13'4" Gregor Mod Project

[Iczer]

Hi awesome site, I've been lurking on here for many months now and am addicted to this site. I think I have read over every forum post on every build and every 1 off project on these forums 100 times I've been a avid bass fisherman since I was little and always wanted a boat but never had the time to focus on one until this came along. Last fall I was blessed to receive a free boat & trailer from a family friend and am in the process of fixing it up and doing some modding. I did some digging around on the Gregor website and found the specs for my boat.

Model: H-34S (The S is for the side steering)
Length: 13'4"
Beam: 64"
Depth Bow: 26"
Depth Amid: 24"
Depth Stern: 21"
Trans Height: 15"
Hull Weight: 187lbs.
Hull Thickness: .063
Max Cap: 800lbs
Max Persons: 4
Max HP: 20 (It came with a 25hp Johnson exceeding the 20 but with side steering I believe its ok)

Some background on the boat ... the person I got it from already had a boat when he received this one some 10-15 years ago so this sat partially covered for that long out in the elements. He pulled it out at the end of summer last year and drove it around a lake to make sure it floated, motor worked, it didn't leak anywhere and he said all is well.

All the benches are crumbling to the touch and the floor was waterlogged and upon picking it up just disintegrated in my hands. The throttle control was intact but the shift was broken inside the control box. There is a plastic connector that holds the line to the lever that was broke. I picked up a new plastic piece on ebay as well as a full new control box all for less than $20.

Pics I took last fall of the boat as it looked when I brought it home:

I was able to clean it out and remove all the wood in the boat except the transom which is wedged in behind the rear supports so tight I think I would have to break the welds off to get it out (which another guy on these forums did to his Gregor and it caused some problems) so I will leave it. I took the power washer to it and blasted off about 10 years of grime and gunk.

My ideas for this boat are a low floor to replace the nightmare that was there, a bench level front deck with some hatches to store stuff out of the way, bench level rear deck with hatches in the bench and behind to cover the gas area and battery. I would like to put foam under the floor anywhere I can to compensate for what I will need to remove from the benches for storage. I would like 2 seats that I can move around from place to place on the boat with some fixed bases and 2 short posts for when a friend and I are on quiet lakes.

Based on the boat specs, motor and pics does anyone see any issues with any of those ideas?

 

[bassfishinh123]

I think this boat is gonna look great after rebuild

 

[Iczer]

So after reading over the forums all winter long and planning what I wanted to do I set off to get this project going when the weather warmed up. I'm not good at keeping a post up to date as I'm going so this is what I've done since the last post.



Front framing with seat base in position.

Rough front deck cut out, this was the first run without the hatches.

Rough rear deck with hatches. The hatches shown here ended up being much larger to allow the gas tank and batteries to fit in and out through the hatch. The particle board on the floor was some random pieces I had laying around that I used as a trial and error to get the sizes right.

Middle bench. Nothing fancy here, I ended up making a center spot for a 3rd seat base. I added a block of 3/4 plywood for support under the bench where the seat will be bolted.

Carpeted rear deck with all hatches. I used contact cement, laying the pieces on the garage floor and coating them with it and then flipping the ply over and laying it flat on the carpet. Then I coated the edges of the ply and the overhanging carpet and folded it around the edge and stapled it from the bottom with stainless staples. This actually turned out better than expected and was easier than I anticipated.

Carpeted center bench and flooring.

This has been quite an adventure, I wasnt sure if I was going to be able to pull most of the work off but for a first run at doing anything like this at all I'm happy with the outcome so far.

 

[nomowork]

Looks like the exact same boat I just picked up. I had the same console but with the shifter box on the right side of the hull. I took the controls and the console out yesterday as the steering cable is frozen. Thanks for posting the pictures as they give me an idea of how to do the floors.

Although mine has a splash well on the transom.

 

[Iczer]

Updating with more progress, so far I am happy with it. Having little to no experience with most of what I have done the quality of work is better than I expected. Thank you tinboats!!!

All floors, hatches, benches and decks carpeted. All hinges attached, 3 nylon loop pulls added to three hatches. All seat base plates bolted down through the deck/bench and into the aluminum frame under.

The seats when on the posts feel very high to me, the posts will be used on the most calm of lakes I think, at least they are solid being bolted directly through the 3/4 ply and into the aluminum angle underneath. I would like to carpet the vertical parts of the benches but I ran out of 1/2 plywood to cover all that I need and I'm trying to cut back on the expense. I may do a test and try and attach the carpet directly to the aluminum on one of them to see how it goes.

I still need to run the cables for the shift and throttle from back to front so I can screw down the floors then I can move on to cleaning up the swiss cheese of a transom the previous owner left.


Front deck with 3 hatches + seat with optional post installed:

Middle bench:

Rear deck with 4 hatches + seat with optional post installed:

 

[fender66]

Looks great. Very nicely done! =D>

 

[Iczer]

Very late update ... the boats done for now. There are a few things I'd like to do to it still but the time to actually take it fishing came quicker than the projects I had planned so they will go on hold till fall/winter. A couple of neighbors came over that are experienced with motors and worked on it. We replaced some fuel lines and wiring that was shot all to pieces. Sunk the motor in a 1/2 barrel of water and fired it up and it ran good. After that I added a 4 switch panel, bilge pump with auto float switch and a battery level gauge and packed it up to go fishing. She worked great, far better than I expected ... I didn't find any leaks that I could see anywhere so apparently I sealed up any holes pretty well. We packed up and went camping, boat in tow and it was awesome. After the week of using it there's some stuff I will be changing like the placement of the battery farther forward, adding a compass and clock to the boat (cant tell time by the sun very well hehe). For the first boat I've ever owned and being a total boat novice it was freeking awesome.

Here's some pics of the finished product and of the couple fish I managed to get pics of (links only this time).

Boat in the water after the first test run: https://i52.tinypic.com/2j1r6si.jpg
Me with my gaggle of kids (family and friends) that like to go fishing with me: https://i53.tinypic.com/2d6pcat.jpg

Fruits of my labor.
20" pike caught on one outing: https://i56.tinypic.com/x25pq0.jpg
16" Smallie (the most fun fish I've ever caught): https://i55.tinypic.com/ouo67r.jpg

I also caught a 5" and 13" smallie that I had to put back and 2 huge pearch 8 and 10 inches. They were the biggest perch I ever caught and I was so excited to filet them I forgot to take pics before I did

 

[fender66]

Love the "finished for now" boat. I think you did a great job and the fish, especially that smallmouth are great! Congrats! =D> =D>

 

[223nbecker45]

Great looking boat. What else do you have planned?

 

[Iczer]

Not much really just little things, there's way to much weight in the back, with myself in the middle, my brother in law in the back and 2 little kids at full speed the boat could barely get on plane so moving the battery to the front is #1. The front most hatch is just open to the bottom of the bow for putting life jackets and other light junk but I'll have to rig a support to hold the battery there and run all the wires to it. Adding lights to the boat so I can keep it out after dusk is #2 as well as adding compass and some kinda clock. Adding a fish finder of some sort and trolling motor of my own (the one in the pic was borrowed from a friend). I may carpet the vertical sides of the benches just because I have carpet left over and I think I'll like the look of it more. Oh and lastly a new steering wheel ... the one on there sat out uncovered for 15 or so years and its weathered all to death. Its cracked a bit and leaves this powdery feeling crap on your hands.

 

[fender66]

Some fish finders have clocks in them. Plan properly and you can kill 2 birds with one fish finder.

 

[JustDucky]

Great looking boat! I'm working on my own 13'4" Gregor and am currently adding the aluminum angle framing for the deck. It doesn't look like you have a whole lot of support for the deck at the bow in front of the seat, and I am also wondering if the hatches at the stern are structural - can you stand on them? I would worry especially at the bow that the angle would dig into the hull if you applied pressure. Thanks for any input!

 

[Iczer]

Its hard to see in the pics of the bow framing but the angle rests on the small brackets that are riveted through the hull. The bottom edge of the side supports are cut to match the contour of the hull so they wont dig in unless the rivets break off or something.

As for the stern hatches, they are indeed structural, I built the stern framing as 2 rectangles that are attached to the bench, outside corner of the boat and the transom support in the middle. The hatches rest right on top of the angle and is very solid.

 

[JustDucky]

Awesome - thanks for the infomration! I'll post an update of my project very soon and you'll see that I copied you pretty closely. You did a great job!

 

[Iczer]

Sweet, I cant wait to see what you do.

A few minor changes to the boat setup since I last posted. I finally moved the battery into the front bench hatch and added a 2nd battery for a trolling motor on the other front bench hatch. I left the front most hatch the way it was and just keep life jackets, smaller tackle boxes and other items in there. I don't have a TM at the moment, I have been using a friends, but I plan on getting one for next year for sure. I took 2 battery boxes and screwed through them with fender washers strait into the aluminum frame so they wont go anywhere. I then strapped the batteries down inside the boxes with black rubber bungie cables they are nice and solid. The redistributed wait really makes the boat get on plane on a dime with just myself in the boat. I now have a hatch in the stern that I can use that has 2x the space that was in the front seat. It will just get wet a lot as its part of the bilge area so I think I will try and find a nice sized plastic bin with a snap tight lid that fits in there and will attach it to the rear bench. I think I can use this for dry storage if all works out.

I've also purchased an installed an Eagle Cuda 350 S/MAP after reading over many posts on tinboats about good $150 level fish finders and that thing is freeeking awesome. I didn't think it was going to be as good as it actually is .. plus it has the GPS and all. It covers the compass, clock and fish finder of my "to do" list. The other thing on my list was lights ... knowing I will eventually do them properly (which costs more) I went the easy route for now buying a bow and stern light set from Walmart that more resembles a flashlight for both. They take D batteries and don't feel like they will last more than a few years but thats fine for the $30 I spent on the both of them.

After that last batch of updates to the boat I took it out on a lake that is right down the road from me and had a great 2 days there.

Link to some of my catch those 2 days last weekend: https://tinypic.com/a/2oxs9/1

hey fender, or another admin, shoudl this post get moved to the mod section since it ended up being the full build?

 

[Iczer]

Updating this after the winter with more mod action.

I got the boat out, oiled up the engine and checked everything out and all made it through the winter ok. I sunk the engine in a 1/2 barrel of water and went to fire it up and it wouldnt turn over but was clicking. I remembered having this problem at the end of the year after I put the batteries up front. I messed around with it for a while and what I determined (I could be wrong) was that the jumper cables I used to extend the engine cables to the front of the boat were either not big enough, connection wasnt solid or the cables were too long. I tried every combination of solving those 3 things and it fired up fine when I hooked direct to the battery, so I ended up moving one of the batteries back to the rear. I'm hoping with the engine/bilge pump battery in the back and the everything else battery in the front (opposite side) the weight will even out.

Now that issue is solved I came to the to do list left over from last year, I wanted proper external lights for being legal at night and also interior lights so you could tie on a hook or deal with whatever in the boat without having to rely on a flashlight. So I bought 4 banks of LED lights and a bow light (red/green) and some wire and went to town. I remembered last year reading a post from someone on this forum about the LED's and how bright they are and how he had them mounted up higher and they were right in line with your eyes which was not ideal. So I opted to mount my rear lights down under the lip of the seat facing forward and the front lights I put one under the lip of the front deck facing aft and the other on the front edge of the steering console facing aft. I killed the lights in the garage and tested it out ... WOOOOO! It lights up the inside of the boat nicely and doesnt blind you unless you look directly at them, which is fine becuase they are down lower.

External running light and two aft interior lights.

Front lights

After that success I zip tied up all the wiring so its out of the way and I am ready to rock. The only item left on my to do list is to get a aft light on a pole that plugs into a socket that I will mount. I will use the flashlight on a pole one I have from lastyear for now.

 

[rickybobbybend]

Nice work, Iczer. And nice to see you using the boat so much.

 

[kfa4303]

Looks great and I love the lines of the boat itself. Are Gregor's made out West?

 

[Iczer]

Thanks.

I think they are made out west, this one came from CA origionally.