Just getting started

Well, I guess that since I have been trolling through this forum for about 3 weeks now, I may as well begin to contribute. I have been shopping for a jon boat for about a month and a half. Tomorrow, I am going to look at a boat a few hours away from me. It is a 16' foot flat bottom jon, and the owner said that it is 5 1/2 feet wide at the transom. I suppose that means at the top, so I am assuming either a 1642 (not too sure if those even exist) or 1648. From what he has told me, it sounds like this might be the boat for me. I just want to say thanks for all the info that those of you have contributed to the uninitiated. My wife probably wishes I had never found this forum due to all the nights I tend to lie in bed and talk to her about the things I am gonna do to my "new" boat lol. I will try and do a good write-up on the mods that I do to this boat so maybe I can help someone else out with their project.

Take lots of pics of the before mods. I didn't think to take any of mine, so no one really knows how much work I have done. Good luck.

Welcome to the site.
Hope it's the one for you.

I got the boat home the other day and have been out in it once. Of course, it decided to rain like crazy as soon as I got on the other side of the pond and my buddy and I got soaked. I measured, and it appears to be a 1652. I have no idea the make or model of the boat, but it floats and that was my one requirement lol. The boat has a 1966 Evinrude 18hp, but the previous owner said it died on him the last time he took it out, which I got the feeling wasn't that long ago. The little 25 lb. thrust trolling motor on the front does quite nicely though with two people in it. I am pretty sure I know what I am going to do as far as decking goes, but I would really like to get this outboard running. If anyone has any ideas or can push me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it. I will get pics on here a little later so you can see the boat as purchased.

What does the out board do or not do? My initial guess is that it has been sitting a while and the carbs are all gummed up inside and need to be cleaned. Now that fuel has Ethanol in it the shelf life of gas is only 23 days. Meaning that if you don't use it in that time frame the fuel has started breaking down. Also Ethanol allows water molecules to be absorbed, so if it sits a while with a vent open it will start to absorb water in the tank which then gets sucked up in the carb whic then starts to rust your carb. That is why you need to add something like Stabil.

Try cleaning the Carbs and while your at it check the spark plugs, I bet it will run just fine after that.

Welcome Aboard, and looking forward to the pics. 8)

Congrats on the new boat. With a older Rude, bassboy is your man.

Went camping this weekend and just got home and got to work on the boat. I am working on replacing the transom, but it seems like this thing was riveted in with about 50 rivets, some of which aren't even holding anything on right now. Should I use plywood to replace it or maybe a 2x12. I was thinking the 2x12 would be a little more sturdy. Also, is there any special type of rivets or riveting tool that I should use - I have never riveted a single thing in my life, so this is something new to me.

Huntingfool, I was thinking the same thing on the carb being gummed up. I did check the plugs yesterday and they were black and a little wet. Pulled them out and dried them off and checked for spark - nothing. This was after I had the motor on its side for about a day because I didn't know that wasn't very good for it - oops.

That's a nice rig. Like the open deck in the middle. Just like mine, LOL!
Is that storage under the seat?

It was storage - now it's sitting in my yard waiting on the trash man. I am gutting everything and installing a front and rear deck, but I am leaving about 8' in the middle of the boat with just a flat floor for the kiddies to fish from. Might even install two seat posts there - not sure yet.

Well, I got the plywood on the transom out, but I had to knock out a LOT of rivets to do it. Which brings me to the next point - how do I rivet that stuff back? I went and looked at HD and the rivets and rivet gun they have is nowhere near big enough. Would a body shop have something like that? I have no idea where to look. Tomorrow I will cut the 2x12 for the transom reinforcement and waterseal it. The only thing I am going to re-rivet is the stuff that doesn't connect through the wood. I am planning on bolting all that and shooting it with silicone.

sniperbrad said:

It was storage - now it's sitting in my yard waiting on the trash man. I am gutting everything and installing a front and rear deck, but I am leaving about 8' in the middle of the boat with just a flat floor for the kiddies to fish from. Might even install two seat posts there - not sure yet.

Well, I got the plywood on the transom out, but I had to knock out a LOT of rivets to do it. Which brings me to the next point - how do I rivet that stuff back? I went and looked at HD and the rivets and rivet gun they have is nowhere near big enough. Would a body shop have something like that? I have no idea where to look. Tomorrow I will cut the 2x12 for the transom reinforcement and waterseal it. The only thing I am going to re-rivet is the stuff that doesn't connect through the wood. I am planning on bolting all that and shooting it with silicone.

Click to expand...

Rather than silicone try and use 3M 5200 Marine Sealant, the stuff is very good and long lasting.