Refurbishing drift boat, input needed!

[O. mykiss]

Hi everyone, I’m refinishing my 86 Fishrite drift boat. The floors were badly rotten and the zolatone has worn off on the exposed boat bottom. My plan is to replace the flooring with 3/8” thick marine grade plywood and coat it with a roll-on type of bed liner. I also am planning on rolling the bottom of the boat with bed liner also. My question is, has anyone else done this, and what product did you use? I am leaning towards hurkuliner but I am not sure if that’s the best product. All help is greatly appreciated!

Tight Lines!

 

[jamisonace]

When you say bottom, do you mean inside or outside bottom?

 

[Pni_fisherdude]

When we purchased our boat the coating on the underside of the boat was in rough shape. After doing a bunch of research we found "wetlander" to be a great option. It costs alittle more than the other stuff out there but it works great. One of the things that sold me on it was that when you need to reapply, you simple need to sand the old stuff and roll the new stuff on. We put it on in the summer of 2018 and it is still in good shape after going down low rivers and scraping bottom a lot.

 

[pinstriper]

Bed liner will greatly improve your ability to hold the boat in place in the middle of a riffle without an anchor. It also enhances the traction necessary to hang up on boulders anywhere in the river while still spinning in any of three axes, so you won't necessarily flip the boat.

 

[O. mykiss]

When you say bottom, do you mean inside or outside bottom?

Didn’t clarify, at the moment im working on the the inside of the boat.

 

[pinstriper]

Didn’t clarify, at the moment im working on the the inside of the boat.

This pretty much ruins my pithy comment above. Carry on. Stuff is great on the inside. A lot of teardrop trailer builds are using it for the underside and even other exterior surfaces.

 

[O. mykiss]

Hi everyone, I’m refinishing my 86 Fishrite drift boat. The floors were badly rotten and the zolatone has worn off on the exposed boat bottom. My plan is to replace the flooring with 3/8” thick marine grade plywood and coat it with a roll-on type of bed liner. I also am planning on rolling the bottom of the boat with bed liner also. My question is, has anyone else done this, and what product did you use? I am leaning towards hurkuliner but I am not sure if that’s the best product. All help is greatly appreciated!

Tight Lines!

I didn’t clarify very well. I’m working on the inside of the boat. I’m planning on doing the bottom with wet lander later. I’m wondering if anyone has done the floor on the inside of the boat with a bed liner type of paint, or what have people done with their boat. As you can see from the picture, everywhere there is not plywood decking the zolatone is completely worn off.

 

[Pni_fisherdude]

We replaced the plywood in our boat this summer and coated it in flex seal and it is holding up OK. I was considering doing something like bed liner on the exposed floor but decided not to as most of the standing is done on the wood portions. And I didn't feel like adding any more weight to the boat.

 

[jamisonace]

My concern with bedliner is weight. If you don't need it, I wouldn't do it.

 

[O. mykiss]

My concern with bedliner is weight. If you don't need it, I wouldn't do it.

I thought about that also. I’m not going to roll the liner on where there is a wooden floor. Only the exposed portions. A can of herkuliner weighs it at 13 lbs wet. So after curing, it’s a negligible addition that shouldn’t effect the boat too much.

 

[Casting Call]

FLEX-seal welds/ rivets and wooden interior hull before laying down 3/8 plywood deck. Doing deck with two coats of sanded garage floor (1 part epoxy) add half as much more sand. Brush taped gunnels and roll deck with a weiner roller. Test 1 part epoxy on scrap pcs. of wood. GL Tony p.s. epoxy comes in gloss or semi-gloss

 

[jamisonace]

I thought about that also. I’m not going to roll the liner on where there is a wooden floor. Only the exposed portions. A can of herkuliner weighs it at 13 lbs wet. So after curing, it’s a negligible addition that shouldn’t effect the boat too much.

That's not bad. Post a pic when you're done.

 

[EOBOY]

I put Wetlander on my 86 Alumaweld and Love it!!!! I would certainly recommend it.

 

[pinstriper]

I put Wetlander on my 86 Alumaweld and Love it!!!! I would certainly recommend it.

What a piece of junk horse trailer.

 

[EOBOY]

you should see the horse!

 

[EOBOY]

You will love the wetlander the first time you put your boat on your trailer, it will slip on so easily. But be careful the first time you unload it, it is soooo slick that it will shoot OFF like a rocket. It glides over rocks with eaze and it's tough.

 

[Pni_fisherdude]

The other cool thing about wetlander is the color options. Tanner thinks it looks stupid, but what does he know!

 

[EOBOY]

The other cool thing about wetlander is the color options. Tanner thinks it looks stupid, but what does he know!

what! He doesn't like Donkey Kong? Nice paint job!

 

[jamisonace]

I put Wetlander on my 86 Alumaweld and Love it!!!! I would certainly recommend it.

I've heard wetlander is the shizzle. Planning on putting it on mine as soon as the weather allows.

Where did you get it?

 

[EOBOY]

I've heard wetlander is the shizzle. Planning on putting it on mine as soon as the weather allows.

Where did you get it?

The Best Boat Slick Bottom Coating. Ultra-Slippery and Durable.

order it here?