# Lund wc14 conversion



## Sho (Apr 2, 2018)

Hey all

Man this site is addicting. Thanks to all who have contributed. 

This is my second boat. I upgraded at the end of last year from my two man plastic boat. I've only had her out on the water once last year before I put her away for the winter. The boat is a 2012 Lund wc14 with a 2016 20 HP Yamaha 4 stroke. The length of the boat is 14.5 ft with a beam of 69". I noticed the transom braces were cracked so I plan on getting them welded. Other than that the boat is in great shape. 

On to the conversion. The plan is to have a casting deck that is extended to the first rib. A flat floor with a rod locker on one side and storage on the other. And a rear casting deck at the back. I'll be using aluminum angle and sheet. I'll be covering the decks with marine vinyl. 

One question that I have is how to support the front of the front deck. There aren't any rib at the bow of the boat and there isn't a small seat at the front either. I'm planning on adding a cap for my bow mounted trolling motor. So I was think I could hang it from there and add some extra support. 

If you have any questions or comments it would be appreciated. 

Thanks


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## water bouy (Apr 2, 2018)

That'll be nice. Probably have to rivet angle along the sides to support the front deck frame.


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## Shaugh (Apr 3, 2018)

I know it might not be very happy news to point it out, but do you see the bow in that transom ? Put a straight edge along the back and see how curved it is. That's supposed to be dead straight. If it's not you probably have rotten wood. (Even if the screws still bite). Transom supports don't just crack on their own...


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## mikejjmay (Apr 3, 2018)

wow yea, something is definitely wrong along the transom there (hopefully its just camera distortion or something). I know those new 4 strokes can be quite heavy, maybe that combined with a rotted transom led to that sever bend in the rear.

On the front deck - yea it seems if you have no supports the solution is to use rivets through the hull to add in some angle on the sidewalls.


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## Sho (Apr 3, 2018)

Shaugh said:


> I know it might not be very happy news to point it out, but do you see the bow in that transom ? Put a straight edge along the back and see how curved it is. That's supposed to be dead straight. If it's not you probably have rotten wood. (Even if the screws still bite). Transom supports don't just crack on their own...



I am also concerned about the bend or lack of flatness in the transom. I ended up taking off the caps on the weekend to take a closer look. The corners seemed a bit wet everything else was dry. I took a screw driver to it and not much happened. What do you think? Should I replace the transom first? I may regret saying this but it looks like a fairly straightforward job. All bolted connections.


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## Sho (Apr 3, 2018)

mikejjmay said:


> wow yea, something is definitely wrong along the transom there (hopefully its just camera distortion or something). I know those new 4 strokes can be quite heavy, maybe that combined with a rotted transom led to that sever bend in the rear.
> 
> On the front deck - yea it seems if you have no supports the solution is to use rivets through the hull to add in some angle on the sidewalls.



The motor weights about 120 lbs. There actually is a tag that says the transom was designed to hold a max weight of 230 lbs. 

I'm try to avoid riveting through the hull. If it's the only way would I need solid rivets or just closed pop rivets with 3m 5200?


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## Shaugh (Apr 3, 2018)

You don't want to do a bunch of expensive work on a hull that's not 100%. For me it would constantly be an irritation worrying about it .... It could be totally rotten in the middle.. That curve and the broken support means something isn't right. I'd do that along with fixing the brace... then you'll be able to do the rest of the work with total confidence.


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## mikejjmay (Apr 4, 2018)

I agree, better to fix the bones first then worry about cosmetics.

You would probably be fine with closed end all aluminum pop rivets with epoxy, since you should be a bit above the water line, however i think most folks on here will encourage you to go with traditional rivets. Being as these will be supporting your whole deck and have some force on them, I would be inclined to agree to maximize your strength, etc. Additionally, since you would have very easy access to do these rivets, it would be pretty straightforward. Check out the youtube videos on the subject. You can do em by hand, or use a $10 air hammer with flattened tip and a chunk of steel.


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## mikejjmay (Apr 4, 2018)

Yea that bend coupled with the broken support leads me to believe some impact damage may have occurred somewhere - maybe the PO hit something caused some internal damage, or maybe he backed the motor into something when trailering or something which torqued on the transom. Either way I would fix it now and be done with it.


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## Sho (Apr 4, 2018)

I appreciate the advice guys. I think you're right I should fix the transom before moving forward with the conversion. I guess I'll know what to look for if I ever buy another boat. 

I've done some reading on transom replacements. Should I be ok with acx or do I need to go with marine plywood? I've seen others use two 3/4" sheets glued together with tight bond and then three coats of spar urathane.

Let me know if I'm on the right track. 

Thanks


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## Shaugh (Apr 4, 2018)

Any X grade plywood will work fine. The beauty of doing it now is that you’ll be prepared to replace it easily next time. No reason to get too obsessed about making it “last forever”.

That's a good philosophy to take into the rest of your build too. It's much more important to design every part of the system to be easily maintained and replaced than it is to try to use stuff that's supposed to last forever...

You can see that even on an expensive boat like that, parts don't last forever... Mother Nature hates forever...


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## mikejjmay (Apr 5, 2018)

On a previous deck i made i used the west system epoxy and resin to "waterproof". Really really good system, but expensive. I just finished my deck on my current project, and this time i was doing it on the cheap.

Before putting on straight spar, trying doing the first few coats with the spar-boiled linseed-mineral spirits mix. I think the ratio i used was 1:1:2. you basically keep applying til it puddles on the wood. This allows it to really soak deep into the wood and help seal. After that dried, then i put a coat of straight spar on the outside. Maybe im imagining things (this was the only time ive ever done it this way), but it soaked up a ton of this mix, and Im all for having interior protection on the wood and not just on the surface.


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## Sho (Apr 6, 2018)

Well the transom is out. Pretty easy to do it took about an hour. Lund made it easy with bolted connections almost like they knew it would fail. 

The wood is a bit rotten but no real soft spots. I did notice that the wood is very warped. I'd say about 3/4". 

Let me know if more experienced eyes see anything I missed. 

Thanks


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## mikejjmay (Apr 6, 2018)

Nice glad it went easy. Maybe ya just got a lemon, someone installed some transom wood before it dried completely and you just got unlucky with some major warpage


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## Sho (Apr 13, 2018)

Time for an update on this project. 

I started working on the new transom last week. I'm using 5/8" Acx plywood bonded with almer probond max. I tried to find titebond 3 but its hard to find in Canada. The almer glue has the same waterproof rating so I'm sure it will be fine. 

The transom thickness turned out to be 1.25". I have it cut to size now and have drilled all the holes. I'm treating it with old timers formula then it's on to the spar urathane. 

I decided to continue on with the framing while I wait for the spar to dry. I'm going to be using a mix of 1.5 x .125" and 1 x .125" aluminum 6061-t6. The floor will be .090" 5052 aluminum.

I'm planning to start cutting out the middle bench this weekend. I'm going to use a sawzall with a bimetal blade. I'll be adding support back to stiffen the walls.


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## Sho (Apr 14, 2018)

Middle bench cut out. Easy work with the sawzall. More framing.


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## Sho (Apr 22, 2018)

More framing


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## Sho (Apr 24, 2018)

I took the last two days off to work on the boat. I'm hoping to be on the water by may 24. Transom brace reinforced with 1/8" plate. Final coat of spar urathane was applied tonight to the transom. Still framing but I'm getting closer...


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## water bouy (Apr 24, 2018)

Looking good.


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## Sho (Apr 25, 2018)

water bouy said:


> Looking good.



Thanks water bouy. It's taking way longer than I thought it would.


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## ncfishin (Apr 25, 2018)

Did you notice any more flex after cutting the bench? Looked like you kept most of the structure of the seat.
Looks great. Keep it coming.


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## Sho (Apr 26, 2018)

ncfishin said:


> Did you notice any more flex after cutting the bench? Looked like you kept most of the structure of the seat.
> Looks great. Keep it coming.



Thanks NCfishing. 

I couldn't see any flex so far. Everytime I pushed on the boat it just shifted on the trailer. 

I have a lot of angle supporting the sides so I think I'll be okay.


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## ncfishin (Apr 26, 2018)

What did you use on the ribs? The cross members. Looks like some heavy duty square stock.


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## Sho (Apr 27, 2018)

ncfishin said:


> What did you use on the ribs? The cross members. Looks like some heavy duty square stock.



It's 1.5 x 1.5 x .125" 6061-t6 aluminum. It's plenty stiff. My spans are about 20" on the ribs


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## Sho (Apr 28, 2018)

Transom back in. Rear deck framed.


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## Sho (May 5, 2018)

Here's the latest. 

Framing is done. Bases have been installed. I'm working on the electrical and adding back foam. Getting closer


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## water bouy (May 6, 2018)

Where do you find those base plates. No one around here seems to sell em.


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## Sho (May 6, 2018)

water bouy said:


> Where do you find those base plates. No one around here seems to sell em.



I got 2 hi lows from amazon.ca and the other one from Cabela's. I went with Springfield plug in style. I think they will be stronger than the king pin version.


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## Sho (May 13, 2018)

Floors cut


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## wmrmurphy (May 16, 2018)

You're doing a hellova nice job on this build. I'm anxious to see the finished product. Very impressive... I'm jealous...


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## akboats (May 17, 2018)

looking good.


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## Sho (May 17, 2018)

Thanks guys. Here's the latest. 

I was hoping to have the boat done for the weekend but it's not going to happen. I'm still taking her fishing but I need to vinyl the hatches.


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## Sho (May 31, 2018)

Well it's been a long time coming but I'm calling it done for now. I still need to close off the battery compartment. But that can wait till the end of the season. 

Big thanks to all that have helped me finish this project. 

If anyone is considering a similar build here is what I've learned. First aluminum is pretty easy to work with even without any experience. Second the project will take a lot more time than you expect. If I had to guess I'd say I've spent between 120-160 hrs. A lot of hard work but we'll worth it in the end. 

Cheers!


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## DansFishTaxidermy (Jun 1, 2018)

Looks great!


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## Shaugh (Jun 1, 2018)

Looks like a factory boat.. nice job....

One question I have for people with these type of compartment floor plans is how do you keep the wasps and carpenter bees and mice and ants and ....etc out of these boats ? 

Here in middle TN I can't walk away from a boat and come back without some critter trying to make it home.... Any kind of hidey hole and they'll be in there... Every time I see a boat with compartments like that I imagine opening the door and finding pissed off red wasps....


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## Sho (Jun 1, 2018)

Shaugh said:


> Looks like a factory boat.. nice job....
> 
> One question I have for people with these type of compartment floor plans is how do you keep the wasps and carpenter bees and mice and ants and ....etc out of these boats ?
> 
> Here in middle TN I can't walk away from a boat and come back without some critter trying to make it home.... Any kind of hidey hole and they'll be in there... Every time I see a boat with compartments like that I imagine opening the door and finding pissed off red wasps....



Thanks guys. 

I've only had the boat since last fall so I haven't had any problems yet. I think some chipmunks tried to hold up in the boat over the winter. I've heard moth balls work.


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## Sho (Jun 27, 2018)

On the water


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## Bridge4 (Jun 28, 2018)

Looks like a great day! Must be nice putting it to use after all that work.


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## LDUBS (Jun 28, 2018)

Sho -- great photos and nice looking fish. Thx.


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## Sho (Jun 29, 2018)

Thanks guys. I'm really happy with my build now that I've fished in it several times. So much better than the factory layout.


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## Jim (Jun 30, 2018)

Great project man! I will add it to the list!

Thanks so much for documenting the project on TinBoats! I truly appreciate it. 

Jim


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