Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

[GA_Boater]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

Sorry you got one of them "new deck on top of old deck cause if I can't see the old rotted wood the floor is fixed just fine" jobs. Without seeing it I'm guessing the old decking is not in good shape. So cutting to slightly more than the thickness of the "new" decking should work ok You might even get both layers in one fell swoop when you pry. As far as templates go, no prob. Get a couple of sheets of foam that you will use for flotation. Make your templates from those - nice and light for all the in and outs until you get them right. After the deck ply is cut to fit, use the foam cut to flotation size.

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

I was going to mention that as well but I'm not really one to stir the pot ya know.

In my opinion there's a lot of these old tin buckets kicking around. If you want an I/O go buy one. If you want an outboard go buy one. Figure out what you want and then the Starmada will find one somewhere for you. My .02 cents

If you want a Center Console by a Mariner, closed bow buy a Holiday. Of course you coud get an I/O Cheif and convert it into a CC outboard. I'll watch and cheer you on.

I suggest the Bwana Don wheel of fate for Starcraft boat choosing. Figure out how long you want it and then buy whichever comes your way first in that length. Worked great for me.

5052 is the alloy Adam.

 

[barato2]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

what i never understand is why anyone would do this and not just screw down the upper layer.....i can see it as a tempo fix, esp if you just had one or two bad spots in floor, but why make it impossible to remove later?

i just cut out my floor the other night. both Rheagler and GAboater's suggestions would work fine. one thing i learned when i looked closely at my old floor is that the original appears to have been cut freehand and is not all that perfect....you'd have to be a pretty sloppy carpenter to not be able to do at least a comparable job. i'm not much good as a carpenter, but mine came out great just by going slowly and doing the "measure three times, cut once" plan. i set my saw for the bevel using the old floor but it was durn close to 45 degrees.

i like Don's plan.......remember that when the hull is the same, it's not that tough to convert one open boat type to another. but converting drive type is a major deal on any hull. the best SC is one that's near me and priced at $300

 

[adamjr]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

Wow, I missed a lot of posts when I replied based on my refresh from 7:30 this morning.

Thanks Michael for stirring the pot a little more. For the most part the idea was to do a major engineering project to see if it could be done. I am a pretty good amateur welder and finisher but by no means a pro. That's why I was looking for some pot stirring here. The tempering issue was a concern for me. If it's a matter of heating to a particular point and cooling at a specified rate I have a friend that's really torch handy that could help there along with some shop grade IR thermometers. My hope was that most of the strength would come from the plywood sandwich as opposed to the skin.

This is a project that will likely be done but not on this hull. When the time comes that I have a larger yard with a decent sized out building where I can get two of those harbor freight gantry cranes to make moving a hull around easy I will pick up an old hull and set to doing it right. Not necessarily because it should be done but to see if it can be done. I like the boat as it was designed and will probably pick up an IO model before doing the conversion project on a later hull. I have a place for one more boat at a friends house so over the winter I might just hae to go on a road trip to find a second and third tinny. I would really like one of the bigger ones like a 22-26 footer but that will need to wait unless the price is exactly right.

Like Paparoof said my freakin' mind and I parted ways a long time ago. Sad thing is I don't miss it at all. No offense is taken, especially since I suggested it first. Thinking out of the box and coloring outside the lines are fun.

And thanks to all with the deck ideas. I think I'm going to go with slicing just past the top layer first. My hope is that whatever rot prompted the ghetto redecking has spread across the original wood in the anaerobic hell that it was forced into meaning the top ply (or more) of the original deck will come up without a fight along with the newer deck. One can dream.

 

[paparoof]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

Adam I can see yer gonna fit in here just fine.

Welcome home bud.

 

[rheagler]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

The rotted ghetto decking is most likely a reality. When I ripped mine out I was armed with sawzall and circular saw but ended up tearing it out by hand. The pieces just busted off around the rivets. It took longer to cut out the rivets than to tear out the plywood. Anyway, good luck, have fun, and take more pics than I did!

 

[adamjr]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

View attachment 119827
This tool might make quick work of any demo project. Double blade counter rotating saw.
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-double-cut-saw-68316-8065.html

 

[MichaelP]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

Gotta have the right tool for the job. You'll find other uses for that down the road. If you come across a disposable glass donor boat getting rid of it will be no sweat!

 

[barato2]

Re: Does anyone know what alloy a 1974 Chieftain hull is made from?

box??? lines??? i've always heard that there are some of those out there somewhere but never been able to find em.

anaerobic hell. i like that! been there all too many times...........