# amateurhour's 14' v hull restoration (new pics 04-15-13)



## amateurhour (Feb 24, 2013)

After over a year of lurking here I finally get to make a thread because I finally got a boat! 

I traded a $200 Bass Pro gift card for a 1970's Aluminum V hull that was listed as a Sears (but Vermonster pointed out it's actually a Richline), a trailer, and a Briggs and Stratton 5hp (air cooled) outboard. Definitely not a bad deal for a $200 gift card right? 

I told this story in the boat thread but when I brought the boat home the trailer made it 4 out of 7 miles smooth sailing. It rode very well. Then the freaking back right tire popped off the wheel halfway (the guy aired up the tire before I left as it was flat and I think it just offset it from the wheel) leaving me on the side of the highway. So here I am first night owning my first boat with no clue how to fix this scenario. I was pretty much just going to take the back road home anyway so I drove on the wobbly tire and it managed to get me home (it even popped back onto the wheel a few times) until about 3/4 of a mile from the house where it came off the wheel entirely. So I went the rest of the way on the rim, going very slowly, and hoping I wouldn't get pulled over or anything. 

Thankfully the boat made it home safely and was tucked away in the garage. 

I started the tear down this weekend and I've gotten a little bit of work done. I've got the before pics and some progress pics. I plan to replace both wheels/tires on the trailer and get a spare as well. The electrics, hand winch, and padding on the trailer is still in good shape so the only thing it should really need is repainting. 

The Before Pics: 

The front view (note the tire-less wheel  ) 







Side view






Side view (continued) 






Interior 






Back (apparently it already has a name. Is it bad luck to rename a boat?) 







PROGRESS PICS: 

The first thing I did is try to get the motor off, but it was padlocked to the transom so after searching for a pair of boltcutters I decided that a hacksaw would be enough to take out the plastic around the lock. It now sits safely on my "motor stand" 

Stupid Lock






Motor Stand






So the boat actually has two nice folding seats, and the front one has a nice support swivel plate too.











So I removed those and then took the wooden bench off the front seat to find... 






FOAM! But not nasty old foam, so it must have been replaced pretty recently. Regardless, I took it out, and each bench has two long sheets in it so I'll need to replace that. 

Work work work, out go the seats and foam. 
















I managed to get two seats done today. After I got the motor off from the back I was left with this: 






As you can see, it's a mess. I took out a homemade wooden battery holder and noticed the makeshift toggle switches for the bilge pump and an older eagle depth finder up front which I'll probably get rid of in favor of a better fish finder. 











So I'll need to replace those switches for a proper fuse box... 

Lastly, I found the drain hole and drain plug, which barely sits in the drain hole, so I need to replace/fix that, because I don't want to sing 






So that's it for now. I've still got a lot of work to go. Priority one is to finish tearing down the boat, and then get the wheels for the trailer. Then I'm getting a gas tank and gas line for the motor and make sure it's good to go, then I'll strip and prime the boat and fix any holes or leaks in it. 

So you experts let me know what I'm missing or if I'm doing anything wrong. I'm excited because this is my first boat and I think it will be perfect for fishing the lakes in Nashville and camping out on the islands on said lakes. 

More updates to come!


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## Tusker (Feb 24, 2013)

I like that motor stand. :lol: The first thing I noticed was the seats and bases. Real nice, and the anchor mate. That boat could be a real looker with a little work.


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## Pweisbrod (Feb 24, 2013)

I DIG IT.


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## amateurhour (Feb 25, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback. 

So here's what I'm planning to do. I want to basically extend the front bench into a deck using support frames underneath and have a raised seat for casting and storage underneath. The front bench only goes halfway to the floor of the hull and was originally meant for storage anyway so it seems like a no-brainer. Here's a very crude mockup of what I'm planning. 











Does that seem realistic? That way I get the benefit of a casting deck but I don't lose the seat. I'll have to small or one medium sized storage compartment and/or livewell closer toward the front.


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## billhowardoutdoors (Feb 25, 2013)

Gonna be a fun project. Out of curiosity, the foam under the seat, was it floatation foam? It looks like the type you use for a cushion and would soak up water like a sponge! Of course, this is just based on the pic.

Can't wait to see the progress!


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## amateurhour (Feb 25, 2013)

billhowardoutdoors said:


> Gonna be a fun project. Out of curiosity, the foam under the seat, was it floatation foam? It looks like the type you use for a cushion and would soak up water like a sponge! Of course, this is just based on the pic.
> 
> Can't wait to see the progress!



As far as I can tell it was indeed some type cushion foam, and it was still wet in a few spots where it had rained a few days before I took it home, but it was dry as a bone and still looked pristine throughout most of it, which was weird. It was WAY more firm than cushion foam though in the sense that it broke apart like Styrofoam when you put the slightest pressure on it. Whatever it was looked to be an aftermarket job, but judging by the shape of the benches it had been in there a while unless they put the same ratty benches on top of new foam. 

I'm going to replace it with the lowes stuff though.


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## wingsnhammers (Feb 26, 2013)

That is exactly how I plan to do my front deck. I think the hardest part will be making sure the deck is level with the waterline. The bench would support the rear of the deck just fine. The front of the deck where it meets the bow will take some imagination and fiddling, but it could be made to work and be plenty stout.


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## Vermonster (Feb 26, 2013)

If you're just extending that Bow seat to the next deck - it will be fairly close to how she should sit in the water. I'm happy with how mine sits anyways. 

Obviously this depends on what else you have in the boat and where it sits. It's all about balance. Think about where your weight is. I'm 200 lbs.

Between the bow seat and the 2nd seat there should be 2 ribs that are slanted inward towards the center line of the boat. You may want to add a center post support right there for your deck. Just as added support. Be careful to only drill through the rib and not the hull! I say this because that front bow seat is kinda flimsy as it is only riveted to the sides of the boat. Rivet 3/4" aluminum channel to the ribs so the channel is facing up, and then mount one or two vertical 3/4" square aluminum tubes that would be deck height.

Kinda like this:



But here on your boat:


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## amateurhour (Feb 26, 2013)

Vermonster those pics are definitely helpful! I do have those two angled brackets toward the front of the boat (I don't have the smiling bracket behind them though) I had originally planned to just build a wooden frame like so \_|_/ (x3 going from the back to the front, getting smaller as they go forward) to support the deck but the aluminum looks better. 

Did you weld that in or use rivets? Just curious. 

Either way something along those lines is what i had in mind. I was just going to extend from the little front seat to the second seat with a /\ shape piece of carpeted marine plywood and rig up some kind of proper support underneath and add a latch and use the area for storage, as the seat would still be where the second bench is now. 

On the restoration front things are going well. I've borrowed some tools from a friend and I'm picking up some of those wire brushes (not the cups) and some rustoleum self etching primer this weekend, so expect more pictures. 

WOO! 

Oh, also, no one told me how freaking expensive a 3 Gallon marine gas tank and fuel line costs. So far the cheapest ones I've found for that briggs and stratton motor are between $80 and $100 for the set. Anywhere to get that cheaper?


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## Driftingrz (Feb 26, 2013)

Off to a good start. Gonna be a nice solid boat, 

I did my deck the same as vermonster by using the bow seat and front bench as part of the deck support. And it sits level in the water.


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## amateurhour (Feb 26, 2013)

awesome! I don't suppose you still have your measurements for those wood cuts still lying around? : )


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## wingsnhammers (Feb 26, 2013)

I like that! I was planning to do mine flush with the top of the front bench seat and maybe even making a thin storage section where the deck would come back from the front bench 6 or 8 inches. I would have my center bench,enough foot room, and still get plenty of storage under the front deck/seat area. 

This site sends my imagination into overdrive. I was just planning to do a teardown and "restoration" at first. I was pretty much just planning to carpet the benches and paint the boat. last night I made the mistake of letting my imagination run crazy while at Lowes. #-o I bought 48 sq feet of carpet....I don't want to waste it [-X ...might as well incorporate a front deck while I am doing all this other stuff. :mrgreen:


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## amateurhour (Feb 26, 2013)

I'm going carpet shopping here pretty soon, how much was it at lowes?


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## wingsnhammers (Feb 26, 2013)

I got 4 linear feet off of a 12 foot wide roll. I'm sure it is nowhere near as nice as some of the higher end marine carpets, but I won't feel bad about getting this stuff dirty either. It was 6.24 per linear foot. I got a quart sized container of outdoor carpet glue, the carpet, and a few other little doodads for under 36 bucks.


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## Driftingrz (Feb 26, 2013)

amateurhour said:


> awesome! I don't suppose you still have your measurements for those wood cuts still lying around? : )



No didnt save any measurements. Pretty simple for the supports. To get the deck shape I layed my template on top of the gunwhales and traced it from underneath on one side than used it to draw on plywood 

I used self tapping screws into the bow and bench seat than you can see how I started adding supports. Ive recently pulled it back off and turned most of the bench into another storage compartment. Not sure how its gonna affect strength. But ill beef it up if need be.


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## Vermonster (Feb 26, 2013)

amateurhour said:


> awesome! I don't suppose you still have your measurements for those wood cuts still lying around? : )



Best advice - get some cardboard and cut out a template (piece some together if you need to.. Then just trace the template shape onto the plywood. 

I didn't bring mine all the way back to the the 2nd seat which is why support is on the bracket that runs straight across the floor. My boat is the Sportsman model which only has 3 seats total. Yours has 4 and I think is a bit bigger. 

I riveted everything and it's SOLID! You can pick up rivets and a nice hand rivet tool for $25 at Home Depot. It's easier than it looks. I cut all the angle with a jigsaw (metal blade) until the jigsaw broke (it was a POS) - after that I used the old hacksaw until I replaced the jigsaw.


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## enielsen (Feb 26, 2013)

Yes do cardboard for sure! Yours looks a lot like my deck build.


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## amateurhour (Mar 18, 2013)

No pics this week but I finished gutting the boat. I took out the back bench and the little front kids seat and all the previous owner's makeshift wiring. 

There are only four holes that were put into the boat that are non factory. They're both below the water line where he mounted the external attachment for the fish finder. It looks like he drilled two holes, then moved it to the right (it was likely too close to the prop in the previous spot) and he filled in the two original holes with some kind of adhesive. 

I picked up a wire brush and some rustoleum self etching primer while I was out and started working the metal. I got a few feet done, nothing major. It was more to learn what I'm doing than anything. 

I'm borrowing a big industrial size power sander with some wire brush discs and a small air compressor from a co-worker so next weekend I plan to blow out all the leaves and such and at least finish the inside of the boat. The guy is also loaning me a gravity paint gun for the air compressor so I was wondering two things. 

1) Does the self etching primer come in anything other than the rattle cans so that I can use it with the gun? 

2) If not, is there a primer that does work with a gravity feed gun that I can use in place of the rustoleum? 

I'm also picking up a can of the rustoleum truck bed liner and a roller brush to take care of the inside (which I'm going to do first, as it's not painted so all I need to do is clean up the metal. Do I still need to use the primer first or can I just lay down a couple coats of the truck bed liner on the inner hull bottom? 

Thanks!


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## amateurhour (Mar 28, 2013)

Finally got some time to get some more work done. Like I said I finished stripping the boat except for the transom. I have no clue how to remove this thing so I've attached pics and would love some advice. All the nuts and screws have been removed. 







On a better note, I started taking the wire brush to the aluminum and while I'm slow, I'm making progress











But as you can see, I've got work to go...







Thanks for checking out the thread, and I appreciate any help with the transom question or my previous questions about self etching primer that doesn't come in a rattle can since I have access to a paint gun now. I've also got a power sander with some wire brushes as of tomorrow so I plan to make short work of the rest of this baby over the next few weekends.


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## amateurhour (Mar 31, 2013)

Got the transom out so the boat is 100% stripped! Also finally cleaned out all the dead leaves and junk and it's a solid boat, no holes or cracks, WOO! 

Here's the transom out, the aluminum behind it is in good shape. 













However I did realize that I suck at drilling out rivets. I got the caps off the rear of the boat perfectly, but getting the transom brace off was a comedy of errors. As you can see two of the rivets are still in there a fair bit. 







I did get a lot of work done though, I got about a quarter of the interior done but I've still got a lot to go. At least it's clean now.


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## jvanhees (Apr 5, 2013)

amateurhour said:


> I did get a lot of work done though, I got about a quarter of the interior done but I've still got a lot to go. At least it's clean now.




Can you tell the detailed process you used to get the hull that clean? I am having a hell of a time with mine....


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## simbelle (Apr 5, 2013)

Just posting to say good luck, and am enjoying following your mod,. I follow most the smaller V haul mods if they have lot pictures. Kind of like playboy in my younger days. Not much for the articles, but the pictures keep me interested!


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## amateurhour (Apr 5, 2013)

jvanhees said:


> Can you tell the detailed process you used to get the hull that clean? I am having a hell of a time with mine....



- 1 14.4 volt black and decker power drill 
- 1 (so far) nice brass coated wire wheel brush for the drill (the good ones that are like $6 at Lowes) (this is for the detail work in between the nooks and crannies) 
- 1 el-cheapo angle grinder 
- 1 wire wheel brush for said angle grinder (cheap ones are fine, but don't use the cup brush, I got one of those and it's been useless, get the flat round one) 

A LOT OF PATIENCE! Seriously that's it. That super clean hull (or the 1/4 of it I finished) is the end result of like 4 solid working hours on the boat over a week. It's an extremely slow process, and stupid since I plan to paint the interior so all I really need to do is wash it and scuff it up a little, but I'm kind of OCD so I have a goal to get it to bare, beautiful metal. 

The outside will be a LOT easier than the inside because I don't have to go through as many little odd angles to clean it all up.

I also got a few cans of rustoleum self etching primer and the only reason I haven't been spraying that down as I've made progress is because right now it's stored in my garage so I'm not really worried about the elements attacking it. 

I borrowed the drill and angle grinder from a buddy along with an air compressor (for blowing out the dust and stuff when I'm done) and he gave me a paint gun for the compressor, but you can get all of that stuff and the brushes from harbor freight for under $100 on sale most weekends. 

Seriously though, if you're going to paint the inside just wash it really good first and then just scuff up whatever paint or corrosion is in there and then lay down some primer. I'm just OCD about it and want to really, really have it clean before I start. 

Other people have recommended aircraft stripper coupled with a pressure washer which will do the same job WAY more quickly and pretty cheaply too, but I've got dogs and stuff and don't like messing with chemicals so I'm doing it the old fashioned way. 

Good luck!


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## amateurhour (Apr 5, 2013)

Also, the main reason I'm taking so much time in the detail is because I decided against decking it and I'm trying to keep it really clean and vintage. I'm getting the same quality lumber for the benches as I'm using for the transom and staining and then putting spar over it so it'll look like an actual 70's boat, because it was originally named the "Old Timer" and I hate to change a boat's name so I guess I have to change the way I build the boat : )


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## jvanhees (Apr 5, 2013)

I like it! And thank you very much for all the info. When I saw your boat it brought me back to an old outboard I had with a sticker on it "old fisherman never die"..... You may have just given me the boat name I needed!


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## amateurhour (Apr 15, 2013)

Updates! 

So I'm ALMOST done getting this beast down to bare metal. This is the culmination of over 20 solid hours with the angle grinder and drill











This is all that's left, and I should have that wrapped up today. 






Also, I scored a new 30lb trolling motor at a yard sale (took it over to west marine and tried it out on a battery and it runs PERFECTLY!. I gave a $25 lowes gift card for it and it looks maybe 1-2 years old if that. 






THEN, I traded my 5hp Briggs outboard which I wasn't even sure if it ran or what it would need. (it had spark and compression though, I knew that much) on craigslist for a 3 hp gamefisher air cooled outboard which runs like a champ, so I now have a running motor and a trolling motor! 






Here's my two new babies side by side 






So to recap... 

...


I gave a $200 bass pro gift card for the boat, motor and trailer. 

I gave a $25 lowes gift card for the trolling motor

I traded the non running 5hp for a running 3hp outboard

Also I cleaned up those bass fold down seats and they're still in pristine condition under the gunk, no cracks or wear, and both the bases are in great shape too. 

I've got a total of $40 in this boat so far of my own money. : ) 

Next comes new benches and then it's time to tackle that trailer.


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## simbelle (Apr 15, 2013)

Good work so far dude! The stripping down is the hard part, just don't get in a hurry and you'll eventually get to the building up part. $40 That great! Wish I could say that. But, mine is just something for me to do since I live alone, it keeps me out of trouble.


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## amateurhour (Apr 22, 2013)

Got the entire interior stripped to bare metal this weekend (finally, Jesus that took forever) and started priming it with the rustoleum green. Thought two cans would be enough for one full coat. HA! 

So I'll be picking up six cans this weekend to knock out the rest of the first coat and the second coat, plus touch ups. After that it's truck bed liner throughout. 

Pics coming later once I've got a full coat in. 

I also got it registered too which is nice cause now it's all mine!


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## DOBSONFLY (Apr 22, 2013)

amateurhour said:


> Got the entire interior stripped to bare metal this weekend (finally, Jesus that took forever) and started priming it with the rustoleum green. Thought two cans would be enough for one full coat. HA!
> 
> So I'll be picking up six cans this weekend to knock out the rest of the first coat and the second coat, plus touch ups. After that it's truck bed liner throughout.
> 
> ...





I used around 7 cans on my build of this https://www.aircraftsupply.com/prodimages/IMG_0965.jpg

I had some tired fingers before I had it all done, buy the el-cheapo walmart paint can attachmnent!! :beer:


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