The poor man's fishing boat

[lap202]

So reading here the past year has lead me from "fully decked out super bass catching machine" to still probably unreasonably, but more plausible upgrading plan.

I have no idea what this boat is. It's 12' and has no HIN on it so I have to assume 60s or older?

The best part of the build is the large sum of money allocated to my 7 month son instead of my toys these days.

I got the boat out of a metal scrap pile on my uncle's land someone was throwing. It has been fished and hunted on a pond on my dads land for the past decade, but it was till this year we got the boat legally titled so we can take it out and motor the public lakes.

Phase 1
Monday I'm going to start by making boat seats to put over the metal benches. I got the foam out of a mattress pad someone was tossing and will cut plywood and attach the foam to the plywood.

I got some water resistant material at walmart which cost 5 dollars as they had it half off. This will be stapled to the back of the plywood to hopefully make cozy and somewhat decent looking seats. It will then be screwed to the bench.

Other than this I plan to check for and replace leaky rivets and do an overall health check of the aluminum. I'll also be stamping the HIN I was assigned into the boat along with an aluminum plate I'm riveting on the back.

Phase 2
I'm hoping to fish the boat June 2nd. Afterwards I'll be doing a small piece of plywood over the front bench that will be big enough to fit a rod holder and a cup holder (important) as well as storage underneath for the anchor and a couple extra ropes for tying off.

From here I'll have a small deck sitting on the triangle shaped ribs between the front and middle bench. After getting it in I plan on testing how the boat cruises and how stable standing and casting feels. Should be fine as I'm only raising my center of gravity a couple inches to gain some flat space.

Phase 3
Currently I'm just going to get my basic updates done. If the boat allowed I'd like to build a deck between the back and middle benches, but will be happy with just a front deck. Also would like to do a board at bench level between the back and the bench with hatches to have access to the storage but also gain some flat space along with places to attach rod holders for trolling.

Phase 4
Will just be making it pretty. Thinking I'll sand it down and do a dark green on the sides with a grey for the bottom portion of the boat.

Inside will depend on what carpet I get, but most likely doing a neutral grey.

Starting on memorial day so hope to get you guys progress pictures right away.

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[lap202]

Here is the material and foam I'll be using. For 5 dollars I think it will make for some nice benches.

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[jasper60103]

Congrats on the new project and look forward to your progress.

I bet a with little soap and water you'll see a world of difference.
Does it float? Does the motor run?

Good luck.

jasper

 

[lap202]

Congrats on the new project and look forward to your progress.

I bet a with little soap and water you'll see a world of difference.
Does it float? Does the motor run?

Good luck.

jasper

She floats, but takes on quite a bit of water if I remember correctly. Motor is running according to the guy I bought it from. Will be testing it out here soon. Have a 4hp that a mechanic got running for me in reserve.

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[wmrmurphy]

Love your ideas. Some of the best and certainly most gratifying projects I've ever done were done before I had a pot to piss in. Scrounging and salvaging and McGyvering stuff together to make it work. Your right to target the money to your son, he will return the investment many fold in the not to distant future. Keep us informed as you go about this project... :beer:

 

[lap202]

So today's update on the project is simple enough. Made sure she fit on the trailer which I need to wire still.

Also bought a cheap plug as the one in the boat leaked badly and I'm assuming it was the old plugs fault.

I measured and cut the boards for my bench seats and will be sanding and prepping them for the upholstery.

Will take pictures tomorrow while I'm making the boat seats to show how good or not good they end up looking

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[lap202]

So wasn't patient enough to wait till tomorrow so got 1 bench made. Couple creases in corners, but it's mostly decent lpl

After sitting on it I do wish the foam was firmer as it sinks to the wood, but will be better than the hard plastic seats in the boat or the metal benches.

Made them for $2.50 per bench so cant complain too much!

These will be screwed to the benches on Monday to officially start my boat Modification.

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[akboats]

Looking good

 

[earl60446]

Don't throw the seats away. I think you will eventually want back support and the swivel option.
Have fun.
Tim

 

[lap202]

Don't throw the seats away. I think you will eventually want back support and the swivel option.
Have fun.
Tim

For back support I'll be building a single back support. I'll have tubes on the back of the bench that the back support slides in and out of so you can have it left, centered or right.

Maybe I'll want a swivel in the future, but it will be with a nicer seat. Too many sour memories of sore rear ends growing up on the hard seats lol

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[richg99]

I agree with the prior comments. Some of the best projects are when you make something out of nothing.

I can afford to buy "stuff", but sometimes you just look around and there, in the corner, is what you need for the latest improvement.

rich

 

[lap202]

So bunch of work today, maybe not as much on the boat as I had hoped, but got a lot done.


Started the day pulling off wood, seats, and a couple lights from the boat.

The gunwales were pretty bent out on both sides so using a 2 by 4, some clamps and a pipe wrench I was able to get both sides to the point it is no longer noticeable they were bent out.

I drilled holes in the aluminum benches and screwed up into my homemade benches to secure them to the boat.

Other small thing done on the boat included siliconing and riveting a few holes in the back where a fish finder had been mounted.

Most of the night actually went to wiring the trailer and sanding the paint off the wooden supports for the boat so I can recarpet them.

I did find time to do a cardboard template for my front deck. While cutting the wood, instead of cutting off the extra wood on the back I cut a slot into it. These extra sides will have cup holders added leaving most of the deck open for me to set stuff on and mount my front rod holder(s).

Final picture just shows the storage potential under the deck. Will use the front bench as a shelf and store anchor and ropes under. I am planning to tighten up the metal bar under there so it doesnt hang down.

Tho I would have liked to have gotten farther, I feel like I've had a good start to my project.

EDIT: Here is my current plan for this boat.

 

[Bridge4]

Looking good! Nice job straightening those rails out, it really did the trick. =D>

 

[richg99]

As far as recarpeting the bunks, you might consider topping the wood with 3*4 PVC gutter downspouts, cut lengthwise. Makes them very slippery. I have a post on here someplace. Let me know if you can't find it. rich

 

[lap202]

Back to work so very little done today.

I finished wiring the lights on the trailer and then started painting the bunks on the trailer to seal them better.

Tomorrow will be dedicated to stamping numbers in the boat and trailer so wont post an update.

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[LDUBS]

You did a nice job taking the "kink" out of the gunnel. Well done.

 

[lap202]

You did a nice job taking the "kink" out of the gunnel. Well done.

I actually didnt expect it to turn out as well as it did. I just cranked down on it in a couple different spots till it was at this point.

I think this boat has the potential to turn some heads one day... Haha jk. Has the potential to get me on the water and not on the shore.

Took a wire brush to the paint today to see how difficult it be to get the outside to the metal....

Definitely need to get some stripper to speed things up.

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[lap202]

As far as recarpeting the bunks, you might consider topping the wood with 3*4 PVC gutter downspouts, cut lengthwise. Makes them very slippery. I have a post on here someplace. Let me know if you can't find it. rich

Finally took the time to find that post. Going to go my current route and just carpet the bunks for now as I want the boat fishable by this friday. I might actually have downspouts in my garage. I'll have to check!

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[richg99]

They make two different sizes of downspouts. In my case, I needed the 3*4 ones.

 

[lap202]

Got the bunks back on the trailer and will be heading out tomorrow for the boats maiden voyage.

Got some green outdoor carpet for free and will be using it for horizontal surfaces and painting verticle surfaces white.

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