Sears 12ft Jon Project

[Industry]

I have the same boat save for a few minor differences. How wide is the bottom of your boat? How high are you going with your decking? Shoot me a pm with your e-mail and I will send you a pic of how my transom is braced. I think mine came braced from the factory.

 

[BOB350RX]

LOOKIN GOOD CANT WAIT TO SEE IT DONE!!!

 

[ohiolunker]

I have the same boat save for a few minor differences. How wide is the bottom of your boat? How high are you going with your decking? Shoot me a pm with your e-mail and I will send you a pic of how my transom is braced. I think mine came braced from the factory.

The bottom is only 31 inches so the decking is going to be pretty low. I just don't think it would feel very stable to build it too high. I actually got a little unexpected help with the transom from my neighbor. He does pretty nice wood work and offered to route something for me. Prime example of the way things should work, neighbor does right by you, you throw him a cold six-pack......it's the formula for world peace :lol:

 

[93civEJ1]

good luck on your restore...im in the 12ft club with ya...im taking mine out for the first time in the morning.

 

[ohiolunker]

Still raining in Ohio so no progress. Since I couldn't work on the boat I decided to go out and pick up a new trolling motor. Got a foot controlled 45lb thrust Minn Kota. Snapped a photo of one of the seats that are going in too. Ordered the battleship grey Steelflex and hopefully the seats will match nicely. Only bad news is that Fasco called and said that particular color is backordered until May.....guess I'll have to wait.

 

[ohiolunker]

Well apparently it's monsoon season in Northeast Ohio, because I can't remember a day this month that it didn't rain at least a little. Definitely not helping the boat progress. Finally cleared up a bit today and I made it out to pick up supplies for the build. Figure the trailer isn't hauling a boat around it could get a little workout with some lumber. Since I've been stuck indoors I fabbed up some rod holder brackets out of aluminum angle and some stainless bolts. They mount in the oar brackets and hopefully will work pretty good if I decide to do some trolling or want to drown a few night crawlers. Giving credit where it is due I have to admit I got this idea from Old Bill's 'Installing a fishfinder wtihout drilling holes!' post. Pretty clever. Lastly, I picked up a Lowrance X-4 pro fish finder from Gander. I think at this point I have everything to get the boat in fishing shape so I should have some more progress posts to come.

On a random topic.....don't know if anyone out there has used Ardent Line Butter line conditioner, but so far I have to say i recommend. Sprayed it on some 50lb braid and pitching distance increased and the retrieve seems quite a bit smoother. We'll have to see how it holds up throughout the summer.

 

[ohiolunker]

Mocked up how I'm going to run the wiring today. Drilled holes and ran PVC along the channel in the hull. Cut out some aluminum angle and mounted some brackets in to strap down my battery. A little crooked, but they work alright and will be covered up anyways. Speaking of batteries, I'm thinking of getting and Optima blue top, but don't know if it's worth the extra money. Does anyone have any experience with them?

 

[LMBDave]

lookin good so far, keep it up.

 

[ohiolunker]

Thanks LMBDave, I appreciate the post. Got the foam and lumber for the floor cut out today. Steelflex just arrived in the mail, so as soon as it heats up I'll give the boat some color.

 

[weezer71]

Really coming along, look good! I know the feeling on the rain, not much better in Indiana Looks like a break this week a bit and warmer temps. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

 

[Industry]

Man that thing is gonna put mine to shame! Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[ohiolunker]

Well....I'm a married man as of 6/11. Now that the wedding is over it's time to get this boat finished. I mounted the front deck brackets to the cross member and started framing. I cut out the deck which lined up nice. Not 100% thrilled with the lower cover piece...I should have cut the sides more concave to fit more flush to the sides of the boat. If I have enough wood left I may cut another, but if not hopefully the carpeting will fill it in a bit more. Also, made some cross rails to keep the water from pooling up on my cover (another idea I borrowed from the mad scientists of tinboats). Supposed to be a nice weekend, so hopefully I can make some progress.

 

[ohiolunker]

Cut out the last plastic holder I wanted to put in next to the cup holder. Figure I can use this to throw lures in and such. Finished framing in the front deck and started framing the back. Hopefully I can finish cutting everything out for the back deck and start the steelflex tomorrow. Really would like to get this thing on the water before summer is over. [-o<

 

[ohiolunker]

Moment I've been looking forward to. Steelflex applied to the outside. Pic one is of the 1st coat and the second is coat 2. Definitely some sagging on the sides, but all in all I'm pretty happy how it turned out. I'm going to coat the inside too, mostly for looks, but the boat should be sealed up pretty well after that.

 

[Industry]

Lookin good! Its coming right along. 8)

 

[ohiolunker]

Busy day today. Got the Steelflex applied to the inside. Only put a coat on the floor and the areas that would be visible. Mounted all the brackets for the rear deck and fuse box. Drilled the mount holes for the fish finder. Got both pieces for the rear deck cut out and applied my first coat of Cabot's to some of the wood pieces. Put in an order at genuinedealz.com for all the electrical wiring gear I'll need and ordered a couple more goodies from basspro. Picked up some more marine carpet too. Outside of some time to finish staining everything and assembly I think the only things left on the list to pick up are a battery and my stickers (which is a good thing because I hate to think how much has went into this project at this point). My goal is to have this thing in the water by my b-day in August.

 

[ohiolunker]

It seems as if the universe does not want me to finish this boat. I tore my quad two weeks ago and have been on the couch or crutches since. Finally starting to feel a bit better so I got out and tried to get something done. I would actually like to go fish at least once this year. Put some longer runners on the trailer so it will be a bit more stable. Started running the wiring which was surprisingly a pain in the neck. Getting all the wires through the PVC was a bit of a workout. Hopefully I will have more progress pics to post here in the upcoming days.

 

[ohiolunker]

Front deck frame installed. Fuse box finished and wiring hub for the trolling motor mounted.

 

[spotco2]

Looks great so far!

My dad has the same boat but in MUCH worse condition. We've had to upgrade his bilge pump to 2 Dixie cups instead of just one

Have you considered adding a hinged door under that front deck to give you some covered storage? It would make a great place to toss in some ropes and maybe store your life jackets or other misc crap that we always end up with rolling around in the floor.

 

[ohiolunker]

Have you considered adding a hinged door under that front deck to give you some covered storage? It would make a great place to toss in some ropes and maybe store your life jackets or other misc crap that we always end up with rolling around in the floor.

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing, just have to get around to cutting them out. I'm thinking about blocking off the deck cover and the front bench and creating a little dry storage area too. Hopefully I can get out and get some more knocked out this weekend. Thanks for the post.