Jon boat restoration

I fished all of my young life. It was something that was built into me by my patents, particularly my father. When it was time to head off to college, we stopped going.

My dad has an old aluminum boat we use for duck hunting. Its from the early '80's, made by a Central California company called Valco, which is no longer around. Its a great size - 12' long and over 50" wide. All the flat-bottom Jon boats made now in 12' are " wide, and really only good for 2 people and gear, while this one is stable with 3 and a dog, so its worth repairing. Valco boats are like Grumman canoes: thick aluminum made to aircraft specs from when America was Great Before. I'd take a riveted Valco or Grumman over a modern "welded" boat made from recycled Bud cans any day. Unfortunately, I don't have any 'before' pics of the whole boat, but from the detail shots it'll be clear it needed a thorough restoration.

Jon boat restoration

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If you seal the inside, water will still exist within the seams, and the pressure will always be working to push the seals out.

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Here are 11 tips to keep in mind when restoring an older boat. Take an inventory of your tools, and then roll up your sleeves and start. Clean the boat from stem to stern so you can see exactly what you have to work with. Remove all the water, leaves and debris from the boat. Organic material is your enemy. Seat bases? Fiberglass components?

Jon boat restoration

Log in. Sign up. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Awesome stuff, they look like entirely different boats at the end. Tricked Tins and Anthony Jones are two guys that I enjoy watching. Sort by Oldest first Oldest first Newest first Most reactions. It's the funnest boat I've ever owned.

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I noticed that the old seats had failed along their ends. The Rapala RipStop. With a closer look, it was clear the plywood seats had also eroded to where they were mostly just sitting on the floatation foam inside the thwarts. If you seal the inside, water will still exist within the seams, and the pressure will always be working to push the seals out. Subscribe Join us as we continue to work on becoming better anglers — and better men. After cutting, I test-fit the seats so I could mark the holes for their new hardware. Fancy seats? I make surfboards, … More About BennyOne ». Cancel reply. Can you take a look? Fortunately, this worked well and I didn't damage any of the brackets.

My dad has an old aluminum boat we use for duck hunting.

I decided to make it 2" taller than the old one, to give more support to the stern end of the boat. I fished all of my young life. What do you think? Let your mind just GO wherever the hell it wants. Learn to catch more fish with less clutter. Make it about them. With a closer look, it was clear the plywood seats had also eroded to where they were mostly just sitting on the floatation foam inside the thwarts. Then with a drill press and progressively larger bits, I took out the screw heads from the inside until I could crack off what was left with a large phillips screwdriver. I had to borrow a friend's pressure washer because I don't know where mine is. Stainless steel rusts like anything else, when its embedded in rotten wood. Everywhere a piece of stainless went through wood or through the hull, I wanted to seal it to prevent another round of rust and corrosion welding.