Alumacraft 14′

[fisherman6]

I have been in Tinboats.com. I have seen some nice work on there but I also agree with VinTin. They do too much drilling screwing sawing and hacking or me. I have one aluminum boat out of the three I have that has a flat wood floor and I’m still thinking about taking it out. Luckily that one was made to come out with a minimal effort and didn’t include putting holes in the boat. I just don’t care for all that. I did put a bimini on my 14′ Sea Nymph, but that boat already had some holes and a few more small ones in the top of the gunwales didn’t bother me too much in exchange for the shade.
-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[vintin]

Not mine:

http://chattanooga.craigslist.org/boa/5669167941.html

[jerry-ahrens]

I’ve done a couple Alumacraft transom replacements. It is totally unnecessary to remove the corner braces. If that has already been done, replace the rivets with #10 stainless screws and lock nuts, or you can use regular nuts with a lock washer. The knee braces will need to be removed, by drilling out the rivets. Knock the braces out with a mallet.
One other thing required for this job, is to replace the cork liner [gasket] under both inner and outer boards. Originally glued to each board before installation. This will virtually eliminate the need for a sealer around the screws, because the cork will act as a gasket to seal it up. The cork also serves as a silencer to help eliminate vibrations and rattles. Alumacraft had their act together while designing this! If you look at the casted corner braces, they interlock and bolt together, thus creating a very strong boat. You can find any fastener you need at http://www.boltdepot.com For example, the large pan head screws on the outside of the transom are hard to find locally. Hope this helps and congradulations!

[fisherman6]

Jerry,
That does help and thank you for the congrats. I have played around with this boat a little bit so far. It is a very strong, very dry, and nice riding boat. It will probably be my favorite 14 footer once it is all finished up. I certainly believe Alumacraft had their act together when they designed these boats. I don’t know how they do things today but they still seem like well made boats. I’m not sure they have quite the soul the older ones had though.

Thanks guys for all your help. Once I get the transom done in this boat I’ll post some pics. It may end up being a winter project sincell I’m working on and running my motors when I get time while the weather is nice. I can still use this boat as it is until weather prohibits. I’ll see what happens. I have 2 other 14 foot boats so I could get started on it and maybe have the transom done in time to still use it this year.
-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[Author]

Posts