New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

[txarmydude]

Well, my I/O is in the shop because of a stripped out coupler, and I got bored! So now I have a jon boat, I guess! I traded a guy a rifle for a 14' jon with a 1996 Evinrude 9.9 hp and trailer. It is in great shape, and even came with a set of oars and seats.

Anyway, I cleaned it up and checked it for leaks. Some minor drips from a couple rivets, but I think I am going to coat the bottom with spray-on bed-liner and seal up anything that is seeping. Plans include a battery into a fuse box for nav-lights and a bilge pump. I want to put a low deck and plywood floors in and create some storage compartments, nothing crazy or too heavy since this boat is not that wide. Maybe a used trolling motor is in order, also. I am hoping to stay under 300 bucks total.

Has anyone had any experience doing any jon boat mods? I have a good solid plan for painting, decking, and wiring but I am a little iffy on the carpet. I will probably get the glue-down stuff from Lowes, but I really am not sure how to do the seams. Do you mainly just cut to fit, or do you tuck the carpet behind the decking???

Anyway, I'm not that far into it. I will probably primer it this week and paint this weekend. I am itching to get my hands on it, and my wife is already giving me that "how much is this going to cost" look! I took some beginning pics and will share once I get a little further along...

 

[5150abf]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Rebuck the rivets don't just put bed liner on it, you will have a leaky boat with bed liner.

All you need is 2 steel hammers and a buddy, have your buddy(Wife, neigbor ar anyone with a spare hand) hold the hammer on the outside of the boat right on the head of the leaking rivet then you smack the rivet from the the inside once or twice and it will seal it right up, putting Gluvit or bed liner ect on a leaky boat is a band aid fix.

Also once you put bedliner in a boat it is there forever making it very very hard to repair the boat, save the 40-50lbs and rebuck it.

# 2-A 14' boat has a limited load rating so the more you put in the boat the less load you can carry, if your load rating is say 400lbs, you have to subtract the engine, gas, batteries, floor, bedliner... by the time you are done you are going to be down to where the boat will hold you and a can of soda.

It sounds like a great project and I am not try to poo on your parade, just some things to be aware of.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

I agree with fixing your rivets and leaks the right way instead of covering them up with goo or bedliner.

This is an easy one man fix for leaky rivets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MA1-5NXjs&feature=related

 

[JBooth]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

I just did the same thing to my jon boat. I put in a back deck and plywood floors with carpet. You will definitely want to tuck the carpet underneath it makes it look nice and it does not pull up as easy. I stapled my carpet down. I think thats the best way to do it (a lot quicker and cheaper). I painted the entire boat as well. I think I spent around $450. But mine is 14.5' and 40" wide. Hope this helped.

 

[lncoop]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

You made a great trade, tx. That little rig will last you forever. The spray on bedliner isn't a bad idea as long as you're not considering it as the solution to the leaky rivets. More and more duck boats are coming from the factory with it applied (on the inside, not the outside), so I'd say fix the leaks then go for it. In terms of mods; don't go nuts with the add ons. Fourteen foot john boats aren't meant to be little bass boats. I hate it when people add front decks, foot controlled trolling motors, and other heavy stuff to them. That defeats the purpose and is not safe, and it really eats into your storage and weight capacity. I realize someone will read this and get his feelings hurt, but it's da truth, and I'm speaking from experience because I've gone down that road myself. My all time favorite setup for a john boat (and I've tried every one you can think of) is a pair of padded swivel seats, one mounted to the fore and aft benches and a block welded to the bow for a tiller steer trolling motor. With that configuration you can fish anything from tailwater trout rivers to trolling motor only ponds. Carpet isn't necessarily a bad idea, but your best bet would be carpeted plywood cut to fit snugly between the benches and just laid in so it can be removed easily for leak repair, cleaning, etc. Welcome aboard. Let us know how she turns out.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

I'd skip the carpet. It's a jon boat. not the honeymoon suite.

Keep it light and low. I like plywood floors you can lift out, for repairs and retrieving minnows.

Consider portable running lights and a bailer, so you don't need a battery at all. KISS.

For storage, removable plastic bins with tops, or five gallon buckets with tops. There are times when you want open space, and built-in's take up too much.

I knew some boys who dropped a pickup truck tool box in the back of theirs, for storage, casting platform, etc. but they had to sit on it to steer, pretty awkward.

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Thanks for y'alls replies. I started working on it this weekend. I went ahead with my original plan and coated the bottom with truck bed coating. I coated the outside, not the inside. When I say "leaky" rivets, I mean barely producing 1 drop of water every 20 seconds. It was only 2 rivets also. Anyway, I gave it a shot and we will see how she turns out. I'm not planning on getting too crazy with this thing. It's just an old jon boat, anyway! I do want it to look nice, though, cuz I will be trying to dump it in the spring at the Fort Leonard Wood lemon lot!

Weight is a concern. My decks are going to be low and made out of 1/2" plywood. They are also going to be short. I can't have too much weight in this little boat, So it has to be simple.

Anyway, the truck bed coating turned out well. It really looks good on the bottom of the boat. I masked around it, then painted the other parts with self-etching primer and OD green. I will post some pics tomorrow (hopefully) but definitely by this weekend. I will lay the wire for the bilge pump and nav-lights prior to putting the floor in, but I will probably not be buying them until next month. I may go ahead and put a fuse box in if I can find a simple one for cheap at the auto parts store. Otherwise, I will purchase all that stuff online.

Here's one idea I was floating around: what about using a motorcycle battery or jet ski battery instead of a deep cycle? It would save some weight, definitely. I store all my batteries in the basement where it stays 60 degrees year round. I'm sure that that type of battery could handle a bilge pump and nav lights, but would it die quickly when hooked up to a trolling motor?

 

[goboating]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Something else to check is www.tinboats.net. This is a aluminum only site and the members there will help you with your questions. What some of the owners do to their boats is just amazing!

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Beginning Pics

Here are pics of the boat when I first got it, before any mods:

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Truck Bad Coating:

Here are some pics of the truck bed coating that I used on the bottom. I applied it with a simple foam roller, and it came out hard as a rock! It looks very durable...

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Primer and Paint

I masked off the truck bed coating once it dried with frog tape and sprayed the other areas with self-etching primer. I then coated it with several coats of OD green, with a satin finish. So it is not completely flat, but not shiny either. It has been beat up already and hasn't scratched in one spot. I dropped a 2x4 on it and it whacked the side pretty good. Made a dent, but no scratch. I think the paint job turned out really well.

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Floors

Here are pics of the floors being put in. I did the whole thing with less than 2 12' 2x4s and 2 sheets of plywood (and got 'em half price because they were all jacked up). It really didn't add that much weight, as I can still lift the front easily with one hand by the handle. I also went ahead and ran the wiring for a bilge pump and nav lights...

 

[plyxrs]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Hey i like your original plans for sure! but keep in mind what the guys said to tho, keep an eye on your weight is all iv got to say! other then that Nice Job! your doing great keep up the good work and i wanna see more updates soon!

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

More floors...

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Decking

Here are some pics of the decking. I am keeping the decks short to save weight. I did want some storage, though. The back deck is all cut out at this point. I just need to carpet it but I ran out of carpet glue and staples. I should be able to finish tomorrow...

 

[jigngrub]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

You'll probably regret that bedliner on the bottom. It won't stop leaks and you'll have to remove that junk when you have to fix the leak(s).

 

[lncoop]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

You'll probably regret that bedliner on the bottom. It won't stop leaks and you'll have to remove that junk when you have to fix the leak(s).

Slow you down in the water too, but if you're happy that's all that matters.

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Final Pics

Here are some pics of the boat after I finished it today. It looks pretty good, and it seems light enough since I can still lift the front with ease by the handle. I will look around craigslist to see if I can pick up a used trolling motor for 40 bucks or less. I spent around 160 to get the boat to this point. I still will need to buy a cheap fuse box, a bilge pump, bow and stern lights, and a battery. I might just use the battery out of my jet ski for a while. But it is for sale and will have to go with it when it sells.

All in all, it was a fun project. My boys used up some junk wood and made their own "boat." Hopefully we can run this little thing on the river for a month or two before the cold gets here.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

Nice work and great pics of the kids enjoying the finished product. Now let's have some pics in the water. I'd also be interested to know if having a person in that front seat creates any balance issues.

 

[txarmydude]

Re: New boat; wife already giving me the "evil eye"

I gotta get the rebuild kit for the fuel pump first. I might just go ahead and do the carb kit as well; this motor sat for 2 years. It fires up and runs for a few seconds, until the fuel runs out and it dies. I don't think I will let the kids ride on those seats when we are moving. When I toss the anchor and fish I don't see it being a problem. My 7 year old is only 60 pounds, and I thought that would be a good spot for him to learn how to cast. I'm 6-2 185, so my butt does not belong up there!