Ok, I know about the budget thing, I bought hydroturf "closeout" pieces as well because that stuff is as expensive as the aluminum- well, almost. I guess too late to say spare the hydroturf on the wood, but you apparently glued it on already. I bought a 4' x8' sheet of aluminum .090 gauge back in 2004 for around $75. I imagine that has gone up a bit. I did the bow with the dark grey diamond groove pattern and ordered the floor piece in the tan camo. Don't care about uniform color, it's my duck boat, not a bass boat.
Let us know about the gator glide- I only used one coat of the steelflex (fasco corp.) and it is great. Looks like you'll have plenty of room to put the battery and/or gas tank up front if need be for balancing the load. Did the BT cavitation plate include a "trim tab" on the trailing edge to adjust planing depth? Or do you have to bend the whole plate? I know you must be excited. I figure if you tweak the throttle after break-in period, you'll realize about 4200 rpm out of the water and you should be close to 20 mph by yourself. I figure your 1648 rivetted hull should be lighter than my welded 1648 .100 Grizzly hull? Don't forget to wear your kill switch lanyard! I would also recommend those "bird bucket" seats (Cabelas) for seating. All the best!
