12' Aluminum semi-V: my first boat (Restoration in progress)

Hi, just thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Zack, and I'm in Omaha, Nebraska.

I recently picked up a 12' unmarked aluminum boat for $125, and have just started the process of getting it into (reasonable) shape. I have no idea what make or year it is, but the previous person to have it registered listed it as a 1971 Alumacraft. But after viewing TC1OZ's recent post about his 12' Springbok, it almost looks like we have the same thing?

The really fun part is that some prior owner attempted to fix the leaking rivets by slathering the seams with an epoxy-based fiberglass compound. Needless to say it didn't fix the leaks. I'm having to use a wood chisel to chip it off, and I should be done by 2012.

Well, I'm looking forward to making use of all the great info here, so I don't end up at the bottom of the lake along with my leaky boat!

Welcome to the site! (look at the newb welcoming the newb)

I don't think you have the same boat exactly, but it looks like it was made around the same time!

Your boat looks like its in much better condition than mine! I'm positive cleaning up and putting on some steelflex will definately be worth your time.

Good luck and hopefully you get your boat on the water before me! =D>

welcome aboard brother get that thing cleaned up before prime fishing is over

Man, I'm going to try... but having a toddler and pregnant wife seems to slow things down a little for some reason!!! :LOL2:

zackn said:

Man, I'm going to try... but having a toddler and pregnant wife seems to slow things down a little for some reason!!! :LOL2:

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#$(&$ Are you my twin from another country?

I have a toddler and a pregnant wife too!

Man was she pissed when I brought this thing home hahahaha.

Wow, no kidding! Yeah, my wife was pissed too, ha ha. I said "hey, it only cost $125!!!" That didn't work at all.

Its not ugly, it just has a lot of character.

Welcome aboard, and despite the claims of using steelflex to stop leaks, I would suggest you identify where the leaks are coming from, fix the leak, then consider using steelflex as a barrier rather than a fix.

In your case, if any of the leaks are coming from a rivet, you want to buck the rivet to stop the leak. If any of the leaks come from cracks, I'd have it welded.

IMHO, steelflex is simply a bandaid on a wound that never heals, and as soon as the bandaid wears off, the leak starts again. If you fix the leak, then use steelflex, you've used it as a preventative (as I think it should be) rather than a fix.

From what I've read, Gluvit is more appropriate for stopping leaks, and if it's applied to the inside of the hull, it probably won't get the same level of abuse the outside of your hull will.

Before I used either, I'd do whatever I could to stop the leaks first.

Brine said:

Welcome aboard, and despite the claims of using steelflex to stop leaks, I would suggest you identify where the leaks are coming from, fix the leak, then consider using steelflex as a barrier rather than a fix.

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Thanks Brine. I'm definitely hoping to fix whatever I can before I try to apply SteelFlex or Gluvit. I'm hoping that just rebucking the rivets will do the job. I can't see getting into grinding off and replacing rivets (on this boat) unless there are only a handful of bad ones.

I'm thinking that once I get all the old caulk cleaned out, I'll rebuck. Then do a leak test and see how many are still leaking.

No cracks, luckily, but some of the seams appear to not be super tight. I've looked at DuraFix and Muggy Weld a bit. Not sure if those products would be good to run into the gaps in the seams?

Welcome aboard! Boat doesn't look bad at all, especially since the fish don't care what you are riding!

Sounds like you're on the right track. Good luck with the project, and I look forward to watching it along.

Well, I've been chipping away at this fiberglass epoxy compound for a couple weeks in what little spare time I have. It's really slow going... I'm about half done.



I've tried acetone and high-strength paint stripper, but nothing seems to really melt this epoxy. So I quickly went back to the chisel method.



So in the mean time (to cheer myself up from the drudgery), I picked up a soda blaster from Harbor Freight.



I haven't fired it up yet, but I'm hoping that it will do a decent job of stripping off the remaining paint after I get the fiberglass off. (I doubt it would have an effect on the epoxy, that stuff is like steel). I generally have pretty low expectations of Harbor Freight stuff, but I got a good deal on it and my curiosity got the better of me. Even with my low expectations, I was still amazed at how USELESS the instruction manual was for assembling the thing. There were no photos or drawings of the individual parts, just a list of text instructions which weren't very descriptive and left out some important steps. Luckily I got on the web and found someone who had posted the assembly process step by step.

I know I could have used paint stripping gel to get the paint off, but not too long ago I spent months stripping off all the lead-based paint off the woodwork in my 1929 home. I'm pretty burned out on that stuff, and anyway, I wanted to try a new toy

--Zack

Did you try a heat gun? Worked on a previous build and it was a life saver. Just throwing some inexpensive ideas out there.

ober51 said:

Did you try a heat gun? Worked on a previous build and it was a life saver. Just throwing some inexpensive ideas out there.

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That's a good idea, thanks. I have one I can borrow this weekend and I'll give it a shot. The only problem I ran into with the paint stripper (which just melted the very topmost layer) was that it created this epoxy slime that got all over everything, included the places I'd already gotten clean. It was a big mess. But it might save me some carpal-tunnel syndrome from this **** chisel!

Nice find on the boat...I am anxious for your report on the soda blaster, I have thought I would like to have on...let us know if they are worth it...Flintcreek

zackn said:

ober51 said:

Did you try a heat gun? Worked on a previous build and it was a life saver. Just throwing some inexpensive ideas out there.

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That's a good idea, thanks. I have one I can borrow this weekend and I'll give it a shot. The only problem I ran into with the paint stripper (which just melted the very topmost layer) was that it created this epoxy slime that got all over everything, included the places I'd already gotten clean. It was a big mess. But it might save me some carpal-tunnel syndrome from this **** chisel!

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Yeah, I had this too, but when I used the heat gun and let it heat up a section and worked slowly, it save me HOURS of pounding with the scraper.

Welcome. looks Ok to me, $ 125? the wife never spend that on anything I suppose....

Great find on the boat! I have removed fiberglass before with a grinder, you just have to be careful though!!!! But if you want to try that it should speed up the process.

Froggy said:

Welcome. looks Ok to me, $ 125? the wife never spend that on anything I suppose....

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Ha! Yeah, but seems like all her stuff manages to fit into the closet, while mine is in the backyard I told her to think of it as a lawn ornament. She didn't laugh.

alanbird_87 said:

Great find on the boat! I have removed fiberglass before with a grinder, you just have to be careful though!!!! But if you want to try that it should speed up the process.

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I wonder if a stiff wire wheel on a drill would do any good?