Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Oh and for others with damaged/dented fence.....it's nothing like sheet metal, the aluminum gets displaced by a large dent making it almost impossible to return it to FLAT. small dings are not an issue, but a fist sized deep dent....forget about it.

Pontoonstuff.com was out of stock on the 8' deck trim(the L shaped cover that goes all the way around the deck and roof)., but PontoonBoatTops.com had it in stock for the same price and shipped it to me within 4 days. I am missing some for the stern corners., so I will replace some from the roof with the new stuff and use the roof stuff on the stern deck.

Light coats of etching primer...



Here is a tip on taping the outside of the fence. Leave the tape on the roll, pull a few inches out and stick it on the frame, then roll the tape all the way around the fence. Way easier then trying to line up individual sections of tape.



For rattle cans I found it does better if you push it like a welding puddle.....start at one end and spray back and forth overlapping lines keeping it wet as you go. It wont be as good as a spray gun, but with old fencing I don't think it matters much.

Very cool retro color scheme! It will give you that 70's Miami Vice vibe !

Laying Plywood today.

Ordered a 5 step under deck ladder and a "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" banner to be clipped to steering wheel when deployed.....lol.

Even got a 10% off coupon.....:
https://www.ganderoutdoors.com/dockmate ... 21171.html

...and yes I know the pic is a 4 step......crossing fingers that the description is correct.

One more thing, the transom wood is a little tired and will get replaced this winter. Any reason not to use two pieces of 3/4" or one 1.5" section of HDPE for it instead of 1.5" Ply?

The nose pieces were much harder to get back together than I thought they would. There is a slot in the Al trim that the wood fits into and if not put back in that slot the same as originally assembled the holes do not line up. I first put one all together and that's when I found it would not fit back on the toon. I ended up fitting the 'point' into the Al, then wrapping it wile on the toon.

Rotted oem boards:




New


I had some help today so DECK DOWN!

I needed new nuts bolts and washers for the nose pieces....the mfg used zink coated which just rusted all over everything. So I have not put the last section of deck board down yet which has to be custom cut with the port side over an inch longer than the starboard side. As mentioned before this is due to the idiots at the factory building the boat out of square 33 years ago.....must have been a Monday or Friday boat.....

Motor7 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:04 am

So I have not put the last section of deck board down yet which has to be custom cut with the port side over an inch longer than the starboard side.

We ran into an issue a little like yours. Our front rounded piece was about 1/2" different from one side to the other. Luckily, we kept the old piece intact when removed, and used it as a template. The rub rail cap would never have fit correctly if we hadn't. Still ended up doing some careful sanding.

Looking good. Getting the deck down is a huge morale boost!

I'm surprised these older boats had wood transoms. Wouldn't it be better to replace the wood with steel or aluminum and not have to worry about future rot?

steve1313 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:14 am

I'm surprised these older boats had wood transoms. Wouldn't it be better to replace the wood with steel or aluminum and not have to worry about future rot?

It's possible to use Al, but for me it will be easier to slap another board in there. I'm not sure HDPE can take the stress a 115 will put on it, safer to go back to proper thickness ply & will last another 30+ years.

Oh, and another tip to get the plywood nice and tight since it's hard to re-position over the self stick caulking strips. Bolt down the first sheet, then get all the others up there and lined up. Use a ratchet strap(mine was 30' long, but you can use two or three shorter ones) hook it behind the first board and to the front of the last, then tighten the strap. It does not take much to pull them together just make sure the boards stay even so run the strap down the middle.

I 2-plyed my transom on the rebuild. But I added a Transom safety chain after my rebuild.... Steel plate on outside of Transom with an eye bolt on inside of transom then shackled to a chain with a turnbuckle which is then shackled to another eyebolt attached to crossbeam, Can't be too safe! I don't have great pics but it does the trick! After the first replacement cracked on first day I wanted some more support back there.

Curtis, that is an interesting solution. Why is your transom so weak it cracked the new ply? Was the original ply cracked too?


Progress yesterday.....Vinyl is down;






So, I hooked up my new spool gun to the Millermatic 210....no gas....wth? Spent about an hour checking Millers instructions on line and watching some youtubes....no help. Finally figured out that no gas was coming thru the welder to the gun. Was walking around it to see how to get the back off the unit when right there on the end next to the gas bottle was a labeled port....."SPOOL GUN GAS INLET". All I had to do was move the gas line from the steel welding port to the Spool gun port....DUH

With that out of the way I have started learning to lay a bead of aluminum....works way better WITH gas!

It was a bad sheet and I missed it. Me and 3 guys Replaced it in the dark to get it ready for the next day...

Coming along, 2 different gas ports? Wow, how's it going learning to mig aluminum?