Hopeless novice needs help with 1968 Richline

Hey guys. Thanks for an awesome website with great ideas. I could not be newer at this, but I want to mod my 16' 1968 Richline (I think it would be classed a semi-v). The boat is in good shape with new plywood on the three bench seats. With short pedestal seats on the rear and front benches. My basic idea is to deck from the front bench seat forward so that I can cast and troll from the front. I have tons of questions which are embarassingly simple. Here are some for starters:
1. What kind of wood do you use for bracing and decking. Looks like untreated pine. Does treated lumber react with the metals on the boat?
2. Do you treat the wood to waterproof it? If so, both bracing and decking?
3. What thickness of plywood should I use for decking? I would like to put in some storage compartments. How do I plan for those?
4. What size wood do you use for the bracing? How do you attach it?
5. How do you attach the bracing to the boat, or is it free-standing.
6. What questions should I have that I am not asking? What should I be watching out for? Is there a place where I can get some basic instructions on decking? Is there a basic configuration?
7. Eventually, I'm going to need to make plans for everything, from where to put a battery in the front, to how to mount a transom-mount trolling motor on a pointed bow.

I'll try to figure out how to post pictures soon (I recently moved here from 8 years in Africa, so my computer skills are a bit behind!). Basically it's the same front end of the 1968 Richline posted by another member (I'd love to hear from him if he's out there). I'll stop rambling now. Thanks for the awesome information from this site.

Mhofu.

wow.. you've got a lot of questions, but no worries - you'll get a lot of answers. I would suggest rummaging through the links on the very first post in the Jon Boat Conversions link... https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3156

Treated lumber has copper in it, and that reacts in a bad way with aluminum. I would suggest using 2x2 lumber as your bracing, unless you want to do it right and use 1.25x1.25x.125 angle iron. I would use some simple L shaped brackets to attach the bracing to the plywood (I would use no less than .5" exterior plywood). One of the best ways to figure out your deck layout is to get an old refrigerator box and cut it to the dimensions of the top of your boat (lay it on top of your gunwhales and trace around the outside, then cut it out to fit).

You can then draw on that like where you would want your seats, hatches, etc.. you can cut out the tops of your benches, remove the foam and use that as storage as well.

But like I said, look through the builds other guys have done and get an idea of what you want - that's the first place to start.. take your time and think it through right the first time, and make it work for your style of fishing.

:WELCOME:

Welcome aboard. I have a 14ft 1968 richline that im in the process of fixing up. I used a combination of 2x2s and 2x4s for the bracing and 5/8 in plywood for platform. a little heplful tip: i bought 2x4s and them cut them in half to get two 2x2s. Much cheaper. here is a link to what i have so farhttps://tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6735

OK, thanks for the very sound basic advice. A plan is beginning to emerge. It will probably be very similar to stew 6371. Now I have a couple more questions:
1. Does the bracing need to be attached to the boat, or is it free standing? I'm assuming it's attached. If it is, where and how did you attach it?
2. I'm trying to figure out how high to put the decking. I was originally planning to leave the current bench in (it has a 6" pedestal seat on it) and deck from the seat forward, but lower than the bench. But in looking at yours, I'm wondering if I might be better off using one piece from the Bench forward. Plus I like the idea of having some storage space up there. Do you feel very exposed up that high? What kind of seating will you use?

the frame work is not attached to the floor. but it is attached to the benches. in the pic i circled the screws that attatch the frame to the bench. there is a piece of aluminum the front of the framework is screwed to. the supports for the floor are also screwed to the benches. i bought all 2x4s and ripped some of them in half to get my 2x2s. it was a lot cheaper.