Started building my livewell!!!

Stinky_Hooker · #1 05-08-2006, 12:38 PM

Well guys as I said I am going full transom and brackett on the 18. I wont actually do it till this winter because I dont want any down time right now. I am going to put a livewell in the center. I decided to go ahead and mock up a mold for the livewell. I hope to start glassin it this afternoon or tomorrow for sure. I used a piece of fiberglass bath remodel paneling. They are called FRP around here...not sure bout "yall" up der dough. *;D

Rough measurements are 28" wide X 16"long X 20" deep. It is going to be oval shaped. Here is what I put together this morning.

First I cut a piece of FRP 20" (the hight) X 10' long. I later cut it down to 7'. Then I started with it round and vise gripped it together.

I then "duck" taped the seams together so they would lay flat. I added two 2x4"s the width I wanted it to be and screwed them in through the sides.

It still had a little more "flemsyness" than I wanted so I added a brace between em. I cut it about 1/16th too long so it would really tighten things up. It worked!

I am going to glass around the outside with about 3 layers of mat and then remove the core. Ill make the bottom after that. *Ill put it all together and glass the bottom in. I am going to gel coat the inside to slick it off real nice. The outside wont matter as it will be hidden underneath the new transom "cap". . *8)

A couple of issues I have.

1) I am trying to figure out what material/liquid/etc.. to coat the out side with in order to get a good release after drying. The FRP is pretty slick, but its also fiberglass and I dont want them to bond. Any ideas??

2) as it sits right now my scuppers stay BARELY above waterline so I have that to consider for the bracket install. Its a 29" WITH a small platform so I certainly expect to gain some draft depth. A couple things I am doing to compensate. 1) I am relocating both rear batteries to under the center console this winter. I am rewiring the whole boat and redesigning the dash layout. It needs it bad. *2) I now have a 150qt cooler for a seat and its generally full of ice. This severely brings the back of the boat down. I am cutting the front console mounted livewell off and relocating that cooler up front. I am going to build an aluminum leaning post with a small cooler underneath for my seating. I think with the loss of the batteries and that biga$$ ice chest my scupper problem will be close to corrected. What yall think??

My only other option is to glass over em and install an extra BIG bilge pump. Im not sure how I feel about that though. :P

Blue_Runner · #2 05-08-2006, 04:25 PM

Here's a liner for it!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BOAT-...37761466QQrdZ1

TheTinMan · #3 05-08-2006, 05:57 PM

Stinkster, how deep (not depth, but fore and aft) is the well, is it the 16" measurement? How much deeper (fore and aft) will the transom have to be? I would think at least 2 or more inches, which means the transom will need to be at a bare minimum of 18". If you can go not so deep, like the one from ebay, you can keep the measurement down. Every inch you can save will add more fishin room...If you can make it longer than 28" then you don't need to go so deep (fore and aft) and you can have the same capacity...just a thought :D

Looks like a great project...have fun!

....ofcourse videos are required :o

Stinky_Hooker · #4 05-09-2006, 11:22 AM

Yeah, Tin its the 16" fore to aft. The only thing I may do is shallow it up a bit (the 20") so I will have a little more room in the bilge area. Ether way the livewell is not taking away fishing room. Its there regardless of the size since it will be in the area I am going to enclose. It could be a livewell there or a supermodel...either way the space wont affect fishing. :D