1648 Lowe Refresh part II

[evidrine]

Looks good. I like the colors.

 

[Abraham]

Thanks guys. Ordered a pair of cheap plastic seats since I don't plan on sitting on them much :mrgreen: Looking at switch panels but unsure on what to get.

 

[Abraham]

Well the cheap seats were backordered so I ordered three of these.

Received one of them Friday luckily and the other two should be here tomorrow. Went by my friends with the one and measured the height I want the seat at in relation to the console. Plan is to buy five more bases and either have my other friend build a number of extensions or purchase a variety for fine tuning the seat height. Probably the former for stability sake.

Edit incoming after some I take some pics.

 

[Abraham]

This is the height I want the driver and passenger seats. Six inches from seat bottom to the floor.


But if I cut off the extension at the top of the interior bushing to try to get this height it'll be a couple inches taller than what I'm after. Dumb end of the tape marks the top of the bushing.


If the seat base shaft was just a few inches longer I could mount the floor base upside down (like shown in the first pic) with a valve spring acting as a bushing, but if I did, it would leave a third of the seat shaft out of the bushing on the extension. I wouldn't be worried but the 5mph warning on these seat parts make me think they'll be unstable no matter how they're mounted.

Ordered a SeaSense 5 gang switch panel with a power outlet for a spotlight or phone charger option.
https://www.amazon.com/SeaSense-Marine-Way-Switch-Panel/dp/B003E24MKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428279293&sr=8-1&keywords=marine+switch+panel

Figured if I end up needing more switches I can get another panel that matches this one.

Sorry about the lack of pics but should be able to post some once some work actually get's done. Thanks for reading and I'm open to any suggestions

 

[Hanr3]

Looks good.
Are you sure you want the seats that low? They get harder to get out of the older/tired you get. :mrgreen:

 

[Abraham]

Looks good.
Are you sure you want the seats that low? They get harder to get out of the older/tired you get. :mrgreen:

My age is the main reason for the height tbh lol. Leaning over a steering wheel with too tall of a seat makes for a sore back anymore. The plan is to have a number of extensions for the other seats depending on what I'm fishing for. Staying comfortable for the majority of the fishing trips is priority number one. Hopefully I'll be fishing more than driving haha.

Ordered another base to mount on the floor for the passenger seat today. At 20 bucks a pop I'll probably try to spread out the expense and add seats as I can. Plus I'm going to head over to my friends shop tomorrow to discuss the manufacturing of the seat extensions. Probably going to save some cash since I'm sure he'll come up with better ideas than me. He's quite skilled in fabrication.

Not trying to sound cheesy or melodramatic but I'm just hoping this thing comes together like I think it will. Getting quality stuff and taking my time putting it together I'm hoping for a smooth transition from build to putting it in the water. Have had this boat for two years now and aside from when I bought it, I haven't seen it in the water. After the crappy hunting this winter I am just ready to relax on the lake and bring in some fish. Crappie or bass on the poles and flathead or channel on the limb lines.

Just want to smell my catch cooking on the campfire while I relax with a beverage before eating my fill and hitting the hay, shore side

As always, thanks for reading.

 

[Gators5220]

Dude I dig that steering wheel, sick little jon boat you got going...

 

[Abraham]

Dude I dig that steering wheel, sick little jon boat you got going...

Thanks man, appreciate the feedback.

Took my seat pieces over to my buddies shop after work. Just set them down and told him what I was wanting to do. He grabs some calipers and measures the seat stem, walks out to a truck bed trailer he uses to scrap metal and pulls out this dowel rod. Measures it and brings it back inside. It's damn near a perfect fit lol. It's sold by the foot at the local hardware store.


The plan is to grind off the weld holding in the shaft of the seat base in the RH pic and just weld a longer piece of this dowel rod in place of it. I'll find a valve spring with the correct ID to act a bushing/shock absorber and voila! Driver and passenger seats set perfectly.



This pic shows the shaft basically out of the floor base. A piece with just a few inches more length will work out great.

 

[Abraham]

Not much progress but did get the seat base done. Ground off the weld, hammered the piece out and welded in the longer one.






Ordered the last two seat bases and need to get back to work on it. Turkey season is going to take up this weekend though. Stoked for it tbh lol. Probably some progress on the boat in the next week. Thanks for reading

Funny turkey attacks
[youtube]TPwDElfX2Yg[/youtube]

 

[Abraham]

Took the modified seat bases over to my buddies and started drilling holes in the floor for the driver and passenger seats.


Used two hole saws to have that step to make up for the mount base seen here. Would like to get a single longer spring for these but for now two valve springs and the factory one will do. They compress quite nicely.


Here's how it looks with the seats in place. Only brought two valve springs so the passenger is lower.


Have a list of fasteners to pick up tomorrow to get the console and controls in place. Weather has been crap and will continue through the weekend apparently. Might get some turkey hunting in Sunday if it clears off. Next up will be wiring up the switch panel and lighting. Have to repair a bolt hole in the steering wheel mount but other than that it should be just putting everything back together and hoping it starts. Thanks for reading and hopefully soon I'll be posting fishing pics

 

[JustinS]

That steering wheel is pimp 8)

 

[dwwscran]

man i am really lovin your build. have the same lowe hull but with two bench seats. (2nd one removed by po) i have had the exact same switch panel in mine now for 8 years and have never had a lick of trouble. keep up the good work.

 

[Abraham]

Thanks for the encouragement and good luck on your build! Would have had some progress pics but nothing worked out tonight and we went hunting instead.

 

[bthompson92]

Great looking boat! It is looking good so far!

 

[Abraham]

Between spring turkey and spoonbill season I have been slacking on the boat something fierce. I have been rounding up all the stuff to finish up but haven't touched it much tbh. Hoping to get it running tomorrow though and it's almost looking like it might be close to ready to fish lol. Got a trolling motor off Amazon, should have went bigger in hindsight, but a 45lb should do okay. Hit to the wallet was rough but I have a four day weekend coming up and mean to take advantage of it! Wanted the 50lb but didn't have the extra cash laying around and want to be on the water asap. Regretting it already...

This is it.
https://www.amazon.com/MinnKota-Powerdrive-Trolling-Control-Thrust/dp/B002VW4KTW/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1431478662&sr=1-1&keywords=minnkota+powerdrive+45+v2

Anyone have experience with this particular motor or one of similar thrust on the same sized vessel? Any help would be great.

Also got another deep cycle Interstate to make a pair, a new bilge pump and plumbing for it, 5 gang switch panel with a cigarette lighter, and another seat base and extension.
Sort of changed the seating arrangement after trying them out the other night. The tall seat on the bow felt very unstable and felt much better on the bow floor. With that pedestal mounted the only one left will be the one in the middle of the stern behind the two main seats. My buddy has taken to calling it the first mates seat lol.

Still have a ton of stuff to do it seems and it'll be a miracle if I'm on the water as soon as I want. Wish me luck and thanks for reading

Since I have no pics of the boat, here's the spoonbill from the other day. Sadly no turkey pic to post.



Also posted that in the "what did you catch today thread" but if you haven't seen it...45lbs on my first trip. Had a great time.

 

[derekdiruz1]

laying the hammer down with the 19!

 

[Abraham]

Made some good progress today but also had a small setback.

Got to the boat about 10:30 this morning. Changed out the fuel line that had hardened, mixed the fuel, and hooked up the battery.



Took a few videos of when we were trying to get it to start but can't seem to put them on photobucket for some reason. Did get it started after a few minutes but it wasn't idling very well and I noticed it wasn't peeing. It had sat for a while so we unhooked the water line inside the engine and put air to it while I squezed the muffs to check for blockage. No luck with that lol. Luckily my friend had just installed an impeller on a coworkers 75hp a week ago so off came the lower unit.


Not much impeller left lol. It did seem to barely pee last time I had started it but that was a year ago. The blades looked like they were freshly broken and there were big pieces of it inside. I'm thinking they might have broken as soon as it started.



There is a marine shop about 20 minutes away that might have the repair kit so if it works out I can get one tomorrow. The cup that the impeller rides in is also damaged so I'm hoping it comes with that. It seems like it would be for setting the tolerance like on an amc or olds v-8 oil pump.


Should I change the exhaust gasket while I'm in there? It looked okay but not sure of the risks. Any advice?

 

[Abraham]

Since the engine would have to wait we mounted the other two seat bases. Didn't take pics but here's an old one.

This time we used a spade bit to go through the actual floor inside of the holesaw. It worked much better and was much less worried about going through the bottom of the boat :mrgreen:

The various layouts.




The valve spring idea in hindsight was stupid. They don't seem to want to take a weld and it'll be a pita to pick them up while swapping seats so the extended ones are going to be cut back down to even shorter than the originals and the seats will be much lower than I previously wanted. The factory length would be hitting the bottom and I don't need any holes there. It still sits fine if not a little rickety. Tbh the bases that I chose to use are very low quality. I've already broken the bushing in the drivers seat base just from pulling a seat out of it and sitting on it a handful of times. Figure they should be able to take 200lbs but oh well. I'll be changing some stuff this fall probably and maybe I'll address them if it becomes a big problem.

 

[Abraham]

We both wanted to quit at this point because we were getting cooked out in the sun but needed to get as much done as possible. On to the trolling motor.
Minn Kota 45lb thrust. Has a little meter that tells you when the battery is getting low so that's cool. Also has an 18ft cord on the pedal which should come in handy.



Felt bad for my friend having to stick a shoulder and his head inside that cubby to get to the nuts up in the corner. He was blessing the hardware over and over but got it mounted lol. I've never had a foot powered troller so it took some practice just getting it off the mount and back.



Called it a day after that. Wiring it up sometime this week in hopes of launching Friday. As always, thanks for reading.

 

[Abraham]

Got the water pump kit today along with some other small stuff and headed over after work in hopes of getting the motor running. Turns out the kit was short one of the gaskets for the impeller housing. Not too upset because crap happens but would have been nice to hear it run. The gasket should be here in the morning and I'll be back to it tomorrow evening. I fear that the carb is dirty since it wouldn't idle the other day and hope I can get away without having it rebuilt/cleaned. Anyone know of an additive to use that might help? I don't believe in the stuff personally but want to be on the water Friday.

I'll mention this in the led light thread but installed some of the ones I got off ebay and they were laying on the ground in the morning. Adhesive was garbage. Not sure if I should find something else to apply them with, put them in a clear tube and mount that, or ditch them and get better ones.

Thanks for reading and hopefully tomorrow works out.