My "Sunday" project. 12' V-hull makeover-LOTS of PICS 2024

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Well I'm not finished yet but I've got a lot of pictures. Here is my boat. Her name is Sunday. That's because I've spent so many of them working on her that I've lost count.

I started with a 1984 12' Valco riveted V-hull. I like to fish for trout and bass, and it came with two downriggers (one electric!), a transom mount trolling motor, and a 15 HP Evinrude. After fixing 2 small leaking rivets I fished out of it 10 or 12 times before deciding to rip the whole thing apart and rebuild.

Here are some "before" shots:

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more "before"

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Here's everything ripped out, with the flotation foam visible. I will actually put more foam in along the way.

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Decided to paint the interior. Here is a prep shot.

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I used 1 1/2" x 1/8" thick aluminum angle for all deck and floor supports. You can also see the new grey paint on the interior. It's the wrinkly stuff from Ace. It's designed to stick to plastic yard furniture and put up with the flexing so it should be good for the boat. The can says it can be used on metal, plastic, wood, etc. We'll see.

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another view...

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the floor structure.

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Floor structure close up

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Rear bench with LED lights installed.

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Triangular front deck support

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This is how the front of the triangle is supported. I cut the aluminum parts at an angle to match the hull and glued on a chunk of tire rubber so there would be no direct aluminum framing to hull contact at that particular point. I figured a hole would develop there if i just left it metal to metal. This photo is looking up at the underside of the framing.

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More shots to come.

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Lighting is very important for me. I go out before dark quite often and if I go out in the afternoon it's usually dark by the time I get home. I put 13 of these little LED livewell lights throughout the boat, as well as 3 larger ones under the bow and both sides of the transom. It was a lot of wiring, but worth it to me. All connections are water/weather proofed.

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Under Bow light and front navigation light mount.

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Here's another view. I decided on a post style nav light for the front so as not to interfere with a bow mounted trolling motor.

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Here is one of the rear lights along with the rear nav light mount.

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the other rear light...

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I wired two trolling motor plugs, one in the front and one in the rear. Here is the rear one.

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Here is the front trolling motor plug. It is basically hidden inside what will be the front storage compartment. I figure it won't be long before i wind up getting a bow mounted foot controlled unit, so i added this plug. Both plugs are wired to the same battery.

jhoffman reply :

Dont forget two cigarette adapters.. One front one rear, some lights take them.

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I also wired up a bilge pump. The wiring is glued down with "Marine Goop"

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I added a 12 volt recepticle, hidden inside the storage compartment, wired to a switch on the main panel. It will be useful for cell phone charging, portable GPS, hand held spotlight, or, most importantly, my 12 volt aerated live bait bucket. I fish catch and release most of the time, and the boat is too small for a livewell, but i can make one out of a cooler and plug the aerator pump in here if I ever want to.

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Here you can see how I mounted the battery boxes. There are three boxes in the boat. Two are mounted in the middle bench and are for batteries. The third is mounted in the rear bench and will be used to hold a few Plano Boxes. The ones for the batteries are mounted on top of an aluminum angle 'box' which is bolted through the bench and reinforced from the outside of the bench with a piece of flat stock. The "dry storage" one in the rear bench is mounted a little lighter duty since it will not be carrying a heavy battery.

Here is one of the middle bench battery boxes showing the heavier duty mount.

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here is the reinforcement plate.

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Here is my switch panel. The 6 switches control the bilge, deck lights, 12 volt recepticle, navigation lights, downrigger, and depthfinder. This panel is wired to the nearby battery. The other battery on the other side is for the trolling motor only. All trolling motor wiring is on the opposite side of the boat from the electronics to minimize interference.

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Here is some of the wiring for the nav and deck lights. I glued it to the inside of the boat inside a channel in the hull. Then I covered it smooth with clear paintable caulk. It took almost a week to dry clear. I will paint it the same color as the rest of the inside of the boat, and presto! Disappearing wires.

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testing the deck and nav lights.

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another... All that wiring paid off. The lights were the most complicated part of this project so far. But there is light everywhere now, including down inside the storage compartments. These photos are without the deck and hatches in place. When it's done it won't quite look as "Spaceshippy"

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This is the first stage of building the rear bench. This battery box is mounted differently than the other ones because it is only for storage. this mount would not support the weight of a battery, but it's perfect for a few tackle boxes.

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Once the storage box was mounted I put the foam back.

ALL OF IT!! I had to cut the extra into pieces and shove into the nooks and crannies, but it's all there. And storage too. Please do not take your foam out of your boat!! You can get some storage and keep your foam if you do it right. My boat will not sink. If you take children fishing with you ever you should think about this. Plus, If you fish you SHOULD take a kid fishing. Keep the foam, people!!

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Cut out the parts for the rear bench and test fitted them.

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another view

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Another view showing the storage box. Also notice the labeling on the wood parts. I put an arrow towards the front of the boat on the underside of all the wood parts. This made carpeting much easier since you want the carpet grain facing the same way on the whole boat.

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cut out recesses for the flush mount hinges with a router.

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the hinges I used.

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I coated each part with 3 coats of polyurathane.

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The first parts getting carpeted. Lots of weight equals smooth carpet.

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The rear bench top is complete. I put two seat mounts in, one for driving the boat, and one in the middle for fishing. Check the seat rotation for clearance when putting seat mounts near the side of the boat.

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I used stainless steel T-Nuts to mount the seat mounts.

www.boltdepot.com has a great selection of stainless fasteners.

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I used them for the hinges too. All the hatches will have locking latches.

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Got the rear bench top mounted, the bench sides and floor carpeted and installed, and the middle bench parts made and carpeted. This is how it looks.

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...

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This is the seat set up for driving the boat.

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Then I can pop it into the other mount for fishing. There will be two other mounts up front for fishing partners. It is unlikely that 3 people will ever fish out of this boat at the same time. If i'm fishing alone i will use the mount in the middle bench, (not pictured yet), and if there's 2 of us I will use the middle mount in the rear bench and the one in the very front (also not pictured yet)

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Got part of the front decking cut out. The wood part in this picture will have a seat mount and there will be another where that orange cord reel is sitting. Will post more pics of this section when i finish the carpeting and seat mount installation.

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The two large openings shown here (between middle and front bench) will be large hatch doors with locking latches. There are 5 LED lights inside this storage area. The front triangle will be storage too. It will be getting a locking hatch door as well and has a couple LED lights it it too.

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That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get it all done in the next few Sundays. I'll post more as I go. Thanks for looking.

Live.2.Fish reply :

Very nice build! I love the LED light all over the boat. Great job!

Delmonte reply :

Wow! I have looked at alot of mods all over the net, hands down- your's is absolutley the best "v" mod I have ever seen! Awesome! (man am I gonna steal some ideas from you!) I can't wait to see the total finished project- paint especially. Slice, you need you're own web based boat mod show! Please keep those detailed pics coming! Unbelievable!

surfer reply :

Awesome build. Thanks for sharing. I have learned a few new things.

Cujo reply :

Very Nice!! I like the attention to detail! Boat mods never get old to look at, keep em coming!

fishinsteve reply :

WOW!! Excellent work! Love the use of aluminum...very well done. Now get out there and catch something!!

Fish MD reply :

Amazing. It still amazes me what some people can do with a littel time and some tools. I've always been a "here's a check, do it for me" kind of guy so I am blown away by these boat projects.

Great Job and I can't wait to see the final product!

erau618 reply :

I really like your boat. I just wish I could do that to my boat

Hookemdown. reply :

That's some great work right there.

rondef reply :

Nice work, it looks like you could start a side business customizing boats with the high quality of work you have done.

k4phd reply :

Very nice work and you should be proud of your craftsmanship. It is top notch. Boy, I love the lights.

Jim

g-man20 reply :

so what was your final seat placement look like?

Jimzee reply :

Glad this thread got resurrected, never got to see it the first time. I just wanted to say this is one of the best if not the best custom builds I have ever seen. Great work!!

The Next KVD reply :

AWESOME!! Takes me back to my first boat mod.

DADto4 reply :

I'm speechless, great job I especially love the lighting.

memo43 reply :

WOW great looking boat. But you left us in suspense, what's the final update.

Anyway great looking boat. ***** 5 STARS

memo

drmnbig reply :

Awesome job! It looks great!

stew6371 reply :

I was under the impression that the foam was only incase the boat capsized. Is this not correct?

flechero reply :

Outstanding work (and documentation for us!) Great job!!

My "Sunday" project. 12' V-hull makeover-LOTS of PICS 2024

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