1968 Sea King 14'

[Crusty Mono]

I am in the process of adding a casting deck to my 14' boat (1968 Sea King). I want a deck that is 3" below the top of the boat. I am thinking of using an aluminum angle of some kind every two feet, starting at th transom, and every 2' until i near the bow, have another one. then, i will run a 2x4 accross the width parallel to the transom. A total of 7 beams and 17 angles. The horizontal beams will be supported by vertical 2x4s notched out to the boats ribs. Will the aluminum on the sides of the hull be too thin for the Screws to support the angles and casting deck? Think of a piece of paper, stabbed by a pencil and ripping the pencil through the paper. That is what i want to avoid. Ripping the boat hull with rivets and screws because the aluminum is too thin.

 

[TyeeMan]

Welcome to Iboats!!

Not to rain on your parade, but a 1968 14 foot any kind of boat is a pretty small boat to be adding a casting deck like that. You will be dramatically raising the center of gravity thereby making the boat extremely unstable.

The other thing is that boat (or again, any other 14 foot boat ) is pretty light duty, meaning that it will flex different ways when under way. By adding the casting you will likely be hindering the boats ability to flex and could very likely crack or tear the aluminum.

I really wouldn't do it.