Gotta get ready for gator season!!! 14'flat bottom/johnson25

[minicuda]

The wood on the back deck is looking sweet! I'll be watching this one. Great job so far. Thanks for your service to our fine country! God Bless the Marines!

Couple questions for ya on your boat. It looks to be built very well to me. Ribs are reinforced with nice gussets, looks to have a fairly tall transome.

How wide is the bottom of your boat?
How tall is your transome?
Is the boat fully welded or does it have rivets any where?

The reason I ask is if the transome is fairly tall, the boat's fully welded and fairly wide I'd say 48" or so with remote steering a 40 may not be to crazy. But a 40 tiller I would not do for sure.

 

[Mr.Green]

thats what i was thinking about its 48-49 wide at the bottom and the transome is 15 tall it does have a lot of welding holding it but the ribs are riveted in but they are welded together at the seems ill post detailed pics tomorrow. Thanks for watching. iv also been wondering because my boats transome is the lower but could ealsy be rebuilt and raised to 20", is there a diference in performance in a short shaft and a long shaft. and if so witch is beter.

 

[benjineer]

I think one thing minicuda is getting at is that it's harder to find a short shaft 40hp. My 16' V-hull has a 48" wide bottom, and I think the 25 is going to be just fine for me. That said, your 25 is older, and is probably the equivalent of a modern 22.5 if they made one. That is because they changed the way they measured horsepower I think around 1990. I say fix it, try it, see what you think.

That model had a condenser and points. I think you have to pull the flywheel (may need impact wrench) to get to them , but points wear out/burn up or can get some corrosion, etc on them that keep them from working. A breaker assembly (part #0580148) or set of points is only $10. It requires 2 sets, so it could be either the points or the coil for that cylinder. I think if I took the flywheel off I'd replace both sets and the condenser (part #0580422) $5.35. You can do that for less than the cost of a coil. If you want to check the coils, switch them and see if the problem moves. If the coil that wouldn't fire does fire when wired to the other set of points, then the coil is not the problem. Again, I'm no outboard expert, but I used to follow my dad the mechanic around to work on tractors, cars, etc. Newer engines don't use breaker points, but I do remember them being one of the first things to check when the fire stopped.

 

[Mr.Green]

Thanks really good info i would have been ordering parts and replacing them till i prob had a whole new motor lol.
well havent worked on the boat in like three days. been working alot but today spent another hundred dollars on stuff got all the wood ill need to finish and wire brushes for the grinder and some spray in bed liner for the inside of the boat and the stain and water seal. hopfully ill get alot done tomorrow.

 

[reedjj]

I cant believe I am going to actually say this.......40hp is too much for that boat! Mine is a 1542 with a 15" transom and has a max HP of 25. Being that I am who I am, I started my build with plans of nothing less than a 40/30 jet or 30-35 prop. I was very discouraged when my motor guy told me that a properly set up 25hp would be better than a bigger heavier motor on my boat. I trusted him because he wouldn not sell me a 35hp johnson for $1800.00 and did sell me a 25hp Merc for $750.00

So I ended up with a 1999 25hp merc 2 stroke longsaft on a jackplate and got it set up right. It is alot faster than I ever thought a boat that size should go. It is more than enough. Any bigger of a motor and it would probably be too heavy for the boat. The 2 stroke is lightweight. Even a newer 4 stroke Merc 25hp would probably not be anywhere near as fast as the old 2 stroke because of the added weight. I would need to add pods to mine to be able to support a motor any bigger than what I got, and the added drag fo the pods would negate the extra ponies.

Im not sure about the brand of boat you have but I know that most manufacturers are pretty similar in thier sizes and HP ratings. Mine is an Alumacraft and and starting with the 1436,1442,1448,1542,1546 all have max ratings at 25hp. If your boat was welded and had a 20" transom I would say go for it. But if you only have a 15 transom I personally wouldn't go with more than a 25hp. Not because of the power, but becuase of the weight on the back of the boat. 25hp will be plenty fast.

If you get a 2 stroke 25 merc you can upgrade it to a 30 simply by changing the carb! Same weight more power. Then start messing with the prop to get the desired performance.

The philosophy that works with cars of putting the biggest possible motor in the smallest possible car does not apply to boats. At least not Jon boats.

 

[Mr.Green]

thanks reed i will def keep that in mind and tonight i just got done painting the motor cover to match the boat so looks like ill be going with the 69' evinrude 25 i have and i really love the lines this motor has. it makes it look really good and fast. not sure if it really will be fast but it looks it. it looks great for a rattle can job . im proud of it and ill post pics later tonight also got the stain on and its drying so pics of that too. its slowed down a bit but its coming together.

 

[Mr.Green]

well got a bit done today not as much as id liked but oh well heres the pics.

 

[minicuda]

Lookin good!

 

[baseball_guy_99]

Your boat closely resembles mine. Mine is a 1977 Fisher Marine.


The person i bought it from had a 40hp tiller on it. I think 40hp is way to big (I guess it could handle it...but it would be scary fast. I run 21mph with a 15hp)

I would think a 25-30hp would be good.

 

[jasper60103]

boy, she gonna be real purty. Btw, my wife has family in McComb. Nice country down there.

 

[hyzerbomber]

How are you planing on securing the wood to the ribs? You going to put any foam under the flooring?

 

[Mr.Green]

Yes I'm putting down on floor and sides and I was thinking self taping stainless steel screws in the front middle and back so not to many and liquid nails on the rest or is there something better than that to use

 

[hyzerbomber]

Just curious. Have a similar plan with a very similar boat. Have not been able to start into it yet. https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14235
Self tap screws will keep it easy for sure. Looking pretty sweet, really like the wood going up the sides!!

 

[Mr.Green]

Ok i been tryin to clean up the boat for painting and iv tried a few things iv tried sand paper, sand paper blocks, a grinding wheel, and a wire brush on the grinder, and one on my drill. and now iv had another thought, i thought about buying a sand blaster. they have one at home depot for 69 bucks and this sounds to be the easiest and fastest way to get it ready. but im not sure about sand blasting on alum. any input on this, anyone. is this a good,bad idea? what type of sand do i use? ect.

 

[lucescoflathead]

You don't want to sand blast aluminum. It will warp and you'll never get all the sand out. You can check on soda blasting. it removes paint and is not as hard on aluminum as sand.

 

[Mr.Green]

so basicly the wheel and sand paper are the way to go.

 

[lucescoflathead]

I'd say a good 4 inch angle grinder and some wire cup wheels.A high quality grinder won't burn up. Good luck it's lots of work. You may want to try aircraft paint stripper. You can always hit it with oven cleaner. It eats paint. I saw what a jealous girlfriend did to the hood of a guy's Lexius once with a can of oven cleaner. Not very pretty....

 

[Mr.Green]

WOW! That sucks ,but great info. Thanks

 

[fender66]

Both great projects. Welcome to TinBoats Jason, and thanks for your service. :USA1:

 

[Mr.Green]

If theres anyone around the mississippi area i am selling my fiberglass boat with the 4.5 hp johnson. i need to sell it so i can finish my tin boat project. im asking 400 or best offer. its a good litle boat loats grea and no leaks. and its very stable even standing on the front deck the motor runs but the other day i broke the pull cord it was old and prob the orig. i dont have a trailer for it but its light enough for two people to load in the bed of a truck and motor fits in back seat floor board easy.