Viewing the posts from Phil, Rob, Pete(PAH) and muskyman got me looking for a good jon boat for a project. Well, I found a very used, very old 12' v-hull aluminium and picked it up for $350. Here's a couple of pictures. Any advise, comments, etc are more than welcome. The trailer and motor will come later. I plan on putting a carpeted deck in the front and floor in the back. A padded swivel seat in the back, pedestal seat in the front or maybe leave it all casting deck. What do you think??

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Phil, I still want to come by and check out your boat for ideas!
Ken

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on my 12' gregor, i made a single deck from the middle seat to the bow seat. the deck over the open area, I hinged for access to the 6-gallon plastic gas tank and storage for life vests, ropes, misc.

The middle seat had been previously cut open and had an ice chest inserted for an informal fish hold. (for dinner, not for C&R)

I have a pedestal seat on the opening part of the deck (just in front of the middle seat) but I'm going to switch it to a leaning post type of seat.

i have a clamp-on swivel seat on the rear bench. 2 batteries behind the rear seat with a 2x4 framed removable cover.

i made a 3/4" plywood bow "pulpit" to mount the foot-op electric.

20hp merc clamp-on and off I gooooooooooooooooo.

wils,
Sounds perfect! Got any pictures you could post.
I just came across my first question. I've been spending the afternoon stipping the paint and gunk off of the bottom, down to shinny alunimium. Should I paint the bottom? Any idea of what kind of primer/paint that I need? How about sealing the bottom?
Thanks to anyone that can give me advice!
Ken

I would suggest cleaning the hull and then putting it in the water with a few hundred pounds of weight in it to discover any possible leaks before doing anything else. (2 guys plus 200 pounds of?) The hull is light enough for 2 guys to load and unload in a full-size pick-up. tie a towel on the end sticking out.

I'll play with my digi-cam tomorrow and see if I can get somehting to load. I'm not real 'puter savy.

another way to check for leaks is to clean the hull put it up on milk crates or if you have a trialer even better. Basically anything to get it off the groud even if it's only a couple inches. You could even roll on to a couple sections of pipe.

Next is to place your garden hose in you boat and turn on the water. Fill boat with about 2" then of water. The water inside your boat will make up for the weight of adding 300lbs of weight on the water. A gallon of water about 8lbs so 50 gallons give or take should put right at about 400lbs of evenly distributed weight depend on the angle of boats position. As an option to make use of this water you can add some cleaner and scrub the inside of the the hull thoroughly. That was just an option.

Next make sure your hull and dry and then carfully inspect it for leakes. Keep in mind you want to be looking at the bottom of the hull for water leaking from the inside out. I'm sure you already had that figured out but I thought I would mention just in case.

As an option if you don't have one installed already this a great way to test out your new bildge pump and if you plan on putting in to the water instead and your not sure if the boat leaks. I strongly recommend installing a bildge or at the very least taking a bucket or hand pump so you will have it if you need it. Hopefully you won't ever need it.

JerryG

I've been reading these posts about boat projects. It has got me thinking maybe I can do this to my boat. I have a 15 ft. Gregor aluminum v-hull. Putting a casting deck from the middle bench to the front bench sounds pretty cool. What kind of wood would I use. Should I use plywood. What do I use to treat it or watreproof it.Also does any one know where I can purchase floation for the back, middle, and front benches. Thanks in advance for any help.

Be really careful with how much weight you put in your boat. I guess if your fishing freshwater only it'll be O.K. but I fish mostly salt(inshore) in my little 12 footer and its a 2 person max boat and pushin it with the bait tank filled....

If your interested I could post or email you some pics...I got pretty stupid with mine because it was in such bad shape when I got it(the guys before me ripped out the front seat :-( ) and I had to build the deck from scratch....The "WellFair" is not too cute but its mine and it works :D ......Warren

I have fished from the "WellFair"...
It is a nice ride...
He put some effort into upgrading his boat and you can tell...

Tight Lines, Bent Rods, & Screaming Reels...

Here are some links to get you started:
http://www.secretweaponlures.com/odf/odfsite.html
http://www.myjonboat.com/
http://homepage.mac.com/the4walls/PhotoAlbum36.html
http://pagebiz.com/bds/aluminum/repair.html
http://www.texashomeschoolers.com/mike.htm

There's a ton of info on the internet on these conversion.
I'll be posting pictures as I go along.

Marine grade Plywood is probably what would be recommended but you can use a standard grade 3/4 sheet of ply but if you do use standard you should treat it with several coats of a good marine grade sealing varnish or paint. Carpeting would be optionalable. A few coats of non skid gritted deck paint isn't a bad idea either. It doesn't look as good carpet but it's very durable and it will do a better job of keep your feet planted. A word of caution though the gritted deck is hard on fish so if you go this route be careful to keep your fish off the deck to protect them for a safe release. As far as added floatation goes you can buy styroboard that has been compressed and sealed at Home Depot they should it in a variation of widths. You need to need to cut it to the right size for under your deck. I've seen boats where people have used expandable foam and shot it under their deck but I wouldn't recommend it because the foam doesn't expand evenly with any consistency. Plus when it expands too much it tends to pust things appart being heavy in some areas light in others. Good luck and post some pics, when it's when it's done. Maybe some before after shots.

JerryG

muskyman---You mentioned in an earlier post on boat modifications to use 1/4" plywood and have it fiberglass coated.
Do you have any info on how you would go about doing that? Who would be able to coat the plywood decking in the fiberglass?
Thanks for any help.
Ken

i just picked up this gem on saturday for $500 if you can believe that. it came with the trailer and the 15hp evinrude. i took it out yesterday and it ran great and the boat handles extremely well with that large of a motor on it

now its time to start upgrading her

i will be adding my furuno color fishfinder that i took off of my big boat when i sold it & a bimini top that i ordered today

im also hoping to add a live well and possibly a VHF and AM/FM radio w/Sirius or some other sat. radio

im looking for some suggestions on a good name for the boat (i really love the irony behind the boat "wellfair" on this board and would like to figure out a similar name like cheapbate instead of cheapskate or something to that effect)

also any other mods youd suggest doing

Rob lets see some pictures of the boats you guys fish from that are modded for ideas!!



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Looks like a great project boat! Have fun fixing it up.
I'm still in the process of cleaning up the bottom of my boat, using a wire wheel to scrape off the old paint and oxidation.
I should be done with that this weekend and can start working on installing the casting decks, seats and carpeting.