First time boat owner. Few questions.

Dormsauce · May 13, 2013

Hey guys been browsing the forums for a little less than a week when i decided i better make an account. Picked up my first Flat bottom Jon boat and trailer Friday. Its a 1974 Appleby 16ft 36in wide at the bottom and 55in wide at the top and 18in sides. Came with a 5hp short shaft unsure of the make and model due to the previous owner losing the hood of the motor and not knowing anything about it. The boat has had some work done on the inside by the original owner. He installed plywood floors which were screwed into the ribs of the boat.. and put plywood on the sides (wasnt screwed in) and put plywood over the benches which were screwed in. All which was carpeted. He also put a deck on the front using 2x4s that was boxed in and wasting space. All of the wood was pretty much rotted. So with all of that being said i started to tear the deck out and found that he had drilled 10 holes in the front and side about 2 inches down to bolt 2x4s in place to hold the plywood decking..What will be the best way to cover these holes up or fill them in? I have no welding experience lol. Picking up a 1981 Sea King by Chrysler 7.5hp tonight which is VERY VERY clean to push the boat ( all lakes i fish here in Iowa have 9.9 limits for the most part) Anyways im just looking to get the boat out on the water asap to fish. Fishing from the banks most my life im excited to get out in a boat! Idea for now is to put some type of water sealant on plywood and put in a removable floor and eventually put a low raised deck in with a little storage possibly. Looking forward to hearing advice from you GREAT boat people! 1st by the way

Hoping all the pictures work.

Dormsauce · May 13, 2013

Plate on the outside of the front that has a handle but also looks to cover up two of the rivets that hold the bench that have broken up in pictures above. What shall i do about this?

Jonboat Jerry · May 14, 2013

Looks like a real project DormSauce.
You have a good start removing the carpeting and wood, just keep going until it's all gone, then you can see what you really have.
Once that's done, take a wire brush in a drill and go over the boat inside and out to get rid of all that corrosion especially around those rivets on the seat.
If the seats are dog eared at the rivet points, you could remove it and have someone weld a strip along the edge to reattach to the boat.
Small holes can be filled with JB Weld then sanded.
A rotozip would make short work of those rusted bolts around the bow and I would replace the plate with an aluminum one.
It looks like a lot of work, so make a list and follow it, checking off things as you go.
Welcome to Tin Boats and be sure to fill out your profile so we can see where you are. There may be a member near you that
could give you some help too......Just Keep Hacking....Jerry

bigwave · May 14, 2013

:WELCOME: Looks like you have a good boat for total restore....like Jerry said, make a list......start buying all the stuff and make it the way you want it. There is a ton on info on here and some really good folks to help you along. Good luck and take lots of pictures.

harleydoc · May 14, 2013

You could plug the holes with some solid reverts an some 3M 5200 or some stainless bolts with some 3M 5200 or have them welded up. I would not use JB weld it will come out down the road.

Dormsauce · May 14, 2013

Thanks for the tips and advice guys i really do appreciate it! Trying to get out on it asap! And with funds being a little tight, what should be done first? Once finish gutting it ill think ill fill in the holes in the bow with SS bolts, washers? and 3M 5200, then get the plate replaced with an aluminum one and re-welded and take it from there! Thanks and ill update with pictures as soon as i make some progress!

Dormsauce · May 20, 2013

Time for an update! Finished gutting the boat of all the rotting wood and carpet. Installed 1"x1"x1/8" aluminum angle and built a frame to hold a front deck and storage. Its very very sturdy and no holes were put in the boat. Can be taken out and removed with 9 screws. Still in the works but for the weekend we just used a regular piece of plywood and cut out the shape of the frame and screwed it down with a couple screws just to test it out on the waters and i couldn't be happier with how it worked! Hopefully this weekend ill get some pink foam board in between the ribs so i have a flat surface then the plan is to lay some type of lite weight sturdy sheeting over it and bond carpet to it. Then replace the front deck with a new piece of plywood with some type of waterproofing on it (Ideas?) and carpet it. Still a work in progress but it was nice to get her out on the water and try it out.