12' 1975 Eldocraft first Jonboat project

Long time viewer/First time builder. I just wanted to thank everyone for the inspiration and the ideas. This will be a great project for my son and I this winter. I hope to have this bad boy lake ready by next summer. I am trying to keep most of the work low budget and teach my son the value of a dollar and some good old fashioned elbow grease. I still need an motor and trailer but I have enough on hand to start the build. I asked for a few things for Christmas too, in order to help me along. Thanks in advance for any advice along the way! Happy Holidays!


Still working on sanding the inside but have finished up with the outside... more to follow as progress is made.

Should be a nice 1st time build and for only $100.00 ya can't beat it. Enjoy the teaching time with your son.

Thanks Bonz_d! I tried buying some kleen strip to avoid having to sand the inside of the boat but because there are so many layers of paint on the old boat, it's turning out to be more of a mess and pain than just sanding. I'm thinking I will order the duralux because it's so much cheaper than the alumahawk. Has anyone experienced any issues with bottom-side use of the duralux?

Stripping multiple layers of paint is always a pain, no way around it. Personally haven't used the liner stuff, have always just used enamel paint.

I had about 60 hours in trying to strip all the paint off my boat. Wire wheel, stripper, pressure washer and sander. Still didn't get it all off.

Nearing completion on the sanding and she's looking good. I'm going to start dry fitting all of the wood I plan on using as soon as I come to a final decision on what exactly my plans are as far as storage compartments and seating goes. It's a fairly small boat so I'm thinking that in addition to gear, it's only going to be a 2 man endeavor most days, but my kids are still young and I want to make sure that it can accommodate all of us including the wife if able. I really haven't completely decided on the layout but I do know I want a small deck up front for the trolling motor w/foot control. I know that I want the floors all to be wood with a foam base layer for flotation. I'm thinking that one of the existing aluminum benches will be cut open and hollowed out for storage (most likely the front). Looking to get some progress pictures up soon. I did get a sweet boat cover for Christmas!

Good start.
Can't wait to see the plans.

I didn't get much done this weekend. The kids hockey tournaments and my homework kept me pretty busy. I was able to start dry fitting some of the 2X2 framing for the bow. The plan right now is to have the right side of the bow accessible with a hatch door. Although the bow isn't exactly for stand up fishing, I want to build it as sturdy as possible. I have to figure out how to sturdy the bow after adding the hatch to it. I am thinking that one of my batteries will be located underneath and centered along the upright back wall. Also on that wall, accessible from the bench (soon to be seat), I want to put a switch plate for accessories (lights, bilge, fish-finder, etc.) Lastly, I cut out a cardboard bow and transom that will be used as stencils for the plywood jigsaw cuts. My boat is rated for a 7.5hp max but I was thinking that if I beefed up the transom I could go 10hp or maybe even 15hp depending on overall weight. I don't think it will be a problem if I reinforce the transom with a few gussets. Any advice on that would be much appreciated.
Cheers

I got off work early and was able to borrow my buddies rivet gun...

Coming along nicely :beer:

White vinegar washed the boat, dried, and applied the first coat to the bottom-side. I used Majic paint from tractor supply (light ford grey). I mixed half a gallon of paint and half a pint of catalyst. Hopefully I get to a second coat tomorrow and then I can start on the topside.

Thanks fool4fish!

Nice job with the framing and paint!

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Finally got around to finishing the painting endeavor inside and out. I ended up using the $9 HVLP gun from Harbor Freight. I found that when I was rolling it no matter what I did it was drying with little imperfections in the paint. I found that the gun applied the paint in a much more even manner and the drying time in between coats was significantly reduced. I plan on running a single blue stripe down the side between the gun wale and the top edge with metal flake added in and finishing it off with a couple of light coats of high gloss clear.

That is one good looking johnny!

Nice paint job. I spent over 60+ hours stripping paint from my boat to include all the decks, consoles, and panels that I removed. I used Jascos Paint Stripper, Rustoleum's Aircraft Remover (it kicks butt) and a 3M Paint and Rust Stripper Pad. All worked great, but stripping just takes time.

I too, like shooting paint, instead of rolling or brushing it on. I am too messy with a brush and roller anyways :shock:

Boat is looking good. I would seal up your framing to protect it from the elements, if you haven't already.

Yeah I am piece-mailing it because I don't know how far I am going to go with this project. The framing and deck wood are getting sealed up today. I'll probably carpet it as I go. Baby steps moving forward. I want to see how it does with the initial weight of the trolling motor and seats that I install. From there, I may want to move forward with 1/2" wood flooring with the foam underlay. I haven't committed to cutting out benches for storage based on the unknown performance it will have in the water with my boys and I. If I presume that it can handle more weight, I'll continue with add-ons. I may take ballast with me on the maiden voyage to replicate the weight of an outboard just to see how it's going to act. Coast guard says 7.5 but I'd like a 15hp if I'm able to swing it. Of course I'll beef up the transom and jack plate with some heavy wall aluminum gussets top and bottom.


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Nice job so far. I can't wait to see the finished project!

Picked up a nice trailer on craigslist for the unbeatable price of free. The story behind it is pretty cool too. This trailer is a Dilly and the born on date was sometime in 1976. I received it from a guy who recently lost his father around Christmas time. Unfortunately we have this in common. The trailer used to belong to his Dad and he had picked it up hoping to do something with it but as we all know happy wife/happy life; she said it needed to go along with a few other treasures from his man cave. The trailer wasn't in bad shape at all but hearing the story behind it made me want to completely overhaul it and make sure it's around for another 40 years! I assured him that I would take good care of it and that it would be used for a boat and not chopped up into a utility trailer. Here's some pictures:

I purchased new bearings, and seals today. I am planning on cleaning up a few rough edges and applying the same color(s) as the Jon in time.

Got a good start on the tear-down yesterday. I forgot to take a before picture of the hubs but you can get a good idea of how caked they were with old grease by checking out the inside of the inner wheels.
When I got the fenders off they were a little tweaked. I'm going to try to straiten them back up and maybe install a more rigid inner wheel well to avoid that flex in the future.
The leafs looked pretty good but the mounts that they were on were bent as well (they also hold the fenders). Maybe some thing was hit that caused the bend but I think off the trailer I should be able to heat em up and hammer them back into shape.
The tires could use replacing too. There's a sliver of metal wedged into one of the sidewalls (I can't believe it was holding air) but they're not trailer tires and the load on them with the trailer slick is next-to-nothing. I will try to find a set of the same size used tires at a shop. Meanwhile my buddy is taking the rems to his work and media blasting & priming them for me (this will cost me a 24 pack of bud light). Cheers!
:beer: :beer: