18' Lowe center console

I finally got me a big Jon boat, it's a 18' mod v center console with a 75hp mercury mariner. I've been looking for along time and found a few that fit the bill but the sells kept falling through! This boat is awesome for me, I'll be able to gig flounder as well as chase redfish through the shallow marsh, and when I need a fresh water fill I can hit the crappie holes and bass fish too it's going to be a fishing machine. I got it at a great price and acutely was able to talk the guy down a thousand bucks, it needs a paint job for sure I'm still trying to decide what color I want (black or red) and it also needs the carpet replaced. Ill most likely just take it 100% apart and stArt from square one so ill know the boat top to bottom. I'd like to have a T-top and leaning post but I might do a cooler flip flop seat, I also am going to add flotation pods to the transom, then trick it out with a bunch of LEDs... Here's the only pic I have so far, I'll get some more soon

I worked most of the day so I only had about an hour to tinker with the boat today. Pics







This boat has 3 livewells the two here (open lids) and the cooler infront of the console





The pumps and drains







I removed the livewells to get a better look at the plumbing underneath





Also pulled up some carpet



I know she's pretty ugly now but I see potential, it has a wood floor that's fiberglassed in and carpeted over that. I'm going to redo all this. I'm not sure what type of floor I'm going back with yet, I'd like aluminum and I for sure don't want carpet but well see!

Lots of potential in your drive there man!
Whats the bottom width on that badboy?

I haven't put a tape on it yet (I forgot) but I'd say around 60 at the back... When I went to look at it I was surprised it was as wide as it is... It's very stable!

Nice ride there neighbor!

Thanks, ya Dayton is right around the corner. You fish the trinity?

The river? Only a few times out of Liberty, most of my fishing has been Trinity and Galveston Bay.

Ya I was talking about the river. I fish Texas city dike alot and lake Houston

The cat in my avatar is from Lake Houston. We also hit the dike a lot too.
Cant wait to see what you do with the new boat!

Ya I'm excited too, once I get good and started it should go pretty fast I think but then again that's what I said about my pontoon rebuild that took about a year. Lol

Mrtoler said:

Ya I'm excited too, once I get good and started it should go pretty fast I think but then again that's what I said about my pontoon rebuild that took about a year. Lol

Click to expand...

After taking a look at the pontoon thread I can bet this thing is going to look awesome when finished!

Haha thanks, I try to do professional looking work. I like my stuff to look as good as it preforms

Got to work on the boat today, all the wood on the boat is covered in fiberglass so the screws that hold the wood in place are also covered in fiberglass so I had to take a chisel and hammer and pry between the layers of the wood until I was able to get it out. It was back breaking work but will be worth it in the end. My dad said I should leave the floor alone and just build ontop of it, I'm not sure I want to do this since I seen a few spots in the floor that had moisture between the wood and fiberglass. The aluminum needs a MAJIOR cleaning, Im thinking about maybe stripping it 100% to the hull and having it sandblasted then paint it. Thoughts on this? And I'm still in the air as to what I'm going to use as a floor. Here some pics from today



The bilge area was really nasty, it had everything from sand and leaves to dead baitfish in it



All carpet removed



Here's a spot where the fiberglass didn't stick to the floor

I'm not sure I'd want to turn a sandblaster lose on an aluminum boat. He'd have to be using a special media like crushed walnut shells or similar that's got an established record for use on aluminum. Having stripped my boat down completely, and finding the pitting that I did on my transom, I doubt that I could mod another boat without a complete strip just from the worry that it might be ready to spring a nasty leak any day.

Mike, I talked to a gut today about sandblasting it he said they use something called sugar sand that's not very abrasive, and they have done several Jon boats. I'm going to shop around and get the best price and get a few more opinions before I commit first! Ya I have decided to completely strip, I see alot of moisture under the deck and I also seen some wet foam. I don't like to look of the floor in the bilge area so I suspect the rest of the floor looks the same, so ya it's coming out

Nice build to work with....You might check out some info on that Mariner, some of them are old Mercury's and some of them are Yamaha's (are built by)...makes a difference in how they run for sure...

Thanks, I don't know to much about the engine. I know it's a 1988 mercury mariner 75 that has had a recent stator and rectifier and also new reeds according to the new owner. It ran great when test-driving and started right up, I started it cold the next day at my house and it fired right up no problem. However when I started it at my house on the water hose there wasn't any water coming out of the pee hole but I've had trouble with that in the past with the engine on my pontoon boat, I think it's the cheap engine muffs I have because I don't have any problems at the lake. I'll see if I can get a trash can tomorrow to run it in!

If you do have it blasted let me know who you used and your thoughts on them.

I got the console all unwired an removed it today. What are yalls thoughts on completely decking this boat like jonboat jerry did? My boat is 5' wide at the bottom and 7' wide across the top.

Well from the looks of your pontoon, I would say that it would be real nice all decked out.....you certainly have many options.