New Boat: Before and After

[SoFlaBassAddict]

I think I finally finished working on my small Jon a picked up a few weeks back.  Used on electric only lakes.  I may pick up a small outboard at some point down the road if I stumble on a good deal.

Basically the way it came home:

Today:

Total cost was roughly 500 bucks not counting the depth finder.  I still need to drill a hole to pass the power/transducer cable through the box on the bow.  Need a grommet for that but I'm not in a big rush.  Figured out how to run the transducer cable on the TM so it didn't get pinched up in the mount.  I'm really happy how that worked out.  Somewhere down the road I need to paint the hull if I've got some time to kill.  The last major pieces needed are a couple of carry handles and I need to install the bilge pump.

Cost:

Hull - $300 (Craigslist)

TM & Seat - $70 (Craigslist)

Carpet and Plywood - $65 (Home Depot)

Rod Saver - $1.77 (I think BPS made a mistake)

Miscellaneous junk (rivets, new rivet gun, glue, etc etc) - $40

Of course none of the new tackle that I bought I count into the price.  Or the new rods    I also bought a new battery that I didn't add into my total.  Didn't need it, but it was a safe thing to have a good spare.  The depth finder and RAM mount were just shy of 300 bucks.  Didn't take long to do.  Was done over a few weekends in my spare time as a project with my daughters.  I can easily stand on the floor at the front seat without major worry.  The bow mount really moves it around nicely.  Everything in it is very easy to remove by lifting the piece up so one person can pick it up if need be.  The only screwed down part is the bow storage area.  The torque from the TM would jerk it off of the mounts, not good.

All in all, not too bad.  It gets handled a good bit when the wind really picks up.  But in a small breeze it's fairly stationary.

[5bass]

Nice work! 

[Mike Z]

Wow, very nice.

I personally wouldn't paint it. From the pictures, the hull matches the seat and carpet pretty good. I also really like the way you created the under seat storage (raised the seating too) and the bow platform. 

[Javelin200]

Excellent job. A few people make a pretty good buck on the side doing these types of conversions. You should consider it.

[Fishing Rhino]

I like the frames with the knees.  That's gotta be one solid vessel.  Neat job.  Nice storage.

Not much you can do with a skimmer like a jon or canoe when it comes to the wind.  But, you can always get a wind anchor to slow its drift.

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Thanks guys, it really was a fun little project. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Now that I've done one, a second one will be far easier.

Mike Z: I'm not overly concerned about the color, it's more of I need to protect the bottom of it. I may try doing the Rhino/Herculiner type of stuff on the bottom. Because it gets drug onto the banks it hits small rocks and whatnot. Probably not the best for aluminum.

Rhino: Yeah it's pretty solid. It had some flex in it after I removed the original seats. The cross braces under the new seat easily fixed that. The wind today was at 20 but gusting to 30. Not exactly easy to control the boat in. I've got a drift anchor that I probably should use on days like today. Either that, or just drop the hook and sit stationary for a while.

[BassThumb]

That's great work.  Very clean looking.

[Daniel My Brother]

Very nice work. That rig should serve you well for a long time.

You might want to do a search on here before you commit to the bed liner on the bottom. I recall some people having bad experiences with it. I believe someone said it created a lot of drag in the water, added weight to the hull, and maybe even peeled. Food for thought.

[Mike Z]

Very nice work. That rig should serve you well for a long time.

You might want to do a search on here before you commit to the bed liner on the bottom. I recall some people having bad experiences with it. I believe someone said it created a lot of drag in the water, added weight to the hull, and maybe even peeled. Food for thought.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the weight, you can do an entire truck bed with one gallon so you are looking at maybe 10-20lbs depending on mix. On a 4-500 lb loaded boat, that much weight isn't going to be noticable.

What will be noticable is the drag created by the coating. That stuff is meant to be textured and will never go on smooth and the entire hull will be a textured drag machine lol. If I was painting the bottom of a boat I would look at one of the epoxy type products that people coat their garage floors with. These paints are glossy and go on heavy. The only downside might be flexing as I am not sure how these paints would handle flex. RustOleum also make a plastic type paint that would work with some flexible applications. Perhaps a few good coats of that will work. Again, not sure how it would hold up in a marine environment.

[South FLA]

Great little fishing MACHINE!  You really don't need much more than that in S. FLA.  Believe me, I catch more bass, snook, and peococks out of my  little boat than the Ranger!!! ;D

[IDbasser]

That looks really good.  I have an aluminum boat that needs some work.  I mainly use it when I go catfishing.  It never hit the water last year.

[SoFlaBassAddict]

I totally forgot about the extra drag from it.  Especially on an electric boat, any extra drag is no good.  I know that Steelflex is supposedly the best stuff in the world.  It's just fairly pricey. 

[SPAZ]

That looks really nice. Excellent work

[fishn hard]

WOW THATS NICE WORK  8-) 8-) 8-)

[Nitrofreak]

WOW, I know I can't be first but can I be next?

fantastic job!!!!!!!

[Ol� Dirty Basstard]

A few weeks! Dang, you are good.

[bassfisherjk]

Nice job!

[BlackBassman]

I must say that is very nice. I have a 14ft jon that i want to deck but dnt have the tools or a clue how to go about it. How much do u guys think it would cost to have someone put in a front and back deck just curious?

[SoFlaBassAddict]

You don't really need that many tools.  A decent circular saw and a jigsaw are about all you need.  To put the carpet on a pneumatic upholstery stapler does make life easy, but it's not really necessary.  It's a fairly easy process if you can follow a line with a saw.  You just need to make sure you trace out a good template before you start cutting.  I used some large brown paper that came on a roll for my template.  Lay it down where you need it, and trace a rough outline with a sharpie.  The wood and carpet are really the cheap part.

How much would it cost to have somebody professionally do it, I couldn't tell you.  I doubt it would be cheap down here though.

[Fishohio]

Nice work!! I have an old 14' mirrocraft I did very similar, did you paint or treat the ply wood? I love takin mine to tournaments and fishin with the big boys and takin there money! nothin better than winnin in a 800$ boat goin against 30,000$ rigs.Did ya put a live well in? Mine seys Igloo on it, but works fine. Again NICE JOB!

[J Francho]

Setup some drift chains and a drift sock/sea anchor for dealing with the wind, and use the TM for small corrections.

Boat looks great - not too complicated, or top heavy like most I see.  Nice work.