My bass boat conversion/restoration project...

My dad went through a pretty nasty divorce a few years ago and most of his stuff was scattered all around in different places. He gave me this boat the other day and it had been sitting up in one of his friend's back yard. The motor hasn't been ran in at least 6 years that I know of, and it's been sitting in one of his friend's back yards for at least 3 to 4 years now. From what he tells me, the motor ran like a top when he was using it for hunting and some light fishing. The only issue he had with it was that it wouldn't shift from forward or reverse to neutral properly. Anyway, I'm not sure what brand it is, but it measures 14'x5'x18". I went ahead and tore out the old floors which were rotten. I've only found 1 leak so far, and I fixed it with some epoxy. I'd like to coat the inside with a non-slip rubber coating, and re-cover the floors with foam siding, plywood, carpet and paint the outside black. I plan to remove the middle bench, and build a deck with storage from the bow to the front bench, and build a deck as well as storage from the stern to the rear bench. I have a general idea of what I'd like to do, but I'm open to any suggestions or ideas. Looking to have it on the water before the fall. Thanks for looking.

Looks like a cool project. Find your VIN tag on the hull or title paperwork, the first or last 2 letters should be the manufacturers code. For the motor make sure it's idling low enough or it won't want to shift correctly. I've always been a big fan of getting the factory manual on my motors and making sure everything works correctly.

My only suggestion for your build is spend a lot of time deciding what you want the boat to do, then make a plan on paper on how to get there. Finally follow the plan. Read many threads in this sub-forum and you'll make a lot fewer mistakes than the rest of us have over the years.

I'm looking to do something similar to what this guy did here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY56dn8TTsk

I just don't want to add too much weight, I weigh almost 300 lbs. and my buddy weighs almost about 180.

I've already ordered the manual for the motor, I'm hoping it'll be here in a few days. I'd like to run it before I start the conversion. I also just noticed the transom board has rotted out. I think that is going to be a royal pain in the rear to replace, because I'm going to have to tear out some bracing and drill out a bunch of rivets. Still, I think once I'm done, I'll have a really sweet little rig. Thanks for replying.

Concerning the motor, go here: https://www.leeroysramblings.com/starting-old-motors.htm

This guy has a ton of advice on outboard motors and knows what he is talking about.

Good luck with your project.