My first jon boat

I just bought a 1984 bass tracker 14 ft alluminum boat, I gave $200 for it from an old guy down the road. He said he bought it for his son but his son never paid him for it, oh well, my gain. It has a 1987 20 h.p. johnson that runs like a dream and a 54 lb. motorguide foot controlled trolling motor up front. Anyways, i removed the old carpet and it seems that the center bench was removed somewhere down the road, everything is still solid but I think I want to deck it from where the center bench was to the front. I have read other post and gotten alot of info, but anything will help. What should I use for bracing under the deck, alluminum or wood, should I add foam for flotation under the new flooring since I am adding weight? Carpet or paint, rivetts or screws, should I just let the deck rest on the bottom or should it be riveted to the ribs, the ribs run all the way up the sides, this seems to be a common question asked. Srry for the rambling but just trying to give all the info I can to get back the best info, Thanks everyone....this is a great site.

Post a pic when you have a chance, seems like you got a great deal!

I will try to take some pics tomorrow and put up. Yeah I think I got a pretty good deal. The guy at the Johnson dealer offered me $1100 for the outboard when I took it in to get it serviced, It is like new inside and out. Anyways I plan to deck the front and either re-carpet or spray in the bedliner material, may carpet the deck then spray the floor, just looking for suggestions!

:WELCOME:

Thanks for joining!

How wide is your boat? Great deal for $200 though! =D>

:WELCOME:

Floatation foam is only there to keep your boat floating if it is swamped.Build it light and build it solid.Don't use pressure treated wood,use standard exterior grade wood.Only use stainless steel hardware.check my signature below for some additional info.

At it's narrowest point near the front it is 38 in. across the bottom. I built a 4 ft' long deck on the front about halfway up the depth of the boat. i was a lil skittish about going all the way up. The trollling motor is mounted to a diamond plate piece that is riveted to the front, looks factory I dunno. I built the deck out of 2x2 lumber and 90 degree fasteners, I used 3/4 plywood for the top and I coated it all in Thompson's waterseal. I hope I'm doing this right, It has turned out pretty good for one days work, I'll snap some pics tomorrow to put up, I thoroughly inspected the pics in the gallery when building my own deck, Thanks to all who have pics up....very helpful.

so far it sounds good. once we see some pictures I'm sure you'll get lots of advice