Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

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arkansascatboss

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Hey guys. What a great forum! I read all 189 pages of Oops! project! Wow. I have purchased this 20' Jon. I believe it's a Shawnee boat made in northern Arkansas where I trout fish. I've been wanting one if these for years. They usually only have about a 4" draft! Anyhow I am gearing up to restore this girl. I am very new to fiberglass. Im posting to pics of some of the issues. I'll take any advice I can get.
<a href="http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u244/gtchasm/?action=view&current=1341589355.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u244/gtchasm/1341589355.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Transom feels very sturdy. I intend to mount a 25hp. Prob 2 stroke. Anything I should dig in too?
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Few spots on the sides (inside) that are open. Nice place for water to get in. Plan to grind theses down and patch.
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

As you can see there is plenty of work ahead especially for a noob! I've worked over a few boats but all aluminum. I really want to make this boat nice and simple with clean straight lines. I have no intentions of getting started until I fully understand the process ahead of me. After taking care of any glass/structural issues I want a good paint job. Will address those questions later I suppose as far as types of paint and applications for side, bottom, and inside.
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Failed to mention. As it sits, the side rails on this boat are very flimsy and weak. No biggie. The rail supports have been removed. The rails on these boat used to be wooden. Now days they come with square aluminum tubing. Which is what I intend to go back with. I have rented these exact types of boats for 20+ years on the White River. They are perfect for that type of fishing. They have 0 foam in them. There are a few cavities. -- around the live well, under the bow deck, and in front of the transom. Anybody suggest adding foam? Any thoughts?
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

f04c4061.jpg
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Done a little digging between the stringers where the floor was bubbled (delaminated). And here came the water....insert cuss words... But if you can see in the pic, the sub layer is green!? Does that mean this has prob been worked on before? Obviously shotty work if that's the case..didn't even sand the paint before glassing?
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Since I finally took the time to read how to make the pic rather than a link show up in the thread I'm re-posting the pics...
1341589355.jpg

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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Ugh. Just drilled a few small holes to check stringers. Checked each stringer about 6" from transom and to my surprise they were dry! But.....I also checked both of them just in front of the live well by the spot where I released all the water. Both of them wet :( one of them wet as well as dark brown, almost black. I suspect the other one is black as well, prob just didn't drill deep enough.

Alright pros! Could use a pick me up here! This mean a major overhaul? Scrap the boat?
 
Woodonglass

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Welcome to iBoats!
Very interesting craft! What's the bottom of the hull look like? Any Cracks or major gouges? Based on your statements and pics, I'd say if you want to be sure she is safe and sound you should cut out the existing two stringers, gring the glass on either side back about 3 inches and then use either douglas Fir or 1/2" ext. grade plywood laminated to yield 1" and fabricate your stringers and then glass em back in. If you want to hang a 25 hp on her you'll need to beef up the transom. You will probably need to remove the splashwell to get to it. The delamination will need to be ground out and then a couple of layers of 1708 biaxial cloth layed backdown to beef it up too! We can and will help you with the details needed to Fiberglass it all back together. First thing is to demo it and get the stringers and transom out and all the delam ground out. Do you have a budget in mind? Don't forget the PPE.
WelcomeAboard.jpg
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Sounds like its project time! Thanks a million for checking my thread!

So if I can locate 20' solid Douglas fur 1" thick I can just use it or does it need special attention as well?

Cutting the stringers out...will I be able to work down each side of the stringer and potentially pop them out or will they be bonded to the glass below them?

PPE- still need to pick up a respirator. Should be no problem though.

Budget.. Haven't really given it a whole lot of thought. These boats new are around $5K but also a lot nicer. These guys that build them have came a long way since this boat was built in 1971. The boat and trailer were $200 so it's a pretty cheap start.

Oh yeah-- the bottom. It doesn't look that great. These boats are slide up on the banks very often. I'll flip it over tomorrow and post a few photos.
 
Woodonglass

Woodonglass

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Sawzall and a long flexible blade should make short work of the stringers. If you know someone with a planer I'd use Doug Fir 2x and plane it down to 1". Or cut strips of ply and laminate it with Titebond III glue. With all the glassing etc. I'd guess you prolly spend $800 to $1,000 to bring her back to life.
 
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arkansascatboss

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Will be well worth it!

Planer and any other woodworking tools no problem. I'm an unfocused hobbyist. Like to get ahold of any project that grabs my attention. Needless to say I have accumulated a lot of tools.
This fiberglass business is new to me though. Looking forward to trying ur out though. Did ya notice that pic between the stringers where I pulled back some of the glass that delaminated? If that were original floor it wouldn't be green under that correct?
 
Woodonglass

Woodonglass

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Re: Noobie! 20' fiberglass Jon restoration. Needing advice.

Hard to tell from the pic. When you clean it up a bit, maybe take another shot and post it. Regardless, it will need to be ground out and re-glassed.
 
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