9 foot jon boat "sears Elgin"...new member

[tombiosis]

hello, love this site! I've been checking out the boat fixes and am blown away.
I just acquired a small jon boat that I want to fix up, so I will have many questions. I hope I can find some help here.
first off, does anyone have any info or links for this boat?

 

[Brine]

:WELCOME: tombiosis

Here ya go https://www.martyonline.com/sears-elgin/

Looks like the 9-ft Pram [J]

$152 new back in the day 8)

 

[SaltyBuckster]

That looks to be a fun little project.Great article also on the old boats.

 

[tombiosis]

Cool!
Thanks for the link. I got this boat for free! Once I saw some of the restorations on this forum, I thought this cool little boat would be an excellent candidate for a really nice restoration...
I wonder what year the boat was made...haven't found a serial number yet.
As you might see from the pics, a tree fell on the boat, so it is in need of some major repair...bottom looks good though. I want to find someone who is an expert at welding aluminum...tough around here I'm afraid...
Once I get her leak proof, I want to pimp it out a bit...maybe some carpet, paint, electronics...
I want to keep it very light weight though. I hope to strap it to a rack on my 4 wheeler to access the many remote trout lakes near my camp.
Can anyone tell me what the 2 holes were for on the base of the front bench seat?
There is no foam in there...so storage maybe?

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Looks like them holes were to throw some stuff in there and get it out of the way.

 

[tombiosis]

Hmmmm
well if it is for storage, why wouldn't they just put 1 larger rectangular hole...? 2 round holes doesn't really make sense to me. you can't put much of anything through there. I think it might have been for some specific reason.
Either way, I can't wait to get started on this resto, but I don't have a garage, so it may be awhile....sigh

 

[Brine]

Cool!
Thanks for the link. I got this boat for free! Once I saw some of the restorations on this forum, I thought this cool little boat would be an excellent candidate for a really nice restoration...
I wonder what year the boat was made...haven't found a serial number yet.

I would guess 1958 given the date of the advertisement.

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Mine has two rectangolar holes for storage.I think that the smaller holes are so that you don't put too much stuff in there,lol.