1648 Jon Boat rebuild

[bsowi967]

Well, let me just start this off by saying this is my first post on tinboats. Im from WI, 23 years old, and am a recent college graduate. I heard of this forum from a friend and I spent all of my 13 hour ride to and from Nebraska reading and reading rebuilds on here and fell in love three weeks ago . I recently picked up a 1648 Jon Boat (idk what the make is) for $300 from a friend I filmed for The Breaking Point, a hunting tv show on the pursuit channel! Quite a deal, I know. I have about 2 weeks of work in to the boat but I took pictures the whole way since I saw how truly helpful they were for me. My INITIAL goals were to gut it, put a casting deck with hatches, rear platform with hatches, and a gun/ fishing pole storage box on one side also doubling as a storage area for life jackets, etc and then wire it all up and frame it all out.. This is my first rebuild also so I really am hoping for suggestions and help. Im not easily offended, so if you think I should do things differently.. please tell me!!! Now, with all those builds in my dreams, I initially wanted to build it all out of aluminum like I saw some guys, but then I started looking up pricing... and thats not going to be in the budget. SO my new semi realistic goal is to frame it out of 1.5" aluminum tubing and then plywood it. After thinking about it though, Ive come to decide this is a good idea anyways because It will be a test run to see if this is how I really want my setup before I start cutting into that expensive aluminum.. SO I WILL STOP RAMBLING AND START POSTING PICTURES.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Hi welcome.
Very nice boat did you get the title? Your winch stand is on backwards.

 

[bsowi967]

It seems some of my pictures are to large to upload onto here. so Ill upload the ones that will fit. Oh, and I will be keeping track of how much $ this rebuild costs me. It seems everyone always asks at the end and everyone wants to know how much it was. so Ill keep track for y'all.. even though im sure ill cry at the end.

First step was gutting the boat. I used a 3/16" drill bit to center drill the rivets out of the seats and front platform. I then used a screw driver and hammer to knock off/ pry off the head and then a punch to knock them the rest of the way out.



My next step was then to refill all the holes I had just made with sealed rivets and marine sealant. I got my rivets from fastenal because I couldnt find them at the local home depot or menards.. I also ordered a pneumatic rivet gun from harbor freight as suggested.. but it took to long to get here and I had some free time so I just did them all by hand. (Do not recommend). ha [-X I also am fixing all the things the previous owner did cheaply and as a result are giving me a lot of headaches. They used a lot of hardware that was not stainless.. and the more I break the boat down, the more cracks and holes I find.. so I had to take out all sorts of other random hardware from the boat. the back (Transom) is going to be a serious pain..







Once I got all these rivet holes sealed back up, I marked the holes and cracks to big for rivets to be welded shut at a later date.. But I want to have this boat at least on the water for this memorial day weekend so yesterday, I picked up 1.5" closed cell foam and two sheets of 11/32" plywood. I cut the foam to fit between the sideways running support ribs and I am running the plywood all the way along the bottom of the boat, even though I will be putting in decks. I figure this may help me prevent from losing stuff between the ribs. (Who really knows haha) anyways, I got them cut and fit *Measure twice, cut once* I screwed up one time which also caused me to have to retrim 2 holes.. after I trimmed them out, I realized the plywood would have fit even if I had not notched them out.. whoops.

Apparently all the pictures I took of this part are over the 2mb max pic size so Ill have to figure out how to get them on here for you guys to see.. Anyways, I got two coats of sealer on the plywood today after work and I also got the boat leak tested to see if the rivets I put in were water tight. The rivets I put in are, but many of the rivets that run along the outside of the bottom have very slow leaks.. I'd prefer not to have to redo all of these so is there an easy solution to stop these and seal them up tight?? Any suggestions would be fantastic!

Thank you and Ill try to post more pictures tomorrow based on what I get done after work!

 

[bsowi967]

lckstckn2smknbrls » 20 May 2014, 20:21[/url]"]Hi welcome.
Very nice boat did you get the title? Your winch stand is on backwards.

They did not have a title for the boat, so that will be a treat to figure that out with the DNR. and I know it is, I had it that way because it fit better with my old boat that way.. It will be cut down and spun around soon The trailer is an old caterman ..sp? sailboat trailer I got from my dad for free. I also have an 18hp evinrude I got from my friends uncle for free that will be pushing it for the time being.. Im a big fan of free.. haha I always can figure out how/ where to use something for the most part! thanks for the tips!!

Brandon

 

[bsowi967]

I created a photobucket account and put all the pictures on that for you all to enjoy! OH, and when putting in the floor, put in the sheet that you will be keeping whole first. measure and cut the second piece to how that one fits. it will not be perfectly the same becasue of the contour of the boat. just a lesson I realized before I made the mistake

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://s1293.photobucket.com/user/bsowinski103/embed/slideshow/"></iframe>

 

[bsowi967]

Well, I apologize for not posting on here in so long, but I have gotten the boat registered after a four month fight with the DNR. I have almost completed my overhaul except for some small wiring things. Let me know what you guys think! I have put all the pictures in a photobucket account for easier viewing and I hope you guys like my work! Any questions feel free to ask! This build cost me close to $1500 (boat price included) and I love how open it is. It is extremely comfortable with 4 people on board and I can't say there are many things I would have done differently. Again, feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Brandon

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://s1293.photobucket.com/user/bsowinski103/embed/slideshow/"></iframe>

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

The boat looks good the puppy looks great.