12' valco build- "Good Enough"

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deadkitty

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Location
Portland oregon
So after my failed jet jon attempt, I gave my new to me valco the fixer upper treatment.
When I got it, the po had given it a fresh paint job (lousy) and of course that helped me see past its dents and bruises, and probably the worst thing : the lid cutouts in the benches were held in by 2 cent hinges, flimsy little things. Anyway, after a few fishing trips the each bench lid had either broken, fallen in on itself or just plain became a board hanging out near the bench....
DAY 1 pics:
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Well to my wife's dismay of me starting another project the bench teardown began back in may:
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Then came figuring out how to put new ones in... I am not the most skilled handyman, but hopefully good enough to complete this project or I will be sorely lacking a fishing vessel...
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The worst thing to cut out evar.........
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Finally got it close enough to where I was happy with it:
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Added some storage lids :
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And some cover up of some not so straight cutting, lol:
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another least favorite thing to do... painting, 2 coats red, 2 coats spar urethane. Will be adding one more urethane coat once installed in the boat too...IMG_1174.JPG
 
Family decided to go out of town, and I had been boatless for 2 months, so I took advantage and turned it up a notch to knock this sucker out and at least make it fisheable again. The following was completed in three days.

The floor paint was cracking and it was black which made it a million degrees to your feet in the hot summer sun. So I went a bought a quart of silver textured rustoleum and went to town, nice and thick.
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Realized I had some Goop coat it from my other project, so decided a quick covering of the seams and rivets on the boat wasn't a terrible idea. On my lunch break, after a quick prep, and a speedy application it got done. Dripped a bit while I was at work, but.... it was good enough ;)
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Once it cured, quick bottom paint and she was ready
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Also was not happy about my rusty trailer getting rustier this past year, so went for that as well, while disregarding sleep as the family was out of town. Wirebrushed and paint and applied.
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Next up, starting to put it back together, sorry for lack of pics, but I was just getting it done and forgot too take more.
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So everything has been installed, took her out for a maiden voyage yesterday. Now what is left is making the electrical purdy, also I think I am going to turn the middle side pocket into a cooler.

BEFORE
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AFTER
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I will add a few more pics later. Any questions, or any more pics let me know and I can answer/add them.

Thanks to everyone on this site, without you there would have been no vision and no drive to achiever a better boat. Without this site I'd be fishing in the same old boring 3 bench no storage, un-modded plain jain boat. But you guys are awesome. Thank you. Time to go catch some fish :D

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It is to be admired. :D


Don't really have any use for a bimini, but just like the way they look on some boats. Nice.
 
Bimini is mainly for the wife and kiddos, in all honesty it gets in the way when fishing. Thinking about adding sides and a front which would be nice, once the weather turns windy and rainy up here in the northwest.



Got some more work done, installed the batteries, one up front, and one in the center bench, and a small one in the rear bench. I was trying to decide on a switch system or not for the trolling motor batteries, but in the end I kept it simple. 6 ga. from each battery to a quick connect in the back for my 55/lb minn kota. Also added a smaller 12v battery for the electronics, put in a master on/off switch for now just so nothing accidentally gets left on. For now it is just powering my humminbird 398ci SI in the back, and my garmin echo 200 on the bow. Eventually I will likely add lights, and maybe a stereo. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1407685279.803738.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1407685289.836637.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1407685299.704098.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1407685309.738255.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1407685371.225379.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1407685380.111057.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1407685396.110928.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1407685402.828262.jpg
 
I don't know if you are actually using that tacklebox as a battery box, but that's a great idea. I can pick up an old tackle box at a flea market for nothing, and then mod it to hold the battery and trolling motor connectors while closed. It will give it that pure fishing boat look without an unsightly battery and drab old black box. 8)

Kudos on the build. =D>
 
Yup, I was having a hard time finding a box for that little one, looked on the shelf, and my old tackle box is exactly the right size for the battery with room to spare for all the electrical connections and fuses.
 
Welp a few years later... I'm back! Picked up a stereo at a garage sale for $5, decided it was time to add some tunes and do a full rewire of the boat. Hope to have it all finished in the next couple days.

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I love the pure lack of furniture grade cabinetry, lack of expensive marine chemicals, lack of spending days restoring metal work and bottom, lack of carpet and overall lack of catolog bought China crap! Valco hulls are built as good or better than most and perform near the top. Yours has the exceptional cool flair on the sides. They will keep that boat upright and dry while performing in the worst of water conditions. I just scored a good but beat up Evinrude 6 for $208 bucks that I'd love to slap on that rig just because it's the "Build of the Year"!
 
I'm from Oregon, fyi. Thanks for the props guys, this has been a learning experience from the beginning, as I've had no woodworking or building experience. My main goal has been to make the most useful boat without breaking the bank. Hence no carpet (also cleaning carpet is so much more of a pain in the *** then busting out the pressure washer), expensive chemicals don't seem to have the bang for the buck in terms of how much they add to the usefulness of the boat. A little bit of goop it fixed any rivet leaks and seems to be holding up over the last 4 years.

The only thing I'm missing is a solid outboard, my original Johnson died forever, I bought a merc 110 from the 60s, but alas, craigslist got me, as dude had it running when I went to see it, never got it running again. That's with a full re-wire, rebuilt carb, never got her to start up again. My boat feels a bit naked without a gas motor, but for taking to ponds and smaller lakes, the 55lb thrust minn kota and my 35lb motorguide up front, I can hit around 3.5-4mph on the gps when by myself. It's become a great fishing machine.

I will post pics once I finish the rewire. Just finished painting the stereo box, added a bilge pump in the back, and I have led strips for lighting on the way from ebay. Since the initial build, I also added a downrigger, and I think I might toss in a bracket to hold the cooler w/ aerator that I always bring to keep the fish fresh. I hope to add some side curtains at some point to cut the cold when it comes, and an outboard so I can go chasing the kokanee and spring salmon at the beginning of next year. Crab pot pulley and anchor hoist are also in the cards at some point.

Will update as the features expand ;)
 
If the only mistake you made was buying a merc turd outboard then you did good. Most of us have made that mistake in the past at least once. I made the finicky black motor mistake twice. What an idiot...
 
DeadK, Valco boats were very common around the California central valley where I grew up. Very easy to spot due to the unique shape. I spent a lot of time in those boats out on the lakes. Seeing yours sure brings back some good memories. Needless to say, I was never in one that was outfitted like yours! Enjoy.
 
Finished up the console, turned out fairly well, leftover spray paint and a nice coat of poly. Sealed the base with 5200, needs a bit of touch up paint, but should help keep the water out. I did not seal in the top panel (just 4 screws) for easy access to any electrical issues/additions in the future. All connections are soldered to the switch panel bus bar and breakers. I doubled up reinforcement for the trolling motor plugs and it is much more stable than before, when it was just going through the bench plywood. Used a cheap plastic bucket as an insulator around the electrical connections. (Tractor) aux battery is on a single quick disconnect that comes out of the console to under the back bench. Added a power connection in each bench for lights. I ordered 8 led light strips for $10 off eBay. Got 2 installed so far, will likely add at least 4 more under bench edges and inside compartments, and maybe one wired with a quick disconnect in the middle of the Bimini top. Makes early morning tackle setup much easier than the tried and true flashlight in the mouth technique. Took it all out for a spin yesterday for around 5 hrs, every thing worked great! Well, except for the size of the trout. Went 4 for 5 trolling but none over 5". Quite a dinky day, always fun though :)

So nice to have easy controls for all the gadgets.

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Looks awesome! Can you post a couple of pics of the downrigger mount? Still trying to decide if and or where to mount mine... I'm on the coast so (not too far out) ocean fishing, downrigger mount freaks me out a bit, bigger balls (you smirked at that, I KNOW YOU DID) than lake trolling....

How heavy are your rigger balls? Are you happy with the mount? Any issues to the boat mounting it there like that?
 
Hey Scouter! Sorry took me a bit to get back, been outta town. So this was my make shift cheapest easiest way I could bang out a decent functioning mount since my valco flares out so much at the to, the angles are kinda rough. I've used it off and on over the last couple years. The biggest thing I don't like is that since it's all metal connected to the hull, when I go 40+ feet deep I tend to get an evil whine echoing throughout the boat. Still catches fish though :) overall not too bad. I think when I spring for a second rigger, I may fashion boxes out of wood which should mute the whine, and snag me some Kokanee on both sides of the boat down deep. Also my balls are 6lbs ;)
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Take a look at my Sept 2 post under Member Karma. Your call. Questions, let me know.

The whine is from the DR cable. The mount will not eliminate cable hum, though I suppose it could be less intrusive if the mount is isolated so nothing transmits through he hull. I found it is reduced quite a bit by using a 8# ball. To completely eliminate, use braid instead of cable.

Have fun.
 

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