The SLOW mod! 13 foot Springbok

It has taken me a long time to get everything together and put this story in a consumable package. I have enjoyed all the mod posts on this site... and I love the fact that all these are done on an aluminum platform.

Here is my mod.. and as many others here, it is still in process.

This is what it looked like not long after I brought it home in mid-September 2008. Tire chunks bolted to the side is still a mystery and the object of much conjecture. Best guess is that it was protection for a vehicle when it may have been used as a car/truck topper.



The inside stern facing. There seems to be a lot of room between the aft bench and the transom. I may make this into a rear casting deck in the future.

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Another look at those gorgeous tire chunks. The transverse ribbing is good and strong, I might only have to add two or three of them if I choose to gut the benches and make pedestal seats and fore and aft casting decks.



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Here is the first atrocity that I have found; Shelving braces used to "Protect" the keel. While I am certain that it seemed like a good idea at the time; At a Grateful Dead concert on PCP, it is obvious that the steel screws that were bored into the keel caused more damage than it prevented.



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Found this under some (David) putty. Yah... that's right.



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Here is the story about my motor;

I bought an Eska (1977 15hp) because I did not know better. I bought it on a whim and then read all the horror stories about it.

At the start of the season I was on my way to a little fishing vacation when the hinge that holds the engine onto the bracket cracked off while driving. Good thing I had a couple of straps on it or it would have been a hood ornament for the little Matrix that was on my butt for about 20ks (12 Miles).

After much ado... I fashioned a fix a couple of weeks ago. It seems more solid (This hinge) than the original.


From the top.

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From the bottom and behind.

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Here is a pic of the Eska, and a glimpse of some of the completed work on the Diogenes. Battleship Grey at this point... some of that may change in the spring.


I hit the water with it for the first time in mid-October '08... and she ran great! Maybe a little under powered for a 15, but I was VERY pleased. The water pump was pumping and the spark plugs were sparking... Quite happy! By my calculations, I achieved about 20 to 25kms (12 - 15 Mph) per hour and planned beautifully. I was skipping around some of the bends on the Gatineau river!! Freaky feeling. But, maybe that is what you get when you put a 15hp on a boat that is rated for 7.5hp!

The next thing I want to do is get a carb kit, new impeller, spark plugs and change the LU oil.

Finally... a working camera and some sun and melting snow to encourage a photo session with my Bok! This will show some of the work that I did late in the fall;

The transom on the outside:


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Transom on the inside;


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Notice the Battleship gray colour inside AND out ...


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As you can plainly see, I have painted the Bok. I used an epoxy paint that is supposed to fill leaks as it covers... but I suppose that my rivets and seams leak a little bit more than this stuff can fix. I am getting some Gluvit within the next two weeks. I will remove the center and rear benches. temporarily, so I can get at all the rivets. I am going to pound them in an effort to tighten them, then apply the Gluvit. Gluvit is meant more for this application than Interprotect was... it is flexible when dry and runs into the cracks and seams for better penetration. We all want that... better penetration.... mmmmm....

Once I am finished with the Gluvit, I will re-rivet the benches back into place for the year. I am going to save up my change and soda bottles to get enough money to mod this bad boy. Front and rear casting deck and center bench delete. Boat is quite shallow... so I don't think I will put in a floor... flat bottom too... so I am already there.

I took it as a sign from the Boating Gods that it was time to start on the pile of tin. There are things I HAVE to do to get this boat and trailer ready for the April 24th trout opener;

Fix trailer:
1) Fix shocks - Adding a cotter pin to each or threading a nut onto the posts should do it.
2) Change tires and Valves. I bought new rubber and valves... now how do you go about mounting these buggers on the rim yourself? I can remember when I was a kid, seeing guys put lighter fluid in the tire and lighting it up to set the tire into the rim. Don't know if I can do that... I don't even know if I can get the tire onto the rim! I know I don't want to pay $17 per tire to get them mounted... I paid $20 for the **** rubber!

3) Redo the back wiring. I had a blow out on my last trip before the winter comming back from Lac Saint Marie, the shrapnel from the shedding tire took out my shock and some wiring with it. I will have to replace some of the wiring and redo some connections.

The Boat:

1)Take out the middle and aft seats so I can get at the seams and/or rivets that are still leaking.







2) grind all seams and rivet clean with a wire brush on my drill or die-grinder. Pound the rivets tight.

3) Clean with vinegar or acetone.

4) Apply Gluvit. (Epoxy leak stopper)

5) Modify the middle seat so that it becomes two small side seats.

6) Modify the rear seat so that it can accommodate storage under the bench... I am thinking Piano Hinge... and rivets.

7) Repaint with E2000.

Go fishing.

I do have some future plans; Bow and Aft casting decks with twin battery storage in the bow and a vented gas tank cover plate/ casting deck at aft. Apply rubberized EVA interlocked flooring tiles to all horizontal surfaces; decking, seating and tread.

I also want to mod the trailer a bit to make tie downs easier and launching and trailer-ing.

So, today, I got the mid and aft benches out. Still deciding on my approach on modding both benches. The mid bench should not require extra material other than rivets. I will use the existing material to accomplish this mod. The aft bench mod will require only rivets, a piano hinge and a pull ring.

Here it is after the spring...



Kind of hard to see what I did by this picture, but I painted over the Gluvit I applied. Not crazy about the paint I used... but it works. I tried to make the center bench into a storage locker, but I screwed up the aluminum. The piece I cut out got warped and when I riveted on the hinges.. the heads were too long and caused the hinge to bind up. So I gave up and went with a wood top. MUCH easier. Used some flimsy 1/4 inch ply and sanded and plastic coated it. I am happy with it for this season.

If you are wondering what the wood at the bow is, you are not alone! I fashioned this solution for my transom mount trolling motor to go on the bow. Last year when I tried to put it on the bow, the aluminum flexed like heck and the vise bracket on the motor would not clamp down. So I bolted this little set up and I am quite satisfied... at this point.

After a couple of outings, I realized that I needed a better trailer tie-down system. I had to pull over and redo the ratchet straps 3 times on my last outing and got eaten alive by black flies.
Part of the problem for my set up is that if I wrap the straps all the way around the boat and trailer, the boat flexes under the pressure, and I think it opens the riveted seams a little. Same thing if I hook the gunnels...

So here is what I came up with;



Other side;



You get the idea!

And the rear home made 3 point ratchet strap;



This system ratchets down PERFECTLY! Solid beyond my wildest expectations. That son of a gun is not going anywhere. I cut the cheap straps to measure and now it takes me less than 2 minutes to get it all strapped down.

Next thing I tackled was the floor. I purchased some puzzle mat from Zellers (Like Target and Wal-Mart) for about $25. This got me 8 tiles that were about 16x16 inches each. Had some brain farts and messed up one tile, but I am satisfied overall with how it turned out. Contact cement and scissors is all it took.



Closer..


And...


So there you go. If all goes well, this is the final design for this season. I still want to put in a bow casting deck and perhaps a rear deck.

Thanks for all the ideas guys!

Craig

Nicely done Tying down was one of my concerns also and so I had to come up with my own way. I like yours. Very quick and easy to use.

Looking forward to your future mods.

Awww man... I was really diggin the chunks of tire. :lol:

No really, nice clean up so far. How did you fix the hole where the puddy was?

Cheeseball said:

Awww man... I was really diggin the chunks of tire. :lol:

No really, nice clean up so far. How did you fix the hole where the puddy was?

Click to expand...

Fix the leak?....Ahhhh crap!! .... that would explain the water in my boat....



Just kidding! I used StarBrite aluminum epoxy putty. Kind of like JB weld... but specifically for aluminum. I used two tubes and then Gluvit over it. Holding well!

Thanks Stryker777! Believe it or not, this came to me when I was sitting in my bathroom doing you-know-what! I get many of my best ideas when I am on my porcelain thinking chair!

Craig

cprince said:

I get many of my best ideas when I am on my porcelain thinking chair!

Click to expand...

Isn't that where everyone goes to think?
Nice job!

I acquired the damaged twin of cprinces's Springbok. I may have made a mistake. I wish I had taken some pictures before I started working on it. I needed to do some aluminum weld and made a real mess because I had no idea what I was doing. Who ever had this boat before me was not very careful how it was treated and it is pretty banged up. No transom support for a motor at all and several cracks. I found this site by searching aluminum boats with Spring in the name. I could not make out the whole word Springbok on the side of starboard stern. The stem at the keel where you would slide it up on a beach was completely worn through for about foot. I don't see how anyone could have been using this boat. Can I PM to cprince? As a complete novice I have numerous questions as I try to progress through my attempt at refurbishing and he has it under control.

lookin great. do you know anywhere on the net a man could pick up them tiles? i was fixing to go carpet but hesitant w/ all the clay we have up here. your setup looks more practical and pretty simular to mine

I got the tiles at Zellers in Canada... I would think that WalMart would have them as well. I could not find any in black in my town but I have heard that stock varies from store to store...

Colville09 - I replied to your PM, but feel free to post your reconstruct project in this thread or a new one. As for the keel... I had the same problem with the worn through aluminum. If it is as bad as it sounds... take it to a local welder. They will often do it for a case of beer or just a few dollars. Get him to reinforce the transome while he is at it. It realy shouldn't cost that much.

If you are heavy into the "Do It Your Self" scene.... then practice on some scrap aluminum before you burn through your boat! Aluminum is a *****!

Look forward to seeing your progress!

Craig