# ACB14 - New 14" V Project



## Stevecris (Sep 28, 2010)

Hello everyone - My thanks to all contributors to this site. I have wanted to do a project like this one, but I am not really that handy and never worked with Aluminum before, or rosin/epoxy. The helpful posts on this site made it so I could try this project and feel pretty good about the possible outcome. We will see...

Below are pictures of the boat. I gutted the inside and started building a floor support out of 2" squares of aluminum. The kind we use for screen enclosures here in FL. This stuff is easy to work with and can be bought cut to any length you want. It is very strong and light weight as well. Also this boat has a 25 HP motor on it and since I wanted only one bench type seat/structure in the middle of the boat, I want to beef up the transom and inner structure best I can.

While doing this I wrote to Henry Hefner <Mino Bucket> who told me about Steel Flex and this site. I decided before progressing with the inside to do the bottom with SF. I never used any power tools before and had to buy a 4" angle grinder and a bunch of wire wheels and sanding disks to figure out how to rough up and clean the aluminum. See pictures. In the end a good wire brush did most of the work around the rivets. I Figured out how to work with a cup brush and got most of the course stuff off while roughing up the surface. Then I went over the entire surface with a sanding disk (60 G), went over each rivet with a wire brush and then vacuumed off all lose grit. Then I wiped it down 2 times with an Acetone soaked rag.

Finally it was time to mix the SF. I did 16oz at a time, 8 oz of part 1 and 8 oz of part 2. The stuff hardens quickly. It went on easy at first, but then got really tough. Found out later to just drizzle it on and keep working it. It will spread out. Instead of thick coats, I did three thin coats. I have 1/2 of the SF left. I am thinking of using it to seal the inner bottom of the boat which will be under the floor. 
The second and third coats went on very fast as I become much better at putting it on, spreading it out and mixing up the right amount for what I wanted to do. It was great to have my wife do the mixing while I drizzled and spread. Also she took the foam brush and made sure that a good amount of SF was covering all the ribs, rivets and seam areas. In the end, it came out great and I feel the bottom is well sealed/protected.
As for the overall design - I am trying to keep this as simple as possible. I am older and don’t like the instability of a high deck in a 14’ V boat, so I will have a low flat floor from bow to stern. However, I want a center bench like structure to give the hull needed support and to have a live well and cooler section with some additional storage. I have an idea on how to make this work, but have not firmed it up yet. Please provide and ideas, comments etc that you like. Also, ask any questions and I will do my best to answer them.
Steve


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## jdret (Sep 28, 2010)

It's looking good, Steve. Like you, I prefer a lower deck as well.


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## Stevecris (Oct 2, 2010)

Thanks jdret. I am learning a lot.
I just started taking it down to the aluminum on the inside. The idea is to steelfex the very bottom (under where the floor will go). Then paint up to the hand rail. I read on the forum that it is possible to buy a spray self etching primer and then just spray with rustoleum(sp). What do you guys think? Is that they way to go for painting the inside of the boat above the deck?

All comments are welcome and appreciated.


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## Stevecris (Oct 19, 2010)

Well it's been about 5 weekends so far and I am finally working on the middle bench. I got the foor ribs in and had some extra Steelflex so I decided to wire wheel the inside of the boat in order to paint it and steelflex the bottom. The wire wheel took a lot of energy and a very long time with a lot of wires flying out of the wheel from time to time, but I got it all done.


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## Stevecris (Oct 19, 2010)

I did not prepare the inside surface for painting very well. I just ran out of time. I could see that I really needed to sand the primer down and get it more even, but I had to keep moving due to to a hectic schedule coming up. So I just cleaned it up the best I could and put 2 coats of primer followed by 3 coats of paint. I used about 5 cans of primer and 6 or 7 of paint. Got everything at Walmart including the Acetone.

I keep building as I go, but in the end I realized that I was unable to build some of the features I wanted. So I simplified the design a bit. I figured I could use it for a while like this and then make changes later on. I find that with enough time, you can really do anything. Now I will go with a nice open section in the back and also in the front. Both will have about 48" of open area. These two sections will be separated from each other with a mid deck and cooler and live well section. there will even be room for the switch box to run the electric. 

This center bench was a good project. My brother and I put it together in a few hours one Saturday. I wanted the coolers to open easily from either side, so I had to turn them so they will ride longways. The ribs were spaced in such a way that the coolers would not fit in this direction if I used only 2 of the ribs. So I increased it to three. The handles of the cooler flap up and would not be able to be used with only three wide, without a modification. So we just added some a small section of the 2" square stock we are using. We cut the bottom of this top brace at a 45 angle so they we could rivet it to the main uprights.


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## Stevecris (Oct 20, 2010)

During this project I keep thinking about the bow and how to support the floor's edge without putting holes in the hull. The following picture shows were I am with this. One thing to consider is that the floor will end about 48" in front of the middle bench section. I want to put a small enclosure in at that point right up to the tip of the bow (slightly lower than the rails and all the way out to each side).

Anyone have any suggestions about any of this and especially - floor support at the edges????


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## Stevecris (Oct 20, 2010)

Here is another picture of the bow before I finished off the mid section and started in the bow area. and another giving a better shot at the mid section.


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## Stevecris (Oct 24, 2010)

This weekend was parents weekend at UF. My wife and I went to see our son. He is doing well and loves this school. I am trying to have the boat done in time for some fishing with him thanksgiving weekend. To help keep on schedule, my brother Bob agreed to give the bow issue a try and to cut the 3/4 plywood for the front and back decks. He did a great job. After we fitted the decks, we took her out for a run. Bob worked on the motor when I first bought the boat about three months ago. Iit wouldn't run for more than a few minutes. He found an issue in the carb which took care of that and then he tore apart the lower unit. Much of it had to be replaced. He went through the entire motor and got it running great and then it sat for 10 weeks or so. We thought , before we buttoned down all the decking we should see how well the boat floated and how stable it was. The motor fired up on the 5th pull, and ran very strong while we took it through its paces. I think it is a great motor. We put about $600.00 into parts and labor to get it to run well, but paid only $500.00 for the boat, motor and trailer, so I think we are ok as far as cost goes.

The boat preformed very well. It is very stable and well balanced. It went up on plain quickly and felt great (moving the battery to the front helped keep the bow down a bit. I would estimate that it will run at about 25 mph with out stressing it at all.

here are a few pictures of this weekend's work. I have a lot of steel-flex left over and have begun to paint the deck with that. The plywood really soaks up the steel-flex, so I think I will get some primer for the top side of the decks to seal the plywood a bit before applying the steel flex. Let me know if you have and comments or questions.


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## Stevecris (Oct 28, 2010)

Prepped and painted front and rear decks this week. I was able to get a good coat of steelflex on the rear underside of the decks. Finally stared to run out of the stuff and it became clear that I would not have enough for the top sides of all decks. A piece of Plywood is like a sponge to steelfex. If you prime it first, it helps, but the steel flex just smears on instead of rolling on. My longer term plan is to carpet the decks anyway, but I would like to take the winter off and do some fishing first. I primed primed all top sides of all decks. The front deck is in two pieces. Since I was going to run out of steelflex long before I finished, I decided to do a little experiment. On the front main deck I put one super heavy coat of steelfex. I basically coated it well one time and then went back over it with liberal measures of steel flex. Once this dried is left the wood with an outstanding finish. Hard as nails and very tight and bright. For the front part of the front deck, I gave it a normal coat of steel flex. For the main rear deck I got some Super paint from Sherman Williams (deck paint $32.00 per gallon, but I only needed a quart - about $17.00). The idea is to see how well each section ages over the winter here in FL. I will take and post pictures later this week. Just put the second coat of SW deck paint on the main rear deck. I will mount all decks to the ribs tonight and install the seats. Should be ready for some fishing this weekend!


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## tccanoe (Oct 28, 2010)

Great Job. I hope it's a big suprise for your son when he gets home at Thanksgiving. For somebody that says he ain't handy, you sure are handy.


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## jasper60103 (Oct 28, 2010)

Yea, that's coming along great. Hope you fill both coolers with fish.


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## itnet7 (Nov 11, 2010)

Absolutely beautiful work. I am so glad that you decided to do this project. I knew you could do it!!! Pictures are worth a thousand words. I wish that I could have had the time to give you and Bob a hand. 

Awesome!

Chris C.


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## Stevecris (Dec 25, 2010)

Finally got some pics of the semi finished boat. here they are...


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## thad. (Dec 26, 2010)

I really love the layout of this boat.
Great job! I can't wait to see the finished product.

What are you going to sit on to run the motor?


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## LonLB (Dec 26, 2010)

I'm not complaining about the setup at all. Just an idea. That's what the site is for right. 8) 

I think if it were me, and I wanted two coolers, I would frame them individually, that way there wasn't a tall deck to climb over when moving from front to back in the boat.


I like the boat, and the work you have done. I hope to find some aluminum like that when I start on mine. I hope to have the inside cleaned out, and the transom boards out next weekend.


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## Stevecris (Dec 26, 2010)

Thanks for the comments. More pictures follow. In them you can see that I offset mounted a rear seat. It works well. Yes the center structure can be a pain, but I find that the guy gets in the front and stays there, same as me in the back. I needed the center structure to support the sides. It would be better if you could walk through to the front, but it would also be weaker. 

Good luck on your project.


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## Stevecris (Dec 26, 2010)

Better shot of the rear seat setup.

The pull start on the motor went out on a windy day on the lake. I was Lucky that the assembly had the pull rope and the fly wheel had a spot to manually wind the rope for a pull start. But I asked my brother Bob to help me with a better fix and he suggested an electric start. A few hours and about $225.00 later he had it installed and it works great! No more pulling, but I had to add a battery and now thinking about all the electrical work to be done. I also bought a fish finder, bilge pump, and want lights and live well stuff, so this is the next adventure. I will be searching this site in order to learn about distribution panels, circuit breakers and bus bars. Will also be closing in the cooler section and the middle will hold life jackets and other safety equipment. The panel facing the rear seat will also house the distribution box. 

I went to Lowe's today in order to get ideas for closing in the cooler section. I want something light and easy to work with. I would like to rivet it directly to the 2" channel. I saw an ad in Craig's list for 8' X 4' X1/8" aluminum diamond plate at $50.00 a sheet, but didn't get it and don't see it listed any more. I thought it was too much, but all I see now is a lot more than that. I looked into Plexiglas , but they only had clear and I am not sure how easy it would be to make all those cuts and to rivet it. Wood is always an option, but I hate to paint it and seal it and then I won't be able to rivet it and it is heavy. Any other ideas?


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## Brine (Dec 27, 2010)

First time seeing your build. You've done a great job thus far. I would be concerned with having steelflex under my feet in a boat. Seems like a slip/fall waiting to happen. You may want to put down a few strips of non skid tape to prevent any accidents.

That was a great price on that diamond plate! I'm using an ACM panel in lieu of aluminum sheet on my build. You can see it in my Rhyan Craft Build in my signature below. Some sign shops have it and may be willing to sell you enough to do your bench. 

The boat looks great, and I look forward to seeing your new electrical.

Brine


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## mmf (Dec 27, 2010)

Just noticed in one of your first pictures that there were 2 plugged thru-transom fittings. Don't know whether these are plastic but I do know they will dry rot and bust off when you least expect it, and sink your boat fast! If they are unused, I would remove them and cut a piece of 3/16" flat aluminum that will cover both openings and attach with 4-6 stainless screws and nuts with marine epoxy as a sealer. I have done this many times on other boats I have restored and it works great.


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## Stevecris (Dec 28, 2010)

Thanks Brine - but that SF looks sooo good and clean up is a wipe with a damp cloth. I was thinking of doing the tops of all the floor panels with it becasue it looks so good. I hear what you are saying and thought about strips or possibly a clear coat with sand. I think the strips are a better idea, but I worry about the glue in the summer with the heat we get around here. I never thought of a sign shop for the panel. I will check them out this weekend.

Thanks also to mmf - I didn't know that stuff could rot and sink the boat. I will put that fix high up on the list. I just bought those, so I think I should have a couple of outings in them yet. People have told me NOT to use stainless with aluminum because of a reactiion between the two metals. Have you heard about this?


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## thad. (Dec 29, 2010)

Stainless is fine with aluminum.


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## Stevecris (Sep 23, 2012)

Hello everyone. It's been almost two years fishing with this boat just about every Saturday year round. I can say it has been great. But now it is time to do something about an easy walk through to the front of the boat. I would also like to enclose the batteries up front and mount a better trolling motor up there. My main concern is in removing or modifying the center structure which is giving considerable support to the mid section of this boat. The small front section I will build will firm the front up a bit and I plan to remove the rear seat in favor of a solid back seat/deck setup. So there will be a bit more side to side support in the rear as well. 
What do you guys think, can i safely remove the section between the two coolers?
Steve


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## offdutyangler (Sep 30, 2012)

What about only removing just enough for a walk though? you could box it off for some storage.


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## Stevecris (Oct 1, 2012)

offdutyangler said:


> What about only removing just enough for a walk though? you could box it off for some storage.


I think that's a good idea. The main side to side support is comprised of two 2" square aluminum pieces that now form the top of the entire section. I placed these two 2x2" shafts in such a way where there is significant tension with each shaft wedged between the right and left sides of the boat up high near the top rail. I guess I could eliminate the one vertical center support in favor of two vertical supports just after the coolers. Then cut out the mid section. But eliminating the two solid 2x2 running from one side to the other will surely make that mid section of the boat weaker. I guess the big questions is how do I determine if there is enough support without risking my boat and me


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## Gizmo30 (Nov 4, 2012)

Very nice boat! Where did you buy the 2" aluminum? I want to use your idea in my boat. Thanks! Gizmo


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## Stevecris (Nov 5, 2012)

Gizmo30 said:


> Very nice boat! Where did you buy the 2" aluminum? I want to use your idea in my boat. Thanks! Gizmo


Hi Gizmo, I bought it a a place that supplies contractors with the material to frame screen porches and screen pool enclosures


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## MotorBoatin (Nov 6, 2012)

How did you attach the 2" aluminum to the boat without adding additional holes? Or did you and just reseal? I framed the inside of my boat with wood before doing my research, I'm much more fond of the metal frame idea.. Much more durable. Also, can the 2" aluminum be bought from any normal home improvement stores?


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## Stevecris (Dec 30, 2012)

MotorBoatin said:


> How did you attach the 2" aluminum to the boat without adding additional holes? Or did you and just reseal? I framed the inside of my boat with wood before doing my research, I'm much more fond of the metal frame idea.. Much more durable. Also, can the 2" aluminum be bought from any normal home improvement stores?



Sorry for the delayed response. The boat had hollow floor ribs. I made some 2" U brackets to accept the 2" cube material. I rivetted the bracket to the ribs and the the cube to the channel.

I got all the material from a local store here that supplies screen room installers with every thing they need.


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## Stevecris (Jan 1, 2013)

LonLB said:


> I'm not complaining about the setup at all. Just an idea. That's what the site is for right. 8)
> 
> I think if it were me, and I wanted two coolers, I would frame them individually, that way there wasn't a tall deck to climb over when moving from front to back in the boat.
> 
> ...



Absolutely became a problem, especially when fishing alone. Also with the trolling motor in the back meant trolling in reverse all the time-not good. Last weekend I figured out a way to do what you suggested and also fabricated a mounting bracket for the bow. I'll post pictures soon. Huge difference. Should have done it sooner.

OK, so here are the pictures of phase 2. The goals of which are as follows:

Move Trolling Motor up front
Put more weight in the nose
Have a clear path too the front
Make as much room as possible for fishing up front
All of these were accomplished and the boat is an even better bass fishing machine.


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## Scott Mac (Jan 6, 2013)

Looking good. It will be a nice set up when you get her done.


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## Stevecris (May 12, 2013)

Here are a couple pics of the completed phase 2 with the newest addition - a 4 pole holder. Phase 3 is also coming to mind. Since I practice catch and release the cooler on the left holds tools and spare trolling motor parts etc. I am going to consolidate this and use the recovered space for my tackle so I can get rid of the tackle bag I have. Some sort of tray system facing forward - I think. Any ideas?


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## Stevecris (May 22, 2014)

OK, so A lot has happened since I posted phase 2. I have been fishing some local bass tournaments as a non boater for almost 2 years now. It is time to became a boater, but I really love the ease and economy of this boat. It is petty far from being tournament ready so I thought new boat was in the cards. Then I spoke with Jim Folks at our Melbourne Strike Zone outfitting shop. Jim runs a bunch of fun tournaments out of strike zone and is an accomplished bass fisherman who easily shares his bass fishing knowledge about central FL lakes. He suggested that I convert a 72 - 92 quart cooler into a live well and fish my boat. This got me thinking and phase 3 is born.
To make this boat tournament ready for the clubs that exit in central FL, the following must be done:
#1 - a live well. by asking around I came up with 92 quarts as the "would like to have" with 72 being the min. I went for the 92 quarts because we have some pretty big Bass down here that I hope will visit the live well during a tournament. I want them to have a nice stay
#2 - all the clubs seem to require a tethered kill switch. I think I should have had one by now, but my 1981 25 hp Johnson just does not have one
#3 - Lights
#4 - Bilge pump

I have started on 1/2 of these projects and will post pictures soon. The biggest part of the project was building the live well. I made a ton of expensive mistakes, but I always budget for that. However, when I run down the cost for you guys, we'll see what it should have cost and I am sure many of you can do it for a fraction of what I paid. But for me, it was a project that I wanted to do and learn about. 
The main reason the live well project is so complex and costly is the following list of requirements:

#1 - No motor inside the well heating up the water - it gets hot enough in FL during the summer months and it will be hard to keep the water cool as it is
#2 - No fish escaping when I open the lid and I want to stand on the lid, so I don't want to cut it
#3 - I want a bag fill pump out
#4 - A good clean installation that will keep 5 large bass alive
#5 - completely detachable so I can remove it easily whenever I want
#6 - use only one pump to fill circulate, and pump out
I think that covers it. In the next posting I'll tell you what I did and post some pictures.


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