Jonboat Restoration

I have an older 14’ jonboat that has been sitting in my yard for about 10 years. Along with that is a 15 hp Mariner motor with less than 20 hours on it. My wife has been on me about getting rid of both so I started cleaning it up to sell it but have pretty much decided that I will restore it and keep it. With that in mind, I have a couple of questions for you “experts” out there.

  1. The interior has some areas where you can see glass strands. Can I
    just put a couple of coats of boat paint over that? It needs
    painting anyway.

  2. I want to extend the deck on the bow. I plan to glass over a piece
    of 3/4" marine plywood and mount it up front. Any reason this
    won’t work?

  3. What is the best way to restore a little shine to the hull?

  4. I plan to replace the hatch on the center seat with a latched,
    water-tight hatch. Can anyone recommend a place to get an
    inexpensive/or good used one?

  5. I thought about painting all of the interior except the floor
    which I may do in non-skid, bed liner type stuff, any thoughts.

I am also looking for a decent used, galvanized trailer as the painted one would not last a season. If anyone has one or knows of someone that has one let me know.

Thanks

I am not expert at anything, but I have piddled around with a few boats and seen what others have done as well. I’ll give you some ideas.

quote:
Originally posted by DFreedom
  1. The interior has some areas where you can see glass strands. Can I
    just put a couple of coats of boat paint over that? It needs
    painting anyway.

I would sand and steel brush it all down to bare glass and coat it with gelcoat resin, then paint. If you have raw fiberglass mat or roving exposed, paint won't stick to it very well. You need to get a good sealant/barrier coat of resin gelcoat on it before painting.
quote:
2. I want to extend the deck on the bow. I plan to glass over a piece of 3/4" marine plywood and mount it up front. Any reason this won't work?
You can also use PVC board. You can find it at plastic supplier houses or custom sign shops. A 3/4" thick piece with support joists would work great. The stuff weighs about 30% what plywood does, you can cut it with regular wood blades, sand it, paint it, glue it, etc. This is different stuff than marine starboard. Not as dense. By the time you buy marine plywood and enough resin to coat it, you will be about 2 or 3 times more $ than just getting some PVC board. You'll also have more weight on this small boat. with plywood and gelcoat....
quote:
3. What is the best way to restore a little shine to the hull?
If it is gelcoat on the outside, not paint, you can get som

As far as the paint on the inside. I used bed-liner for the entire inside of my aluminum and it works great…hoses down easy, doesnt chip etc… For a casting deck I wouldnt use 3/4" as that weighs a lot and it is massive overkill (even if you put a swivel chair on it) Id just use a piece of 3-5 ply 1/2" with a piece of fiberglass mat as resin to seal the top and resin on the edges to seal them.
Good looking boat. Should be fun working on it

Mike
12’ Jon boat twin 300 Verados

I have that same boat. Yours is only the third one I’ve ever seen. Palco…they were made by a guy in Columbia. I got mine about 16 years ago.

For a casting deck, I ran 1" x 4"s (maybe it was 1 x 6s) from side to side across the front resting on that lip. I left a few inches between each board and screwed a piece of 1/4" plywood on top. That rotted eventually, but it wasn’t too heavy and worked good for me.

On the center seat, I was planning on cutting out the top of the seat, leaving a 1-2" wide boarder and making a new lid for it with a turned down edge and getting a new piano hinge. The hole is too small as it is and mine has cracked on all 4 corners.

I put a 25 HP on mine. 28 mph with me and the dog and you can ride all day and then some on 12 gallons of gas.

All good information. thanks guys. The opening for the hatch is 7" x 13" so it needs to be at least that size (can be cut for bigger hatch). Had not thought about bed liner material, have to look in to that. Super D, you got good eyes, that is a Palco. We used it for years on a small lake and it has been sitting in my backyard since. Not a bad little boat and should work well in smaller creeks, etc… I’ll post periodic pics as I progress.

I Rhino lined the entire interior of an Aluminum canoe once to cut down on the noise level and keep the temp down out in the sun- It worked great and the guys who did it for me charged me the same as a truck bed.
Also if you do get it lined- take along any garden rakes and shovels or any other tools you have that have no grip on the handle-these guys will spray them at no extra charge and the stuff makes a great handle grip.

21 ANGLER -( QUICK FIX )

DF,

Lot’s of great ideas for you it appears.
I would only suggest keeping a close eye on additional weight due to your upgrades and repairs.

Looks like a good project boat, and easy to work on.

That’s good advice, thanks Jim. I really did not need any new projects but I figure with Winter coming on, what the heck.