Rough V-hull

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Joined
Jul 31, 2016
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Location
Greenwood,SC
Hey guys, first post here, but I've been lurking for a little bit. I'm a kayak fisherman with a 6yr old. Bought him his own yak and realized it's not gonna work out. Then I remembered I had an old v-hull I bought off a guy in college. He needed $50 so I helped him out. I was hoping to fix this up for taking my son out in small lakes and such. Planning on an electric trolling motor for power and a small livewell. But that's getting ahead of myself. Boats in bad shape. Real bad shape. I'm not sure what I got I just know it's 12 foot long and riveted. Thinking about welding it at my uncle's shop or redoing the rivets if it's not too expensive. Here's a few pics in case anybody can tell me what I got and what's the best plan of attack for me. I'm sure someone will tell me not to even bother and just buy another boat.





 
So what can I use to strip it down to bare metal. I'm thinking my angle grinder will be to much for the aluminum. There's that hole in the front that was patched with fiberglass. After I strip it down I can see how bad it is and how bad it will be to repair. I put some water in the boat and amazingly the only leaks were from that patch and one rivet towards the front.
 
The grinder will work with a SS wire cup or you could try a paint stripper first to see how easy it comes off :beer: and :WELCOME:

PS that boat is very fixable
 
fool4fish1226 said:
The grinder will work with a SS wire cup or you could try a paint stripper first to see how easy it comes off :beer: and :WELCOME:

PS that boat is very fixable
Thanks for the encouragement! I guess that hole up front is just scaring me.
 
Buying 100 rivets is cheaper then renting a welder fyi. I have extra 1/4 thick by 3/4 long rivets if anyone needs just pay shipping.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
 
I believe you have a Lonestar.
That is their style seat brackets.
There's a few Lonestar fans on this board that
will chime in and let you know for sure.
Well worth fixing.
Good Luck and have fun with your youngin.

Steve A W


 
I'd like to chime in here. My father and I have countless memories on a 12 foot boat just like that. The boat is older than I am by far, I'm 29. You can keep these little riveted boats going forever. In fact my father patched a small hole in his probably 15 years or so ago with nothing but silicone and a tin can lid, it's still holding strong. As for the leaking rivet, what I have done in the past is drill it out and put a small nut and bolt with a washer on each side sealed with Marine Tex, you can find this at a boating store, it's basically a two part epoxy but cures super hard. If you are looking to strip the boat I have had good luck with Rustolium "Aircraft Remover". It's designed to strip paint from aluminum planes, I found it at Autozone. If you do use this product though, don't use it around your son. This stuff is vile! Wear gloves and do not get any on your skin! Even a small drop feels like someone's putting a needle in your hand, ask me how I know. Pour it into a metal container and use a natural brush to apply it because it will eat right through a synthetic one. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if it softened that fiberglass patch which isn't a bad thing because if it comes off you can see what your really dealing with then. I've had good luck with fiberglass bondo as a patch as long as you apply it to both sides so it can bond to itself and not pop out. (I found this out after my neighbor accidentally shot a hole in my boat.) This stuff works so fast you can basically paint it on, wait 5 minutes and hose the paint right off. It looks to me like that boat had been painted before so it should come off easier than factory paint. If you do decide to paint it again (I wouldn't bother) make sure you spray it with self etching primer first. I found this at Tractor Supply. My original boat was painted a high gloss cream color inside with red outside, it looked great but a high gloss finish gets very slippery when wet. It's now painted solely with self etching primer because it's flat and easy to touch up. The only other recommendation I can make is if your on a lake that's mostly calm, stay away from the higher powered trolling motors. My home lake is 75 acres and a 30lb does just fine where my 55lb just eats battery. A small boat like that I would say use the K.I.S.S. method, (keep it simple...) because the more things you try to add always sound great in theory but tend to get in the way and snag lines, ropes, etc. If you have your heart set on a livewell, they make portable ones which are basically a cooler with an aerator, or you can build your own. Good luck and have fun bringing that old dinosaur back to life! There's nothing better than a father and son making memories in a small boat just like that! I know I wouldn't trade mine for the world. I attached a pic of the stripper and primer, I'm using iPhone so hopefully it shows up. P.S.- I would stay away from the grinder, the stripper will get the job done, if you have areas that need attention use a plastic wheel on a drill or something similar. Stay away from cheap wire brushes because the little pieces of steel break off and can actually imbed in the aluminum and rust.
 

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Thanks for the tips guys. Jacobwitc87 thanks for your tips, I already stripped the patched area with a wire cup on my grinder. That makes sense putting the fiberglass on both sides. I haven't decided if I'll try to patch it with something like that or rivet a new piece in. I was thinking just patch it to get us on the water for the rest of the season then fix it right during the winter. I'm a butcher so I like the cold better than the heat.
Here's the previous owners patch job


When they put the patch on they didn't flatten the boats metal. It's still wrinkled from whatever poked through. This left a gap between the two sheets of metal. Also the rivets have been replaced with nuts and bolts.
 
These are what replaced the rivets

I plan on replacing these with rivets when I get a chance to completely redo the boat. Then I'll coat it with coat-all and paint. I fish out of a kayak with 6 rod holders,fishfinder, livewell, cooler, and other stuff so I'm used to small boats. Haha.
 

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