Polarkraft 1648 Mods

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hsiftac

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
110
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Location
Peoria Il
This is my 1992 Polarkraft 1648 modified V jon boat. Bought it in 2014 and put a makeshift floor in with a small casting deck and an old foot controlled trolling motor. I used it for a couple years and noticed the transom was a bit rotten. I decided to completely gut it and make it more how I wanted it. I realize now that I didn't take quite as many pictures during the process as I thought. I also can't find any before pictures but will post if I come across them.
Here is the boat the day I gutted it.
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I thought about just replacing the transom with a new wood one but ultimately had a local welder fabricate and install an all aluminum one. I am very happy with that decision as the new one is very sturdy and will never need replacing.
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The previous owner(s) had a nasty multi color spray paint camo job so I started sanding and stripping down to either bare aluminum or the factory paint. I used a nyalox brush on a drill to strip most of the spray paint but also used stripper on some spots and even tried walnut blasting (works in small areas but would take an eternity to do the whole boat with my setup).
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The inside was a big pain to get the spray paint camo off due to having to work around all the ribs. I left the bottom of the boat as is since it was going to be covered with a floor. Then I decided I wanted somewhere to mount a bow mount trolling motor so I welded in a few braces of aluminum channel (no pictures before I covered it) and covered it with some sheet aluminum that I salvaged from one of the rear pod seats I removed.
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From there I started to prime all bare aluminum spots with bare metal primer to prep for paint.
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Next up was paint. I used parkers duck boat paint and rolled/brushed it on. Overall I am pretty happy with how it turned out and it seems to be holding up pretty well.
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After that I found that I am lacking on pictures of the finished product. This is the only one I have and there have been more updates since then.
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It's powered by an 09 Mercury 25hp that will push me ~32 mph solo or around 29 mph with another person which is plenty for me. I also added a Lowrance Hook2 Tripleshot which I like but am still figuring out the side imaging. Added some LED strip navigation lights, bilge pump and a switch panel with USB/12v hookups so far. Put a new MinnKota Edge 45lb up front which is plenty of power.
Boat is mostly used for fishing but is currently loaded with decoys for duck season.

I will try to get some pictures of the essentially finished project next time it comes out of the garage. Also will add any other pictures I can find from the process.
 
Nice work! The pleasure of a project successfully completed is surpassed by few things!

Go out and “git’r” wet… have fun!👍🏻😀
 

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