Boat refinishing

C
Charlie_merrifi
Couple question. What do i use to clean my aluminum boat. What wood shoukd i use to put on benches and transom area. When i replace the wood on transom what do i use to seal bolt wholes and such.
 
C
capblack
there is a member on the forum that just finished an extensive aluminum boat remodel. pm thuggin, im sure he could help with your questions, but you definitely want to use good marine grade plywood if you want it to last. Brian
 
T
Thuggin4Life
Yeah i bet i could help out a little bit i supose. first of all you want to buy marine grade plywood. save the old wood for templates. once you have the wood cut to size i would recomend staining it to a color of your preference. i suggest ebony to make it as black as possible. also remember to mix the stain very well or you will end up with darker and lighter stained wood. trust me i know don't know how i know but i do. also buy the wood in the sam thickness unless you want thicjer seats but transom wood is very important to be redone with sam sized wood. aslo remember there is a good side and a bad side to plywood. they call it the finish side. use this side for the side that will be seen. then you want to take some helmsman or manowar marine grade sealant and coat the wood 3 or 4 times to give it a good seal and cool look. i would recomend semigloss. as for cleaning the aluminum my boat was painted si i just wiped clean before i glued anything to it. but vinager cleans aluminum oxide. if you do any gluing/painting to metal make sure the surface is very clean and dry. as for sealing bolts. i would recomemnd marine grade goop sold at bimart for 7 a tube. basically shoe goo or silcone but because it says marine grade on it i spent the extra $ for it instead of the cheaper fix which may have been the same thing. I would guess the seats were riveted on so just get some new rivets. if not get hardware. for any boat hardeware buy stainless. again buy stainless or you will regret it. So to seal a hole. just get whatever materials you are bolting on aligned and fill the hole with the goop. then bolt on and wipe away excess goop and let dry. seriously i did just do a very extensive boat remodel and have worked on my other boat and a friends boat before. Consider me the xzibit of the boat world. I suggest reading the check out my new toy thread in the boat section from start to finish and then ask me anything you want to know. don't be afraid to ask in the open forum instead of pms so you can get others opinions as well but pm me whenever you like. one other thing is i would buy everything you plan on mounting boltling gluing wiring adding cutting and all that to the boat or you will get stuck form time to time. and also once you have everything start form the ground up and do it all at once(overtime) so you dont have to tear into fresh work to add something later or get stuck waiting to be able to buy something that has to be added before more progress can be made. if you get stuck or need advice get at me i will helpd the best i could. too bad we didn't live closer or we could meet up and talk and even wotk on it together and you could check out my boat and ask away.
 
C
Charlie_merrifi
My seats actually have heavy spring loaded clamps. Hard to tell how thick the transom wood is. Had a lot of moisture and is various thicknesses all tge way across
 
C
Charlie_merrifi
What side to i mount stern light.
 
C
Charlie_merrifi
Need to get it registered so i can get it out. Its. Around a foit wider, half a foot longer and 20 inches ish deep
 
T
Thuggin4Life
So the wood clamps down to the boat? gonna have to measure it the best you can. another good way is to measure were it has to fit. Most people but the stern on the starboard side when you can't get it in the center.
 
C
Charlie_merrifi
Sorry it has three swivel seats that have spring loaded clamps
 
M
mudslinging79
how is the cleaning/restore comming along?
 
C
Charlie_merrifi
All i have got done is wiped down the outside with a mr clean eraser. Looks good. Been real busy. Hopefully get seats done this weekend.
 

Similar threads

O
Replies
23
Views
1K
Admin
Admin
Grant22
Replies
3
Views
975
Irishrover
Irishrover
Jahhn
Replies
11
Views
2K
troutdude
troutdude
FairweatherFisher
Replies
15
Views
3K
Casting Call
Casting Call
Top Bottom