Newbie w/ 12' Jon Boat project HELP!

[huntinfool]

Lookin' good!

 

[RBuffordTJ]

=D> Man that turned out great! I love it, looks like mine from the bottom. I am glad you went with the SteelFlex, I ended up with about half mine unused too, but the half that was did a FANTASTIC job on both our boats.

Keep the pics coming. I did put the Durabak on mine and will post pics very soon to show you how it turned out over on my thread.

Bufford =D>

 

[WaltonsMountain]

Thanks, yea... still not sure about what I want to do with the interior. I may go w/ the bedliner material due to the fact that its easier to clean. Definitely want to see how your Durabak turned out. Get those pics up! Did you brush, roll, or spray it on? :mrgreen:

 

[RBuffordTJ]

I rolled it. I will try to do pics tonight man.

 

[WaltonsMountain]

Got the boards cut today. Nothing is screwed down yet...the pics were just for placement purposes. Next will be to cut some holes in the rear panel for storage use and then putting some Thompsons on to seal her up. Then I will get to the carpeting. I plan on priming and then repainting the inside before starting on the carpeting.

Having a little trouble with the front floor board. I think I might have cut it too narrow because there's about an inch of space on both sides. I just wanted to make room for the carpet, but I fear I made too much. Both floor pieces will be removable. The front is a little harder because the hull bows upwards. Im guessing im going to have to put some 2x2 bracing underneath. Any tips or ideas?

Also, what color do you guys think I should go with? The carpet will be gray, was thinking about two-toning it with a different shade of gray for the interior paint job. I'm definitely learning alot on these forums!

 

[jasper60103]

Nice cuts. I see you took your time.
Regarding the need for bracing. I think you should
be able to stand on it and see if the boards flex?
Especially the area where the deck butts-up to bench. No support underneath, right?

I must warn you though. I'm newbie too and never done a mod before
in my life.

 

[Rat]

If you want to level the front sole you can add some support underneath; but if you are just looking to keep it from flexing when you walk on it you can screw it to the ribs underneath. It will have the same shape as the hull bottom (not level), but it will not flex. I would put some 4200 on the ribs and screw it down with stainless screws every 4 inches or so. Using the 4200 will make it semi-permanent, IOW not easily removed, and the screw heads will be on top of the carpet unless you leave enough space to tuck the carper around the edges and then finish it off with some trim or something (since it sounds like you need to cover a gap anyway).

I would also put a few screws in the rear sole just to keep it from blowing out while towing. I don't know if it will or not, but I would constantly be worrying about it. :?

As far as color, I would go with Burnt Orange and White... :mrgreen:

 

[Rat]

Okay, I went back and looked at your first images...

It looks like you only have one rib in the bow section of floor, that's not much to screw to. You will proly need to add a piece of Alum. angle to the front of the front seat frame, down low to screw the ply to, otherwise it will flex when you step close to the front seat. It is going to take good measuring and patience to hit that small, round rib also. You could also build some small "stringers" from the front seat frame to level out the sole and give something better to support the weight of the sole, then fasten it to the seat frame with a piece of Alum. It would be easily removable as well this way. There's just not much structure to work with in the front of that boat without adding a lot of holes on the hull sides or bottom.

Also, I noticed the ribs do not extend up the sides of the hull. I would be extremely careful if I were going to cut out the midseat like Bufford did. ALL of the side panel structure comes from the seats on your hull; if you do cut it out beef it up very well.

 

[River Rider]

I had a similar jon before my new 16'. The hull of those boats are weak near the rivets unless you find a way to really support a floor. Like mentioned above the seat are the strength in these boats. Be sure to reinforce where you removed the seat or you will have plenty of flex in the sides in rough water. Otherwise it is looking good.

 

[RBuffordTJ]

They are right, cutting the seats will kill your boat if you don't do some type of structure, which is why mine has the braces that replace the seat support.

As to the front deck, make it flat man, it feels SOOOOO much better than standing up hill to fish.

Bufford

 

[WaltonsMountain]

Yeah, ive nixed bufford's front seat mod....just won't work on this puppy. I also dont want to screw anything down as far as the floor boards go. I want those completely removable. Only reason I didn't make it completely flat in the front was because I thought the floor might be too high up for my narrow 32''er. I might just have to take Bufford's recommendation and do it anyway for stabliity purposes. Ofcourse this is going to make the gap on the sides even wider. May end up cutting a brand new front piece. Who knows....

thanks for the feedback so far. Any other color recommendations? (I'm a Husker fan :wink: ) Like I said, carpet is going to be gray....

 

[RBuffordTJ]

Do what you feel is best for your boat and your needs. If you like the floor that way then I say keep it. Some think I was crazy to cut my boat the way I did but I love it and it is functional for me.

As for the gaps, might be good for drainage to get into the channels it needs to in the floor. I almost got swamped in a huge surprise thunderstorm this weekend and was glad the water could move back and forth with the rocking and rolling instead of pooling too hard in bad places.

 

[forced2workborn2fish]

I have a 10' that is pretty much the same boat, I'm putting a floor and some seats in it and some rod holders and calling it good. 8)

 

[WaltonsMountain]

Hey guys I know its been a couple years but I wanted to show you the end results of the Jon Boat restoration. It was nothing elaborate like I originally planned, but I liked the end result. It took me a couple of years to finish (mainly due to some personal issues I was dealing with), but unlike most boat owners I made it a point to finish it. Here's the steps that I never got to post but have been steadily working on the last 2 years. I've finally been able to take it out and enjoy it on the lakes after all the hard work... I think that's the best part!

After priming... (spring '11)



1st coat inside shot... (july '11)


1st coat outside shot


final coat inside shot... (july '11)


final coat front shot...


final coat inside (also added slip resistance to inside of boat)


Brand new seats installed and wood backing (including stain and water resistance)... (spring '12)


Rear shot of new wood backing...


Licensed and loaded for the lake! (summer '12)


Ain't nothing better! Finally at home on the water where she belongs...


Like I said....nothing really fancy, but it does the job. I'm pretty proud of it because I finished it. It is 100% sealed and solid (thanks to those stainless steel bolts, marine adhesive, and steelflex) so i'm happy. Now after 2 years I can actually go after some big cats with it.

Thanks for all the help and hope you guys enjoy the pics. Thanks for looking!

 

[RBuffordTJ]

Way to go man, it looks great!