16 ft aluminum

Trying to get ideas \ help with putting in a floor. Can't drill into seats because they are sealed for flotation. It is a 1957 . It also has vertical ridges

 

Can you just lay an 8x4 sheet of ply on those stringers ? It won't go far, just loose-laid in there, even.

 

I will give that a thought Ty.

 

You could make removable sections that covered the spaces in between the seats. Don't use any treated wood as it will eat up the aluminum.
Thin cedar fence slats run crosswise or lengthwise with a few slats underneath at 90 degrees so you can fasten it all together with glue and screws or nails.
The slots will let water run through and then you can easily lift out the sections and clean the hull of fish slime and dirt etc.
Pallet wood slats come to mind. (not the whole pallet, take them apart and use the materials) You could paint them and then set them aside to dry after use.

 

air chamber buoyancy is not legal although at 60 years old your boat is probably 'grandfathered'. For your own safety, fit some foam.
You can seal the play with epoxy. Make sure the floor boards are secured or clipped.... you don't want them loose..
Watch the weight - may not be a problem but you don't want to overload the boat.

 

Ty guys a lot. I am definitely not a carpenter so things are moving very slowly on getting this boat ready for the water. Does anyone think if I made like small frames in between the stringers and then screwed the floor to the frames so the floor doesn't slide. Would that work or do I need to come up with better idea. If anyone can put pics of the ideas they have for me that would be awesome. If no pics. I will take all suggestions I can get. Ty very much. As you can see in photo I can set up however I want. So even other ideas as for rod holder mounting or anything u think I should do. Would be greatly appreciated

 

Cut a piece of plywood, put some supports under it where needed....done.

You don't need to secure it place unless it moves when you step on it, if you put supports under it where needed it shouldn't move.

Where needed means, put it and see, then support it. Keep it light and simple, don't go overkill with 3/4" ply. There's nothing tricky about this.

You can paint it or not, that's up to you, make it light and easy to remove and you can store it someplace dry when it's not in use, this way it will last forever.

 

Thanks a lot. So I should cut the ply to fit and see if she bows or moves a lot, And then support it with like pieces of wood wedged against stringers or no? This is my first boat so im kind of new to all this. I've fished all my life but have never had to set one up. Lol. I keep catching myself overthinking everything as well.

 

Yes, there's not much to it.

 

anything loose on a boat (including floor boards) should be secure before leaving the dock. If you hit rough weather (or a big boat wash) you may be busy enough without worrying about 'flying' objects.

 

You could throw old pieces of carpet in there and then periodically replace them with more old pieces of carpet. It's free, would take 10 minutes and then you're off fishing.

 

From the pics it looks like whatever is used can slide right under the existing seats, so it won't be flying around. There's even a small brace under them that it could attach to if needed.

 

The long ridges on the bottom of that boat are an ideal support for ply, no further support needed. imo. To keep it in place might require no more than a block or two of polystyrene foam tightly jammed under the thwarts. You really want something easily removable, as objects getting lost under the flooring could include dissimilar metals, and corrosion risks. I'd avoid having carpet in direct contact with the aluminium too, as it can contribute to poultice corrosion.

 

Well, that was a bad idea.

Marginal Maritime Advice: Poultice Corrosion http://marginalmaritimeadvice.blogspot.com/2011/03/poultice-corrosion_5740.html

 

Poultice corrosion manifests in several ways, one I saw recently was under a layer of "mud" like material on the bottom of an aluminium fuel tank. It had corroded from the inside out, a layer of solids foreign material that had built up over aeons collecting at the lower end of the tank. Probably combined with condensation to do the damage.