Well I broke down and decided to re-deck my boat. The carpet was getting old and there were some things about the way the boat was laid out that I wanted to change. Bought the boat on eBay over two years ago for $750. It included the boat, trailer, 15hp Evinrude (low compression but it starts and runs OK), fishfinder, two old trolling motors and miscellaneous other gear. I've added some things since then.

It's been a good boat for me and my son to fish from but it was just time to re-do it.

Here's how it looked before I started tearing her down...

So here's my list of what I'm going to do:

- Replace the carpet

- Move batteries forward for balance

- Extend front deck to second bench seat. Add under-deck storage

- Rewire the boat

- Repaint the boat (probably green)

- Replace the seats (already bought)

- Replace the transom (it's OK but figured while I'm at it...)

- Add some additional storage boxes

- Fix small leak (missing rivet)

Should be more than enough to start. Can't say I'm a carpenter or electrician, etc. but what the heck. Can't make it better without trying.   Hopefully it will turn out well.

Here's some pics after the first afternoon of tearing it down.

Front deck off. The seat and pedestal brace and side braces were supporting in the front by only a single aluminum brace. There was no cross bracing nor supports underneath. Also, in many places, the screws were too long so they were bent over. Made this much harder than it had to be.

Closer look.

The brace on the left side is cracked/torn.

The back end of the brace for the pedestal/seat was screwed to the bench seat. I guess after they did that, they realized it wasn't strong enough so they riveted a 3' piece of aluminum along the back and over the screw heads. That made getting the pedestal brace loose a real pain in the $#%...

That's all for now. Any advice welcome....

Another pic. This is as far as I've gotten so far.

Still have the rear deck and the wood and seat support over the rear bench seat to remove. Hopefully the weather will hold this weekend and I'll get more done.

Still thinking about how to brace the front deck. I didn't like the way it was done before since some of the original aluminum bracikets was tearing away. I think I need some vertical bracing from underneath the deck to the hull of the boat. Any advice welcome on how to best do that or any other ideas.

I suggest getting that multi bank charger in a more protected area.  Out of the weather.  I also suggest keeping the decks as low as possible concerning center of gravity.  Take a look at the stickies, there is one for mods/rebuilds.  Might be a few ideas in there for you.  

With that in mind, document your build as much as possible, lots of pics and maybe we can add it to the list eventually so others can benefit.

Good luck, lots of details!!!

Thanks LBH. I was thinking of putting the charger in either under deck storage or in some additional storage boxes I was going to build along the sides. In any case, I'll take your advice and get it inside something and out of the weather. Heat build up any concern?

Thanks....

Did some more work yesterday. Now have it taken down all the way to the aluminum.

Here's the latest pics...

I also removed the transom as the plywood was getting surface cracks and spreading a bit around the edges.

Unfortunately, the weather was not good for stripping or painting today so no new progress. Back at it next week I guess.

After a LONG series of delays caused by weather and work, I finally got the boat finished enough to go fishing.  Still have some additional mods to make but they are mostly in the "nice to have" and appearance categories.  As this was the first time I tried something like this, I made my share of mistakes but I learned a lot.

I took it out the last couple of days and it has been great.  Rides in the water better, more convenient/user-friendly and I caught a bunch of smallies.

Pics to follow...

Here's how she looks (almost) finsihed:

More pics coming including some showing the build out. I have to upload them but I'll have them soon.

Just a few rebuild pics.

Here's the boat after stripping. Stripping the old paint took the most time and effort:

This is the front deck bracing. I used 2X3's with 1/2" ply for the decking and hatches throughout. All watersealed and in some cases (where they would show with open hatches) painted too. The old bracing was 2X4 PT with a 2X10 PT down the middle. Very heavy with no support from underneath. Most of the stress was on the single aluminum brace across the front.

A pic from further back. I took LBH's advice about keeping the decks low and decided to not extend the front deck to the rear. With the front seat moved back over the old bench seat, there's plenty of room forward for casting and it wasn't necessary.

Pic from the rear. You can see the offset seat locations. I really like it on the river for forward visibility reasons.

I painted the interior with Rustoleum Textured spray paint over Rustoleum clean metal primer for a non-reflective finish and to cover some old water stains on the aluminum.

More pics...

New transom. I used stainless hardware wherever possible. The blue "transom guard" is actually a 3/8" kitchen cutting board with the handle cut off. I think it was less than $3.

Hatch and storage pics. I moved the batteries forward for better balance and weight distribution. Boat rides much better in the water now. I used aluminum braces across the larger hatches for strength without much weight.

I moved the onboard charger under the deck.

More storage. There's another hatch to the right of the seat as well. Hard to see but I have space for 4-5 3600 boxes under the large hatch.

The hatch at the center of the opens to a space that is full boat width. I'm going to add locks there so I can stow the fishfinders and my rods (2-piece broken down) when I need to.

The carpet was cheap outdoor stuff from Home Depot attached using outdoor carpet adhesive applied thick for additional waterproofing and stainless steel staples underneath. Carpet appears to work well as it doesn't grab hooks. We'll have to see about the durability.

Final pic...

I went the Rustoleum route for the exterior paint. Multiple rolled and brushed coats with Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer underneath. So far it seems to be holding up well but we'll have to see over time. Still have some touch ups to do but it is close.

Other things added was an anchor holder in the rear and two Driftmaster rod holders. I still have to add a through deck adapter for the on-board chager plus a 12V utility plug. At some point I'll also add some new storage boxes along the sides. Those will have to wait as I've been off the river too long.

Sorry about the problem with the pics. I think I got it fixed now. Let me know if there's still a problem.

Here's what I set out to do:

- Replace the carpet (Done - Home Depot carpet)

- Move batteries forward for balance (done; under front deck and front seat)

- Extend front deck to second bench seat. Add under-deck storage (Did not extend. Moving front seat back and Battteries forward created more usable storage space)

- Rewire the boat (Done)

- Repaint the boat (probably green) (Done; Rustoleum Dark Forest Green and Almond over Rustoleum Clean Metal Pimer)

- Replace the seats (already bought) (Done; Cabela's)

- Replace the transom (it's OK but figured while I'm at it...) (Done; Stained then covered with six coats of varnish)

- Add some additional storage boxes (See above; May add more allong sides later)

- Fix small leak (missing rivet) (Done; turns out it was more than one. The front of the keel had also been ground down by years of grounding. I added a keel guard to protect the area)

man thats a good job

The boat turned out great.That is what I like about aluminum boats do a little work and you got a new boat.

hey guys im looking to mod out my v-hull too its a old Areo Craft 14 ft. v-hull. I bought it a year ago and i first bought clamp on seats (which suck) but now i wanna put on a casting platform with storage bins and also a livewell with a builge pump and areator .... and help with this one or any pictures of simmalar projects

this is a picture of my v-hull.. any advice??

nice job looks great

sweet boat. what year is that boat? did you have any leaks around the seam of it? i modified one of your pics to show what seam im talking about. thanks

Awesome job! The boat looks great! I'm hoping mine turns out half as nice. WTG and good luck this year out on the water with your practically new boat.

make sure you redeck it the correct way, my dad and i recently bought a fiberglass bass boat for very cheap, and we are redoing the entire floor due to the fact that the idiot owner before us put flower foam and regular wood as the floor with no sealing so everything is rotted, it wont be to expensive but it is alot of work so just do it right so you wont have to do it again lol.  good luck and nice boat.