Hello,
I am restoring a 1985 Grumman 16' Aluminum Boat and I am looking for people who are experienced in restores. I have a lot of time on my hands and I needed a project. I am an accomplished wood worker and a fair handyman but this will be my first boat. I recently bought this boat/trailer on Craig's List and the boat was partially torn down by the past owner.
Below are a few photos of the boat. The last photo is what the boat looks like at the present time. I am committed to finishing this boat and trailer for fishing in Lake Lanier Georgia and taking my two sons out for a good time. I make a decent living so I am not in any delusion that this restore is going to be cheap or that I will be able to get my money that I put into this boat back from the sale of it.
I am power wire brushing the inside of the boat first with an angle grinder brush and a few power drill attached wire brushes. I plan on stripping every single surface on the inside and all the floor supports. When all this is done, I plan on stripping the bottom as well. Then when all is stripped, I will fill all pitting with marine jb weld and I am going to try my hand with low temperature aluminum brazing rod and map gas for the small holes that I have found thus far. I have not welded anything before so it will be interesting if I can do it.
I have posted this on another site as well to try to get some help with this build. The transom is completely gone so I will need to rebuild it one day. The boat is almost 7 feet wide so that is one heck of a transom to fix. One step at a time. I am a lifetime learner and I really love this stuff even though my 61 year old body does not like it much. I will continue to work on it with or without help but it sure would be good to hear from people that have done this before to help with the pitfalls.
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I am restoring a 1985 Grumman 16' Aluminum Boat and I am looking for people who are experienced in restores. I have a lot of time on my hands and I needed a project. I am an accomplished wood worker and a fair handyman but this will be my first boat. I recently bought this boat/trailer on Craig's List and the boat was partially torn down by the past owner.
Below are a few photos of the boat. The last photo is what the boat looks like at the present time. I am committed to finishing this boat and trailer for fishing in Lake Lanier Georgia and taking my two sons out for a good time. I make a decent living so I am not in any delusion that this restore is going to be cheap or that I will be able to get my money that I put into this boat back from the sale of it.
I am power wire brushing the inside of the boat first with an angle grinder brush and a few power drill attached wire brushes. I plan on stripping every single surface on the inside and all the floor supports. When all this is done, I plan on stripping the bottom as well. Then when all is stripped, I will fill all pitting with marine jb weld and I am going to try my hand with low temperature aluminum brazing rod and map gas for the small holes that I have found thus far. I have not welded anything before so it will be interesting if I can do it.
I have posted this on another site as well to try to get some help with this build. The transom is completely gone so I will need to rebuild it one day. The boat is almost 7 feet wide so that is one heck of a transom to fix. One step at a time. I am a lifetime learner and I really love this stuff even though my 61 year old body does not like it much. I will continue to work on it with or without help but it sure would be good to hear from people that have done this before to help with the pitfalls.
but I've two bilge pumps wired and a third with wire leads with alligator clips if all else fails.
