Noob with 14ft semi-v and lotsa questions.

This is gonna be long... sorry.

I've lurked for a couple of weeks since I discovered the site, and now I'm ready to dive into some mods.

I've been around boats my whole life, but never really worked on many. I have a pretty decent "how-to" knowledge with most things, but I want to do this right.

Bank access is very limited where I live, so I picked up this 14/42 semi-v boat and trailer last year for $300. Got a old used TM for $50 and made up a small front deck to mount it on, along with a basic plywood floor. Using a folding camping chair, I fished with that setup all last year. It had one small hole in it that I JB welded, and now I can fish for 12 hours straight and not have a drop of water in it when I leave the lake.

Came across a great evinrude 9.9 for $300 back in March, and after a little carb work, new plugs, and a fluid change, it runs like a champ and pushes this little boat pretty well.

I've made some small mods along the way, such as new minn kota 45lb TM, new wheels/tires, new winch, used seats, side bunks, etc. A couple of days ago, part of the front deck broke loose in heavy wind while running the TM on 5, and that has ended my fishing until I get it fixed. I want to do it the right way, and while I'm at it, do a few other things. I just threw the deck and flooring together using lumber I had laying around, and didn't seal it.

My plans: The boat rides fairly high in the water and isn't all that stable. It's ok with just me, but with 2 people in there it can get pretty exciting at times. For that reason, I won't be doing a raised deck. I'm just going to to an updated version of the front one, sealed and carpeted, flooring, and a rear deck that will allow the use of the motor with the seat still in place. (see pic of seat and motor). I'll cut out a section of the existing rear bench and put a hatch over it for added storage. (there's no foam in it) I'll also be replacing the transom wood and adding some bracing to it. As far as the trailer goes, I'm needing to put new/longer bunks on it to support the transom and ease loading/unloading, and new wheel bearings. I'm not going to worry about painting, since it's already in such rough condition and I also don't feel like dealing with it or spending the money on it. The lakes I fish in are really stumpy anyway, so paint probably wouldn't last long.

First Question: Can anybody tell me what brand/model this boat is? It doesn't have an ID plate, or any stampings on the transom. That decal is the only thing on it, If you can't tell in the pics, it appears to me to be a double S.

Second Question: Because the boat is so small, I really want to remove the center bench to open up the floorspace. What do you guys think about the support of the boat? Will it weaken it too much? Keep in mind that if I do this, there will be a full length floor consisting of plywood and 2x2s bracketed/riveted to the floor/sides. I would think that would help stiffen it up some. I guess if it didn't work, I could always just rivet the old bench back in.

Third Question: Anybody know a good place to get bunk brackets CHEAP?? The old brackets aren't useable, and I'm just not going to spend $50 on brackets. I've looked at all the hardware/automotive/home improvement stores around and haven't found anything that will work. I've been thinking about using some uni-strut and c-clamps to make my own adjustable brackets.

4th Question: What about hardware for mounting the decks/floor/framing? Will the galvanized stuff at lowes work, or do I need to find something else. I've seen a lot of builds on here that use it. In the pic that shows the bow, you can see where the rivets/welds ripped loose under the stress of the TM. That piece doesn't seem to add much support anyway, so I was thinking of ripping it out and decking all the way to the point of the bow. Under the existing deck is a small bench seat. Can I rip it out? I really want the storage space, and am pretty sure that my framing/decking will be a lot more sturdy than that flimsy seat.

5th Question: How are you guys attaching your carpeted decking to the framing? Are you just screwing through the carpet and trying to hide the screw heads or what?

I'm gonna have more Questions, that's just what I can think of for now.

Thanks again everybody, I know this is really long, and even I hate reading long posts. :mrgreen:

The decal is hard to see. That spot in the middle is a white "S", with a black "S" right beside it.


You can see a little of the front seat under the plywood, and the cracked aluminum on the upper right corner.


Here's where the rivets and welds broke loose. Thinking of ripping this out and decking all the way to the front.


Want to remove this center bench.


See where the tiller hits the seat? I have to remove the seat and sit on the bench to run the motor, and off-setting the seat isn't possible b/c the boat is so tippy. Going to deck the entire back area and move the seat forward about 6"

I'll take a WAG and say early '60's regular jon boat.

No side ribs, thin bow and transom caps, bench seats are the structure. Depending on your use and needs taking the seat out may work but those boats are a bit thin on structure. I would not remove it and use the engine in rough water and expect it to live very long.

Jamie

Thanks. Love your jet build btw. Just read through that the other day.

I think I've figured out the center bench problem. You see, the reason I want to get rid of it is b/c I place my fish cooler right behind the bench, within arms reach of my seat. That really makes going from the front to back or back to front a pita. Having to maneuver around/over a cooler, bench seat, and then the pedestal seat. Gets really tricky on windy days. If I think about it, I'll throw in all my gear and take a couple pics so you guys can get an idea of why I want to get rid of it.

I really want that bench out of there. I was thinking that maybe I could add my own side ribs using 2x2s, but finally decided that wouldn't help all that much and would add a lot of weight and expense. Then the light bulb lit up. I am going to remove the bench, then replace it with a framed up area that my cooler can fit down into and then have enclosed storage compartments on either side of the cooler. The framing should be a lot more sturdy than that bench and even strengthen the boat up.

Makes sense considering that the bulk of the cooler will still be in there to maneuver around after I removed the bench. Plus, it'll keep my cooler from sliding all over the place like it usually does, and increase my enclosed storage (don't have any at all right now).

Neat little boat. I will try and answer a couple of your questions, in no particular order.

I agree with the above in that your center seat is giving the boat a major amount of support. Having said that what size cooler are you trying to put in the boat? Why not just leave the seat in and cut it out enought to fit the cooler in to the seat, providing it has room to do it. There are others on this site that have done that and used the side parts as storage. (just a thought)
But your idea of removing the seat and building something that the cooler will fit into and give you side storage is perfect.
As for bunk Brackets, go to your local trailer place. They should have them. There may be a source online, but I have not had to buy any so I do not know what that would be. Someone else may be able to post up about that.
If your talking about removing that front and top piece in front of yout TM, I would not do that. That is like a gusset and believe it or not will provide a great amount of strength to your boat. (of course that is only if it is attached to your boat.) I would make some plans to reattach that piece. You could deck all the way forward, but I think you would lose that strength. Plus right now you have a perfect place to put a light, with a lower deck you would have to put in a raised light.
As far as the small seat, I do not see a pic of it, but if what ever your putting in is stronger that what your taking out, I think you would be fine.
Good luck, take lots of pics and share them with us.

In no particualt order


NEVER used galvanized with alumimum - it will react badly. Use Stainless Steel

Mount the plywood for the bow across the top of the gunnels and bolt through those

You can kinda see it on my boat here:



It will be Ok to remove the bench seats

Instead of wood - use aluminum "L" structure for anything that is gonna get wet (below the deck)


There are a number of threads about gluing carpet - just use the search feature and you will have a few hours of reading. I used Overton's anti skid Marine paint and love it

Finally. two sites that I have dealt with for trailer parts are etrailer and Eastern Marine

Not sure what brackets you need but they are fairly inexpensive for most - call them if you need help they are really good over the phone

https://www.easternmarine.com/Boat-Trailer-Bunk-Brackets-Hardware/

The cooler is a 48qt I believe. I haven't measured it, but it's around 2x3 feet. The bench is 14" wide. I'm going to make the framing to the width of the cooler. The excess areas on the sides will get hatches over them. I'm thinking that one side will be dry storage, and I might insulate and use fiberglass resin or something to seal up the inside of the other one to use as a drink cooler. That would eliminate the need to carry an extra cooler for, um, water. I'll just figure that out once I get the frame and everythign constructed.

After pricing uni-strut, it looks like it's gonna cost the same or more to make my own bunk brackets. Guess there's no cheap way out for that one. Thanks for that link. I think their 8" kit will work just fine for me. Probably going to get it ordered tomorrow.

I spent a lot of hours in the past couple of days measuring and drawing out plans and researching materials. I was wanting to use 2x2s and plywood to keep it as cheap as possible... until I started pricing brackets, etc. Just for the front section and the center cooler area, I'm already well over $100 just for the hardware with my current design(not including the hinges, wood, sealer, glue, carpet, etc). Not to mention that weight is a huge issue in this boat. Those 2x2s will add up really quickly.I'm going to hit up the local scrap yards and see if I can't find some cheap scrap aluminum. Rivets are a lot cheaper than the brackets and SS screws. Downside to aluminum framing is that I'm gonna have to buy more tools. Trying to cut all of the aluminum with just a hacksaw will get old really fast.

I'm also having trouble figuring out what I want to do with the rear deck. My original idea was to build on top of the rear bench, but I've been considering removing it too and bracing everything well enough to give the hull support. That would give me a LOT of storage space back there. Again, cost of materials and weight come into play.

A question on hinges... Seems that all of the aluminum piano hinges come in only 3 or 6 foot lengths. Do you just cut them to the length you want? How does the hinge pin stay in?

Also, I wasn't asking about gluing down the carpet. I can do that. What I meant was how do you attach the floor or deck to the framing after it's carpeted? I dont' really want a bunch of screw heads all over the place.

Man, you guys are gonna get sick of seeing my long posts. :lol:

You can cut the hinges.

Let me know what you need - I bought way too much when I did my boat

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. What I'm thinking right now is one 2 or 2.5 foot hinge for the front, two one foot hinges for the side storage in the middle, and a 3 foot hinge for the back.

I'm also not sure about carpeting the floor now. I'm kinda leaning towards textured paint or bedliner. Catfish bait gets kinda messy. I'll still carpet the decks though.

Looks like I'm going to have to put the build on hold for a few weeks. We might be moving to a new house. No sense in buying up a whole lot more stuff that I'll just have to move. Guess I'll just re-rivet that front piece for now so I can still fish a little.

Well, due to the cost of moving and the fact that I'm really wanting something more like a 1648, I'm going to leave it as is for now. I repaired the front part with several rivets and it worked fine on my fishing trip a few days ago. I might still pull out the middle bench and make the cooler holder, but I don't really want to spend the $$ on the front and rear decks in a boat that is only temporary.

Razorback, where do you normally fish? I go to school at Uark and this Fall will be the first semester I'll have a boat down there.

All the smaller lakes in the Fayetteville area. Lake Fayetteville, Sequoyah, Bob Kidd. I haven't tried Lake Wedington, Lake Prairie Grove or Lake Lincoln yet. I hear that Lake Lincoln is great. No gas motors allowed there though. I tried Beaver once, but it's just too dangerous in my little boat. The white river is great for white bass in the spring (no limit), but it was flooded and dangerous this year from all the rain. There's a boat launch on hwy 45 at a place known as twin bridges.

Once you get down here, go check out Custom Lure. It's an awesome little store with just about any plastic you could want, really cheap. 20 packs are around $3, and 50 packs are around $6. The guy also hand makes great spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, jigs, etc. It's located just south of Mountain Man Pawn near the intersection of 71 and 15th St.

Let me know when you get here and we can get together and do a little fishin.

I've fished all those except Prairie Grove and Wedington, but it's all been from the bank. Lake Lincoln is beautiful, but I doubt I make it down there much due to the drive and the electric only rule. You also have to drive through a creek to get to the boat ramp. Maybe not now though cause of the lack of rain.

I'll have to check out that little shop, I've never heard of it but it sounds pretty cool. And sounds good, I could always use an extra fishing buddy.

Are you a student at the U of A or an alumn?

Go Hogs!