Bought a 1955 Alumacraft FD, I have a question

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

gwar822

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2019
Messages
82
Reaction score
6
got this old fd, not sure the year it says FD 2810 though, i googled it to no avail i know its a late 50s early 60s 14 footer ..

it has some mionor leaks on the rivets / seams, and a small hole which is no problem, thats an easy fix.. my question is how the heck do i take of the bow deck?

ive taken off the bolts on each side, the bolts on the front kleet, the anchor pully bolts, everything and it wont slide off... on the first upper pic i took under the bow and theres a section where the deck slides into a groove on the gunwale, is that whats getting stuck? the bow deck itself isnt stuck or attacked to the gunwale but in that pic you can see where it slides in.... anyone have any experience with this? I wanted to take it off so its easier to clean and restore the bow/bow deck

i can take more pics of needed
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    92.2 KB · Views: 1,534
  • 2.jpg
    2.jpg
    45.6 KB · Views: 1,534
  • 3.jpg
    3.jpg
    81.6 KB · Views: 1,534
  • 4.jpg
    4.jpg
    22.2 KB · Views: 1,534
  • 5.jpg
    5.jpg
    30.2 KB · Views: 1,534
  • 6.jpg
    6.jpg
    56.1 KB · Views: 1,534
  • 7.jpg
    7.jpg
    39.7 KB · Views: 1,534
  • 77.jpg
    77.jpg
    40.3 KB · Views: 1,532
2 things. It's probably crimped on and any screws or rivets just ensure that it won't rattle and fifty years of exposure to water probably has a mix of aluminum oxide (white corrosion) and a brown mix of dirt / microorganisms between the deck and the gunwhale. The deck looks incredible as-is and any fixes, (i.e. welding up the screw holes in the middle of the deck) can be done with it left in place. I wouldn't even try to take that thing off unless you absolutely don't want it there on the finished product. Alumacrafts, well most aluminum boats in general from the 40s thru the 60s had really tight fitting components and you might find that even the biggest rubber mallet won't pound it back into place when you want to put it back on.
 
ericman said:
2 things. It's probably crimped on and any screws or rivets just ensure that it won't rattle and fifty years of exposure to water probably has a mix of aluminum oxide (white corrosion) and a brown mix of dirt / microorganisms between the deck and the gunwhale. The deck looks incredible as-is and any fixes, (i.e. welding up the screw holes in the middle of the deck) can be done with it left in place. I wouldn't even try to take that thing off unless you absolutely don't want it there on the finished product. Alumacrafts, well most aluminum boats in general from the 40s thru the 60s had really tight fitting components and you might find that even the biggest rubber mallet won't pound it back into place when you want to put it back on.


lol my parents told me "dont mess it up Chris"

yeah i tried all the bolts, no rivets holding it down, but worse case im leaving it on, it will be a little more cumbersome to clean up under there, and to paint the anti skid paint on the hull floor but ill do it.

just got an email from alumacraft, its a 1955 =P
 
AnglerRoy said:
FWIW-I have a similar boat, but wouldn’t dream of taking that bow cover off, it seems pretty structural to me.

ohh i just wanted to take it off, so its easier for me to clean and restore the boat, and the bow deck seperatly, then reattach but if its one of those things you need to cut or could damage it i wont do it, just seeing if anyone else has removed one and put it back on

:)
 
I have an FD, no bow cover.
What about the fasteners holding the bow handle, do they go thru the cast aluminum bow cap that is under the bow cover?
 
AnglerRoy said:
FWIW-I have a similar boat, but wouldn’t dream of taking that bow cover off, it seems pretty structural to me.

I removed a bench from mine and in doing so, found that Alumacraft had glued the bottom seam to the ribs, it took me and my father a few minutes with long pry bars to break it free. Maybe they used the same stuff on the bow cover? It was a yellowish/green color if I recall.
 
1960 yellowboat said:
That boat looks so nice, I'd definitely leave it alone. After all its been there for 64 years and still looks good. Do you look that good?

I agree. Love the boat and yours is in much better shape than mine!
 
SaltH2Odeprived said:
I have an FD, no bow cover.
What about the fasteners holding the bow handle, do they go thru the cast aluminum bow cap that is under the bow cover?

i removed them but no they didnt
 
I resurrected a 1959 Model F and it had been rode hard and put away wet, then left behind a shed in Wisconsin's winters for about a decade. Love the boat, but you, sir, lucked into a gem!

What great shape and classic style.

Have a great time and be safe.


=D> =D> =D>
 
Kismet said:
I resurrected a 1959 Model F and it had been rode hard and put away wet, then left behind a shed in Wisconsin's winters for about a decade. Love the boat, but you, sir, lucked into a gem!

What great shape and classic style.

Have a great time and be safe.


=D> =D> =D>

I’m slowly building a mental database of fellow old Alumacraft owners like myself. Would love to see some pics!
 
AnglerRoy said:
Kismet said:
I resurrected a 1959 Model F and it had been rode hard and put away wet, then left behind a shed in Wisconsin's winters for about a decade. Love the boat, but you, sir, lucked into a gem!

What great shape and classic style.

Have a great time and be safe.



=D> =D> =D>

I’m slowly building a mental database of fellow old Alumacraft owners like myself. Would love to see some pics!


Here you go, Roy!


1955 Alumacraft Model A
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic ... 08&start=0
1959 Alumacraft Model F
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25386
1980 Alumacraft Model F7, 1955-56? Johnson 10hp
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=35326
1956 Alumacraft Model RB
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39249

Five Alumacraft rehabilitation s--some needing more work, only one that was saved from a wrecker's bin (The 1956 12' RB) which was scarred and dented all to blazes. Still have the F and the RB. I scoured four of them, but the RB was so damaged, I ended up painting it with Tractor enamel (Ford blue).

Since I am such an astute businessman, I sold three of the five after the work, for just a little less than I put into them, if I don't count the hours of scrubbing and getting bits and pieces. :) Oh, and the trailers' cost.

I got a lot of satisfaction in cobbling them back together; just got too old to attack another one.

Best wishes and be safe.
 
Thanks Kismet. Mine is a ‘57 Deep C. They seem to be a bit rare for some reason, compared to the other models such as yours.
 
ima make a new thread after the boats done with pics and everything , it will be cool but heres a quick update .

im an idiot./
i thought the kleet was not attached to anything besides the bow deck.. lol duhhh the bolts where rusted horrible so i never bothered drilling out the last 2 ... i finally got around to it and the bow deck came off.... actually in the pics you can the the 2 top bolts are attached the rear are not, the front 2 bolts i drilled out actually had a sliver left that held it on, once i used a punch and hammer to tap out the sliver the deck moved and was easy to slide off...

btw this is allot of hard work.... alllot of hard work indeed... wire brushing, cleaning, taking of the anti skid deck paint on the bottom... the transom, the trailer.... this boats allot more work then i anticipated but im ocd and like to do things thourogh when im done im making a youtube video with a slide show and commentary , and ill post a nice time line with pics and stuff of the whole process here. hopfully people will see it and learn from my mistakes.. ive made a couple lol but nothing some jb weld and a sticker cant fix... lol
 

Attachments

  • ghsdgh.jpg
    ghsdgh.jpg
    24.3 KB · Views: 1,309
  • 2222.jpg
    2222.jpg
    32.8 KB · Views: 1,309
  • 3333.jpg
    3333.jpg
    35.3 KB · Views: 1,309
  • 444.jpg
    444.jpg
    64.1 KB · Views: 1,309
example of a screw up

i used jb weld and sanded it where the cuts where and it looks good, just gunna through a sticker over it to hide the jb weld, or i can paint it lol
 

Attachments

  • 777.jpg
    777.jpg
    37.1 KB · Views: 206
  • 666.jpg
    666.jpg
    67.9 KB · Views: 206

Latest posts

Top