# 1975 Monark 1436 Jon Boat



## bassman342 (Jul 23, 2009)

Hi guys I am new to this forum and just purchased a 1975 Monark jon boat. It is 14' long and 36" across at the bottom and 55" at the top. I took it out the day after I bought it and didn't really see any water leaking in. I am 6'1 265lbs and I stood up in the boat and leaned from side to side. It moved of course, especially with a guy of my size, but I never really felt like I was going to flip over. I caught a 5lb 3oz bass that day and had to lean over the side to land him without even thinking and never felt like i was going to flip. So that is a good thing, because I was worried about how stable it was going to be. I am thinking of putting a wooded floor on the bottom of the boat to help with walking around and sound proofing it a little. I was thinking of also putting in some storage and maybe a raised deck. I would use marine grade plywood but instead of wooden studs, which would add a lot of weight, I would use 1 1/2" aluminum angle or something like that. Something strong and lightweight. I have seen one monark on here, from baptistpreacher (i think that was his name lol...) it was amazing. I would love to find out how stable it is now that he added all that extra weight and a higher deck. If anyone has any helpful tips or ideas please let me know, I am open to anything. All I know right now is, that I am going to strip it down to bare aluminum, and most likely rerivet the entire boat, and paint it. I know I said it wasn't leaking but I would like to do some river fishing and don't want to take any chances. I will post pictures here shortly of my new project.


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## bassman342 (Jul 23, 2009)

Here are some pictures of the boat...sorry I had to take them with my phone. I will try to take more detailed pictures later on...


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## ober51 (Jul 23, 2009)

Looks good, welcome to the Mon Ark club.


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## bassman342 (Jul 29, 2009)

Ok guys need some opinions....what kind of sealer, primer and paint should I use for my boat. I heard good things about that 3M 5200 sealant.


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## ober51 (Jul 29, 2009)

bassman342 said:


> Ok guys need some opinions....what kind of sealer, primer and paint should I use for my boat. I heard good things about that 3M 5200 sealant.



Sealer for holes/seams/leaks or water sealer? For the former, 3m 5200. Latter, thompsons or behrs will work. Primer, should be something like bare metal (thats the name of it) from rustoleum at the minimum; while self etching is best for bare aluminum spots. Paint some people have used with great success is interlux brightside or pettit easypoxy. some have used rustoleum with good results, while others have used tractor paint. Whatever you choose, do the prep work/work between coats, it makes all the difference.


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## bassman342 (Jul 29, 2009)

Do I have to sand it all the way down to the bare aluminum on the whole boat? That will take forever won't it? I was thinking of just sanding it really good and getting all loose paint off and taking it from there.


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## ober51 (Jul 29, 2009)

bassman342 said:


> Do I have to sand it all the way down to the bare aluminum on the whole boat? That will take forever won't it? I was thinking of just sanding it really good and getting all loose paint off and taking it from there.




That's all you have to do. Just get all the suspect stuff off, then prime a couple coats, then paint a few coats.


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## bassman342 (Jul 31, 2009)

Ober what do you think of me building a deck from the front of the rear bench to the back of the boat and from the back of the front bench to the front of the boat. I am thinking of ways to add storade without making it too unstable. I am not going to deck any higher then the benches. Do you think I should be ok stability wise? Another person on another thread told me to stand on my benches and see how stable it is. If I add a little weight with the plywood deck and some storage it will make the boat sit a little lower in the water, will this help with stability a little. It is 36" at the beam and 55" at the top.


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## ober51 (Jul 31, 2009)

bassman342 said:


> Ober what do you think of me building a deck from the front of the rear bench to the back of the boat and from the back of the front bench to the front of the boat. I am thinking of ways to add storade without making it too unstable. I am not going to deck any higher then the benches. Do you think I should be ok stability wise? Another person on another thread told me to stand on my benches and see how stable it is. If I add a little weight with the plywood deck and some storage it will make the boat sit a little lower in the water, will this help with stability a little. It is 36" at the beam and 55" at the top.



For safety reasons, I'd stick at just a bit of a elevated floor on a 36". That's not to say it cant be done, I know some on here have, but unless it's wider, I would stick smaller. THe boat would sit lower in the water, but that doesn't always translate to better stability in my experience, just less freeboard. 

You can add those decks for storage and just not use them for casting, that's always an option, too. I would definitely stand on those benches like another person recommended - it's a good suggestion.


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## bassman342 (Aug 4, 2009)

took the boat out today with me and one of my good friends on it. It did really well, a lot more stable then I thought it would be. Actually more stable with the two of us in it. I am 280lbs. and he is around 215lbs....did great! I took ober51's advice and stood on the top of the benches to see how stable it would be if I added some decking to it. Decided to just put in a floor and that is it, not stable enough for a deck, thanks for the advice!!! Going to paint it up nice and paint the trailer nice, and try to list it on Craigslist or something to sell it, and turn around and get a wider one to do all the things I want to do. The next one will be 48" at the bottom atleast before I think of a deck!


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## bassman342 (Sep 8, 2009)

I just started working on my boat last week...have about three days into...looking pretty good if I do say so myself....


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## Jim (Sep 8, 2009)

Boat and trailer look awesome man! =D>


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## bassman342 (Sep 8, 2009)

Thank you Jim. I didn't know how it was going to go, but it is going great. I am going to go to Tractor Supply tomorrow and get all new bolts for the trailer and mount all the hardware back on it. I am putting new lights and completely new wiring on the trailer. I will also completely re-wire the entire boat too. I am an union electrician, so wiring the boat is what I am looking for, I can't wait. I want a bigger boat already LOL so I figure that after I finish fixing the boat and trailer I should be able to get a pretty penny for it. I bought it for $850...for the boat, trailer, 25lb thrust trolling motor and brand new deep cycle marine battery. I am getting a 7.5hp gamefisher outboard, so I figured after all the work and the addition of the outboard I should easily be able to double my money.


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## bassman342 (Sep 10, 2009)

just wired the trailer last night...all lighting and wiring on it is brand new. I still have to change out the rollers and change the old fabric. Put on all new bolts and nuts...looks great!!!


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## baptistpreach (Sep 11, 2009)

Man, your boat is looking great! I'm a little partial to the Black myself  . I think you'll be very happy with the setup you're doing. I just took mine out again last night and did some catfishing. I really like the boat and I love the livewell a bunch. I think you'll also love that 48 in boat when you get it. I've got my 17ft duracraft, and I can't decide if I want to just do a quick fixup and sell it to get a weldbilt 1648, or if I want to put the work into mine and make it like I want.... Anyhow, keep up the good work! We need more black MonArk's out there!


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## RBuffordTJ (Sep 12, 2009)

Great work man!


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## Waterwings (Sep 12, 2009)

Nice work! 8)


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## huntinfool (Sep 12, 2009)

Lookin good. Keep up the good work.


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## bassman342 (Sep 12, 2009)

Thanks a lot guys! I am really excited about how it is looking so far. I just flipped it over the other day and put it back on the trailer. Now I am going to start working on the inside. I am going to put storage in the front and back, not as much for a casting deck but just for storage. Then, I am going to fix up the livewell and add some interior lights to it.


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## bassman342 (Sep 12, 2009)

I am thinking about painting the inside like a grey. What do you guys think? At first I was going to do a burgundy that way it kind of matches my Explorer that I use to haul the boat. But I am worried about if it will get too hot with that color paint. Also Baptistpreach already used my color scheme LOL.


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## huntinfool (Sep 12, 2009)

I build something for use not looks. Grey is fine, as it will hide some dirt, but here in Texas it is just too hot. Heck even olive drab is too hot in the summer. That is why I went with a very light grey, almost white. Enough to help hide any dirt, but cool enough that it won't burn your feet, arms or legs when you touch it. So far it has been perfect.


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## RBuffordTJ (Sep 12, 2009)

I went with a light gray on my interior, it is a no skid, textured finish, but I like the light color and it helps with not soaking up heat as bad!


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## Hydrilla (Sep 17, 2009)

Cool rig! Winston-Salem, eh? I work in Winston-Salem (it's a WS address but really more like Kernersville), and live in Elon. Maybe we can go fishing sometime.


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## bassman342 (Sep 18, 2009)

Yeah I actually live in Kernersville now, right off of Hwy. 66. Let me know we can go one day if you want. Always good to meet new fishing buddies.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 18, 2009)

Good work! =D>


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## Mike Redmond (Sep 20, 2009)

Nice work,just a little hint here.If I was you I would add a little something to protect them new lights,it dont take to many flying rocks from your trailer tires to completely destroy them.It happened to me last summer, all that was left was a few dangling wires,mind you I do a lot of driving on gravel roads.Mike R


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## bassman342 (Oct 12, 2009)

Ok here are some update pictures. I have all the painting done now. I am amazed how nice the paint turned out, it looks like a brand new boat now. I have had people stopping me to talk to me about the boat. Now I have to mount my seats back on it, and put the wood back for the transom. The trailer has all new hardware except for the trailer jack which will be the next thing I buy for it. I want to fix up the live well and improve it, the last owner did some poor job of it lol. I also am going to have the wheels sand blasted for the trailer and buy new tires. I am in the process of re-wiring the boat, I am going to move the battery to the front. I am not going to build any storage right now or anything else big, now I am just going to take it out to the water and have some fun in it. I will do more work when it gets colder out.


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## bassman342 (Oct 12, 2009)

My phone camera setting was set to small pics, I will go out the the parking lot and take some more pics of it here in a little bit.


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## recon2g (Oct 12, 2009)

WoW looks great! trailor and Boat 8)


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## bassman342 (Oct 12, 2009)

just went out and took some more pics...hope these look better...


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