So here's my plan...

[Bubba]

Ok guys, I'm brainstorming on what I want to do to my jonboat. It's only a 1236 and will be using for small river fishing. I load it and unload it from my truck bed by hand, so i'm trying to keep the weight down, but still making it a little better. Here's a descent pic of my boat as of now....

I'm gonna paint it all(inside and out). I've already got a TM I use for it. I'm pondering on what exactly I wanna do to the floor in the middle section. I wanna add something down there to help reduce noise and where I could pull it out and clean it. I'm thinking 3/8" plywood covered with "turf". Then doing the same on top of the seats....screwing the plywood to the tops of those and covering them as well. I'm not looking to make a deck or anything, just enough to cover the floor just over the "ribs" in that center section. I'm just not sure about resting the plywood directly on those ribs....wouldn't that cause squeaking? I would really like to be able to find some scrap aluminum to use for the floor and top of the seats, but I think that's gonna be hard to come by and if I just bought a sheet, it's gonna cost me an arm and a leg.

I've got some of those clamp-on swivel seats for it already which i'm gonna rig to make them more solid and not move around.

So I was hoping maybe some of you guys may have a few suggestions to make it better, or tips that may help my process go a little smoother.

 

[Jim]

This whole Time I tought you were going to Paint the G3. :LOL2:

 

[Bubba]

This whole Time I tought you were going to Paint the G3. :LOL2:

:LOL2: Not hardly!

 

[FishingBuds]

I'm thinking 3/8" plywood covered with "turf". Then doing the same on top of the seats....screwing the plywood to the tops of those and covering them as well. I'm not looking to make a deck or anything, just enough to cover the floor just over the "ribs" in that center section.

I'd say perfect

I'm just not sure about resting the plywood directly on those ribs....wouldn't that cause squeaking?

mine did squeak but, I fixed it on accident. when I layed the carpet down over the ribs it quit.

I've got some of those clamp-on swivel seats for it already which i'm gonna rig to make them more solid and not move around.

cool, you can always play with this part in the future.

So I was hoping maybe some of you guys may have a few suggestions to make it better, or tips that may help my process go a little smoother.

Do you plan on scuffing the old paint or taking it down to bare metal?

 

[Bubba]

I'm thinking 3/8" plywood covered with "turf". Then doing the same on top of the seats....screwing the plywood to the tops of those and covering them as well. I'm not looking to make a deck or anything, just enough to cover the floor just over the "ribs" in that center section.

I'd say perfect

I'm just not sure about resting the plywood directly on those ribs....wouldn't that cause squeaking?

mine did squeak but, I fixed it on accident. when I layed the carpet down over the ribs it quit.

I've got some of those clamp-on swivel seats for it already which i'm gonna rig to make them more solid and not move around.

cool, you can always play with this part in the future.


So I was hoping maybe some of you guys may have a few suggestions to make it better, or tips that may help my process go a little smoother.

Do you plan on scuffing the old paint or taking it down to bare metal?

Thanks FishingBuds.

So on the squeeking, you basically covered both sides of the plywood instead of just the one side?


On the painting, It just depends I guess...I hadn't planned on taking all of it all the way down, but there may be some spots that are...just not sure.

 

[whj812]

Nice Jon!! That ought to fix up nice!!!

 

[FishingBuds]

I'm thinking 3/8" plywood covered with "turf". Then doing the same on top of the seats....screwing the plywood to the tops of those and covering them as well. I'm not looking to make a deck or anything, just enough to cover the floor just over the "ribs" in that center section.

I'd say perfect

I'm just not sure about resting the plywood directly on those ribs....wouldn't that cause squeaking?

mine did squeak but, I fixed it on accident. when I layed the carpet down over the ribs it quit.

I've got some of those clamp-on swivel seats for it already which i'm gonna rig to make them more solid and not move around.

cool, you can always play with this part in the future.


So I was hoping maybe some of you guys may have a few suggestions to make it better, or tips that may help my process go a little smoother.

Do you plan on scuffing the old paint or taking it down to bare metal?

Thanks FishingBuds.

So on the squeeking, you basically covered both sides of the plywood instead of just the one side?

Kinda, its wrapped around about three inches and stapled. but what actually did it is when(you can see it in my pics) I layed down some carpet on the floor of the baot for storage. I ran it over the ribs on some spots. I guess the combo of overlapping and the carpet flooring did it

On the painting, It just depends I guess...I hadn't planned on taking all of it all the way down, but there may be some spots that are...just not sure.

Well I had to take it down to bare metal, it had a terrible paint job that had visible brush strokes, if you choose to do this, I would advise not to strip where you plan to cover it up with carpet and or plywood. From your photo it looks like a simple light sanding will work


Do you plan on using a ecthing primer?

 

[Bubba]

FishingBuds, I'm not sure on the primer. I bought some Rustoleum Professional primer that I was planning on using, but now i'm seeing a few places people do recommend using that etching primer...so i'm not sure wether to go ahead with what I got, or hold out.


On your floor, Have you got a pic of the underside of the middle section on your boat? I'm not exactly sure what needs to be done there, or if i'm basically just gonna be laying the covered plywood straight onto the ribs, or if I need some extra "ribs" fastened onto the plywood?

 

[FishingBuds]

If you don't have to take it to bare metal then the rustoleum should be fine, its cool.

If you decide to go with Ecthing primer remember to let it dry 24hrs before you apply a finish coat, this is what I wanted to tell ya.

I picked up 4 cans of the ecthing primer at Wal-Mart, the stuff was hard to spray, you had to spray light coats or it would run very easy.

What I did different on the middle floor is I used 1 ½ by 1/8 thick aluminum square tubing. I ran three runners across the ribs of the boat. I laid down carpet where I planned to put three dry storages compartments. I added 5/8 plywood strips on top of the square tubing, then screwed down the plywood floor(5/8 thick) drenched with Thompson water sealer to the tubing. This gave me a total clearance of 3 plus inches and its used for the big Plano boxes for plastics, and first aid kit and do dads.

If your not intrested in some storage just lay it down on the ribs, but you still might need some cushion there for the squeaks.

Don't forget you'll have to cut a new piece if you decide to raise the floor.

 

[Bubba]

If you don't have to take it to bare metal then the rustoleum should be fine, its cool.

If you decide to go with Ecthing primer remember to let it dry 24hrs before you apply a finish coat, this is what I wanted to tell ya.

I picked up 4 cans of the ecthing primer at Wal-Mart, the stuff was hard to spray, you had to spray light coats or it would run very easy.

What I did different on the middle floor is I used 1 ½ by 1/8 thick aluminum square tubing. I ran three runners across the ribs of the boat. I laid down carpet where I planned to put three dry storages compartments. I added 5/8 plywood strips on top of the square tubing, then screwed down the plywood floor(5/8 thick) drenched with Thompson water sealer to the tubing. This gave me a total clearance of 3 plus inches and its used for the big Plano boxes for plastics, and first aid kit and do dads.

If your not intrested in some storage just lay it down on the ribs, but you still might need some cushion there for the squeaks.

Don't forget you'll have to cut a new piece if you decide to raise the floor.

Thats the main thing i'm wondering about how to do...is that I don't want it permanent...I wanna be able to take it out after those "muddy trip" to clean the boat out good and clean it out, so I just wanna cover the actual aluminum of the boat up is all.

I think what I may do is cover one side of the plywood and wrap it around the edge and staple/glue it like that. Then run a few strips of carpet across the backside of the plywood where it will lay on the ribs of the boat and I think that'd do it. And i'll just cut it where it'll fit in there snug so I don't have to worry about it moving any while its down.


I may get a can of that etching primer just for places that may show some bare aluminum just in case, then prime the entire boat, then put on my topcoat. What kind of paint did you use for the topcoat? I'm thinking of a dull green on the outside, and a sand color on the inside, but I want them to be flat...not shiny at all.

 

[FishingBuds]

You won't believe me if I told ya :lol:

Its army olive green MARINE paint at your local Army Surplus store

I bought a gallon, and about 2/3rds is left. it was around $25 bucks

The primer at Wal-mart was by the car scents at my store(weird place)

 

[tornado]

The primer at Wal-mart was by the car scents at my store(weird place)

So thats were they hide it! I found some Duplicolor Self-Etching Primer at the auto parts stores, $6 a can!