time to move my pics here...

[wickedlester]

thanks to everyone for welcoming me aboard. my little boat aint big and its far from new but some my find my progress interesting. boat is a '68 maritime and the construction is welded 3/16 with a 1/4 transom and a rolled 1/4 angle for a keel. pretty rugged for a 17'8" "cathedral hull" their term. anyway i will be adding a hard top and a new aluminum floor with new flotation and maybe rhino liner on the interior. i have the floor ripped out and have been digging flotation saturated with water of course. after seeing the problems this stuff causes when its old i hate to replace it but i suppose i have to. u will see in the pics that i have a little corrosion and am open to suggestions for how to stop it. thanks for looking

[wickedlester]

i have a few spots like this. i assume i will drill and weld?

[wickedlester]

was able to salvage the anchor light from the top i am adding. cool cuz its from the same era as the boat and goes quite well with the styling and existing nav light

[wickedlester]

this pic is inside the hull. no holes yet but shld i treat the area somehow before i have the flotation installed?

[JETTYWOLF]

That last pic...."was under the foam??"

I'm certainly no "exput", but before I did anything else I'd want to know WHY
-was it the type of foam?
-was there pennies laying under the foam? (old THT forum, topic)

Seriously, that's one thing that would bother me.

You're gonna replace under deck foam? Hmmm, wonder if foam blocks under deck would be okay.

I'd like to see under the deck of a 20 year old Pacific now.

[wickedlester]

yes under foam. foam was saturated and i assume has been for a long time. i would mainly like to neutralize the corrosion and i assume healthy foam wld prevent moisture which is assumed to be the problem. i have seen lots of boats with bad foam have the aluminum fuel tank rot out. a white slime develops which seems to be acidic. lookin for advice on this issue as when i seal the deck this time i intend for the next time to be my sons problem!

[wickedlester]

a little corrosion was present in 1992 when i got this boat. couple of small spots outside of hull. havent really gotten worse. flotation was original from '68 so this is the first time i have ever seen the inside of hull

[wickedlester]

interesting.... http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?p=1100878 looks like the reason for my corrosion is the foam preventin oxygen from the aluminum while keeping it moist. o suppose options would be 1. clean thoroughly and do not replace foam or 2. clean thoroughly then seal the aluminum and install new foam. thoughts?

[welder]

Man , I just drew a blank on the foam but the right type of foam has to be used and DO NOT foam in the fuel tank. Something else that needs to be done is leave a foamless cutter all the way down the center of the boat so IF water gets below deck it can travel to the rear and be drained.
DO NOT use Styrofoam blocks , gas fumes will melt them into white goo.

[Chaps]

Yeah, oxygen depleted moisture as is common under foam will promote pitting and corrosion. I would get the entire interior below decks sandblasted, fill the pits with a quality epoxy putty then roll on a couple of coats of Pettit AlumaProtect anti-corrosion epoxy primer. Overcoat all that with an alkyd enamel. Attempting to weld the pits can lead to a major mess as that type of corrosion tends to be widespread within the sheet and will not weld well. Chances are that boat was built using an alloy that wasn't intended to be exposed to ocean brine and given how old it is go carefully . . .

[wickedlester]

i think u r on the right train of advice. i think welding the corroded metal cld be miserable. do u know an example of suitable epoxy putty? i wanna fix this thing for the long haul. i am attached to this boat and dont wanna cut corners. i am thinking maybe clean thoroughly, fill pin hole with epoxy then spray in a urethane barrier such as rhino. i assume the urethane wld do i good job of filling pits. then to foam or not to foam? i patched some pin hole with two part snake type epoxy back in the early 90s and it is still holding in there with no signs of corrosion advance at those spots. thanks guys

[wickedlester]

hmmm after looking at the aluma protect u suggested it may be all that is needed. the urethane does bond tightly to just about anything as well. still dunno about the foam. isnt it required on vessels under a certain size?

[Chaps]

hmmm after looking at the aluma protect u suggested it may be all that is needed. the urethane does bond tightly to just about anything as well. still dunno about the foam. isnt it required on vessels under a certain size?

USCG has a requirement for builders on foam use but what an owner does to the boat later is not regulated. If you are concerned about flotation I would cram the bilge with polystyrene "pool noodles". An epoxy I would consider is Jotun or even JB weld

[wickedlester]

made a decision and ready to get my boat back to fishin soon! i went with pc-7 epoxy paste and addressed all deep pits... over a pound of epoxy! then wire brushed everything once more cleaned good and painted with aluminum paint. after researching its a resin base with aluminum bits ground in. should adhere well as its made for aluminum and galvanized. fills small pits well. will get 2 more coats then decking and new flotation poured in. should seal it for a while i hope! i will post decking pics when i get that done this week. casually motor shoppin too and im thinkin bigger is better. i have an old 150 inline now(crank rated) and had originally thought of a brand new 115(prop rated) but am now considering used 175 or 200 2 strokes maybe opti as they r light weight.

[Napa Mike]

the evinrude etecs are light as well. You might consider one of those. Good luck.

Mike

[wickedlester]

etecs are on the list. suzuki 140 too but less of those around here

[JETTYWOLF]

What kinda decking you doing?

Welded in alloy? Or fastened down wood?

[wickedlester]

i am replacing the plywood decking with aluminum composite panel. it has 1/4" plastic sandwiched in aluminum. very rigid and pretty light. got all cuts made will post pics soon.

[pjay9]

i am replacing the plywood decking with aluminum composite panel. it has 1/4" plastic sandwiched in aluminum. very rigid and pretty light. got all cuts made will post pics soon.

Will be really interested to see how the deck goes and what you think of it after you start using the boat. As mentioned before POOL NOODLES are the way to add floatation as the do not hold water will not melt with gasoline and are easy to handle...plus if you hurry you may still find some good deals on line for whole boxes of noodles cheap! Waiting for pics..glad you have joined us! PJ

[wickedlester]

sanding...

[wickedlester]

think im goin back with my viper blue and white

[wickedlester]

paint done

[wickedlester]

oooooo shiny

[wickedlester]

composite panels for decking

[wickedlester]

carpet done. seats today