Newbie - Just bought a 14 ft Gregor Jon Boat

[silentstorm78]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to boating and fishing, I just recently purchased a 1988 Gregor Jon Boat it's 14 ft from craigslist which includes a 7.9 evinrude motor, and a nice Minn Kota 50 lbs C2 Endura for freshwater which he purchased in 2010, I am absolutely new to fishing and my goal is to get out in the water and be able to fish, however I realized that the boat I have need some work TLC, upon checking some of the projects here I thought it might be a good idea to copy them.

Here's a link of the boat that I purchased.

https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/boa/3019032155.html

Here are some of the issues I found

1. The seat latch where the gas tank is located is almost falling apart.
2. The outside paint is old I thought about painting it.
3. The engine is old and not powerful, the seller told me that a wood piece needs to be placed underneath the outboard motor and tied on both ends of the boat.
4. The bench seating wood are deformed.
5. There are no live bait tank, storage for anything.
6. It will be nice to put in a bass boat on the front or something.
6. The trailer has new tires but can use some TLC such as paining.
7. The boat has dings here and there.
8. There is no battery I recently purchased a Minn Kota battery unit and a charger on amazon.com

MinnKota Trolling Motor Power Center
MinnKota MK-105P Portable Battery Charger

I paid 900 $ for everything which I think is a little overpriced after checking some of the posts in here, I would like to hear your opinion regarding this boat as well the price that I paid for it, and what type of boat is this primarily used for?

I would also love to here your ideas on how I'll be able to breathe life into this boat.

I am new to fishing but I know it's something that I will be very passionate about, I was very excited purchasing my very first boat I don't remember the last time I was this excited, I was also trying to catch small fishy at our local lake when I was a kid using a plastic bag I am sure this will bring me joy in the long run, I am very handy and have renovated my own bathroom tiles, I have collected some construction tools along the way.

Thank you very much for your response, I really appreciate it, and sorry about my grammar English is not my native language.

 

[sixgun86]

:WELCOME: to Tinboats.

I think you did great! See you talked him down a couple hundred too. If that motor is runs strong for it's rating and is reliable you've got a good platform to start fishing that looks to be worth every penny. Latches, ply board, even paint shouldn't be much to make it like new. Take your time, look at a couple boat builds on the site to get ideas.

I'll post the pics of your boat up so it's easy for everyone to see.. We love pics btw.

 

[silentstorm78]

Hi Sixgun that's encouraging to here, especially that boating is not my area I went in there blind, I would love to here what the others have to say as well, while learning more about boating.


Thank you!

 

[TheMaestro]

:WELCOME:

Your boat looks in a lot better condition than I had imagined. There are a lot of mods on here that have transformed junkyard destined boats into sleek fishing machines, and many people were newbs too! Just ask lotsa questions and post lotsa pics.
Besides the cosmetics, first questions that come to mind are:
Are there any leaks?
What did the owner mean about the wood and the motor? A new transom?

Looking forward to your build/mod!

 

[papa]

Sweet, that looks a lot better than the beat old jon boat I'm starting. I had to spend 1/2 a day welding before I would even trust mine to float. Good luck and have fun.

 

[silentstorm78]

:WELCOME:

Your boat looks in a lot better condition than I had imagined. There are a lot of mods on here that have transformed junkyard destined boats into sleek fishing machines, and many people were newbs too! Just ask lotsa questions and post lotsa pics.
Besides the cosmetics, first questions that come to mind are:
Are there any leaks?
What did the owner mean about the wood and the motor? A new transom?

Looking forward to your build/mod!

I have not tested the boats for leak but at the back of the boat there's a drain plug, I'm not sure if this is normal at all to have on a boat?

The small piece of wood is to wedge it in between where the motor lies and the back of the boat to kinda tilt it, I guess there's a reason for this so went you run and the boat goas a higher in the front I'm not sure.

I tested the 7.5 Evinrude engine today and it was roaring sound very good, also I noticed at the bottom of the boat there's a big hole that's been patched by a glue or epoxy, I plan testing my boat this Sunday to see if it has leak problems.

 

[silentstorm78]

Sweet, that looks a lot better than the beat old jon boat I'm starting. I had to spend 1/2 a day welding before I would even trust mine to float. Good luck and have fun.

Hey thanks I might be doing the same thing soon.

Question are anyone familiar with a 17 ft Fisher Marsh Hawk? it's 1994, there's a guy I spoke to that is interested in trading it has 70 HP in working condition.