Jet Sled Rebuild

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

scottphillips208

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
48
Reaction score
0
Location
Star, Idaho
I'm Scott, a long-time lurker and first time poster who has greatly benefited from the wealth of information provided on TinBoats.com. In fact, you've all helped be rebuild a 14' Valco and and 14' Montgomery Ward boat over the past three years by providing good ideas and reliable information.

Recently a 14' welded hull jet sled somehow got attached to my truck and followed me home, so it only seems fitting that I rebuild it, too! I'll do my best to chronicle the build with photos and commentary.

In addition to the trailer, it came with a 6 hp long shaft Evinrude kicker, a 55 hp Johnson Seahorse outfitted with a jet foot, and other trappings like an inexpensive fish finder, decent pole holders, a paddle, etc. The boat and motors date to the mid 1970's, I think, and given its age, the hull isn't titled and the registration documents are silent as to the hull's manufacturer. While the trailer is an amalgam of two other boat trailers, the hull doesn't appear to be a DIY job. I did find a photo of a 1973 16' Smokercraft jet sled that had the same lines as my 14' hull, but the 16' boat was riveted, not welded like mine.

My goals is to set this boat up to perform a variety of functions including: steelhead fishing on the Salmon and Clearwater rivers here in Idaho; bass fishing on Snake river near Boise; trolling for kokanee on a variety of lakes; and duck hunting.

In a nutshell, here's my plan (not necessarily in order):

1. Strip out the worn-out plywood floors and offset center console, remove the motors, patch a few orphaned screw holes, degrease/clean it and prep for paint. Surprisingly, the foam under the floor appears to be sound and dry.

2. Spot prime the bare aluminum places on the transom; at some point someone did a pretty good job repairing and reinforcing it.

3. Take the boat off the trailer so the trailer can be cleaned up, painted, rewired, etc.

4. Shoot a couple of coats of a flat green camo paint on the inside and outside of the hull. I'm thinking about using the Parker brand duck boat paint from Cabelas.

5. Camo the inside and outside of the hull with stencils and rattle-can Rustoleum. I've got a vinyl cutter, so I've made my own stencils...I still need to run a test on a piece of hardboard to make sure I like the pattern and colors.

6. Replace the plywood floor, build a more functional center or side console, add a platform on the stern of the boat to house a livewell and provide storage.

7. Replace with built-in aluminum gas tank with a new removable plastic one, add another battery for auxiliary electronics like the bilge pump, radio, livewell, lights, etc.

I'll do my best to keep you posted on my progress and include periodic photos.

Thanks,

Scott
 

Attachments

  • jetsled - side (800x600).jpg
    jetsled - side (800x600).jpg
    357.2 KB · Views: 2,404
  • jetsled - bow (600x800).jpg
    jetsled - bow (600x800).jpg
    52.3 KB · Views: 2,404
  • jetsled - stern (800x600).jpg
    jetsled - stern (800x600).jpg
    381.7 KB · Views: 2,404
  • jetsled - motors (800x600).jpg
    jetsled - motors (800x600).jpg
    365 KB · Views: 2,404
I think I've got the camo pattern and stencils figured out. The stencils I used are made of card stock and were cut on a Silhouette Portrait vinyl cutter. They were easy to make, and even easier to use. I'll attach the Silhouette cutting files for those who have access to such a vinyl cutter.

The pattern consists of three different stencils over an olive drab base color. For testing purposes, I painted a piece of hardboard with the base color. Next, I used the "blob" stencil with black paint. On top of the "blob" pattern I overlayed a bark pattern in dark brown. Finally, the grass stencil was used with light coats of both grass and tan paint colors. Basically, for the final coat I laid the stencil in place and sprayed both colors lightly before moving the stencil to another location.

Cheers,

Scott
 

Attachments

  • camo paint - colors.JPG
    camo paint - colors.JPG
    81.1 KB · Views: 2,372
  • camo paint - cutting a stencil.JPG
    camo paint - cutting a stencil.JPG
    31.5 KB · Views: 2,372
  • camo paint - cut stencil.JPG
    camo paint - cut stencil.JPG
    35.7 KB · Views: 2,372
  • camo paint - blob stencil.JPG
    camo paint - blob stencil.JPG
    52.1 KB · Views: 2,372
  • camo paint - bark stencil.JPG
    camo paint - bark stencil.JPG
    36.5 KB · Views: 2,372
  • camo paint - grass stencil.JPG
    camo paint - grass stencil.JPG
    59.1 KB · Views: 2,372
  • camo paint - in progress.JPG
    camo paint - in progress.JPG
    31.2 KB · Views: 2,372
  • camo paint - finished camo.JPG
    camo paint - finished camo.JPG
    88.4 KB · Views: 2,372
Slowly but surely I'm making progress on the boat. This weekend I removed the motors, seats, console, shoddy wiring and rotten floor. I had a heck of a time with the steering wheel, and couldn't get the wheel removed from the console...I'll tackle this issue later after I pick up a can of penetrating oil.

The PO apparently tried his best to turn the topsides of this boat into swiss cheese with all of the holes that were drilled into it! It took some time, but I filled all of them with JB weld and sanded them smooth. The repairs turned out great.

I also degreased the boat and trailer and cleaned the living daylights out of both. Under the floor boards I found a great omen - thirty or forty years worth of beer caps! Also, as I'd hoped, the foam under the floor was in really good shape. The thick layer of pine needles must have protected it!

Later this week I hope to break out the paint - prime the bare aluminum with an etching rattle can primer, spray the trailer with a primer made for rusty metal, and then spray the trailer and hull with a top coat. Apparently Cabela's doesn't carry the Parker brand boat paint, so I bought a gallon of Duralux Duck Boat Drap paint for $38 instead.

Cheers,

Scott
 

Attachments

  • image (4).jpeg
    image (4).jpeg
    38.5 KB · Views: 2,318
  • image (3).jpeg
    image (3).jpeg
    84.1 KB · Views: 2,318
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=362923#p362923 said:
RiverBottomOutdoors » 11 Aug 2014, 08:35[/url]"]That is an interesting looking hull. Wonder why it has so much rake?

I'd like to find out which firm manufactured the hull, but the only plate on the hull was the coast guard capacity plate. I saw a similar hull online that was manufactured my Smokercraft in the early 1970's, but that boat was riveted and mine is welded.

Does anyone have any guesses as to who built this boat?

Thanks,

Scott
 
I'm making headway on my jet sled rebuild and finished painting the trailer and hull last night.

My son and I lifted the hull from the trailer, supported it with saw horses and scrap lumber, and pulled the trailer from beneath it. Over the weekend I had degreased the boat and trailer and powerwashed them, but found I'd missed a few spots on the trailer - these cleaned up quickly with some solvent and a rag last night.

Other than stripping the trailer down and masking the tires with trash bags and tape, I didn't do that much prep work on the trailer before painting it. I did, however, spray two coats of Rustoleam's rusty metal primer on it using an inexpensive Harbor Freight spray gun. Both the primer and the Duralux duck boat drap top coat were thinned with about 10% to 15% xylene, and pushed through with sprayer with the compressor set at 45 psi. At this pressure there was a lot of overspray (ie wasted paint), but the job went fast and I was racing the weather to get finished.

Bare aluminum on the boat was primed with a coat of rattle can self etching primer (Rustoleum), then on high wear areas I sprayed a coat of regular primer as well. The existing paint on the hull was intact and solid, so I didn't bother with priming all of the hull. If I had not ran out of primer (only had one quart), I'd probably primed the whole boat, too.

The Duralux top coat went down without a hitch, and looks great. Although I put a lot of prep into the hull before painting, it was imposible to fix every nick and ding that's graced the hull over its 40 year life. Nevertheless, this paint really hid the flaws, and it's flat sheen makes the imperfections inconsequential to the eye. The entire hull received two coats of the Duralux, and high wear aread got three coats; the side rails received four coats of the duck boat drab.

The repair work to the hull I did to hide a significant scar earned from going on the rocks is now practically invisible!

I ended up using three rattle cans of self etching primer, a quart of oil-based rusty metal primer, and just over 3/4 of a gallon of the Duralux oil-based boat paint. The console, aluminum seat boxes, stern ladder, both motors, and aluminum gas tank (should I reuse it instead of buying a portable plastic one) still need to be painted, so I'll be ordering another quart of Duralux paint today.

Tonight I'll pick up some plywood and carpet at the HomeDepot, cut new floor boards, and paint the plywood with some leftover grey Rustoleum I found in my shop.
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpeg
    1.jpeg
    83.9 KB · Views: 2,250
  • 2.JPG
    2.JPG
    176.7 KB · Views: 2,250
  • 3.JPG
    3.JPG
    85.8 KB · Views: 2,250
  • 4.jpeg
    4.jpeg
    72.2 KB · Views: 2,250
  • 5.jpeg
    5.jpeg
    153 KB · Views: 2,250
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=363208#p363208 said:
RiverBottomOutdoors » 13 Aug 2014, 11:11[/url]"]If ever I saw a boat that needed a shark face on, it's this one! That one pic looks like Jaws going after Richard Dreyfus.

My neighbor said the same thing last night!

Scott
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=363208#p363208 said:
RiverBottomOutdoors » August 13th, 2014, 1:11 pm[/url]"]If ever I saw a boat that needed a shark face on, it's this one! That one pic looks like Jaws going after Richard Dreyfus.
Them bow lights could make great eyes. LOL
 
After hearing the chorus noting the uncanny resemblance of my jet sled to a shark, from this point forward it will be known as the Shark Sled!

Anyway, made a little more progress tonight...my son and I cut out the floor boards. At its widest point, the Shark Sled floor is 54 inches wide, so we needed three full sheets of material. The old floor was degraded to the point where it was more or less useless as a template. Instead, I took a series of measurements off the centerline of the hull, and lofted the shape to the new flooring material. It's a perfect fit.

Don't cringe, but I opted to use 7/16" OSB (oriented strand board) for the flooring. This will be the third boat I've used it on, and have been pleased with how well it has held up in the past. I went so far to even sink a boat at the ramp that had sealed OSB floors and it dried out just fine. If I was working on a $30k Duckworth, I'd probably opt for marine grade plywood - but this boat is a plus or minus 40 year old river sled, so it doesn't seem prudent to treat it like a hole in the water into which one pours money!

In some respects I like OSB better than the lesser grades of plywood like CDX: it's made with the same water resistant grade of adhesives as exterior plywood, but unlike less expensive grades of plywood, it's totally void free and has no surface patches that are made from a bondo-like substance. And it's inexpensive. The key to making it last is to seal it well, especially on the edges - I've always used oil based paint to seal OSB in boats and had good results.

The leftover gray Rustoleum I found in my shop was too old to use, so I need to pick up another can of oil-based paint tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the OSB floor sealed tomorrow, and start on the carpet tomorrow night. I need to order another gallon of Duralux duck boat drab paint, too, for the motors and other odds and ends on the Shark Sled.

Cheers!

Scott
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9347 (1).jpeg
    IMG_9347 (1).jpeg
    37 KB · Views: 2,184
My father built a dog shed(8x12),30 odd years ago using that osb plywood...still stands today...to the weather and only painted once.
Really like the shape of that boat,different
 
Last night I sealed the new OSB floor boards with flat black Rustoleum oil based paint; I'd bought a gallon and will also use it to give both motors a fresh paint job this weekend. I decided not to buy another gallon of Duralux duck boat drap because I didn't have the patience to wait for it to be delivered, and I think there's enough of the first gallon of left over Duralux to cover the console and probably the aluminum-box seat bases (dry storage), too.

The carpet I used came from the HomeDepot and next to green astrogtruf is the least expensive indoor/outdoor they sold. The clerk told me he's been selling tons of this carpeting recently to folks who are also recarpeting their boats.

As soon as the paint on the floor boards had (mostly) dried, I commenced to laying the carpet. After applying the carpet adhesive with a 1/8" notched trowel and laying the carpet out good-side down, the glue covered floor panel was placed on the carpet and the edges were tacked in place with 5/16" staples. I shot about 1200 staples last night from a hand powered Arrow stapler!

As you can see in the following picture, I completely covered the flooring panels with carpet adhesive. In addition to the coat of paint, I've got to think this adhesive will help further seal and protect the OSB flooring from water damage.

The carpeting turned out good, but in one small quarter-sized spot I left too much adhesive on the OSB and it bled through to the front of the carpet. It's disappointing, but not so much as to make me redo the panel. It's nothing some fish guts and blood won't hide!

The floor panels fit perfectly, but given the 16" on-center spacing of the aluminum floor framing members, there is a bit of flex in the flooring. To solve this and provide even better points for attaching the flooring to the hull I'll add some wooden stringers perpendictular to the aluminum framing - the following sketch shows what I have in mind, with the red lines representing 3/4" x 3" boards that will also be sealed with paint. As a bonus, the stringers will provide extra "meat" for the screws I'll use to attach the console and seats, provide room for running a some of the wiring I need to install, and distance the flooring a little more from any water that may end up in the bilge.

I'll post a photo of the completed and installed floors tomorrow after I get them screwed into place.

Finally, thanks for the kind comments and words of encouragement as I continue to retrofit the Shark Sled.

Cheers,

Scott
 

Attachments

  • add_stringers.jpg
    add_stringers.jpg
    67.7 KB · Views: 2,134
  • photo 3.JPG
    photo 3.JPG
    171 KB · Views: 2,134
  • photo 2.JPG
    photo 2.JPG
    141.7 KB · Views: 2,134
  • photo 1.JPG
    photo 1.JPG
    180.5 KB · Views: 2,134
Had an exceptionally productive day:

- installed the floor stringers
- installed the floor panels I carpeted on Thursday
- degreased, prepped and painted both motors
- reinstalled both motors

Ran into a couple of snags along the way. A previous owner had cracked the fiberglass hood on the 6 hp trolling motor and "fixed" it by slapping some epoxy and fiberglass on the inside of the hood (without cleaning off the oil and grease from the inside walls) then covering the crack on the outside with an aftermarket sticker. I fixed correctly - inside and out - and it looks decent enough.

Additionally, I had a hard time fighting gravity to remount the 55 hp Johnson with a jet foot. Fortunately my neighbor and another friend were available to help out!

Tomorrow I'll paint the console and aluminum dry boxes the seats are mounted to with the last of the Duralux duck boat drap and start dealing with the electrical system. I still need to figure out what to do about the gas tank: it came with a welded aluminum tank, but some yahoo did some funky stuff with pvc pipe and JB weld to rig a fill spout on it. If I can undo these sins, I may be able to use it. Otherwise I'll buy a new plastic tank; I like the convenience of a portable tank.

I also picked up some white vinyl from Hobby Lobby for my vinyl cutter. I'm going to cut some new Johnson Sea-Horse stickers for the motors so they both match. They look pretty good with the new coat of flat black paint I applied today.

Cheers,

Scott

P.S. My wife suggested I name this boat the RiverShark. Hopefully I'll be on the water by Thursday!
 

Attachments

  • 2.JPG
    2.JPG
    48.4 KB · Views: 956
  • 3.JPG
    3.JPG
    60.6 KB · Views: 956
  • 4.JPG
    4.JPG
    45.8 KB · Views: 956
  • 5.JPG
    5.JPG
    49.8 KB · Views: 956
  • 6.JPG
    6.JPG
    38.8 KB · Views: 956
Lookin' great man. I really like that little engine, it is slick. Also I had a good laugh at the phrase "some yahoo." I should call the PO of my boat that every time I find a new boner he did on my boat/trailer.
 
Before tackling the center console, gas tank and wiring I decided to finish up the motors by cutting and installing new vinyl lettering.

With a Silhouette Portrait vinyl cutter this was an easy task. The software that comes with the vinyl cutter made it incredibly easy to grab some clipart off the internet and "trace" it as a cutable file. The vinyl and transfer tape (a product that makes it easy to adhere the artwork just where you want it) set me back about $15 at Hobby Lobby, and there's still enough left over for the hull registration numbers and the boat's new name - RiverShark.

I'm very pleased with the flat black paint and new while vinyl graphics on the motors; they're now a matched pair!

Cheers,

Scott
 

Attachments

  • photo (6).JPG
    photo (6).JPG
    46.5 KB · Views: 936
  • photo (4).JPG
    photo (4).JPG
    83.3 KB · Views: 936
Scott,
Love the boat and the name... Great job on the motors.
Excuse my crappy photo edit skills, but I have to agree with the boat begging for a shark face...
 

Attachments

  • Presentation1.jpg
    Presentation1.jpg
    42.2 KB · Views: 926
I'd love to see how them teeth look in the late evening and the bow lights on. :) One glowing green eye and one glowing red eye, both simi illuminating them teeth..
 

Latest posts

Top