# Aero Craft 12' Mod.



## Action762 (Feb 19, 2013)

Ok so here we go. I have been lusting over everyone's mods for some time now and its finally my turn! I just bought this 12' Aero Craft for $175 bucks, much less that I intended to buy a boat for. I was told it was 14' but when I got it home and measured it, well it was 12'. Anyway I plan to put a smaller deck on the front of it to fit the trolling motor and two seats one in the front/middle and one at the rear. I would like a live well, bilge pump and aerated, and enough storage for my things. This is the FIRST time ever dabbling into something of this nature so I will be asking a lot of questions and doing a lot of research before starting. So here are a few of the pics that I have taken so far. There has been no progress as I just bought it yesterday but as I continue through the mod I will post as many pics as I can.


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## T Man (Feb 19, 2013)

Definately need pictures. This place likes boat porn.


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## Action762 (Feb 19, 2013)

Any tips for posting pics? I may be doing it wrong because when I try to post they dont post? Not to sure how I guess.... Any suggestions?


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## rickybobbybend (Feb 19, 2013)

You will find lots of good suggestions for mods in this section, and a tutorial on posting pics in a sticky toward the beginning of the Watering Hole forum. I found it helpful to use a Photobucket account to resize photos as necessary so they will post correctly. And welcome aboard!
Rick


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## Scott1298 (Feb 19, 2013)

Or resize your pics smaller in microsft paint, or something similar.


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## Action762 (Feb 19, 2013)

Rick thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction. That is what I need to do but while at work I will not be able to because of blocks on content and such. Scott also thanks I tried to do that as well. I was able to resize the area the picture sat in, just not the picture. I will upload them when I get home and I might just wait until tomorrow morning and take good pictures with my wife’s camera. Anyway, more to come most likely tomorrow morning. Thanks again guys.


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## Nowakezone (Feb 19, 2013)

I look forward to your project, I have a 12' Meyer that I'm going to start modding soon! Good luck!


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## Action762 (Feb 20, 2013)

Thanks Nowake and same to you!!! I cant wait to start. I need to download the program in order to put the pictures on but it will be tomorrow. Look back soon to see the updated pics.


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## simbelle (Feb 20, 2013)

Did mne on the windows picture thingy (but maybe that's the same as Microsoft, IDK) then posted them to FaceBook with just me able to see them. Easest thing for me as spokesman for The Computer Illiterate!


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## wingsnhammers (Feb 20, 2013)

I resize the pictues in Microsoft Paint and then upload that image onto a photobucket account. After you upload your photo, you can click on the picture you wish to use and it will show you a panel with image, url, html, and a few other codes. I just left click on the IMG code (it automatically "copies") and flip back to the post I wish to make. Once you are at your post, just "paste" the IMG code. I did notice that this forum won't allow me to use any images that are more than 800 pixels in height or width.


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## Action762 (Feb 20, 2013)

HAHA #-o Awesome Simbelle!! Well I got it to work via the "IrfanView" so that is a good thing. I tried the paint way and it didnt work for me but thanks for the info Wings! I was able to follow directions that Rick pointed out and resize so lets hope they post this time. So as a discription again, these are the pictures of the 12' V-bottom "Aero Craft". I have done NOTHING to these YET! I will be taking more pics tomorrow or possibly this weekend when I have time to ask some questions about the bottom of the boat as there are a few soft spots. I will take close-ups in order to get the proper advise on the best route to take on getting them fixed/patched. Anyway here are the pics and I will be posting more soon. Thanks for taking a look ya'll.






















Again I will be posting more pics as soon as I have time. Thanks again and let me know what you guys think of the boat, if it was a good buy for $175 or I got ripped of. Thanks ya'll


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## Scott Mac (Feb 20, 2013)

Great find! Any idea what year? Looks like a 1950's vintage because of the smooth sides. If you want to know more about Aerocraft check this out https://www.ultimate.com/aerocraft-boats/ It is full of info. Good luck and make sure you share with us.


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## Action762 (Feb 20, 2013)

Absolutely Scott and thanks, I thought so too just wasn’t 100% on it and your response makes me feel a whole lot better :lol: I will take a look at it when I get home tonight and let you know what year it is or a round a bout at least. I know on the side there is remnants of the Aerocraft name and logo. Any ideas of where you think I could locate a date on it? I was thinking it was old as well. I will look when I get home tonight to see if on the tag on the front, where the max weights are, if there is a date there. Thanks for the site as well looks like I could learn a lot from it!


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## Action762 (Feb 20, 2013)

Ok Scott great site!! Thanks again! Well this is what I found. I am still not sure of the year of the boat, but I found model numbers, "P-12" and "M-12" I will put the links under this post. Anyway I will do more research on those model numbers to see what year they were made but tell me what you guys think, if those are close to the same style as mine. It looks like they are based off of the sides and the bottoms "inside" of the boats. Thanks again that was a great site!

https://www.ultimate.com/aerocraft-boats/0377/index.html
https://www.ultimate.com/aerocraft-boats/0371/index.html


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## Action762 (Feb 20, 2013)

Ok so more searching on that site it shows that those model numbers where made from the years of 1958 to 1962. You where right Scott. Ok more pics to come when I start cleaning it up and fixing it. Talk to you guys soon!


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## Action762 (Feb 21, 2013)

Just an update guys, it is a Model M and it is from 1956'ish so Scott you know your stuff!! More to come as soon as I start the mod...


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## Scott Mac (Feb 21, 2013)

Thanks Action,
I did quite a bit of research to determine the vintage of my AeroCraft and it is still fresh in my mind so your timing was good. Another week or so and "poof" its gone. That is the beauty of this site, there is a "Boat Load" of knowledge here. I have used the pages contained here to get some great ideas and insight into tin boatdom (thats a new word). Keep up the good work!


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## Action762 (Feb 22, 2013)

Ok so about to start tearing this apart to get it fixed and modified. But I asked a question in another post and never got any response. Not sure if anyone knows the answer or if there is not an answer to it? Anyone help me on this one. Here is a link to the post.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25283


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## Scott Mac (Feb 22, 2013)

You do NOT have to have floatation in your boat. The original manufacturer my be required to but that is where it ends. The thing you will get dinged on would be if you were over the persons capacity but I think that is it. They put the floatation in so they can market it as a safe boat. If you think about it, the big fiberglass boats do not have floatation in them, the may have foam in the hauls but that is only to dampen sound and insulate the cabin. Those things sink like a rock when they spring a leak. They can only hope the bilge pump can keep up. I have seen it first hand on the Great Lakes. Around here if your boat sinks a couple things can happen. You can retrieve it or someone can claim it as salvage and remove it and they are the new owners or in Michigan if the Department of Natural Resourses removes it they charge you for it. All that being said I believe it is up to you what you do with your boat.


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## Action762 (Feb 23, 2013)

Thanks a ton Scott... I figured that it wasnt going to be a law thing. Great info and thanks for the explanation. So tomorrow I will be going to price a trailer and look at 2x2's, plywood and outdoor carpet to get a lay out for a budget. I dont think I will need much but we will see. I might strap the boat to the top of my Jeep Patriot, because the truck in the pic was a friend's work truck that he let me use to haul it home, and go scrub/spray it off at the local carwash to see if that dirt will come off. I may have to use a hard bristle brush because that crap is on there. Anyway I will update with pics if I make progress tomorrow.


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## Action762 (Feb 23, 2013)

Ok soooo Im a bit pissed right now.... :evil: Ive got a hole! :evil: 






Im not sure how to fix this but none the less I need to patch it so I am able to at least get some use of the boat on my pond. I would still like to mod it but I am not sure if the 1950ish aluminum is going to hold. After looking at it from the inside of the boat I found this. Also looking closer at the bottom I found where the previous owner has put bolts through the belly of the hull for some reason. I assume it was to patch a leaking rivet but I cant be sure because there is one that is just hanging out in the middle not near any rivets. Here is what I am talking about.





And not a major problem but something I would like to fix if it is going to pose a problem in the future is a few rotten spots on the back rails of the boat. All in all I think for the money "$175" it was a good buy but let me know what you think. Here is a pic of the rails.





It was far too cold to do anything today so I just went outside and took a few pics and inspected the boat a little closer. I was going to put it in the water today to see if there were any leaks but if I would have done that... well I think I may have been retrieving it from the bottom. Ill be back throughout the next few weeks. I have to have surgery on a torn ligament in my wrist so I will be occupied with that for at least 4 weeks but will still follow the forum with yall. I will start back at it when the weather breaks to post more about the cleaning and the start of the build if I hear that it is an easy fix, but either way it will get fixed so Im not just throwing 175 bucks away. Let me know what yall think of that hole and the possibilities of a patch for it or new aluminum. Thanks guys...


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## aaron86 (Feb 23, 2013)

I have a 12 foot Thompson aluminum when I got it the previous owner split the hull with a gash about 6 inches long he used fiberglass to patch it 15 years ago still the same patch to this date not a drip has come thur


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## Action762 (Feb 24, 2013)

Thanks Aaron. Is that the fiberglass strips. I saw a patch on here along the rivets and I think it was done the way you are talking about. Let me know more about it and if it doesnt leak today Id say that is a pretty good way to patch it. Thanks again Aaron.


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## aaron86 (Feb 24, 2013)

I think it was strips used


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## aaron86 (Feb 24, 2013)

Over the gash as for rivits just rebuck them


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## wingsnhammers (Feb 24, 2013)

Was that the soft floor issue you were talking about in my thread? As far as that crack...I would make a patch and rivet it on the inside of the hull. I can't figure out how big the crack is, but the patch should be at least 2 times the size of the crack. It would be a good idea to lay the patch out and predrill the rivet holes, then place the patch over the damaged area and drill the holes around the bad spot. Remove patch, wipe away metal flakes, apply a sealant to the patch and start shooting rivets from the outside in. With your patch on the inside, the hull would remain smooth and a patch with the correct number of rivets will be incredibly strong and watertight. If you want to know more as to rivet layout and patch fabrication, I can give you more info. 

Hope the surgery goes well. I had a major back surgery a year ago. I doubt I will ever work on aircraft again, but I have a few manuals and guides on riveting and patch fabrication.


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## Action762 (Feb 25, 2013)

Wings and Aaron, Thanks for the info. You will be able to see a better picture of what I am talking about with the crack in the next series of pictures. Today I figured since it was such a nice day and I will be having a wrist surgery Thursday I will knock out the cleaning of the boat. Although my wife says im crazy, "Because it is still going to snow and you will have to do it again", I guess she just doesnt understand when a man feels like he got screwed..... he wants to make the situation look better :lol: Im just kidding. I picked up some Fabuloso today. Its a great cleaning agent if anyone reading this doesnt know what it is. Get some and see... then you will know what Im talking about anyway moving forward. So I will post a few pictures of the boat before I cleaned it and then a few of the same angles after the cleaning. It looks much better that I thought it was. I will let the pics speak for themselves. 





















So those are the before pics. And here are the after.... Im very satisfied!!!

















Ok so that was the progress I made today. I think I did a good job making this old boat clean. A little Fabuloso and a hard bristled scrub brush goes a long way. Here is a few more pics where I was standing on my deck and then I will put one on there of the crack so you can see the inside of the crack. And Wings if that is still the best route to take with patching it then that is the route I will take. 













Well that is pretty much it for now. I will post more when I am capable because like I said that surgery is going to put me out for about 4 weeks at least. Anyway thanks for checking out the pics and let me know what you think. I will have nothing but time on my hand :wink: for the next few weeks so I will be on here and learning from all you very knowledgeable guys...


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## Scott Mac (Feb 25, 2013)

I hope your surgery goes well and you are back in full operation mode soon. You know....There are fish out there dying of old age that have never been caught. Just something to think about. Good Luck!


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## wingsnhammers (Feb 25, 2013)

That crack is right in the middle of a contour, isn't it? If it were me, I would put a patch on it, but it's no big deal to me. I have everything I would need already. For you, you may could have someone go in and weld it and still come out cheaper than buying a rivet gun and all the accessories you would need.


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## Action762 (Feb 26, 2013)

Thanks Scott!! It should be good just a slight tear on a ligament. Best part is it happened at work so it paid for... and while off so am I :lol: Oh yea its those fish that fuel my drive to fish because I do NOT have a picture of a huge fish like most... Hopefully this is the summer I can get that pic! [-o< 
Thanks Wings I will probably have somone weld it up so I have no worries about it. I know a buddy of mine has a nice rivet gun he told me I could use to fix it but I know nothing about riveting so I would have to read up and watch a few "youtube" videos to get the hang of it. Anyway I did this last night when I was bored. I dont have any fancy programs so dont make fun of the billy in me... but there is :lol: so anyway I used paint to just draw up a generic "blueprint" of the round-a-bout design of what I want. The wife is bugging me to go run some errands so I will talk to you guys probably next week as I work late Wed and Ive got my surgery Thur. Talk to yall soon...


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## Scott Mac (Feb 26, 2013)

Hi Action,
Thought I would send along a project that I did last summer. It is a 12' MirroCraft that was a basic model like your AeroCraft. I only cut the center seat ou and covered the front and rear bench. I tied the two (front & back with alum. angle along the top and framed in the bottom with alum angle as well. I used rattle can bed liner on the plywood as the surface coating. It served me well for the summer and I sold it last month to a co-worker. Just another twist to ponder.


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## Action762 (Feb 27, 2013)

Hey Scott. Yea I really like that modification of your boat! Are those side compartments for storage? The front as well does it have storage? I like the way it is set up though! What is the walking area from side to side in the middle? Where did you place the seats because I dont see any seats or seat mounts. Because after I looked back at my mod and the pic of what I want. I was wondering if I was aiming to high with the seating? I mean it will be just ME 8) ... and maybe the wife from time to time lol. So do I really need 4 seats what do you think? And is it going to cramp the moving space within the boat if I do use three seats at a max? Let me know what you think.


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## Scott Mac (Feb 27, 2013)

Action,
The sides are full of foam but could have had storage. I did not do that. The front has a large storage area. If you look close there is a parting line and that is a continuous hinge. The lid opening is the front nose piece. The front bench is still there so it was quite a large area because the front bench was just a flat board with no foam below it. The distance between the side walls is about 30". I did not add seats because I just sat on floatation cushions. I thought that a seat up front on a pedestal would have been a little tippy because the center of gravity would the been a little too high. I carried that concept to my latest project where I cut out the front bench and secured the pedestal to the floor that was at least a foot lower than the top of the front bench. Check out the link in my signature. When I was in the 12' boat, alone, I could stand up front on the platform just fine but with someone in the rear it made it hard to stand when they would move around. In that situation I would just stay seated. I found that the added weight of the conversion makes the boat sit down in the water better making it more stable. The 10 hp motor pushed it along just fine with the added weight. I did not have covered storage in the rear because the gas tank was too high so I left it open and added that storage bin. I did not know about tin boats when I converted that 12' boat so I did not document the progress and only have before and after photos. As far as your modification and the seating arrangement I think 4 seats would be too many. If you plan on being alone most of the time and having your better half along once in a while I would start with two seats and use it a few times before I added more (just a suggestion). I picked up the seats in my latest Q-14 project from Wal-Mart and paid $44.00 each without the swivel base. The swivel under the pilot seat was around $10.00 and the front one was $44.00 both from Wal-Mart. The quality appears to be very good for the money. I have added a couple pictures of the 12' boat prior to the modification that may help explain.


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## Action762 (Feb 27, 2013)

Yea I love your 14' build!!! I have to make this quick because I have the surgery in the a.m. and need to get some shuteye but I really like your second build "14' ". I do like the advice and will take it because you have done this in a 12' so you know. Your 12' and mine look to be just about the same dimensions so I think I will go with something similar with the first but carpet it because I like the look. I thought about rhino liner or something similar but when I saw your second build I fell in love with the carpet! After taking a step back and looking at the drawing that I made in paint I do think that 4 seats are WAY to much and I will only go with 2. I see how you have the hinge in the front deck of your 12' and I will probably do something, again, similar because it gives more space in the front. Let me ask though was that cooler in the back the live well? I had thought I was going to have to use a cooler for this boat because the lack of space. Well my wife is yelling at me that I will never get up if I dont go to bed now, 6 am and shes probably right :shock: , so thanks again for the advice and I will be back on in a few days so Ill talk to you then.


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## Scott Mac (Mar 1, 2013)

How did the surgery go? I said a prayer for you.


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## Action762 (Mar 3, 2013)

Hey Scott and thanks, that was nice! Well it went ok. Im in pain now but dealing with it like I do... going to make this short because I dont want to tweak my wrist so here are a few pics my wife took after I got home from the surgery... Ill say I was a bit loopy :shock: 




To discribe this picture is basically, the doctors put a "block" in my shoulder to numb my whole arm. well it did just that for over 24 hours... this is my arm swinging and me having no control over it at all. I thought you might get a kick out of it so I put it up... My wife said Im now a weirdo... but as long as someone smiled at it I got the job done... :lol: Talk to you soon Scott...


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## Action762 (Mar 3, 2013)

Oh I also picked up a used trolling motor from a guy my father in law knows for 100 bucks... Ill post a pic in a few days but it is a Prowler 55lb thrust... I think nice for the price... Talk to you soon.


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## wingsnhammers (Mar 3, 2013)

Glad to see the surgery went alright. Those blocks can do a number on you! Just be sure to take the Doc's recommendations on the workout and rehab. You will be recovered in no time.


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## BoatDawg4120 (Mar 5, 2013)

Hope you have good speedy recovery. Anxiously watching your thread as I work on mine. Your boat is pretty similar to mine as far as shape and size.


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## Action762 (Mar 7, 2013)

:lol: Hey guys. Wrist is feeling really good. I think it is going to be a speedy recovery thanks to all the help from prayers :lol: Thanks a lot Wings and yes it did a number alright. My wife said that when they started to put me under she came in to get my wedding band and the few things that I had on me before surgery and I guess I was doing nothing but laughing and joking around..... :shock: I do NOT remember any of it... LOL Anyway all is well. Thanks BoatDawd Ill have to check out yours in a little bit wife is yelling at me to go eay dinner. I have picked up a few things for the boat... A used trolling motor "BPS" Prowler T55, a rivet gun, a small sheet of aluminum for the patch and some JB Weld and flexible silicone sealant to go along with the patch. I will be getting my trailer and tow package next week so Im excited about that. Thats it for now. I will post a few pics that I will take tomorrow. Wife is really yelling now.... Ill get on later guys, See yas!


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## Action762 (Mar 10, 2013)

Hey guys here are the pics that I keep talking about. My wrist feels really good today, a bit sore, but tolerable. So I was going to go and work on the patch ie. drill the holes, cut the patch piece, rough the surfaces, apply the JB Weld and rivet the patch and after the JB Weld dried apply the silicone sealant....... BUT the weather sucks and it is raining and very wet here and I need it to be dry because I will be working on it on my back uncovered patio. Anyway here are the pics of the trolling motor and the new seats that I bought on SALE :lol: from Bass Pro Shop... As soon as its try I will post the pics of the patch. Enjoy...










I put the seat I pulled out of the box down on a chair and sat on it. It is originally $50 on sale for $25 but I think the reason is because it is HARD as hell, as in NOT soft to sit on LOL :shock: ... you know what that means 8) they will "HAFTA" to be broke in LOL.





This is a picture of the handle. It has a nice nifty little extension on it. Good thing I didnt get the Minn Kota extension at Walmart for $20 lol












This picture is just showing the cables, they look like they were never even hooked up to a battery.... EVER lol all in all as a whole this is a VERY nice buy for $100 I dont think it was ever in the water. So its brand new!! :lol: Just a few scuffs from sitting in a pawn shop for 5+ months.












Here are a two pics that I just had to show, My new rod Abu Garcia SilverMax, First bait caster btw, and the other is just my Tackle Box, A month ago it was empty :mrgreen: Just happy it is all coming together with budget buys... thank God for the all mighty sale [-o< Let me know what you guys think








Talk to yall soon...


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## Action762 (Mar 10, 2013)

What a noob  posted the Rod picture twice... here is the pic of the tackle box lol 




Talk to you guys soon...


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## wingsnhammers (Mar 11, 2013)

Lookin' good! I've been adding to my tacklebox, too. I swear they make lures more to attract fishermen than fish and price accordingly. Currently, I'm big into Gambler soft baits and War Eagle spinnerbaits. I just try to fill any "voids" in my fishing lure department and hope that I can learn how and when to use them effectively. 

If you can, clean the hole and area around the hole with a wire brush or coarse sandpaper. Scuff it up pretty good and degrease with acetone to remove any oils or contaminants. Apply the JB and allow to set and cure. If the patch is going onto a curved surface, spend the time and shape the patch to the contour before you start riveting. Try to make the patch at least twice as large as the damaged area you are trying to patch. Once you have the patch formed and you are ready to start shooting the rivets, get ahold of a good adhesive sealant such as 3M 5200. Coat the patch with the sealant and each individual rivet as you insert them into the holes. It's messy, but it will seal! You can shoot rivets and then wipe the excess off with acetone. At least, that's how we put patches on cargo jets. I would assume if it is good for 40,000 feet, 500 mph, temp swings of -70F to 100F, it should do good on a little aluminum boat to keep out a little water. :mrgreen: Hope the wrist is healing up pretty well for ya.


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## TimRich (Mar 11, 2013)

Nice finds on all the new toys! I need to check pawn shops for some things... You got me thinkin...lol Glad to hear of your speedy recovery.


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## Action762 (Mar 15, 2013)

Hey guys sorry I havent been on for a few days had some things going on and my wife took a few days off so I spent them with her to make her happy, happy wife is a happy life right :lol: so she bought me a new gun, Sig Sauer SR2022 :mrgreen: I sure was happy then I got to thinking.... My wrist is all jacked up and I cant shoot it :? so she did :shock: and taunted me in more ways than one :lol: Here she is on the range shooting MY new gun LOL...





So anyway back to my boat, I had every intention of getting up early and working on it because it was supposed to be a fairly nice day, but I slept in a little bit with the better half and we went and had breakfast before her late night shift, "retail Manger". So I got started on it about 12:30pm today and low and behold.... RAIN came in :evil: That sure did piss me off because was supposed to be a nice day! But I did get a few things done. Wings thanks for the advice, it sure helped... Kind of the idea that I had but your advice sure was the cherry on top. So I scuffed the surfaces today that will have the JB on it. I bought the MarineWeld from Bass Pro same price as the JB so I figured it might work better seeing how it will be in the water ie MARINE lol. Anyway I also bought this stuff, "Permatex, 1B, Form-A gasket Sealant", basically it is an engine gasket sealant so I assumed it would work to put on the rivets for sealant. If you think the 3M 5200 will work better let me know and I will pick that up instead. The next dry days I get out here I will be setting the JB with the patch and riveting it to the boat. Basically the progress I got done today was the scuffing inside and outside of the hull, drilling out the bad rivets and drilling the rivet holes for the aluminum patch, then the rain hit. Here are the pics so let me know what you think. Oh and Wings let me know if that is enough space for the patch, the crack itself is only about 2.5 inches and the square aluminum patch is 8inx8in, I figure that should be enough...
This is the scuff before I drilled out the rivet holes.




The next few are the rivet holes along the seams. There are 6 total and in the old pictures you can see the the last owner used rubber washers and a olt and nut to seal the hole ?!?! #-o Not smart lol












This last picture is one that shows the scuff and the drill holes for the aluminum sheet patch. 




And one last picture showing what a shitty day it turned into... Let me know what you think and the next few dry days I will be getting more done and posting more pics. Thanks yall.


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## simbelle (Mar 19, 2013)

I'm late and you already bought your materials, but it looks like your boat may be even older than mine and has a lot of fatigue. ( That's why they take aircraft out of service, but boats don't fly, at least not the ones you and I own.) I used fiberglass tape reinforced with Marine Tex; now it's probably significantly more expensive, but I don't think I will ever have to worry about the issues o it popping out with the flex of the boat like I have read about a hundred times on this and other sights. Then again, the marine weld or whatever you got might last you as long as you need it to. Good luck.

Plz excuse the above comment> I should have checked to see were the hole was. Being on the bottom that is most defiantly a aluminium patch, sealed with 5200 and bolted,, riveted, or welded (your choice), I had a small area in the back of my boat were there was a hole in the floor and someone had patched it with aluminium , sealant and stainless steel bolts and its a good patch and I just stripped the paint off, sealed the boat with gluvet a painted over it outside and marine tex'ed the inside and sanded it down and sealed and painted.


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## simbelle (Mar 19, 2013)

Here's my new toy, I bought a Romy G kit from a guy at work 50 dollars. He had it for about 5 years and never put it together. I sent it off to have it built with the thought that I could have bought one complete cheaper, then all that school shooting mess came about and everyone is freaking out about possibility of bans and now it's worth a great deal more than what I have in it. I have seen some for 650, but I tend to think I have a high end build. Maybe, maybe not, but it's the prettiest ugly rifle I own.


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## wingsnhammers (Mar 19, 2013)

Lookin' good to me! A patch that size should be plenty sufficient. If it were mine, I would do another row of rivets about 1" inward and spaced between the rivet holes you have laid out. I can't say much about the Permatex on a boat, but I have used it and had good results with it on other jobs. You will have that hole patched up in no time. 

I almost went for the 2022, but CZ just won me over. I also had a (cheap) AK, but didn't like it near as much as my SKS, so I sent it packing. I'm working on my second AR15 build now and this one has been in the planning and acquisition stage for a little over a year. The dang things just keeps on taking money! I've got a good bit of money in parts and I am still down a barrel and lower receiver. :roll:


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## Gators5220 (May 9, 2013)

Nice build so far man, glad your surgery went well.


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## Action762 (May 12, 2013)

Thanks Gators! Yea I think I am about done with this one. Reason is I got another for $300 that was a 16' with trailer. That will be a nice build  and with the "roundabout" same schematic as the "blueprint" as this one. Check it out. Talk to you soon.
My 16' build
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=30222


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