Drift boat build

I should have shown this pic before the last. The strip of aluminum flashing is attached to the forms to ensure that the shape remains symmetrical. The plans coll for using Masonite or similar, but I didn't have any, so I used the flashing. I should have used what it called for. The boat sides "pulled" a bit. Not enough to affect the operation of the boat, but enough to remind me that I made a mistake. It happens.

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Very nice!! Can you post a reference for the plans? Thanks!

 

Jeez. Just spotted a Pavati legacy for sale for $18k.

 

Boat lifted on to my fab table. I can now start to weld the side/bottom seam.



This is a shot of the bottom sheet welded to the side sheet. The extra material will get cut off with the plasma cutter.

It was at this point that I started to realize my spool gun was acting up. This joint should be the easiest to make. It also needed to be the best for water tightness.

 

montana-riverboats.com

 

This "Rocker" design....if I'm reading it correctly has a slight arc on the bottom, like rocking chair rockers or perhaps a set of leaf springs. Shorter in the rear and longer in the front.

And that's what helps it spin on center and helps with maneuverability?

 

This weld is "ok", but it is not to my satisfaction. I started to do some searching and talking to some of my welder friends and found out it is not normal.

 

Exactly and it allows you row backwards or forward with the same effort. After the slick bottom coating is applied, there is very little resistance to moving the boat upstream with oar power.

 

Here is a shot of the plasma cutter removing the extra bottom material. The second is a shot of the cut it makes.

 

Adding the outer gunnel. Just installing this part made the boat amazingly rigid. It was kind of "rubbery" before this step.

 

A shot of the boat suspended between my 2 chain falls. The "c" clamps make great hooks for the chain fall hooks.

You can see that I installed the stern. I don't know if I will put a motor on or not, but I opted for the square back in case. You never know.

 

Preparing and welding the inside of the boat. Forms are removed.

Rare pic of me actually working...

 

After I welded the inside and outside I needed to do some preliminary leak testing.

I sprayed my proprietary leak detector on the outside of the boat, then I used compressed air to blow a high pressure stream of air at the weld from the inside. bubbles would form any place I had a bad weld.

 

Welding form screw holes closed.

 

Marking out the bottom laterals. This makes the bottom very rigid. At this point the bottom is still very flexible .

 

Welding laterals to bottom. Even though the 2 x 3/4 tubing is small, it did not want to bend for shit. I had to use my floor jack and 2 x 4 and jack against the I beam to push them down so I could weld them down.

 

This is when I replaced the drive motor on the spool gun. Up to this point I had gone thru 20 contact tips. Since I've repaired the spool gun I've gone thru 2.

 

Making the bow shelf.

 

Making the side stiffeners. This part was a pain. Making the pattern and transferring the pattern to the material then cutting out the material...and it fit like shit!

I don't have a good pic of the side shelves installed. maybe further in the build.

 

Fabbing up the inner rub rail. Its pretty amazing how much aluminum "pulls" when you start welding on it. They started out perfectly parallel.