I was looking for a project and wanted a boat……. So I bought this Alumacraft Dominator CS 165 tiller July 31. I did not assess the condition very well and the project has grown into a monster. I like projects so I’ve decided to basically just rebuild the boat and increase the functionality of the layout if possible. Been hitting this project pretty hard because the cold weather is around the corner. I have it completely ripped down to the clean hull, repaired and modified the hull, foam should be here very soon (tomorrow?), repainted allot of the interior metal, floors cut and vinyl down on the deck. took a few days off work and tomorrow vinyl the sides of the boat then start the top rail. The deck is 3/4″ Marine plywood coated in 1prt spar oil, 1prt boiled linseed oil and 2prt mineral spirits, 2 coats on the top, 4 thick coats on the bottom. After drying i sanded the top with heavy grit, then use 3M-80……. seems to have worked great. The vinyl is 34 mm Marideck and seems tough and its very flexible and very nice quality……….. not cheap however. Word of advice if your going to do vinyl, think thru the process, do not just throw a couple products together and hope it works. research the wood, do you use wood sealant, a paint, a epoxy, will the adhesive work with that sealant, will the vinyl work with that adhesive? It can become a confusing mess, I ended up settling on the combination above. I never really felt like there was a great advise so I emailed 3M and told them what I was doing and they pointed to a few options, but the only one I could actually buy was 3M-80 at Home Depot. Spray adhesives are a mess but I like them. Vinyl has more issues with adhesives then carpets. Hopefully it looks good tomorrow still.

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Thanks. Both you guys have some cool projects going on. I really like that rod locker. This boat received little love in its former life. I’ll take some pictures this weekend and explain my project …. Hopefully my floatation, vinyl and carpet gets here.

Sounds like you guys are doing (should say did) the same thing I’m looking at doing. I enjoy the pictures. This weekend I’ll do a work summary and show some pictures. I like the additional rod locker, the dominator came with a very small and useless rod locker……. that needs upgrading. The biggest “problem so far is the gas tank. The old one is not in good shape and I really don’t want a red plastic tank taking up floor space.

Has anyone replaced a alumacraft underdeck gas tank…… preferably with something smaller then the 28 gallon poly stock unit? Like a 8-12 gallon aluminum unit.

Yep, to the hull. Coated interior rivets and seems in Gluv-it and Increased drain holes. Old hull was full of standing water. New floor is 3/4 marine plywood. Expanding foam is on order. Plans are to use HDPE under floor dimple board as buffer between foam and structure. That will reduce my floatation a little but create hundreds of drain paths. Center strip will remain open. Also installing access port in bow to allow me to get shop vac hose down there if water does get in. Entire design centers around a dry underdeck.

Just found your text string. I’m in the middle of a 1992 alumacraft 165 dominator tiller rebuild. I’m going thru the same decisions and quandaries you guys are. Floors out, livewell out, modified some of the structure for better drainage, had to weld some broken ribs.

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