14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Hey all..........I'm new here and I've been lurking for a couple of weeks.

Last month I bought a 30 "some" year old MirroCraft 14 ft project boat. Truth is.....I've needed a small fishing boat for a long time now. I'm from the mid-west and thought it was time I explore some of the lakes and river's that I've been unable to fish for a such a long time. I say the boat is 30' ish, but it may well be older. It'd been sitt'n in the prior owners barn for the last ten years and was covered w/two inches of pigeon doody. The previous owner's registration sticker said 1981. The boat came w/a 9.8 Hp Mercury tiller type and has the Lightning ignition. It starts......first pull....every time after choke, but I've been unable to test it under any load. Looks like a very clean motor, in and out.
Two weeks ago I gutted all but the center bench and filled it half way with water while it was on the trailer. Upon inspection the next morning. All exterior rivets were dry and there were no wet spots on the driveway.. Hopefully a good omen. I haven't had a camera until today. So far the the progression has take me as far as sanding the interior to bare aluminum, priming and painting. Now I'm working on the exterior. Today I was testing out my new camera and snapped a few photo's of my progress. But you'll need to wait till she's flipped over again to see the inside......Sorry



I took the interior down to metal in most areas w/80 grit 120 and finally 220 taking special care to clear around all the rivets....Then I washed and cleaned it all down. I HVLP'd 2 coat's of Rustoleum 50/50 primer then 2 coat's of Valspars "Lovely Buff" . I had to just rattle can the top coat cuz it's all I could get in short notice. But it looks incredible!!! I wish I'd had a camera before today. So far it's been a fun project, w/very few expletives being thrown around. :facepalm:
Tomorrow I'll be wearing out my elbow's again on the exterior. I'll try to take some more pictures if I can stay mindfull.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

Looks to me like you found a diamond in the rough.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

So you removed a bench at the fore & the stern? What are your plans for those areas?

Where the benches filled w/ foam? That's what keeps a small boat afloat if it ever gets swamped. Some, but not a lot of, freeboard in a 14ft tinny....

Rusto 50/50 is for bare aluminum?

Looks like a great boat for fishing where you describe.

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

So you removed a bench at the fore & the stern? What are your plans for those areas?

Where the benches filled w/ foam? That's what keeps a small boat afloat if it ever gets swamped. Some, but not a lot of, freeboard in a 14ft tinny....

Rusto 50/50 is for bare aluminum?

Looks like a great boat for fishing where you describe.

1. I haven't really gotten that far yet...Maybe a three piece floor w/some carpet after replacing the benches.
2. Yup....Lot's of foam under the bench's.......Also there are two plastic basket's at the stern, which encapsulate some high density foam. I guess this is Mirrocraft's "Level Floatation" scheme. I took those out because they were so degraded.
3. No Rustoleum isn't for aluminum. It's just a mixture of Rustoleum and thinner loosened up enough for a sprayer....But for my purposes it worked out well. The top coat hardened well. We've had several mornings with condensation and it seems to be holding up well. I'm impressed.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

I had one of those boats. Was a great boat and caught a bunch out of it. I just love the logo/nameplate on those boats. When I got mine po had removed middle seat. Didn't know what I was doing but I removed other bench seats and tied everything together with some raised decking. Worked...just don't know if I would do it again. Added a lot of weight to that boat and prolly wasn't smartest idea. She will work well for you. Good luck and welcome to the drydock.

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

I had one of those boats. Was a great boat and caught a bunch out of it. I just love the logo/nameplate on those boats.

Well.......The nameplate was cracked when I drilled out the rivets holding it in. Just years of weather, I'd assume. I'm wondering if it will be salvageable, or if I can find vintage replacements.
Also I'm wondering if this boat is the same as a 14' "Deep Fisherman"?.........It's remarkable how sturdy it is, for it's age.

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

Well.....I got her all primed and ready for paint. Minus wet sanding. I just didn't want to go through with it. So......I hope it doesn't come back to bight me in the butt. All told......It's not a restoration. Just a spruce-up. Non the less I'm trying my best to make her look nice for the right amount of money....."Very little".

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

What did you do for prep work?

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

Spent most of my time grinding and sanding in most spots, but some areas had factory finish that was so smooth that it needed very little work. Several areas had deep gouges and scratches so obviously I spent a little more time smoothing them out. Once I brought it all to 220 grit I cleaned it well with TSP then a tack rag. I put two coats of primer on it. The first being self etching. The next just Valspar grey primer. It's worked out nicely so far. The sun has been heating up our pole barn to nearly 100 degrees each day and aside from a few small bugs landing on the primer (picked out w/tweezers) it looks great. I'm certainly no professional......This is more of a utilitarian effort rather than anything else. But, I'm happy with the results so far. Just debating whether or not to wet sand.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

You were gonna sand between primer and finish anyway, why not wer sand. Paper lasts longer and you get better finish. Sounds like it is a no brainer IMHO.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

Did you wipe down with acetone prior to the primer coats?

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

No.....Just TSP and several wipe-downs w/the tack cloth until I couldn't see anymore residuals or dust.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

I'd Highly recommend a light scuff with 220 between coats and wipe down with acetone. Gives the next coat somethine to "Bite" into and the Acetone removes all possible contaminates that might have been left behind. Yes, Acetone is sold at WalMart!

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

Thanks Wood..........That's very helpful. I appreciate your advise. Wish I had more money for this project. It's still been very fun for me. I'd venture to say that if start another boat project, I'll budget a little more than $200.00 for it. Hopefully everything will hold together for a year or two so I can get some use out of this little boat.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

You have a very nice lil utility boat there. Used to see a lot of those Mirro's around here. Wonder what happened to them all!
Waiting to see how it finishes out.

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

I'm interested in finding a product that would allow me to make repairs to my Mirrocraft side plate/emblem before I paint it........I'm wondering if a little JBweld would do the trick...or is there an epoxy putty out there that would allow me to scrape out the contours of the plate while it's hardening.
Any bright ideas out there?

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

Fresh new paint........Wow!!!.........I'm really impressed at how well my paint went on. I primed on the 31st and today was the first day I could wet sand. Took me roughly three hours. Then another hour to wipe her all down w/warm soap and water until there was no residue left on a clean rag. I taped the two tones w/low tack tape and sprayed away. Not to toot my own horn, but most areas laid on like glass. I did have one small area toward the bow that I hit a little hard and it got a bit blotchy. I'll have to wait a week or so until I can make a simple repair. Paint is too rubbery to sand right now. All in all, I'm very happy with my results. I'm even contemplating a clear-coat and a buff job. Never used clear before, so I don't know if it would be worth it. If anyone has any suggestions for a reasonably affordable clear-coat that can be applied with a low pressure sprayer, I'd be interested in ideas. For now, I'll let everything set-up for a week or two before doing anything else.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

I like it! what paint and what color? I really like that dark blue.

Was thinking of doing my Alumacraft in a very dark red but the more I thought about it I decided I didn't want people to think I tried to make it look like a Lund. Now I'm seeing way too many doing black also including Alumacraft and Lund. So even though blue isn't my favorite color I've been looking at dark bkues like this. Flag Blue mostly and then a silver and gold graphics strips or the new Alumacraft graphics.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

Here's the issue I have with using clear. It makes repairs more difficult. You will get dings and stratches. If you have clear then you have to sand and feather not only the paint but also the clear, Prime, paint and then clear again and get it all to blend. Plus the fact that almost all Clear has a tendency to yellow with time. To me it's just not worth the hassle. My paint is now 1 1/2 years old and still as shiny and glossy as it was when I shot it. If I wax and buff it, It will look like new. No Clear!!!

 

[Fatguynalittleboat...]

Re: 14 Ft MirroCraft Project.........

Nope.....Not Blue. I thought about blue, but this is just gloss black. It's really cloudy today and my pole barn doesn't have very good lighting. The bottom is a color called "Lovely Bluff". I just call it "Cream". This is very a close match to the color options offered by Mirrocraft for their newer boats, which I like.
Top coat is all Valspar rattle can.( On sale right now) I wish I could of used paint specified for my HVLP sprayer. My trigger finger is just worn out . If I clear-coat, I'll definitely use the sprayer.