Lowe 1436 beater transformation

Unfortunately I didn't get many "before" pics, as I didn't think I was going to go as far as I have thus far.
Anyway - the background: I've had this old Jon for a number of years , and mainly use it for bass fishing in old strip mine lakes in southern Illinois. I actually keep it at one of the lakes; a small fishing club of which there are around 40 members, and we lease the property - which contains about 5 lakes of various sizes - from the landowner.
As you can imagine, sitting outside year after year has taken it's toll. Occasionally I would hook up the trailer and drag it back home - mainly just to power wash the thing and give it a thorough cleaning. I've found mice, snakes, and all sorts critters living in it throughout the years.
This spring I was bringing it home for a cleaning, and noticed that the tail lights were no longer working, and honestly, the boat just looked pathetic.
Once I got it back home I took a good hard look at the trailer, and decided to rip out the existing wire harness and lights and replace everything. That turned into the bright ideas of then stripping the frame down to bare metal, coating it in POR15, replacing the boat bunks.
Once the trailer was finished, it REALLY made the boat look like crap, so I decided to give it a makeover as well - which is what brings me to this current point.
So far I've stripped the exterior and repainted it, and just started on the interior. This site has been a great help so far, so I hope you enjoy the build from here on out.

Paint looks nice and :WELCOME:

Thanks!

Managed to get a little work done on the boat this afternoon. Bench seat covers, rear seat mount and added a small solar charger.......

Great idea with the plug!!

Too darn rainy today to do much, but managed to get side panels carpeted and started mock-up of front deck. Scored a used MotorGuide foot control trolling motor (43 lbs thrust) locally on Craigslist for 150 bucks..

Very nice job. A 1436 is a perfect size for a trolling motor and a strip pit. Also, at least in my area where there are a lot of gas outboard restrictions it's always nice to have the small boat too. I love those 3/4" horse stall mats...I use them for lots of things since they're thick, inexpensive, and even a horse has trouble wearing them out.

From my experience, since you don't need to worry about weight for planing issues, make sure that you coat the interior well enough to muffle the noise of dropped stuff. They make plastic dip coating in a spray can which would muffle the sound of clipping a stringer to that gunnel mounted hook for example. A rock walled strip pit will amplify the sound of a dropped side cutter or whatever to the point where every fish in the lake would be spooked.

One very cool thing about an old jon is the ability to leave it in the weather all year and it looks like you still have the ability to do that with your upgrades. My 1448 sat in my next door neighbors backyard for over 25 years without being moved, open to the winter and when he sold it to me the 25Merc (which was well winterized but not started) needed a carb rebuild, a new gas tank and plugs and it fired right up...and the hull didn't leak a drop. The galvanized trailer needed new tires and wheel bearings and today it's almost like a new boat with a sun bleached patina. .

Thanks! I installed some carpeted side panels with SS Screws which I think should solve some of the noise issues : )

Started doing some of the wiring - running 8 GA from the battery area to the front, and started layout for the front deck.

Due to the narrow width of the boat, this isn't going to be a fishing deck, but mainly just an area to mount a trolling motor. That being said, I really don't need to make it too large, but I opted to bigger than needed in order to have some lockable storage space.

Spent most of the day on Thursday screwing around with a hundred different ideas and configurations, but finally came up with a deck idea that I've yet to see on a Jon Boat (and probably for good reason). I'll post some pics when I get everything I need to (hopefully) make it work..........

It was too nice of a day to pass up on fishing, so I decided to give the boat an initial run on the local strip pit.

Trailer worked perfect, but it's clear that the bargain light trailer kit that I purchased from Harbor freight tools is absolute JUNK. No need to go into detail but as soon as I got home I promptly ordered a high-quality LED set. Anyway.......

The boat fished really well. The mat flooring was fantastic - much, much sturdier/solid than I anticipated. Glad I went that route as opposed to carpet and plywood.

I was a little concerned with stability, as I installed 6" pedestals/posts (which is the shortest I could find). My wife went with me, and I'll admit that it seemed a bit shaky at first, but once we settled in everything was fine. Enormous difference in overall comfort than when the seats were mounted directly to the benches. Ergonomically it's much better, as you are no longer kissing your knees when seated. I could just leave it like this and call it quits, but I have a lot more to do.

Worked on running the wiring today and installing the control panel. Ran wires for trolling motor, bow and stern lights, depth finder, and interior LED's. Secured bulkhead front panel and carpeted the deck top (though it's not yet installed).
The hatch on the deck was from a RV dealer. It was the right size and price, and I thought it would be a bit more custom than merely cutting a hole and using the cut out piece as the hatch door. The hatch sits directly over the small front seat of the boat, so I carpeted that area and added a "wall" to make it a secure cubby (I'll post pics later). It will be mainly used for holding a first aid kit, flashlight, and other small odds and ends.
The slot on the deck and subsequent opening in the bulkhead face are for the trolling motor. The slot is for the trolling motor cable. Given the size of the deck, when I put the motor in the "down/run" position, the cable was so short that it pulled the foot control up off the boat floor. Having this small slot allows the foot control to remain planted firmly in place.
The foot control pedal sits directly in front of the other opening. I made it large enough to be able to pass the control thru here for when I remove the motor for the winter (I won't be storing it inside the garage, but rather outside with a cover).
I'll be adding more LED's in the boat as well as a couple of small storage pockets, and of course still need to secure the front deck. As I mentioned earlier I have an idea for the front deck mounting, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will work.

man that is looking nice!

Your local maker of blades
AB knives

Ok, my idea was (which turned out better than I anticipated) to add some lift struts to the from deck in case I need access to the wiring, as well as give me additional storage for larger items. The most difficult part was getting the mounting tabs aligned properly. I just used two stainless hinges mounted on the front lip of the boat, secured with SS screws. I'll add a couple of stainless locking hasps to secure the deck down tight.

You can also see a little bit of the cubby wall, as well as the bulkhead bracing with some old aluminum brackets that I had laying about. On to the light installs and wiring......

LED installation completed. The light looks purple from my crappy cell phone pic, but it's blue.
I probably could have gotten away with only two lights, as having the four sure puts out a lot of light.
The switch panel controls the depth finder, running light of course, and the LED's.
I installed small net pockets underneath each seat for cell phone and wallet storage.

Purchased a Minn Kota battery power center. I really like the built-in breakers, as well as additional access ports which I'll utilize for my cell phone charger.

I slapped together a battery tray out of left over angle aluminum, and secured this to the stern support and bottom rib with stainless screws. A piece of leftover horse stall mat lays underneath and is a nice cushion. A battery strap goes under the battery tray, keeping the battery from flopping around while towing.

I don't anchor much, as I usually just bass fish, but for those times when I want to catch a few crappie for dinner I'll use this neat old solid piece of aluminum as my boat anchor. This thing weight almost 10 pounds!

As I was wrapping up the build I decided to add a few things just for fun (read:absolutely useless additions).

To give a little pizazz to the hull, I added red pinstriping between the black hull paint and gray body paint.

I also added some fish decals to the front of the boat as well as the cubby lid.

For all intents and purposes, my boat project is finished. I took it on the lake the other day and it fished beautifully - much better than I had anticipated. The overall balance seems perfect, and the trolling motor really zips it along. At this point I wouldn't change or add a thing.
I decided not to screw in the remaining side panels, as the fit on them is so tight that it's not necessary. They work great on keeping the sound down, and don't add any considerable weight.
The heaviest parts of the boat are the rear floor horse mat, and of course the front deck. I'm not sure how much total weight I added, but it's a handful to move around on my own at this point (though much easier than my bass boat). My goal was to change my beater into something that looked halfway decent, and was more comfortable to fish out of. I think I accomplished that. : )

Looks good!!! =D> =D> =D> =D>

man that finished up beautiful!

Your local maker of blades
AB knives