Vintage Aluminum Boats

  I have compiled a video of the progress of the 47.  Made the 4 transom patches today. The original sheetmetal will be sandwiched between two pieces of 1/8 " 2024T3 . The transom will be 3/8 " thick. That should take any period motor ! Lay-up today and trim. Zinc Chromate tomorrow and rivets on Saturday. That will be the end of the big jobs. Or so I thought. ,,, I thought I was done. Today , I removed the front deck foam. It actually looks pretty good. No corrosion on the front deck under the foam. There is an extension plug that runs the entire length of the boat that is wired to the bow light.With the 2 prong plug at the transom ?????? So I clean that all up, go to the aft ****pit where the center deck is. When I looked in there,,,there were a dozen areas of severe corrosion. All about the size of a half dollar. Remember the boat is upside down and I'm up in there in a kneeling position. Then I saw the culprits. Some idiot had dropped a dozen nuts and screws in the boat then stored it upside down in muck. The corrosion is where each piece of hardware ended up laying. This is going to be a big piece . I have the material. Back out comes the rivet gun ! Sh!t . One step forward ,two back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_rocz8wdko&edit=vd

You are correct MTMan...It's all done but the final upholstery. What a process.