Refit of 3.8m Stacer Kipper. Ideas /help needed

[CK]

Guys, am about to start on a refit of my stacer and whilst i have a few ideas am keen to see some of yours especially if the hull is the same. Id like to add a front and rear casting deck with hatches for storage and a floor. All sounds simple I know but am interested in the different ways of achieving this. Keen to see where / how batteries and fuel tanks are stored etc.

I'm also thinking of reconfiguring the thwarts so that they are narower and therefore increase the amount of storage available, but I have concerns of structural integrety of the hull by doing this. Any comments?

Pictures of like fitouts would be greatly appreciated. Unfortuneatly a new hull is out of the question, not that its possible to buy a hull only apparently

I have included some pictures of what I have to work with for your perusal.

[Stu_000]

Originally Posted by Coonta Kinta

I'm also thinking of reconfiguring the thwarts so that they are narower and therefore increase the amount of storage available, but I have concerns of structural integrety of the hull by doing this. Any comments?

Your concerns are well founded. The thwarts indeed provide strength and integrity to the entire hull. I would strongly urge you to reconsider. Same with removing floatation from the thwarts. One day you may need it! Insurance may also be an issue if you start doing mods to the hull itself. (Make a claim and see the insurance company fail to pay out because of mods - even for legal liability/third party cover -so do your research on this issue too)

Also I suggest doing a search on BM for the word fitout or fit out etc as there are plenty of ideas already posted from people who have done this to similar hulls. Also search muddleduck (JP's first bream boat was around 3.7m Savage Snipe I recall).

With a boat this size the weight of heavy items such as batteries really need to be thought out thoroughly. It often pays to temporarily place something where you want it and trial run the boat before making it permanent. Most heavy items will need to placed centrally to avoid a lean obviously.

Hope this gives you a start

[CK]

Stu, wise comments on the whole structual thing. I've had a bit of a think and a search here abouts. unfortuneatly, the search has'nt resulted in much however a look over some other material has revealed this. (see pics below)

I wonder how hard this would be to achieve?

[Mark M]

Check out this thread CK

http://www.breammaster.com/forum/sho...ght=muddleduck

[CK]

Thanks MarkM. Looks a very informative thread. Will have a details look at it as time presents itself as am at work presently. Might have to get intouch with the author for some dimensions.

If any one has a similar pictorial on a 3.8m stacer.....please put it here for us all to see.

[SteveFarmer]

I did a similiar project a while ago on a Bermuda 3.7

I pulled out the middle Thwart but had the area reinforced with some flat bar and some box. Also had Gunnals (?) put around the boat.

I'll try and dig up some pictures, can't seem to find the digital Camera at the moment

[Stu_000]

CK

Few more threads;

This is excellent with sketches and photos

http://www.breammaster.com/forum/sho...hlight=project

This one shows internal framework, storage etc in a 4.2m

http://www.breammaster.com/forum/sho...hlight=project

And check this one out - Stacer on a budget!

http://www.breammaster.com/forum/sho...hlight=project

Do a search on key words such as project, design, decks, etc

[CK]

Stu. Thanks very much for your efforts. Very much appreciated! Some very interesting threads there especially the last one. Looks a simple affair really and perhaps I'm making more of it than I need to.

[Flattie_Hunter]

looks good well done

[CK]

Ok well after searching all the forums and going through all the threads I was still apprehensive about starting this project. Mostly because I dint really have a plan of how to acheive what I wanted and secondly because I'm not a very handy person.

I should point out that I couldnt have got this far without the assistance of a couple of work colleagues who are a little more adept at this type of thing than I so even though you wont see this thread Many thanks Scott & Allan, oh and the boss for letting me use the company tools and workshop.

The pinapple was pulled out of my rear about a week and a bit ago when I realised that time was running out and that my trip to Nelson was about a fortnight away. Add to this the fact I had $500 of leccie waiting to be fitted and a $350 sounder and I'm thinking what a waste of money If I dont get this done in time

I've already posted the before pics, well some of them anyway so I wont bore you with them again. Just those up to this point.

I'm still a bit away from completing and it will be close, but close is better than not at all

[CK]

I had decided to use 30mm alloy square tube for the job. An over kill perhaps but I'm a BIG bloke

I also decided that using the floor stringers as anchoring points for the bearers was the best solution. I had intended to ahve these welded in but as time was getting short I decided, on the advice of my colleagues, to pop rivet them in.

Cutting the angles was simple a mater of cutting the bearer to length, placing it next to the stringer and making the angle onto the bearer. Then simply cut and check

[CK]

OK now everything was inplace, well almost everything I hadnt yet turned my attention to the casting deck I set about getting the construction ply and cutting a template. I had a bit of a shock at the price of the ply at my local hardware and rang around to compare prices. Bunnings had the 12mm ply I wanted @ $42.00 which was better than the $60 odd I had been quoted down the road So I got that in my luch hour, placed it in the boat, it fit perfectly and took the whole lot back to the workshop where I set about cutting out a template.

The template gave me an idea of where to make the cuts in the timber, but it wasnt perfect and I spent a lot of time making corrections in the wood before I was happy with the end result.

[CK]

Today was spent sealing the timbers for the decks and fitting the bearers for the casting deck. Again I was going to have these welded but there is not time for that now so I decided to rivet these in also. Problem was how was I going to get the rivets to go through 30mm tube.

Simply cut out Vsections where the holes are, big enough to get the rivet gun in. Job done!

Now I just need to decide how I'm going to brace the whole thing so that I can have a hatch in this part of the boat.

The other thin k I've been pondering is where to mount the leccie, the other sounder, and the C section I want welded onto the back to mount the sounder/temp/speed transducer

[Shauno]

Looking good so far CK, are you going to be fishing the SABT tournaments this year then, with all the mods I think you'll be ready to hand out some ass whooppins...

anyhow looking great so far keep up the hard work...

[CK]

Originally Posted by Shauno

Looking good so far CK, are you going to be fishing the SABT tournaments this year then, with all the mods I think you'll be ready to hand out some ass whooppins......

Ha Ha Ha Nah, not for a few reasons. One I dont insure this boat, not worth the cost, I dont have live well, and not really interested in the competitive side of the scene. Not that I'm detracting from those that do. Its just that I did a lot of that in my younger days fishing the ANSA thing.

Breaming for me now is more about enjoying the scenery and serenity of those mangrove lined creeks. Its so peaceful. I think I'd enjoy the social side of the scene though so maybe an informal comp similar to those that used to be held.

Originally Posted by Shauno

anyhow looking great so far keep up the hard work...

Thanks Shauno. Funny how I was initially reluctant to start this project but now am REALLY enjoying it. I think having access to the the workshop and its tools has made things much easier and more enjoyable.

Have done a little more work this morning so will hopefully have more to add later