scottphillips208
Well-known member
I'm Scott, a long-time lurker and first time poster who has greatly benefited from the wealth of information provided on TinBoats.com. In fact, you've all helped be rebuild a 14' Valco and and 14' Montgomery Ward boat over the past three years by providing good ideas and reliable information.
Recently a 14' welded hull jet sled somehow got attached to my truck and followed me home, so it only seems fitting that I rebuild it, too! I'll do my best to chronicle the build with photos and commentary.
In addition to the trailer, it came with a 6 hp long shaft Evinrude kicker, a 55 hp Johnson Seahorse outfitted with a jet foot, and other trappings like an inexpensive fish finder, decent pole holders, a paddle, etc. The boat and motors date to the mid 1970's, I think, and given its age, the hull isn't titled and the registration documents are silent as to the hull's manufacturer. While the trailer is an amalgam of two other boat trailers, the hull doesn't appear to be a DIY job. I did find a photo of a 1973 16' Smokercraft jet sled that had the same lines as my 14' hull, but the 16' boat was riveted, not welded like mine.
My goals is to set this boat up to perform a variety of functions including: steelhead fishing on the Salmon and Clearwater rivers here in Idaho; bass fishing on Snake river near Boise; trolling for kokanee on a variety of lakes; and duck hunting.
In a nutshell, here's my plan (not necessarily in order):
1. Strip out the worn-out plywood floors and offset center console, remove the motors, patch a few orphaned screw holes, degrease/clean it and prep for paint. Surprisingly, the foam under the floor appears to be sound and dry.
2. Spot prime the bare aluminum places on the transom; at some point someone did a pretty good job repairing and reinforcing it.
3. Take the boat off the trailer so the trailer can be cleaned up, painted, rewired, etc.
4. Shoot a couple of coats of a flat green camo paint on the inside and outside of the hull. I'm thinking about using the Parker brand duck boat paint from Cabelas.
5. Camo the inside and outside of the hull with stencils and rattle-can Rustoleum. I've got a vinyl cutter, so I've made my own stencils...I still need to run a test on a piece of hardboard to make sure I like the pattern and colors.
6. Replace the plywood floor, build a more functional center or side console, add a platform on the stern of the boat to house a livewell and provide storage.
7. Replace with built-in aluminum gas tank with a new removable plastic one, add another battery for auxiliary electronics like the bilge pump, radio, livewell, lights, etc.
I'll do my best to keep you posted on my progress and include periodic photos.
Thanks,
Scott
Recently a 14' welded hull jet sled somehow got attached to my truck and followed me home, so it only seems fitting that I rebuild it, too! I'll do my best to chronicle the build with photos and commentary.
In addition to the trailer, it came with a 6 hp long shaft Evinrude kicker, a 55 hp Johnson Seahorse outfitted with a jet foot, and other trappings like an inexpensive fish finder, decent pole holders, a paddle, etc. The boat and motors date to the mid 1970's, I think, and given its age, the hull isn't titled and the registration documents are silent as to the hull's manufacturer. While the trailer is an amalgam of two other boat trailers, the hull doesn't appear to be a DIY job. I did find a photo of a 1973 16' Smokercraft jet sled that had the same lines as my 14' hull, but the 16' boat was riveted, not welded like mine.
My goals is to set this boat up to perform a variety of functions including: steelhead fishing on the Salmon and Clearwater rivers here in Idaho; bass fishing on Snake river near Boise; trolling for kokanee on a variety of lakes; and duck hunting.
In a nutshell, here's my plan (not necessarily in order):
1. Strip out the worn-out plywood floors and offset center console, remove the motors, patch a few orphaned screw holes, degrease/clean it and prep for paint. Surprisingly, the foam under the floor appears to be sound and dry.
2. Spot prime the bare aluminum places on the transom; at some point someone did a pretty good job repairing and reinforcing it.
3. Take the boat off the trailer so the trailer can be cleaned up, painted, rewired, etc.
4. Shoot a couple of coats of a flat green camo paint on the inside and outside of the hull. I'm thinking about using the Parker brand duck boat paint from Cabelas.
5. Camo the inside and outside of the hull with stencils and rattle-can Rustoleum. I've got a vinyl cutter, so I've made my own stencils...I still need to run a test on a piece of hardboard to make sure I like the pattern and colors.
6. Replace the plywood floor, build a more functional center or side console, add a platform on the stern of the boat to house a livewell and provide storage.
7. Replace with built-in aluminum gas tank with a new removable plastic one, add another battery for auxiliary electronics like the bilge pump, radio, livewell, lights, etc.
I'll do my best to keep you posted on my progress and include periodic photos.
Thanks,
Scott