HiI’ve been busy gathering information, ideas and how to’s from various forums, the internet etc. And have finally decided (for the most part) what I want from my boat conversion. The big question for me is, “what year and make is my boat?” When I bought it last year I was told by the previous owner (not the original owner) that the boat might be a Montgomery Wards boat but, the title has it listed as a SEARS’s model. I'm going with Montgomery Wards.probably built by StarCraft.

Oct 14, 2017 - Montgomery Ward Sea King Boat Serial Number. Montgomery Ward Boats for sale. Alert for new Listings. SEA KING 12' JON BOAT & TRAILER w/8 HP 2 STROKE YAMAHA 2005 / 2 3GAL TANKS,ETC. Posted Over 1 Month. 12' >1975 MONTGOMERY WARD SEA KING >V-HULL ALUMINUM BOAT W/.

All the photo's I've found that look most like my boat are StarCraft boats or Montgomery Wards 'Sea King' of the 60's. If you’ve ever needed to search for information on older boats you know how confusing it is to find any information and even the parts dept. People aren’t much help at times. I’ve found out the hard way about this in trying to locate parts for my Mercury Merc110 9.8 hp outboard. I’m a novice at boat ownership although; I’ve been around them all my life.

My Grandparents had a cottage on the Chesapeake Bay (Cedarhurst, Md.) and I spent many weekends and summers there. We would crab off the back of my Grandfathers boat and literally catch bushels of crabs right in the little harborit seems now the one’s we kept were all #1’s. He would go out on the Bay with a friend of his and come back in the morning (after fishing all night) with Rockfish 30”+ and my Grandmother would clean them and prepare them for the freezer. Lots of fond memories of that little cottage but, this forum is for tin boat conversions and this thread is mine.

I’ll update regularly and always be open to your suggestions and ideas. I’ll be glad to answer your questions if I’m asked. Primarily, I’ll use my boat in fresh water lakes and rivers but, I’ll be very tempted to hit the brackish salt water of the lower Potomac or the protected coves of the BayI love them Crabs! So here I gobound to do the best job I can on a never before attempted project boatmy first.

I expect to do a lot of things extremely well and I’m sure, some not so well. I plan on overkillthat’s just me, ALWAYS. It’s not so much about cost as quality of the work and materials. It’s about learningand becoming familiar with the products and how to use them. It’s really about experience, so that my next boat will be something (really) special. One thing is certain, when I’m finished with this one, whoever I end up selling it to next year or the year after, will have a great boat for themselves, done right. At first (& still), I wanted to lose a bench seat (the one in front of the tiller).

Having posted on an earlier forum thread, I listened to the overwhelming advice of my peers and decided not to structurally change anything. I still feel that losing that seat could be done safely since 90% of all the boats with my dimensions are almost always 3 seatswhere mine is 4. WHAT I PLAN ON DOING: I’ll be adding a front deck with storage and a place for a cooler/livewell. I’ll also put in a floor with carpet.

I will bottom paint (Aluthane-gray) the hull as well as adding a top coat (Rust-O-leum primer & white top coat) stripe/band along the top edge at the gunwales. Dcs World 2 there. Between the bottom coat and stripe I plan on polishing the aluminum with Sharkhide products. Inside, I’ll Gluvit the rivets & seams then use the leftover Aluthane on the inside hull.

If I like the color I’ll leave it alone.otherwise, I will paint it (Rust-O-leum top coat) Light Gray. Under the floor I will use foam garage foam tiles to deaden the sound and I will use ½” marine plywood for the floor and ¾” plywood for the deck.

I will use 1 ½” aluminum angle & 1 ½” aluminum square tubing for framing. I’ve done a lot of research on the products I plan on using but, I realize there’s tons of otherswhile money was not a major concern based on the size of my boatI did limit myself somewhat by saving money by shopping smart.

Example: 1/8” x 1 ½” x 8’ aluminum angle at LOWES costs $38 each + tax (& gas)I bought it from Online Metals for $13 each + shipping (and I went online a found a coupon code for 10% off my order). Gluvit (gal.) regularly runs $130 + shippingI found it for $100 & shipping was half as much as anyone else. So, you see that money is a concern but with a small boat like this it’s easy to use high quality products and still save a lot of green. Another big debate for me was the bottom coat. Originally, Steelflex was my choice. Then Gatorglide G2then another epoxy based productthen I found out about Aluthane.

Since aluminum contracts a big issue with the epoxies is adhesionAluthane expands and contracts with the metal and is made for aluminum in particular. There are those who will prefer their epoxy but, because of cost and the issue of adhesion I went with Aluthane$32 qt. $165+ for enough epoxy to do the job. Aluthane also can be a barrier coat so painting over it is fine (with any oil based enamel). Additionally, it supposedly goes a long, long way.