Project turned into a rebuild.

[Douglasdzaster]

I was looking through all the Rustoleum available. Man they have every kind of black, flat to glossy. I thought for a minute you know my truck is black. Might look good. Then I remembered how fast the surface got hot when the sun hit the truck while I’m detailing it. I ran across this stuff. Have you heard of Duralux depending on color it’s $26-$50 for a gallon. I’m hoping to find a flat sand color Or similar to what the boat is now (khaki) for the topside. That’s the color of the new cover. The paint on it now is chalky with a few rubbed bare spots I’ll etch prime but I rubbed a little with 400 grit today and it looked solid underneath. I really hate to have to strip it down to bare aluminum and prime and so on. Im hoping I can sand clean and paint. The Duralux almost sounds to good to be true for marine paint. Heck I even thought about a blue. I’m bad at picking out paint getting home and it’s bad,bad,bad. I think that’s why I’m trying to paint it the same color.

 

[LDUBS]

We need to find out what color fish like.

 

[Douglasdzaster]

We need to find out what color fish like.

My sons here for a late Christmas. He wants me to paint above the waterline red (there’s my Rustoleum color) the bottom black then the motor completely black no decals nothing but black . The bottom already has a thick hard coat of black I’m guessing epoxy of some sort. Where they put it on the sides bellow the waterline it’s thin and pealing off. Eventually I may flip the boat over and strip it and redo it with the toughest slickest stuff I can find. That’s if it starts to peel like the sides.
When I did a lot of bass fishing a lot of people thought the bottom of the boat should be black. Some swore by the color of the whole boat and everyone had a different color.

 

[Douglasdzaster]

I’ve decided on my rod set up. It’s completely built out of aluminum angle with no welding. The version I saw used c clamps to attach it to the boat for easy removal. I’m thinking Rivnuts with knob handles for on and off the boat. It will go across the back of the stern for drifting and trolling. Hold 6 rods with planer boards. I’ll be able to cover a wide erea.
Another when I get to it project.

 

[airshot]

My sons here for a late Christmas. He wants me to paint above the waterline red (there’s my Rustoleum color) the bottom black then the motor completely black no decals nothing but black . The bottom already has a thick hard coat of black I’m guessing epoxy of some sort. Where they put it on the sides bellow the waterline it’s thin and pealing off. Eventually I may flip the boat over and strip it and redo it with the toughest slickest stuff I can find. That’s if it starts to peel like the sides.
When I did a lot of bass fishing a lot of people thought the bottom of the boat should be black. Some swore by the color of the whole boat and everyone had a different color.

The fish might think a big Orca whale is after them and leave !!! Lol. ..

 

[Douglasdzaster]

Just thought of another potential problem I need help deciding:
I’m moving my trolling motor battery to the stern. I’m using 4awg. The trolling motor is the only thing on the battery. Fish finder is on a separate battery with the lights. Those wires are in a loom running along the gunnel in the gap between the ribs and wall. I’m running the trolling motor cable in a loom which will run along side of those other wires. Will it cause interference with my fish finder??? I can run it down the other side but it’ll make it a longer run and change where I want to put other things. I’m hoping since it’s a separate battery the lines being close together in separate looms will not have any interferance?

 

[Douglasdzaster]

The fish might think a big Orca whale is after them and leave !!! Lol. ..

The Admiral gave me her in put and says gray.

 

[airshot]

The Admiral gave me her in put and says gray.

Then gray it will be !!!! The admiral is always right !! Lol...

 

[Douglasdzaster]

Then gray it will be !!!! The admiral is always right !! Lol...

Yep that’s how I ended up with carpet instead of letting me change my mind to vinyl. But the carpet is snapped in. I’ll eventually get vinyl and just snap in the carpet when she’s riding.

 

[Douglasdzaster]

Just thought of another potential problem I need help deciding:
I’m moving my trolling motor battery to the stern. I’m using 4awg. The trolling motor is the only thing on the battery. Fish finder is on a separate battery with the lights. Those wires are in a loom running along the gunnel in the gap between the ribs and wall. I’m running the trolling motor cable in a loom which will run along side of those other wires. Will it cause interference with my fish finder??? I can run it down the other side but it’ll make it a longer run and change where I want to put other things. I’m hoping since it’s a separate battery the lines being close together in separate looms will not have any interferance?

I have got to start looking before I leap!!!!
I apologize but I shifted gears today on moving the battery. I’m doing all this other work to the boat. The floor is now half the weight it was. Going to do the same to the front deck. I don’t know how it’s going to ride until I finish updating the wiring and finish the fuel tank platform and repainting the trolling motor mount so it will be on the bow when I test run. What it cost to move that one battery I can update my fish finder. The one I have is 12 years old and the transducer is patched up so that I know it’s not accurate. Also help me justify building that rod rack which will add weight to the back. Yea I think I’ll leave that battery where it is for now until I’m sure where I need it.

 

[Douglasdzaster]

Well the day started off with a stupid mistake and I still don’t know how I did it. I was removing the old wiring and working in the bilge are where the anchor light , one of the flood lights are etc. I’m putt the wire in a trash can as I go. I looked in my hand and saw a brown wire and immediately knew where it came from. I looked and sure enough the bilge pump wire is sticking up only about 2”. I just went ahead and ordered another pump. I finished removing all the copper wires and started running the new stuff. Installed a new fish finder. I left the trolling motor battery behind the front deck but I moved it from the starboard side to the middle of the boat behind my seat so I’m not stepping over it anymore and for balance. I’m thinking of relocating the 6 gallon portable fuel tank. It’s been riding in front of the rear bench port side. Takes up floor space and the fuel line is run over the bench. I was looking to see how I could reroute the line when I looked in the bilge area behind the bench. Because of bracing it won’t fit on port or starboard side but it looks like it’ll go in the middle which goes along with what I did with the battery. It’s going to put the weight of the fuel about 2-3 feet farther back but I’ve never had a problem with planning. It shoots out of the hole with the 40 hp. Yamaha pushing it.
Is it a good or bad idea putting the tank in the bilge right in front of the motor? I have 5 more rod holders coming also from Fishbites. I found a clearance deal for 1/2” rod mounts that fit the round top of the gunnel. I’ve been drifting sideways already with 2 rods in the stern and 2 some times 3 on the bow. These other holders will work until I get the rack built for the stern. And planner boards. I’ll already have the holders. Anyone have planner board experience? What do you recommend behind a 16‘ jon boat. The only thing I know about them besides it takes different one for each side is that they’re pretty pricey. I’ve thought about trying to diy a set and if they work for a little while I’ll have a little experience with them. Got caught up on honey do’s so I’ll spend tomorrow on the boat again and trying not to pull another oh $ h/# moment. I always heat shrink marine terminals then put a tube of marine heat shrink over that. Nothing makes me hotter than when I forget to put that tube over the wire before crimping. The connectors I’m using are not cheap and if I mess up I don’t have 100 extras. Lol

 

[Douglasdzaster]

I got to thinking about putting the portable fuel tank in the space between the transom brackets. It fits tight and doesn’t leave much room for tie down. It definitely isn’t going to slide around. The other thing is it puts it right in front of the outboard. Would I be creating a dangerous situation? Or illegal? I’ve searched it online but can’t find anything. I did see one comment not to store near the battery or motor.

 

[Douglasdzaster]

I ran into problems installing the new Garmin. The way I had to run the transducer cable down the gun wall it was parallel to the power line. I managed to separate them. But then I realized I was running it right next to where all the new electrical was going. Since the fuse block and switch panel wasn’t installed yet I’m moving all the electrical to the other side of the boat so problem solved. Not yet when I was mounting the transducer which is bigger than the Lowrance I had. The stern saver pad was to low and it would have put the transducer to low. It’s only supposed to be 10mm below the boat. With a great idea from LDUBS today I took a flat piece of 1/8” aluminum painted it to look nice and it’s going to be secure mounted to the stern saver and give me the height I need. Back to running wire and new additions. I have everything here now to get it done. Except for the new rod holders I’m getting from Fishbites. I got 5 1/2”threaded bases that mount on round top of the gun wall for side drifting. Later I’ll build the rod rack for the stern and I’ll move the new holders to that.

 

[Douglasdzaster]

The 1/8” aluminum mounted up solid and I put the transducer where it’s supposed to be and leveled it the best I could. First place I’m going when I’m finished is Lake Bastrop. A power plant warm water lake. I have a spot on the lake I can shore the boat and wade about knee deep to the back for adjustments. I did a lot of prop changing in that spot when I was working on the motor.
Took two grandsons bank fishing today so I didn’t spend much time on the boat.

 

[LDUBS]

There is a pretty cool way to level your transducer using a torpedo level and some coins. When idling along the idea is to put the level on the gunnel and use the coins to center the bubble. When back on the trailer, put the level in the same spot with the same coins then raise or lower the tongue jack to center the bubble. Then set your transducer level, and Bob's your uncle. If you have a "level" app on your iPhone you don't need the torpedo level & coins.

There are a ton of videos online that explain this better than I just did.

 

[airshot]

Wow...I have never went thru all that to mount a transducer, just a straight edge and my eyeballs. If you think about it, being off a couple degrees at a depth of 20 ft....hardly even measurable. If your in a hundred feet of depth then it might be noticible. To each his own, I am a fanatic about other things I guess....but when I see all the work and effort that makes no difference in the end result...oh well, some folks probably think things I do arent worth the effort !!!

 

[LDUBS]

Wow...I have never went thru all that to mount a transducer, just a straight edge and my eyeballs. If you think about it, being off a couple degrees at a depth of 20 ft....hardly even measurable. If your in a hundred feet of depth then it might be noticible. To each his own, I am a fanatic about other things I guess....but when I see all the work and effort that makes no difference in the end result...oh well, some folks probably think things I do arent worth the effort !!!

During most of the year, I'm typically in well over 100'. I don't use imaging so probably matters even less. But yeah, I really don't know the impact of being off 5 deg's. But, if I didn't do it I would be obsessing about it being off. Haha.

 

[airshot]

During most of the year, I'm typically in well over 100'. I don't use imaging so probably matters even less. But yeah, I really don't know the impact of being off 5 deg's. But, if I didn't do it I would be obsessing about it being off. Haha.

I understand...I can be quite anal about certain things myself. It can make a big difference when your looking at 100 plus feet in depth. My deepest water is about 35 feet and most is less than 25 ft, so I dont think about those in really deep water. Years back I experimented with a transducer attached to a flat board that I could clamp to the side of my boat. I played around with tilting and angling that transducer and checking the image and depth readings to see if there was a difference. Well not much unless the angle was drastically changed !! So why would I bother to worry about a few degrees ?? However with todays much more precise sonar units, it might pay to be more accurate in the setup, especially in really deep water!

 

[Douglasdzaster]

There is a pretty cool way to level your transducer using a torpedo level and some coins. When idling along the idea is to put the level on the gunnel and use the coins to center the bubble. When back on the trailer, put the level in the same spot with the same coins then raise or lower the tongue jack to center the bubble. Then set your transducer level, and Bob's your uncle. If you have a "level" app on your iPhone you don't need the torpedo level & coins.

There are a ton of videos online that explain this better than I just did.

Yes sir. I saw that video. The top of my gunnel is round but I thought about either a small table for the level or on the seat next to me.

 

[Douglasdzaster]

Wow...I have never went thru all that to mount a transducer, just a straight edge and my eyeballs. If you think about it, being off a couple degrees at a depth of 20 ft....hardly even measurable. If your in a hundred feet of depth then it might be noticible. To each his own, I am a fanatic about other things I guess....but when I see all the work and effort that makes no difference in the end result...oh well, some folks probably think things I do arent worth the effort !!!

Garmin said it can effect the clarity of shape of fish etc. Helps find a ball on bait fish with better clarity. So I’m setting it up the best I can. I love to throw a net and catch fresh bait. I’ve caught more big catfish on that than anything.