 16 ft wide body alumacraft with a 25 horse evinrude and trailer for 400 bucks...so far I love the boat, as is but after finding this website, ive got the bug to fix her up...so Im going to ask a few questions and make some decisions, and start my build up soon. heres some pics, as she is, I got the trailer for free yesterday which is much better (in size) then the tiny jet ski trailer it came on which was about 4 feet too short. and 2 feet too narrow.

for my questions -
1. I see a lot of people raising the floor up higher, what are the advantages of this other than having tons of storage space.
2. If I bed line the inside of my boat, is it too hot to walk on barefoot in the sun ?
3. what is a good cheap livewell to use, I dont really want to use a cooler but, is the any other items that you can re-purpose and mold into the floor for a good livewell ?
4. what type of paint should I use and how should I apply it for the exterior ?
5. how difficult / expensive is it to turn this 25 horse evinrude into a remote steer ? say I build the console myself, other than the helm and cable, what am I getting myself into ? same thing for electric start, this pull rope is killing me. It does not have teeth on the flywheel though. I think I may just want to sell this motor and get a 40 horse already with steering.

Im done rambling, but if anyone has any suggestions I open to hear them all. thanks a lot in advance.
 

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I am also from Tampa. Let me see if i can get a pic of mine up. As for paint I went to T.A. Mahoneys over on the corner of 50th and Adamo and got a paint called Mars Pro I believe. I was told its used up North on metal boats. Anyhow it seems like a very quality paint. Dried hard and is very hard to chip. I used black Steelflex for the bottom of my boat and up about 10inches and then used grey paint (Mars Pro) from there. On the inside I built a deck (1/2 inch plywood) in the front that houses my cooler. I made hatches to place my battery underneath and a second hatch to put life jackets and cushion away. I sealed all the wood and coated the top with a non-skid paint call Durabak. Its a truck bedliner. It has a rubber feel and really made the boat quiet. I also place Hydro-Turf on the decks and floor and other places. I then applied the Durabak around the turf. I am not the best at modding but I think it came out pretty good.

As for motor questions I am not the guy for that. Also, if the bedliner you are taking about is black, I would pass on doing that. I imagine that would get way to hot. One of the reason I choose Durabak was the large color assortment they have. They also make the stuff non-grit or smooth.

https://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee471/TTSam/P1000631-1.jpg
https://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee471/TTSam/P1000633.jpg
 
V8_TITAN said:
...

for my questions -
...
5. how difficult / expensive is it to turn this 25 horse evinrude into a remote steer ? say I build the console myself, other than the helm and cable, what am I getting myself into ? same thing for electric start, this pull rope is killing me. It does not have teeth on the flywheel though. I think I may just want to sell this motor and get a 40 horse already with steering.
...

Yep, it would be expensive to convert the motor to electric start.
I would sell or trade the motor for what you want.
 
What a heck of a find for $400. You are a lucky man. In my part of the country, that would go for at least $1600 to $2500.


On your topic of the bedliner being too hot to walk on, you might consider a dealer that sprays on bedliners because he has access to

different colors to work with, depending on the color of the truck. Just a thought. Asking questions don't cost any money.
 
about bed liner stay away from upol "raptor" bedliner, its more or less paint, didnt hold well for me at all, i just re did mine with tuffcoat and im extremely happy with, i did use black, and dont feel it to be too hot, on bare feet at all, no more than a dark carpet, nice boat and good luck
 
Hi Titan, I'm in Hudson and you got a very good deal.
I plan on using Herculiner available at most automotive stores mainly because it comes in white.
Good luck with your mod, there are a lot of ideas here and some great people too.
Jerry
 
ttsam, your rig looks pretty sweet. that looks like something I may end up doing, having the deck go around the sides and leaving the middle open. just curious where do you fish in tampa ?

Jerry, I read your thread last night when I joinded.. I know im new to this but you have got to have one of the nicest builds on here.. im going to look into that brand, my cousin owns a body shop so im also going to ask if he can spray the stuff himself.

Don, you can have it for 1500 Id even hand deliver it for that 2500 you speak of. honestly these deals come up all the time here in Tampa. everytime I walk past my computer I have craigslist open and just refresh the page to see if something came up that I cant let go. thats how I got this, and the trailer for free, 99% of the time these good deals are done within 30 mins.

thanks for the info guys, Im still confused about adding a higher deck. does that help or reduce stability ??
 
That's a BIG 10-4 on Crags list,
I scored a Riptide SP70 TM w/copilot for $500 &
a Humminbird 978si di Combo w/Nav Gold & 'ducer for $700
 
V8-Titan I fish all over Tampa Bay from North of the Causeway to the Sky Way and all in between. I would say that during this time of the year that about 75% of the time I am some where around Fort Desoto, which is where I will be tomorrow morning. I also trailer all over the state.
 
I fish the causeway all the time but im getting sick and tired of wasting gas and time there..Im new to fishing on a boat, I think I got my first boat no more then 6 months ago so Im still trying to find some good places that produce. I need to invest in a depth finder and fish finder, so I can find some good holes.
 
I fish the causeway/ Rocky Creek and Double Branch area mostly during the winter. I can usually catch reds all day long on shrimp or cut bait. With that being said I have read and seen some excellent reports (last few weeks) coming out of those areas during high tide using shrimp and cut baits.
 
Guys, you have hit on a very big rule, "If it takes more than 15 min by boat, put that puppy on a trailer and take it there".
You can listen on the radio, enjoy the A/C, etc.
I wish I was back there to fish with you, but being up here w/o a trailer makes it impossible. :)
 
well this sucks but is also great, I trade my jon boat : ( but I got a 18 ft center console with a newer brp 115 on it... I still have my 12 foot jon with a 9.9 merc so I will be modding that one until it cant be modded any more !!!
 
I'm in the same boat V8. I fish the causeway and gandy all the time but am brand new to fishing this area out of a boat. If you find any good spots around here let us know. I'll do the same.
 
as of now 2, Ive always been into buying the "mechanics special" fixing it up and trading it in for another turd. I traded my 16 ft alumacraft and my 14 ft bayliner for the cc I got today. So other then the cc, I have a 12 ft flat bottom jon, and nothing else, hope to keep it that way for a while, im running out of space lol. The only boat I would consider purchasing is another aluma flat, like the one I just got rid of.
 
Rather (this goes to anyone in the area) let me know if you are going out and have extra room, or want to go out on my rig. Im always happy to have someone to go with and to split the cost some. I have a few decent holes out there for trout and black drum but I really want to find better ones, because I know they are out there.
 
Will do the same Titan, I usually go out by myself and would like to have some company.
 
2. If I bed line the inside of my boat, is it too hot to walk on barefoot in the sun ?
I coated mine with a product called Durabak, it is a non skid textured coating you roll on. It worked great and never even got warm to the touch when I was floating in direct FL sun all day. Beat the old contact burns from the painted boat prior to rolling it on!

Bufford
 

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