building a new boat

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clarker2000

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Im getting ready to deck out a jon boat and was hoping to get a bit of help. I have not yet taken posession of the boat yet so specifics at this time arent available. From what I gather its a 14ft. jon, I think an alumicraft? Its green, flat bottom, the bow of the boat is flat not pointed. It is decked out right now but it needs to be completey ripped apart and redone. Here are some of my questions:

1. I want to have nice hatches but dont want to make them. I see cabelas has some that can be carpeted but wast sure if that was my best bet? Does anyone know where I could order hatches from?

2. Painting the boat. I have read several posts about painting and there is just tons of info with many opinions. Is there a roll on paint that wouldnt be as messy as spray paint? If no, what sort of spray paint is the best? I am looking to change the color to black or red from its original green.

3. Whats thickness of marine plywood should I use? I am trying to make this as light as possible.

4. What is the best way to attach the "L" brackets to the boat?

I will certainly attach pics when I get this started.
 
I think I just answered some of your questions on my 1236 mod.. but I'll help out here some too.

As far as hatches are concerned, you can buy the rubbermaid boxes like you can get at walmart and just set them down in the compartments you make... You can leave the top open on your deck, but I would recommend adding a hatch cover so that you can still walk over it.

I didn't post this in the topic I wrote on my thread, but if you want to roll it - it will probably take more paint. Be sure to thin out whatever you get so that it goes farther. One thing you might want to do is to brush it on, then roll behind it. Brushing it will let you get more paint all over the boat, then rolling it will take out most runs and give you a better finish.

Thickness of ply is up to you. You don't have to use marine ply, you can use exterior ply (NON TREATED). It would be good measure to paint the wood with a decking paint to preserve it and help against rot/aging. I used... crap I forgot - but look through my post and it's in there as well. Depending on how well you brace it, you can get by with 1/2". I think I used something a little thicker than that, but it wasn't a standard fraction.

As far as attaching L-Brackets. It really depends on what you are going to use them for. If you are going to attach wood to them, I would use rivets. You can drill the holes into the ribs and them attach them to that. That way you aren't damaging the integrity of the hull and asking for leaks later down the road. You could also use self-tapping screws.. but if they strip out, your stuck without extra work to get them out. I just have my platforms sitting in the boat so I can take them out if I want to clean under them.
 
You can use the hatch cut outs for hatches.Just screw some lathe to keep the hatch from dropping thru.This will make a flush fitting hatch lid.
 
I don't know how much Cabela's hatches are, but you can get them off of ebay for fairly cheap. The hatches aren't as hard as you think though, I'd recommend trying it, if I can do it, you can too! :)
 
Make card board templates of your first hatch and then trans fer that to the rest.All the hatches should be close to the same size when you're done.
 
I actually found the manufacturer from the cabelas magazine. The people that make the hatches are R&R Design out of texas. They will custom buil any hatch for you at very reasonable prices. THey also have some other good stuff on there site.
 

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