"Krazy Kajun" 1993 Lowe 1648 / 93' 25 HP Mercury FINISHED!!!

[Livetofish]

Hello - new to the forum so I thought I would take shot at this" re-building" stuff. As this will be my 3rd Jon Boat conversion, I have finally decided to post some "before and after pictures" as I go through the process.

Story - Yes, I am a cajun from South, LA and just by chance, the boat was namned the "Krazy Kajun" (found it in central Alabama) - If the shoe fits, where it!!!!!

Boat:
1993 Lowe Riveted 1648
Engine:
1993 Mercury 25 HP Short Shaft / Electric Start
Trailer - Who Know's, but it's heavey as hell and its made for a Bass Boat
Minn Kota 40lb Trolling Motor
Price Paid: $ 1500.00 (plus got a free Gallon of 2 cycle oil) - WHAT A DEAL!!!!!!! Yea RIGHT!!!!

Below as a few pictures of the "finally at home" stages.... Thus far, I have removed the following.
1. 77 Sheet Metal Screws ranging from 3/4" up to 3 1/2"
2. A bunch of 3/4" playwood
3. 1 roll of roofing felt paper (used as a barrier coating between the carpet and plywood) #-o
4. At minnimum, 100' of electrical wiring (various sizes) - previous owned used speaker wire to run the bow lights.... Well, it worked [-o<
5. At least, 20 Tubes of household silicon that was used to seal the plywood floor to the sides of the boat
6. I gallon can of Roofing Tar that was apparently used to seal the plywood on the front deck to the roofing paper [-X
7. (1) 2" x 8" x 4' # 2 Yellow Pine board that was secured with 18" X 1/4" zink all thread in 8 places that served as the mount for the trolling motor. (dont ask me why)??????

In addition, I have removed the bow and stern lights (yes, they worked) not sure how....

Here is my plans:
The boat will be completely stripped, inside, bottom, stern (well, you get the picture). Once stripped, I will apply 1 coat of primer, then 2 coats of Interlux Dead Grass Green Paint. I will install 1/2" plywood flooring sealed with Epoxy Resin then covered with 26 oz marine carpet. The carpet will cover both the port and starboard gunnels, all floors and of course the front deck. I will also be extending the front deck to 4', the middle seat will get an extra 14 inces in width with 2 storage compartment for the TM batteries and cranking batteries. The rear bench seat will also get an additional 14" in width along with an extended platform that will go all the way to the engine. All electrical wiring will be run through 3/4" clear hose under the flooring (no trippping hazards) and sealed with 3M 5200. All connections will be soldiered then sealed with shrink tubing.... With regards the the engine, it will also be stripped, painted back with Mercury Black Paint then new Mercury 25 HP decals..... All exsisting holes that supported the 77 sheet metal screws will be "tig welded" to ensure no leaks and then ground flush. I will be removing the boat from the trailer this weekend. Once the remaining "STUFF" is stripped off, it will be placed on saw horses, holes repaired, sanded and prepped to be painted (next weekend).


Add on's:
(1) Aqua Brite 600 Lumen LED Under Water Green light on Stern
(1) AM / FM CD w/ I Pod capability Stereo and (4) 6 1/2" Speakers
(1) Electrical Switch Panel that will support all lights, Bildge Pump, Live Well etc
(1) Lowrance / GPS Combo with built in antenna
(1) "Build In" 6 Gallon Fuel Tank (new)
(1) External Fuel / Water Seperator
(1) Standard Horizon Hand Held VHF Radio
(1) Flare Kit and Horn
(1) 20" LED White and Blue Strip Light (not sure why, but it will look cool as heck)

Hope everyone enjoys as I go through the process - BTW, I really enjoy doing these projects and I plan on keeping everyone updated with my progress.

 

[K15997]

Awesome, congrats on the new boat! I'll keep up with it !

 

[Livetofish]

UPDATE # 2

Worked on the boat this past Sunday and below are the results. All holes have been repaired (filled / welded), sides and bottom have been sanded, primed and ready for paint. Flipped the boat back over late yesterday afternoon and loaded it back on the trailer. This week I will be focusing on the sanding of the interior, 2 - 3 power washings and de-greasing then getting her primed and ready for paint next weekend.... Still mauling over paint colors, but will make a final decision later in the week. I made a decision to completely remove the center seat so I could have more room. This will happen this week as well.....


BTW - I am looking at options for the trailer paint. If anyone has any ideas of that perfect color to paint the trailer, I am interested.... Looking for something other than black....

Enjoy.....

 

[riverrat174]

I painted mine to match the boat. The main frame is Cami green, and all trim pieces and accessories are a sand color. I still have to do the tongue and winch mount, but that might wait for winter!!!! I wanna get her in the water for fall 'eyes!!!!

 

[typed by ben]

for the trailer id go with the same color that you do the hull. matched sets always look nice. my bass boat was blue, silver, and red with blue being the main color. did the trailer blue metal flake and it turned out really sharp.

if you take that center bench out do you plan to add more support? on my lowe theres no stringers under the seats, so you in effect lose the support of 2 stringers.

 

[Livetofish]

typed by ben » 12 Aug 2013, 14:02[/url]"]for the trailer id go with the same color that you do the hull. matched sets always look nice. my bass boat was blue, silver, and red with blue being the main color. did the trailer blue metal flake and it turned out really sharp.

if you take that center bench out do you plan to add more support? on my lowe theres no stringers under the seats, so you in effect lose the support of 2 stringers.

I will be closing in the gunnels with 3/8" marine plywood, coated in Epoxy then covered with carpet. I feel confident that the 3/8" material will be more than enough to cover for the 2 missing strings plus cosmetically improve the appearence.

 

[Livetofish]

UPDATE # 3

Apparently god knows that I am ready to paint and however, he thinks I should not because it has been raining off and on for 4 days now. Since it has been raining, I figured that it could be a project weekend and work on the trailer, Trolling Motor Bracket and build a simple Knife / Plier Holder for the boat. HOPEFULLY, this week I can get the first coat of primer put on the boat and then spray the boat next weekend.


Below are a few pictures of my projects made with Starboard....

 

[Livetofish]

UPDATE # 4

Well, the rain finally stopped Sunday which gave me time to put a coat of primer on the bottom and sides. If all goes well, I will flip her this afternoon and prime th einside. Off to Sherwin Williams tomorrow morning to get 3 quarts of Enamel "High Tea". This is a shade of Olive Drab that was used on another boat from this site.

 

[Sailor Jules]

Good luck with the build, im in the middle of my own right now.

 

[Livetofish]

Sailor Jules » 21 Aug 2013, 01:09[/url]"]Good luck with the build, im in the middle of my own right now.

Many thanks - post up some pictures... Mine will get it's first coat of top side paint today.... Will start framing up front deck Saturday

 

[Livetofish]

UPDATE # 5

Well, I was able to get the first coat of paint on the outside yesterday and I hope to get the 2nd coat on today. If all goes well, I will begin running wiring tomorrow afternoon and then start laying out the front and rear deck on Sunday...


Thoughts so far??? What do you tink about the paint color? I decided not to paint all of the sides considering they wil be covered with plywood and carpet..

 

[typed by ben]

color looks great, love it. clean as a whistle.

 

[hercdrvrwo]

Did you spray or use a brush? I have been doing test runs on mine and I can't get the brush marks out of the paint job -- So I am thinking of taking into a spray booth.

 

[Livetofish]

hercdrvrwo » 22 Aug 2013, 12:16[/url]"]Did you spray or use a brush? I have been doing test runs on mine and I can't get the brush marks out of the paint job -- So I am thinking of taking into a spray booth.

Air Compressor Spray Gun - bought from Harbor Freight for $25.00...

 

[Livetofish]

UPDATE # 6

Well, some progress has been made. Both front and rear decks are now framed up and ready to start cutting the 1/2 plywood for the front deck. From there I will be cutting the sides for the gunnels out of 3/8" material. I have decided to have 2 seats on the back seat in whiich one of them will be removalble so a pedalstel chair with a 11" post can be dropped into the base plate. I have not decided to use the trolling motor mount that was fabricated from 1/2" starboard becuase the front deck will nearly be flush with the top rail. Last night I ordered my bus bars, bilge pumps, plumbing kit, 3 toggle marine switch panel and the 12Volt plug. Will be running wiring later this evening after it cools off.... 98 degrees and 96 % Humidity!!!!!!!!!!!! It's freaking hot today.
Will post up after the weekend with update # 7

 

[Livetofish]

UPDATE - 7

Well, much progress was made over the weekend in between honey do's and ball games.... I was able to get all of the deching installed and "mocked up" and then ready for carpet. Yesterday I managed to get the front deck and back deck carpeted... Picked up the carpet at Lowes for $ 0.51 sq ft and a gallon of waterproof exterior glue for $ 18.00. Gonna be well short but will have enough carpet to cover the gunnel panels. WIll try to finsh out the carpet next weekend as I need to travel this week for work...

Wont be long and I will be ready to start prepping the engine and trailer for primer and paint.

Does anyone know where I can pick up some decent priced 7" X 7" Seat Bases that will mount flush with the decking?

 

[Livetofish]

Well guys, alot of progress has happened over the past 10 days - been working after dinner each nigh on on the weekends to get to this point. I will be pulling the boat off of the trailer Saturday to put a fresh paaint job on it plus service the bearings.


Enjoy:

I will also include a total material cost for those of you budgeting for your projects.

 

[Livetofish]

More pictures

 

[Livetofish]

Wll, the Krazy Kajun is done and was water tested today.... Ran perfectly, well balanced and hit the 25 MPH mark as what I expected... Here is the before and after picture... She has come a long way..

Total cost of the re-build $ 596.00