Introduction and first mod

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JAS114

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
22
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Location
Stone Mountain, GA
Had no clue there was a community for this until today. Would have probably saved me some heartache to know sooner, but oh well. I picked up this 1971 Ouachita 1440 for $300. I then found a 1970 jon with a trailer for $350 and grabbed it too. The '70 had already been modded (not that great of a job), so I just fixed the electrical work on it and sold it for $350, keeping the trailer in the process!

So here's what I was starting with:
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I took it out and float tested it for decking purposes and decided I could put a low deck on the bow for a casting seat, so next came woodwork:
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I also wanted to do paint. Satin beige interior, olive drab exterior, flat black below the water line. Wire brush, vacuum, tack cloth, acetone, NAPA alum primer (1x), Rustoleum primer (2x), paint (3x). Also, polyurethaned then carpeted the interior decking and floors. No pics yet with exterior paint, but it's done too:
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Added two swivel seats and got to work on electrical:
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Last night, I wired up the 3 deep cycle batteries, the rear 12v trolling motor and mounted the bow 24v trolling motor. Still waiting on power and transducers for the Humminbird and Lowrance (thank you father-in-law for the motors and sonars!). I also wired up a nice 3-switch panel for the aerator and bilge pump. Also got a steal on a 3 bank, 5/5/5 charger off ebay, so I'll be wiring that in when it arrives.

Taking it out tonight for the maiden voyage if the weather holds up. Hope I don't sink!
 
Stone Mountain lake is the plan. If it's raining tonight, it'll have to wait until the weekend for a trip up to Athens and Sandy Creek Park.
 
Good luck man - I heard Sandy Creek was tough fishing right now.

Are you going to joing any bass clubs next year? High Voltage Bass Anglers is right in your neck of the woods. I run Bass Anglers of North Georgia, but we may be a bit of a haul for you (which is why we don't fish with HVBA).

Brine is a member here and he fishes HVBA - if you're interested he can steer you in the right direction
 
We have almost the same boat! I have 1973 ouachita 1440. Mine was not in as good of shape as yours, but they look about the same. have you had it on the water yet? I am curoius to see how that tall front seat works out for you. I am decking the front in the same manner, doing the benches and floors the same, but I am going to deck th back as well...just to hide my gas can and misc. items. I am also going to cut out the top, middle of my rear bench(mainly to try to bang out some dents) and use it for storage. The wood/carpent bench will be the hinged lid. I picked mine up for $240 trailer and boat, but I have had to put a lot of work into both of them to get to a starting point. Your interior looks great!! i hope I can do a job like that.
 
I actually joined because I stumbled across your thread today. I started to post on it, but didn't want to hijack your thread with my own stuff. I thought about cutting into the benches, but was really trying to avoid any permanent modification. I do need to add an access hatch to the deck. All my wiring is down there and it seems like a good place to hide life vests. I'll get more pics up later. The only big issue I have is a few cracks in the gunwale. I think someone dragged the boat by the back handles and stress cracked them. They are reinforced for now with some aluminum U-channel, but I have a friend who's majoring in mechanical engineering and this semester he learns TIG welding in an elective class. He'll be making my repairs come winter.
 
Okay, well I was worried about the weather, so instead of taking it out for it's first trip, I finished the painting. All that's left is installing the transducers when they arrive and adding a hatch for storage.

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Thank you all for the positive feedback. I didn't know there was a community of people who did this until I was almost done. Nice to get some validation.

On another note, how does one value these for insurance purposes? I only paid $300 and probably have less than $800 total invested, but I feel like it's worth much more.
 
I have a few questions. What method did you use for adhering the wood to the aluminum? I don't see any screw holes in the carpet. Also, how did you get the contour of the wood to match the boat? the Cardboard method? oh one more thing, what thickness of wood did you use, and how well did you brace it? I bought 3/4 inch ply to reduce the number of supports needed in the flooring/decking. I will probably use 1/2 on the seats to reduce weight. I used 5/8 inch for a roofed deck I built, and when I was shingling it, there was a good amount of flex i do not desire to have on the water. Nice looking boat by the way!!! I hope mine turns out half as nice as yours. My steelflex I ordered exploded in the mail, so I have to wait another 3-5days to get it. If it comes before the weekend I will have some pics on monday. If not, i will wil probably just fit some of the wood, and complete the transom work.
 
I have made ZERO holes in the aluminum for anything so far. The back benches are just held on by friction. I made them tight when they were just wood, then, with the thickness of the carpet, friction makes them really tight. Have to use a rubber mallet to get them on and off. For the back one, I spaced it up with a few strips of ply so the bolts for the seat swivel wouldn't touch the bench. For the front, the way I built the brace, nothing is required to keep it from sliding back and it's weight keeps it down. The plate for the trolling motor will keep it from flying up in the event of a major pothole hit while being towed.

The way I made the front deck was I marked a center line on the front bench and bow seat and made a cardboard template for one half of the deck. I traced that template twice onto a single sheet of 1/2" plywood. I then used Titebond III and a biscuit joiner to join the two pieces and hit one side with a round-over router bit so it would fit tight to the sides of the boat I then screwed and glued a 2x6 piece that's exactly the length of the space between the front seat and the bow seat to the bottom of the deck. I screwed and glued 3 2x4 pieces to that that sit on the center line of the floor. That's it. The sides of the boat support the edges and there is zero flex. The seat pedestal is bolted with 3" stainless through the carpet, deck, and 2x6.

I'll have to lift up the floor to run the wiring for the depth finders in a day or two. When I do, I'll take some pictures.
 
I forgot, I drilled 4 holes in the gunwale at the bow to mount the plate for the trolling motor with stainless screws and washers. There was already a hole in the very front of the bow that I ran a ss bolt and washer through. Other than that, the only other holes I plan on are 4 screws to mount the 5/5/5 charger to the back of the rear bench and 2 in the transom (transducer wire and bilge pump through-hull).
 
Sounds good, I like the centerline idea. i think i will run with that. Still having a little trouble picturing the support structure. I definitely like the idea of snug fitting the ply to the benches. how did you fasten your 90 degrees for strength on the benches?

Thanks!!!
 
first use was AWESOME!!! Very stable, even walking around. Took on about a half to one gallon of water in 3.5 hours. You can't tell from the pics, but I hadn't painted the bottom of the boat, left it bare aluminum. I'll wait till winter, but I'll be bottom coating it with black Steelflex now that I know how much it's leaking.

The 90 degrees on the back benches were glued with Titebond III and finish nailed every 2" or so. I have an air nailer, so that made quick work of those.

As for the front, I'll get pics up ASAP, but here's a crude drawing for now.
 

Attachments

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As promised, here are a few pics of the underside of the front deck. The middle is supported by the 2x4s attached through the top to the 2x6. I used scraps of carpet to keep the pressure treated 2x4s off the aluminum. The sides are held up by the close fit against the side of the boat. The front and back sit on the benches. Also, pics of the deck hatches and the on the on-board charger.

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Going with the BPS XPS 5/5/5 charger was a tough decision. It only gets like 3.5/5 stars on the website, but I noticed that the reviews given my Top Contributors were all favorable, so I decided that the issue was amateurs not understanding how to use an on-board charger or maintain marine batteries. With the 2-year warranty, I decided I'd take a chance.
 
looks great man! I am not able to do any work right now due to health issues, but once I get everything taken care of I am going to jump right into it! Your build gives me a lot of confidence.

Thanks,

Joe
 

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