Ouachita 1236 upgrade

Well I've been lurking on here long enough to get many great ideas, and I can't thank everyone enough. At the end of last year I picked up an old Ouchita 12' jon boat. I'm not sure of the year, I just know it's definitely older than 1972 due to the lack of a HIN. Me and my best friend have been modifying it since the start of February and we've made some good progress so I wanted to show what we've done so far. I am more than welcome to suggestions and I'll keep posting until it's done, so here goes!

This is the before. . . .



Here I've got the seats sitting in place trying to build the vision


Just a side view


This is the beginning of the front deck framing. I didn't want to sacrifice the stability of the boat too much so I decided to keep the decks at the height of the bench seats. Later we added cross supports for the doors and added strength.


I notched the 2x4's so the tops would be level with the bench seats.


We hung the frame using these brackets. The brackets were painted, then attached with aluminum rivets.


Ok, ok, I know. I may have skipped a photo or two but I couldn't find them at the time of this posting. We still need to carpet the decks so I'll try to get pics of the finished from frame.


Here's a view of the center deck, pretty basic. We plan on putting foam underneath the deck.


This is where we were trimming out the front hatches. There isn't a ton of room under there but I hate to waste any space.


This is the new transom in place for the first test fit. I glued two pieces together to get the correct thickness, then coated it in fiberglass resin. We were pleased with how it turned out.

Here are the remaining photos I have so far.

Here we've finished up the front & middle decks, they just need carpet.


And this shows one of the front hatches opened up


I wish I would've taken a photo of the outside since I finally finished sanding it and getting a few coats of primer on there. We're keeping it cheap and going with a rattle can paint job. I forgot to mention that we used all stainless hardware for the transom. I'm hoping we can get the transom in place and the bolts sealed up so we can get it on water soon. We still haven't bolted down the seats since we want to make sure the weight distribution is right. As tall as the seat posts are I'm a little concerned about stability; this is why I'm thinking the front seat is going to be dead center but the rear seat will probably be off to the starboard side by about 4-6 inches. This should let me put the batter port side and hopefully things will balance out, but like i said, we need to get it on the water to make sure.

I should have some more updates coming this weekend, but in the mean time let me know what you think.

I sanded down the inside area tonight so I can shoot a quick coat of paint. While I had the decks out I snapped a photo of the front deck frame and rear deck frame.


View attachment 1

I still need to finish trimming out the old transom support that was mounted to the floor but i figured since the rear deck frame was also supporting the transom I wouldn't need the original.

I like what you're doing and yeah, it's nice to see another Ouachita build out there. I pretty much finished cutting out the old water-logged transom out of mine, as well as cutting out a damaged portion of the bow, and have moved the livewell from the middle of the boat up front. Am fabricating a small casting deck out of aluminum, and am putting in an aluminum floor, bilge pump, LED bow and stern lighting, some subdued led lighting on the gunwales, etc.

I hope to post some pics next week.

Good luck,

LG

I finally had some time to finish the boat up and get it out on the water, doesn't leak a drop I might add!


Here I was laying carpet on the rear deck. In order to get the glue to set up correctly on the rolled edge I clamped a 2x4 in place until the glue dried.


Another view of rear deck carpet and center platform carpet


Got the Seat back on and Test fitting the Lowrance Elite3x


Just starting the carpet on the front deck


Rear view of front deck


Closeup of the Elite3x. I was going to run the wires on top of the deck but decided to use the channel on the side of the boat instead. It turned out looking much better. The plug was a bit of a pain but I zip tied it to a coat hangar and pulled it down the channel.


Here she is loaded up and ready to rock!


Full view loaded up!

Here's a quick run down of what this project cost me. If you have any questions or need specifics on materials let me know.

Boat - Free (been sitting on a relatives farm)
Lumber - Free (Leftovers from a buddy making palets)
Hardware - $50 (Stainless steel nuts & bolts for transom and misc.)
Paint - $50 (Rustoleum rattle can, primer & paint)
Carpet - $42 (Outdoor carpet from Lowes)
Glue - $40 ($9.99 per can from Lowes. Used )
Seats - $40 ($20 each from Academy online)
Mounting Posts - $24 ($12 each from Academy online)
Seat swivels - $20 ($10 each from Amazon)
Lowrance Elite3x- $100
Trolling Motor - $100
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Total - $466

Just a few afterthoughts I think some of the newcomers would like to know.

1. Stability - I was concerned about boat stability and how tall my seat posts were (18in.), that and I do a lot of pitching with my baitcaster so naturally I stand up quite a bit. Several posts I had read lead me to believe that my boat would not be stable with it only being a 1236. I'm 6'1 210lbs and my buddy is 6'2 235 and we're both able to stand up and fish without issue. I will say, we were fishing on a 1032 before this and only one of us was able to stand at a time. So we have decent "sea legs" but we're by no means nimble. When we're both sitting down it's as solid as a rock. Please notice though, the decks are mounted at the same height as the seats, and wouldn't advise putting them any taller.

2. Lumber vs. Aluminum - If I knew what I know now I would have definitely gone with square aluminum tubing to frame the decks. I say this for one reason- space below the decks. Yes I know we could have saved weight, and yes I know the aluminum would last longer but my issue is space. The boat is only a 12fter so we're already short on space. The 2x4s took up a good chunk of the storage under the decks and I'm not thrilled about it. As far as the deck surface material, I can really say one way or another; I've got no complaints about the wood, not to say aluminum wouldn't have cool

3. Trolling motor - Get a 55lb trolling motor if you're electric only! I have a 30lb and it yes it works, yes it gets me where I'm going but man can it take a while.

4. Paint - I used the Rustoleum rattle cans and they worked just fine. I sanded down the old paint to bare metal on the outside, used the Rustoleum rattle can self etching primer (2 coats) and then used the flat green camo color (2 coats). It's holding up well and so far I've only had a few scratches. Good thing is, I just rinse it off, shake it up then touch it up; and being that I use this thing every chance I get I needed something that I can do that with. I actually bought too much paint, but that just means I've plenty of touch up.

5. Carpet & glue - I got some short haired outdoor carpet from Lowe's and it's working beautifully. I glued it down with some loctite spray glue (the heavy duty stuff). It took more than I would have liked but it's holding nicely.


This is all that I can think of, but let me know if you have questions/comments. And yes, I just realized I didn't post a picture with the rear doors carpeted, so I'll get another pick of it finished and on the water. I've already had it out several times and landed some fish so it's doing its job!!!

Nice work. Very sanitary looking setup!

Nice work! I have the same boat that I inherited from my grandfather and have been getting it and the trailer back in working order. I'm wanting to add a front deck similar to the one you have.

Hey man.... Nice boat. How are you looking that elite 3x? I have one on the way for mine

Did you seal the plywood decking material? Resin? Urethane?

Nicely done. =D>


CMOS

When you added the front deck did my the wood make it quite a bit heavier?