Well, here she is. 1992 Alumacraft Angler

[ChiefDavis]

I bought this boat Wednesday and I'm dying to get started on it! As I stated I will be on a tight budget but I'm pretty capable of doing most of the work myself I think. If nothing else I will get plenty of beer drank in the process so I win either way! LOL I'll be asking for and encouraging advice all along the way (This is my first boat to ever own and my first project as well). I apologize for the pictures not being that great. No flash on my phone but I'll do better as I go. If you notice in the really dark picture, it's actually a shot of the lower part of the transom. Anyway, the white stuff you see is JB weld the guy had on it trying to fix the leak where the weld is split. He said the transom had been repaired once but obviously it wasn't done right. Should I just cut everything back out and start over? I don't know what kind of wood they put in. I hope not treated but I imagine it is. If so, what do ya'll think about that pour in stuff they have out now? I forget the name of it. Seacast or something I think. Also, I wanna strip all the paint back off but not sure about future coatings. I'm open to suggestions, repaint, sharkskin, natural ect...??? Then there is the whole carpet issue, go back with new carpet or aluminum diamond plate with some type of anti slipping finish on it? I will use this boat for hunting (not any hunting that will require camo paint or anything) , fishing, gigging or whatever else crosses my mind! LOL I look forward to any and all comments or suggestions (good and bad)!! So, let it fly!

BTW, the motor, troller, lights, bilge, aereator and fish finder all work great! So most of my work will be on the hull itself

[goatram]

Marine grade plywood for the transom. Coat it with epoxy resin after you drill and cut to fit. The resin will fill all the voids.
When you take out the floors you will find water logged foam I will bet. Remove it and do a good inspection of the floor. Your boat due to its size requires the foam. your choice if you want to put it back in. Use the foam board from Lowes or Home Depot. Cut it to fit. Either MG plywood or good CDX Exterior plywood cut to shape of the floors boards. Carpet feels nice on the feet the first year but then traps the water and looks nasty after a couple of years. Marine grade Vinyl looks good, last long time, and cleans up with bleach.The crack if it has been repaired once will need to be patched a good welder will glean out the crack and make the repair pieces to fit in and reweld it back

The other suff you mentioned is Star board. Expensive for a sheet. not needed for your transom.

Better pictures please!

[ChiefDavis]

Thanks for your input! I started the tear down process already but still have a good bit to do in that dept. So far it looks like they blew foam into every void in the boat which makes it pretty much unsinkable I guess but a PITA to get out and cleaned up. I'm a pretty good welder, been doing it for about 20 years so I think I can handle that part myself. I never was the best TIG welder though and my nerves make it hard to be steady now but I'm sure I can make it leak proof anyway.

As for the decks, I'm still torn with what to go back with. I want to raise them some and add more deck space along with storage compartments for everything from bait and tackle to rods and a few emergency supplies. Not sure about a lay out yet on all of that. Back to the decks, I can get Aluminum cheaper that I can marine plywood and carpet or vinyl. But I'm not sure about the added weight? I still want to be able to get back on plane as fast as possible with this 40HP Evinrude. What would ya'll do?

Thanks

[goatram]

The Aluminum will be lighter than wood. .100" or 1/8"/.125" with some cross bracing.
Foam removal use plastic scrapers or wood sanded down so as not to scratch/gouge the Al.