So I have been lurking for a while and figured it's time to contribute.
First and foremost- great site.
Then a brief summary of my story. Had a canoe that I had tricked out with motor, batter housed in the front for weight distribution, storage, rod holders, seat backs, under seat storage, anchors, etc. Old Town makes a nice canoe and I could stand in it but I couldn't move around a lot and the loading and unloading of gear was a hassle. So I wanted something more.
Pics of the canoe
So I went looking for a boat that would not break my budget, but would be good for lakes in Southern NJ, which are almost all stump filled, electric only and tend to be pretty shallow in spots. I found a guy who had custom built a Lowe 1648 for fishing around here and the moved away from the area. I got a pretty good deal for everything, he kept the trolling motor and I got everything else.
Framing is all aluminum, plywood deck, storage throughout including 4 dry storage compartments, lighted rod locker, custom live well and it's wired for an electric start for whenever I decide to add an outboard. Right now I am using those lines to add a trolling motor to the back for loading and unloading.
I have done some mods since I got the boat and I will go into more of that when I start a mod\build thread. But so far I rewired for a 36 volt system for a Fortrex 101, modified the rod locker, adding some rod straps and cargo netting. On the trailer I added a break away tounge and trailer guides.
Anyway, that's the old and new boats. Did I mention this is a great site. When I bought the boat I asked him for a CD of all the pics (400) of his build thinking he was very unique and so I could understand the process for my own mods I was planning. Then I found this site and see how many people actually take the time to do this to boats.