Looking at used aluminum boats

[SF14]

My super clean 1971 Starcraft Seafarer 14' boat got flattened by a tree downed in a storm.
To make a long story short, the insurance company paid what I thought at the time was a fair price to cover the hull, trailer, and motor that were damaged.
With cash in hand I made along drive to the closest Starcraft dealer, (over 200 miles), only to find out that a new hull was over $3100, and a new motor would be nearly the same amount. Then there's the cost of the trailer, roughly $1200 if I want galvanized tubing.

I quickly realized that anything new was out of the question and I've ben looking for a used boat, motor, and trailer.
Last month I found and bought a good used motor and trailer off CL, but so far havenlt made a deal on another aluminum Starcraft.
Now I need the boat, or at least a good hull that I can swap all my old stuff into. I have the seats, fish finder, trolling motor, life vests, and anchor out of the old boat.
I've been looking at a few but the prices range all over the place.

The motor is a long shaft, so that will eliminate a lot of boats unless I make up an adapter bracket or riser.

I found this one but its an odd length, my old boat measured 14' 1", this one is almost 15' long, a bit deeper overall, with almost a foot more of width over my 1971.

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/boa/5077405440.html

On my old boat, I removed all the bench seats and installed a flat floor, then put the seats back in, on this hull, the seats are all aluminum and can't be removed.
I also see two styles of hulls in this general size now, the later hulls have more of a true v hull design vs. the 1971 hull which was basically flat bottomed at the stern.
I also noticed that the hp raing is now 30hp vs. 20hp on the older models.
Here's one with the newer bow design, but its had a lot of mods done and lots of holes drilled. Both are within a 50 mile drive from me.

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/boa/5066692302.html

All of the older models like I had that I've seen for sale have been really rough, usually needing total restoration, and finding an older 20" transom model may as well be a needle in a haystack.

How much will I notice the differences in the hull shapes compared to my old boat?
Any ideas as to adding a flat floor to a boat with riveted in seats?

 

[achris]

Generally Vee hulls perform better in choppy conditions, but can have a 'tenderness' about them at rest, they'll roll a bit more.

As for riveted in seats, cut/drill the rivets, put your flat floor in (I like flat floors!) and re-rivet the seats back in... Or, make the flat floor in sections that can be installed without removing the seats... Either way is doable.

Chris.....

 

[starcraftkid]

I've owned all three versions of the Seafarer hulls, my first was a 1972 14', my second was a 1998, then I bought a 1990, in my opinion, the mid years were the best, you have the convenience of an all aluminum interior that won't rot, and the older style bow design gives more interior space and I suppose the increased capacity most likely adds buoyancy as well by increasing displacement.

The effects of the V hull design vs the flat bottom are negligible unless your running it hard and fast with a larger motor. What I liked most about the later models is the increased HP rating and capacity due to the wider transom, especially if your lucky enough to find a 20" transom model.

On my 1990 I made three separate floor sections, each section installs from ahead of the bench seat is fits under. I used pool noodles to seal up the edges.
I ran a single 2x4 down the middle for support and used 1/2" plywood.The added weight slowed the boat a bit but I cured that with an extra 10hp, The added convenience and stability was well worth it. To me the biggest benefit of adding a floor is that your gear don't get wet if there's water laying in the boat after a day of fishing, it keeps things high and dry after a day of fishing.

 

[WIMUSKY]

The effects of the V hull design vs the flat bottom are negligible unless your running it hard and fast with a larger motor.

If we're talking v-hulls vs flat bottoms in general, I completely disagree. A v-hull will ride better than a flat bottom/semi v every time no matter what size of boat........ There's a big difference. Unless the water is like glass.....

Actually on my V, I can stand in the rear corner and it wont have a feeling of rolling. 2 of us could easily be on the side and it wont tip hardly at all, unlike a semi V. The design of the V probably comes into play......

 

[MTboatguy]

The effects of the V hull design vs the flat bottom are negligible unless your running it hard and fast with a larger motor. What I liked most about the later models is the increased HP rating and capacity due to the wider transom, especially if your lucky enough to find a 20" transom model.

You are going to get a big disagree from me as well, some of the lakes that I hang out on, would not be navagatable in a flat bottom boat, when we can have a great day in a Semi or a full V bottomed boat. One of my buddies has a flat bottom and none of us will go out with him any longer because that boat is so uncomfortable in the waters we normally encounter.

 

[starcraftkid]

My point was more that in comparison between the older SF hulls and the newer SF hulls. The older boats had a soft chine with a flat bottom at the stern, the newer hulls have a slight v at the stern, maybe a 2" deadrise or so with a hard chine.
I've used both hulls with the same motor, there's little to no noticeable difference between the two when in use at lower speeds, and the difference at say 25 mph is barely noticeable as well. The most noticeable difference that I saw was that the newer V5 type hull had better directional stability when on plane with a lot less tendency to spin out on a hard turn.

Around here, most people run these boats with either an electric trolling motor or a 9.9hp motor on one of the two restricted lakes here that allow gas motors.
With a trolling motor, the two boats are about identical other then the flat bottom, or early model, (pre-1977), move around a bit easier due to the fact there's less boat in the water and less drag. When I moved from my 1972 SF14 to my 190 SF14, both a bare hulls at the time and with a 9.9hp Yamaha two stroke, I lost about 4 mph off my top end going to the V hull over the older flat bottom or semi-v.
The front 2/3rds of the hull were about identical, the difference is only in the stern, the older boats flatten out at the rear where as the newer models retain some deadrise and have a hard chine. When at rest, with just me in the boat, the later model draws more water by almost 4" but its less affected by my moving to one side. The older hull rolls pretty far and if I'm not careful will take on water with my 300lbs offsetting the balance. The newer model is also about 10" wider at the stern.

 

[SF14]

I don't suppose which ever boat I buy will go much more than 10 to 15 mph most of the time, so ride quality may not even be an issue.
I'm more concerned about the stability at rest and its ability to carry weight. With myself being 6'1" tall and 344 lbs and most of the guys I fish with being about the same, the boat needs to be stable with weight in it. Both of the boats I looked at above are rated at just over 1000 lbs but the latter is rated at 35hp vs only 30 on the older of the two. The first boat is 14' 8" long, the second one is dean on 14, yet the smaller of the two has the higher capacity and higher hp rating? The later model has the same beam width and transom width. I looked at a third boat today with a short transom, a 1999 model, with a rating of 35hp and 1050 lbs on the Coast Guard plate. I'm leaning towards the older model with the extra length and no floor mainly because for immediate use it looks to be the most maintenance free. There's no wood floor to rot or get wet and I don't have to worry about making room in the garage again for a boat right away. It can sit out uncovered without concern of ruining anything short term. My old boat with its full deck and wood seats had to be garaged or well covered so as not to ruin all the work.

I'm thinking of maybe eventually doing an aluminum floor, I don't want to be redoing it again in 10 or 20 years when I may or may not be too old to do such work.

As you get older you start thinking ahead a bit more I guess.