bringing my boat back to life**updated 5/3/12 w/ pics**

Ok, so i have started a new project, my first boat. i got this boat from a guy on craigslist last year on a trade. i traded a .30-06 mossberg rifle for the boat, trailer, and 2 motors. one motor was a small one, i believe 5 horse or something and the one i ended up using is an 18hp evinrude. both motors were locked up, so i worked my best to get them unlocked without damage.. one bottle of marvel mystery oil, a can of pb blaster and a few whacks from a sledge i had the 18hp unlocked... once it was no longer locked up, i rebuilt the carb and put in some new plugs and she fired right up and purred like a kitten. i fished all last year with the boat the way it was, but this year i wanted something better... so, now im redoing the boat. i stripped the outside already and have it in primer. i replaced the transom. i am in the process of putting in the floor, along with a deck on the front... this boat is a v hull, but is quite steady. i do have one question tho, does anyone have any ideas on securing the front deck to the boat? the floor sits on the bottom of the sides where the little indentations are near the bottom, they provide a good lip for the floor to rest on... i just dont know how to do the deck on the front, the deck will only be level with the front seat.

Hey bikeordie I couldn't see a good pic of the U bolt on your bow (the one that clips your boat to the trailer) but I used my U bolt bow tie to secure my front deck down to. I just removed the nuts on the back side (inside the boat) and made a custom bracket to attach the front casting deck to. I actually used a coupling nut (long nut) on one of the U bolt threads so I could run a bolt into it on the other end. And you can fab something on the other end where your bench seat is to tie it down also.

Nice use of 2x2's for framing by the way. Are you going to put any hatches in the floor?

no hatches are going in the floor, but i do plan to make some storage and a livewell on the sides. they will come up a little higher than the seats... and thanks alot for that idea on the u bolt utilization... i will probably end up doing that.

Careful doing a live well on the side...water is heavy and may very well throw off your weight distribution.

Yeah I plan on putting it on one side and the gas tank on the other

so, i finally got the floor done and i am now working on the storage/livewell stuff... ended up deciding to make my own livewell since i couldnt find anything that was the size i wanted.. a little fleece, lots of resin and a little "kitty hair" and this thing will be ready for the boat.

finished the livewell today, works pretty nicely but it is also pretty small, idk if ill be able to hold all the fish that i want to, but ill make it work lol.. and i also have to figure out a way of getting water in the livewell.. im thinking replace the cap on the end with a valve and barb with a long hose and putting 2 switches to the livewell, which makes the motor turn backwards and sucks in water.. any other suggestions?

I was actually going to ask if that was a bait tank for minnows :mrgreen:

Johny25 said:

I was actually going to ask if that was a bait tank for minnows :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

i fish alot more for bluegill/crappie and also do a little bass fishing, i think its going to do ok for my type of fishing, ill more than likely have a 5 gal bucket on board as well... plus i was thinking of finding a pump that i can put outside the livewell to free up that space, im sure that someone makes a pump with 2 fittings for a hose... i could relocate that type outside of the livewell....

figured out a way to relocate the pump to free up space, actually i got rid of the bilge pump and bought a washer pump at work (autozone) for $15... used several different size hoses to get up to 3/4 to fuel the spray bar, and i had to drill 2 hoses in the side of the livewell, near to the top and put the pump on the outside of the livewell... seems alot more open now... got most of the framing for the storage done too... just have to put plywood on that and build the deck and wire everything up and im done!

just thought i would add a link to a video of my boat out on the water before i started modding it, scoots along pretty good i think, gets up to speed pretty quick and planes out nicely. i think this motor will do just fine with the added weight of my mods..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig_DzSO9EwI


btw, since i know someone will notice it lol the 2 red wires was done by the PO.. i just hadnt changed one over to black at this point.. wires are now red and black and the battery is being relocated to underneath the front deck that im in the process of making.

She's a great runner. Good job on getting her going again. =D>
Thanks for sharing.

No prob Lol I will make sure to keep posting up pics and probably another video once is it complete. Hopefully it won't rain here tomorrow so that I can get a lot done....

I noticed in your video that you were looking to another starter for your motor. Did you every find one? What would you need to install an electric starter? Mine only has a pull start would it be easy to make the coversion to an electric one?

Haven't found one yet, and I would imagine it would be quite easy... the starter takes place of the member thing on the port side and from there all u would need to do is wire in a switch and solenoid to make it work...

finally made some more progress on the boat the past few days, rather than going fishing every time i have a few spare hours lol... i finally made the deck, wired the lights, and mounted the seat in the front... made part of the deck a hatch to store things, more storage is always better