# 14' Modified V Jon Boat Project



## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

I have been in limbo on what type of boat to buy for the last month or so. Finally in the OFG marketplace I found a good deal on a 14' modified jon boat. After a dozen or so PM's I had to have it. Thanks, Lightning2863. Well, I finally got her this weekend. I couldn't be any happier with my purchase. I spent 500 for boat, trailer, motor, and trolling motor. I then went to wally-world and spent another $120 on the essentials. (anchor, cord, lights, paddles, battery tester, etc.) I then stopped by auto-zone to talk to some guys about bed liners, and they assured me that it was water-proof so I picked up a do-it-yourself kit up for 80 bucks. I figured that if there were any leaks that it would seal them, and It'll give me a little more confidence in shallow water when banging on rocks. Got home and put the bed liner on the bottom of the boat. The whole process spanned several days, cleaning, sanding, re-cleaning, taping off undesired areas, apply one coat, let dry, apply second coat, let dry, touch up, etc. While it was drying I went to Menard's and grabbed some 1.5" PVC for rod holders, some .5" PVC for wiring, various couplers and angles, and cleaner and glue. I attached the rod holders to the bench seats with heating duct hangers. I then ran wires to the navigation light, trolling motor, and for the Fish finder that I get, to the battery. I figured since most of the weight is going to be in the back of the boat, that I'd put the battery up front. Here are a few pics. 

Bed Liner Coating:

















Rod Holders:
I picked up a few 45 degree 1.5" angles for the pvc. I plan on adding them to the rod holders near the back to get a few rods out over the water and away from the boat. This will allow me to add atrolling bar across the back and spread a few rods, for trolling or drifting. Still working on that though. All in time....and if we have a spring like last year I will have plenty of time. (I would like to note that the numbers of rod holders doesn't indicate the numbers of rods I use. I only fish 2 rods as allowed by Ohio Law. The reason for the numerous rod holders is because the most of the time I will be fishing with my friend and or girlfriend, and we often times anchor and fish off of one side of the boat. Toward a snag or ledge, what not.) Just wanted to clairify that a bit. 









The Essentials:









Wiring:








The T that I installed where the battery will be placed. (I plan to bring the pvc up and away from the bottom of the boat when I install everything else.) I later hope to install a fish finder and a small instrument panel with toggle switches and various gages in a couple weeks. I have been thinking about adding two battery life gauges.....if they make such a thing, also a toggle switch board which I have seen at bass pro shops that will allow me to turn lights, fish finder, aereators, trolling motors, etc. on and off.









Here's what it looked like when I decided to give up for the weekend.









After we get it in the water a time or two to establish that there are no leaks, I MIGHT paint it a hunter green. I also plan to add some bed liner or traction aiding material inside the boat. 

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions from people who have made similar modifications to thier boats. It's personally my first boat, my buddy has had his for 2 years now, so I'm kinda new to this whole thing. I would also apprciate any pics of home-made instrument pannels to get an idea of how I wanna make mine. 

Thanks, 
Sean


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## markfish (Nov 22, 2007)

sean the biggest problem i see right now is your rod holders, now this is just a suggestion not trying tell you how to build your boat,, the way you have the pvc,placed is 1st to deep the tops shouild stick up higher 2nd, did you cut a grove in them were your reel handle will slid in and lock into place 3rd there all the same in the stright up. this will hold your rods stright in the air dont you want them to point on more of a 45 deg, im not a trolling pro but i have built a few boats for guys,if your wanting to mount a brack it on the back for more trolling rod mounts,like a erie boat is that what you mean,if so let me know i can give you some tips,but other than that its looking very nice,markfish this is one i build from the ground up this past summer


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## wave warrior (Oct 2, 2005)

lookin good! i did A very similar boat! instead on the cpvc for wiring i used corrogated_its split so you can add/remove wires when needed. i aslo painted it hunter green(tractor enamal, lasing great!) as fer as the inside i used car trunk paint...its grey and it textured for traction,really holding up great after 4 years!i mounted my battery in the back and made a long fuel line so i can put the tank near the front when by myself i'll try to load some pics...


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## wave warrior (Oct 2, 2005)

these are old pics, i have since redone everything again, new paint on trailer and boat and new trolling motor...
in this pic i had cpvc, its been changed also to corrogared, but you get the idea!


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## wave warrior (Oct 2, 2005)

for some reason it only let me add 1 pic per post...


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

I guess I should have mentioned this before, but we will be fishing for everything from this boat. The rod holders however are primarily for catfishing, maybe even carp. 





markfish said:


> sean the biggest problem i see right now is your rod holders, now this is just a suggestion not trying tell you how to build your boat,, the way you have the pvc,placed is 1st to deep the tops shouild stick up higher 2nd, did you cut a grove in them were your reel handle will slid in and lock into place 3rd there all the same in the stright up. this will hold your rods stright in the air dont you want them to point on more of a 45 deg, im not a trolling pro but i have built a few boats for guys,if your wanting to mount a brack it on the back for more trolling rod mounts,like a erie boat is that what you mean,if so let me know i can give you some tips,but other than that its looking very nice,markfish this is one i build from the ground up this past summer


The rod holders can move up if needed, I think each has 3-4 inches available. They are just held into place with a strap for now. I thought about putting a 45 degree fitting on them and cutting holes for the rod to fit through and the reel to set on. Just haven't quite figured that part out yet. We will be running cirlce hooks from these rod holders, and I know the right angle is important. However I have limited experience using cirlce hooks from the boat. (1 year) I did find that I prefered an angle of 50 or so on our other boat. 

For the rod holders on the back of the boat, I want to mount a 1/4 inch thick by 2" by 42" peice of metal across the back of the boat. I would then drill holes and use some manufactured rod holders to fit into those holes. Not set on any particular style though. I have looked into driftmasters and monster rod holders. We have some larger rods for blues, and flatheads so I will need a thicker and wider rod holder for them. 

Wave Wariror I really like that diamond plate platform you made for the bow. I might have to borrow that idea.  How is it secured? I had some of that corregated black hose, but I wanted something a little more stout, and water proof if we get a good rain. 

Thanks guys I really apprciate the advice. I'm getting a fish finder this Thursday and I have thursday-sunday to work on the boat again. I'll post some updates as I move along.


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## stano (Apr 24, 2007)

I have a fair number of experience in these projects. Truthfully, you have to think about what you are going to use the boat for and how comfortable you want to be. That's a very light boat. You are going to get blown around pretty good on a windy day. If you're going to be anchor most of the time, then don't worry about that. A Floor in the boat is probably going to be the best thing you do. A flat surface is SO much better than a v-shape. Do you want to stand at all in the boat? Do you want a bow mount trolling motor? If so, you will have to work that into your project. Honestly, you should have checked for leaks before you lined it. Not too big of a deal, but identifying the problem comes first, then fixing it, and going from there. I've done a few of these projects and most of your time will be spent staring at it trying to think about everything. It can get very pricy, very quickly. Congratulations on your first boat. The only problem with starting small is realizing that you want a bigger boat! That's the boat owners curse. Before you do a whole lot, I suggest getting the boat in the water. See how it performs. Trust me, it's a lot differnt actually fishing from it on the water than holding a rod pretending while on the trailer in a garage. Feel free to let me know if you want more info. I can e-mail pictures of my boat. Check out tinboats.net


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

stano said:


> I have a fair number of experience in these projects. Truthfully, you have to think about what you are going to use the boat for and how comfortable you want to be. That's a very light boat. You are going to get blown around pretty good on a windy day. If you're going to be anchor most of the time, then don't worry about that.


We usually don't anchor until an hour before dark each trip. We bass/crappe/bluegill fish until dark and then set up for cats. With that being said, I hope that we can control the boat enough with the trolling motor to avoid accidents caused by wind. 




stano said:


> A Floor in the boat is probably going to be the best thing you do. A flat surface is SO much better than a v-shape. Do you want to stand at all in the boat? Do you want a bow mount trolling motor? If so, you will have to work that into your project.


A flat bottom would be nice, but I do want to keep the boat light so if we want to navigate small streams, we can still carry the boat a hundred feet or so over riffles. Marine grade plywood is crazy heavy, we put it in one of our rental properties bath room and trust me a full sheet of marine grade ply wood is more than a handfull by oneself. At the boats current weight with it loaded down we can lift it a little.....add more weight, slippery wet rocks and it may be an issue. Guess I'll have to weigh my options there. 

EDITED HERE: I was just looking through that website and a guy used regular ply wood and just coated it with water sealer. That would cut down on weight. Thanks again. 



stano said:


> Honestly, you should have checked for leaks before you lined it. Not too big of a deal, but identifying the problem comes first, then fixing it, and going from there.


I assumed that a heavy coat of the bed liner would stop the leak since it's waterproof. I guess if it gets scuffed i'll be back to square one. I think i can see some sort of stain where the leak would be. Maybe I can fix it up from the inside of the boat?





stano said:


> I've done a few of these projects and most of your time will be spent staring at it trying to think about everything. It can get very pricy, very quickly. Congratulations on your first boat. The only problem with starting small is realizing that you want a bigger boat! That's the boat owners curse. Before you do a whole lot, I suggest getting the boat in the water. See how it performs. Trust me, it's a lot differnt actually fishing from it on the water than holding a rod pretending while on the trailer in a garage. Feel free to let me know if you want more info. I can e-mail pictures of my boat. Check out tinboats.net



Haven't done the pretending trick yet, might have to do that. LOL Thanks, for the advice, and for the link to tinboats.net. Got some really great stuff in there, a whole section on modifying jon boats. Great. Thanks a ton. My email is [email protected]. I'd appreciate any pics and advice I can get. 

Thanks, 
Sean


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## wave warrior (Oct 2, 2005)

the diamond plate is bolted thru the side rail(you can see in last pic) and for the coorogated i placed the (slice) downward and epoxied it in the grove in the side of the boat, slick as heck!!


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

wave warrior said:


> the diamond plate is bolted thru the side rail(you can see in last pic) and for the coorogated i placed the (slice) downward and epoxied it in the grove in the side of the boat, slick as heck!!


If I make any major changes in the boat I might have to use that corrogtaed hose then. The diamond plate is pretty neat, I'm really thinking more and more about what to do with the boat. With the introduction of the tinboats.net site, the possibilities are endless. My budgets not though. Lol


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## stano (Apr 24, 2007)

I use plywood (not particle board) and Thompson's water sealer. Works like a charm. 'm no chemist, but I've heard that the chemicals in marine grade plywood will react with the aluminum and casuse rot. I'm no chemist, but the cost of plywood and Thompsons is half of marine grade. Marine grade is totally unnecessay. The only benefit that marine grade has is that it doesn't have any knots. Therefore, water, beer, whatever doesn't have a place to penetrate the wood to begin rotting it. Trust me. A floor is very nice. If you plan on carrying that boat through portages etc, you might have to rethink that. With all your gear, motor, gas tank, battery, paddles, etc. That thing will be heavy...but if that's what you want to do, then a floor would definitely prevent you (due to the added weight) from doing that. I'm emailing you a before and after pic of my most recent boat. It's the one I currently own. It's fun, but a real pain staking process to get it just right.


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Well I got a bit done this weekend as well. I mounted the trolling bar and driftmaster rod holders. I added a bilge pump, outlet, and ran wires. I installed a fish finder and mounted the transducer. I also converted my trolling motor from a transom mount into a bow mount by rotating the head. I then made a trolling motor mount for the bow. Finally I managed to seal all of the cpvc with glue and silicone where needed, as well as zip tied a few wires up off of the deck. 









Trolling Bar








Bilge pump








Fish finder Location:








Transducer mount and bilge pump outlet








Mount for trolling motor








Tangled mess of wires, and toggle switches. 

Still looking for an idea for the instrument panel. 
I'm always open for comments and suggestions. 
Thanks, 
Sean


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## lightning2863 (Jan 16, 2012)

old girl is lookin good,


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

lightning2863 said:


> old girl is lookin good,


Thanks, and
Thanks for giving me a good deal on her. It's a work in progress.


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## lightning2863 (Jan 16, 2012)

know the feeling once i get my shoulder healed up im starting my new project, its a 88 stratos 201 pro,


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

I don't know if you saw the tinboat.net website yet, but it's been a great source of inspiration for many of my modifications. They have a lot of helpful tips and tricks. Good luck with your project. Hopefully you can get a few pics up when you get started.


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## markfish (Nov 22, 2007)

looking good,but is that trolling mount wood if so that will not hold up if you hit the bottom or a rock she will snap right off,and for wireing you can get a water proff switch pannel and hook you graft your pumps everthing you want to it all you have todo is run two heavey gauge wires from the battery to the switch box then wire each peace to a switch theres like 8 switches in one of them water prof switch boxs but she is comming along good luck markfish


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