Newbie w/ 12' Jon Boat project HELP!

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WaltonsMountain

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Hello,

Great site you have here! I just recently purchased my first boat. It's an 12x32(bottom) flatbottom Jon boat. I picked this up along w/ the trailer, trolling motor, battery, and a couple of old bass pro cushioned swivel seats for $250! She's a 1974 Appleby w/ a clear title. Solid boat w/ no leaks and was thinking of doing some modifications to it since this is the only boat i'll have for a long time. I was wondering if some of you vets could help me out w/ what I could do to her? These are just a few things I'd like to do:

New paint job
Cargo area
Rod holders
Live well
Floor (w/ new deck possibly?)

It this boat too small for any of these modifications? Here are some pics...

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I would just put in a floor and give her a paint job. You may want to check out BUffords mod for the front seat/deck, that is pretty cool.
Little small for a livewell, where would you put it?
I use a 5 glln pail & battery aerator for bait, 48 qt cooler for fish.
 
yeah, you're right about the livewell. Guess I was just thinking big. No reason I couldn't use my 5 gal igloo and bubblebox. :) Would definitely like to have the floor w/ some kind of cargo area installed so I could put my battery away and stow away some other odds n ends. Just dont know how to go about doing this sort of thing. If i'm framing do I want to use wood or aluminum?
 
Man that is one great deal. I just started my mods yesterday and here is a link to mine if you want to check it out. My boat is a 12' with 36" bottom.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9912

I am going to be putting in a low floor, and I am itiching to figure out a live well too so keep watching and I will see what I can come up with for one too.

Rick in Orlando aka "Bufford"
 
RBuffordTJ said:
Man that is one great deal. I just started my mods yesterday and here is a link to mine if you want to check it out. My boat is a 12' with 36" bottom.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9912

I am going to be putting in a low floor, and I am itiching to figure out a live well too so keep watching and I will see what I can come up with for one too.

Rick in Orlando aka "Bufford"

Hey thanks alot Rick! About 45secs to a minute later a gentlemen came up to the boat and said "i'll take it!" unfortunately for him it had already been sold to me! Guess luck was on my side today! Will definitely be watching your thread to get some ideas....this is pretty exciting stuff!
 
WaltonsMountain said:
RBuffordTJ said:
Hey thanks alot Rick! About 45secs to a minute later a gentlemen came up to the boat and said "i'll take it!" unfortunately for him it had already been sold to me! Guess luck was on my side today! Will definitely be watching your thread to get some ideas....this is pretty exciting stuff!

Cool man, I love getting a last second deal and hate being beat out of one too...LOL. I'll be watching this one too, lets see what we can do with these 'little' boats.

RIck
 
Well here's some closer pics of the inside of the boat. As you can see the seats are no longer there found some rotting wood inside them so decided to toss. Was able to salvage the mounts though. This brings me to my first question. Is it okay to have the seats mounted directly to the benches? I see alot of people usually put plywood on top instead of directly on the bench. They seem very stable...is this going to be an issue?

Also, my first step is giving her a paint job. But first I have to get rid of the old stuff. I grabbed some paint/epoxy chemical stripper from ace hardware to remove the old layers. I was told that it does a great job at removing the old paint. What's better....chemical or using a sander to get the job done?

Finally, I've been told that this 12x32 is too narrow for a deck but would love to put a floor in. How do I go about doing this though? Any detailed instructions out there?
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nice boat. i'd say a low floor and agree with using buffords seat cutout idea, it's great. and with the floor you could make it level to the cutout, no tripping.
a raised deck would be too much for that boat probably. but for storage you could put a hatch even with the back seat to the transom. it's what i did, (link below), and gives you room for gas tank, battery, anchor, bilge pump, maybe more. good luck!
 
yea but how do i go about making a floor like that? What materials do I need.... do I build a frame?
 
WaltonsMountain said:
yea but how do i go about making a floor like that? What materials do I need.... do I build a frame?

Go back and check out the pictures on my post and see if you can see the braces we made, how we left part of the original seat on the sides for supports, and we used 1/2 plywood for ours. It is very stable. If you can't tell by the pics let me know and I will help you as I can, maybe send larger versions via email or something.

Bufford
 
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What we did was decided now far to come up off the floor for our deck. We used a small line level on string, placed it on the front of the seat and then stretched the string to where we wanted the floor to go to (ours sat on top of a support rib). Level the string out to the seat and mark. Ours was like 9 inches or so from the floor of the boat, so we marked how much of the seat to cut out. We left 8" of the old seat at the top on each side and cut straight down to our line from the level we used. (confused yet?)

By leaving the metal from the original seat on the sides and bottom you have something to screw the wood to and you keep the boat from trying to fold in from the sides under pressure. Remember the seat is a major structural brace.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions I will try to help you any way I can.

Bufford
 
Thanks Bufford for the direct reply. Here's what I know I want to do to the boat:

Carpeted floor.
Steelflex on the underneath of the hull (similar to what you have just done).
New paint job. (i have some chemical paint stripper to remove the old paint)


Which order do I do these in?
 
WaltonsMountain said:
Thanks Bufford for the direct reply. Here's what I know I want to do to the boat:

Carpeted floor.
Steelflex on the underneath of the hull (similar to what you have just done).
New paint job. (i have some chemical paint stripper to remove the old paint)


Which order do I do these in?

Phase 1
What I am doing is the structural changes first, decking and stuff. (done)

Phase 2
Next I took it all out and flipped it over to do the bottom with Steelflex. (done)

Phase 3
Flip it back over, paint the upper portion of the outside, apply the Durabak to the new dekcing and inside walls, reinstall the decks (I want both sides coated or I would put them in first). (underway)

Phase 4
Figure out my live well. (coming up)

That is as far as I have figured it out.
Bufford
 
Okay well I definitely want to put a low floor in the middle between the 2 benches. I think this will be my first objective. Do you just lay the plywood on top of the supporting ribs or is it screwed down to something? Also, I keep hearing you want to use marine grade plywood for floors... is that what I need or can there be a substitue?...my budget is pretty low. Just want to make sure they have this at Menards....
 
you dont have to have marine grade especially if your on a budget. white wood with a good sealer (thompsons) will last a long time
 
Loggerhead Mike said:
you dont have to have marine grade especially if your on a budget. white wood with a good sealer (thompsons) will last a long time

x2. I also bought Cabot's marine varnish and put several coats, should last a long time (but will add some weight). Dont have to secure if you want to keep it removable, which is nice for smaller boats.
 
Hey guys, just bought some 3/4'' NON pressure treated plywood at Menards. Also, got some Thompson's water seal as recommended. Plan on doing some work tommorow. Do you think 3/4'' is too thick for a floor?
 
3/4" will work just fine, especially since it will be laying directly on top of the ribs. I really wouldn't worry with putting any bracing underneath it. In my 1232 at my parents, I just put a carpeted floor in that covered the middle section. I attached it to the ribs with self tapping lag screws. It won't take but 4 on each side, don't worry about the middle, there should be another brace running there too (I can't see pics of it since I'm at work - they block images a lot here).

Just be sure to put a few coats of exterior paint or wood sealer (I like deck paint better than sealer, but that's just me). Then put your carpet on and attach it to the ribs... then go fishing and show us what you catch!
 
Hey guys, thought I would give ya an update. Been working off and on for the past month or so on her whenever I could. I want to give a special thanks to the members on the board who recommended both the 3M 5200 sealant, as well as Bufford who told me all about the wonders of Flasco's Steelflex Super Slick product.

These first couple pictures show the old bolts which were rusted over and had to be replaced.
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As you can see, some were pretty bad...
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I ended up stripping the hull and sides down to bare aluminum and replacing the old bolts, nuts, and washers w/ Stainless Steel and 3M 5200 sealant. Worked very well and sealed her up tight. Here's the results...
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Lots of time but worth it...
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I just finished putting on the Steelflex today and again a big thanks to Bufford for all his help and answering every question I had. I ended up ruffing it up w/ some 60grit paper and then washing her down and then drying. I then proceeded to put two coats on and had about 1/2 gallon unmixed left for my next project...
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I was real happy with the result and definitely recommend it to anyone looking to seal up the hull like a drum as well as providing a slippery coating for those rocks and limbs you may end up going over. Definitely worth the $$$ and like I said I still have 1/2 of it left.

Next step is painting the upper sides burgundy and either going w/ a bedliner or carpet for the interior (still undecided). Thanks again guys! :mrgreen:
 

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