# From the bank to the water.



## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

I found this board toward the end of my project and decided to wait until I was about finished to tell the story.

I started out with a 12' Monarch jon boat that had been on our family farm for around 20 years. It was just going to waste and I decided to revive the old beast. My goal was to restore it primarily as a fishing boat for me and my 10 year son, but possibly a hunting boat as well.

Since I only had the boat to start with, I had to first find a trailer. I picked up a sweet deal on a boat/trailer/trolling motor/outboard package for $600 from one of my neighbors. I've already sold the second boat (don't feel like a second project right now), plan on selling the trolling motor. More on the trailer and outboard later.


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

Next step was to refurb the trailer. I installed new carpeted bunks, sanded and repainted the trailer, completely rewired it with new LED tail-lights I picked up from Lowe's about 4 years on clearance for $1.99 a piece (originally sold for $30/each). I knew I would use those dang things one day. I also installed a new front boat stop and winch.


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

Next step: Decking

I wrestled with this for a couple weeks. My first attempt was pressure treated plywood. 5/8 for the floors and 3/4 for the trolling motor deck. After I had all the pieces cut and dry fitted, I just couldn't get a good feeling about how to finish it out. I didn't want to use carpet due to not being able to clean it after a muddy day of duck hunting. Not too mention that plywood quality these days seems to be a thing of the past. Even after trying to pick out a couple of good sheets to work with, it still had a little bow to it, not to mention the knot holes that would need to be filled.


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

While I was pondering the material for the decking, I decided to go ahead and roll the interior of the boat with the Duraliner truck bed coating for a little texture. I used about 1 1/2 gallons to really give it a good thick coat.


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

Finally made a decision.

I decided to do it right and bought a couple 4 x 8 x 1/8" aluminum sheets. Along with a couple 25 foot sticks of 1 1/2" angle aluminum for bracing. I decided it would be much easier to finish out the aluminum compared to the wood. Initially I thought the aluminum would be a lot lighter, but to my surprise, that's not the case. It's only about 5 pounds lighter than the plywood decks I had already cut.

The good thing was that I already had my deck templates cut, so cutting the aluminum went really smooth.


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

Next up: Paint

Before I attached the aluminum to the boat, I roughed it up with rough grit sandpaper and a hand sander. After that all the aluminum got it's first coat of truck bed liner like the rest of the boat. Then the entire boat got covered it several coats of Krylon OD green paint. After doing this first hand seeing how many cans of paint I used, I would definitely recommend trying to find paint in can to roll or brush on. Krylon stopped making their camo paint in the quart cans, but other companies still do. It may seem expensive at first, but I can promise you it won't be more expensive than the spray paint in the end.


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

Ok, now here comes the fun stuff! Camo

I purchased the Mossy Oak Shadow Grass stencil kit from Styx River. This kit is awesome. I'm not a real big painter, just ask my wife. But man, with this kit, the boat turned out great.


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## SVOMike86 (Aug 11, 2011)

Lookin good Man! Welcome to the site. Any questions you have can more than likely be answered by someone here. One thing though, keep an eye on your plywood, as a lot of us recommend against pressure treated wood in a tin boat due to "galvanic corrosion". There have probably been 500 conversations about it, so look around for a minute or 2 and you're bound to see one. That camo is AWESOME! Keep posting pics!


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

After the paint job was complete, now it's time to add the fun stuff. I mounted the Minn Kota I-Pilot trolling motor, installed all the lid pulls, sockets for the front and rear navigation lights, seats, small on board battery charger and a few other small items.


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

Oh Yeah! Remember the outboard?

Originally, I planned on replacing several parts on the engine to make it more reliable. After a little digging online, I found a complete replacement engine for it for only $130. Now, she runs like a top. It was the easiest engine swap ever, remove 3 bolts, unhook a couple connections and drop the new one right in place.

After replacing the engine and couple layers of paint, the old motor looks right at home.


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## SVOMike86 (Aug 11, 2011)

Damn, thats what I get for jumping the gun! Maybe I should wait til you're done posting pics before I post Aluminum is the way to go! Looks great


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

Thanks for the good words. I originally posted this in the wrong section and was copying it over when you first commented.


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## BaitCaster (Aug 11, 2011)

Great build - the boat looks really nice. Very professional.

I really like the truck bedliner idea.

Do you have any pics of your deck supports?


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## Ictalurus (Aug 11, 2011)

SVOMike86 said:


> That camo is AWESOME!



X2, fantastic build. One of the best 12' I've seen! =D> =D> =D>


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## pwshepard (Aug 11, 2011)

BaitCaster,

Thanks for comments. I'll take a few pics of the supports soon. It may be hard to see the details, since they all have truck liner on them now. Basically, I ran four pieces from the front seat to the middle seat. On the end of the angle aluminum, I cut one side of about 1 1/2 inches so the other side of the angle would overlap the bench seat. This gave me plenty of metal to rivet into. The four long pieces provide all the support I need. I thought I would need a couple vertical pieces for extra support, but that's not the case. I'm around 195 and I feel no sag in the deck when I walk around. Also, I added a small piece on each end that got rivetted directly to the bench seat, this was strickly for extra support for the deck lids. In the back, I used two braces, one about 33" long that was rivetted directly to the back of the back bench seat and the other was attached to the transom that is used as a stop for the rear deck lid. Pics to follow.


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## mmf (Aug 11, 2011)

Looking good! I really like the aluminum build much better.


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## Dragonman (Aug 11, 2011)

That looks real nice!! Love the camo job. Wish there were more pictures.


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## Brine (Aug 12, 2011)

Great job! =D>


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## pwshepard (Aug 12, 2011)

Baitcaster,

Here are a couple pics of the supports.


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## pwshepard (Aug 13, 2011)

Took her out for the maiden voyage this evening.


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## pwshepard (Aug 13, 2011)

1st fish in the new ride.


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## lbursell (Aug 13, 2011)

Very Sweet. Good job on the build.


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## SVOMike86 (Aug 13, 2011)

Nice fish Man. I love the build (think I said that already though :lol: ) Super simple, but more than gets the job done. Wish I would have done some stuff like you did, I like the bracing a lot, especially how the rivets just go through the holes. Good thinking on that. Have fun on that boat Dude!


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## BassBlaster (Aug 18, 2011)

Come on man!! I just camoed my boat last weekend. It looked so good I did a write up on how to camo a boat. Then I got directed to your build and it makes my camo look like crap!! I hate mine now, lol.

I chose not to go with a "brand" name camo because they all were so involved. That actually looks like it went on pretty easy. Looks incredibly good man. Good job!! I have a little camo envy, lol!!


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## mmf (Aug 19, 2011)

Very Nice! You did an excellent job! :wink:


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## Flatbotm (Aug 19, 2011)

Nice work! I still wish I'd gone all aluminum.


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## Howard (Aug 19, 2011)

Nice tin, nice fish. How much was the 4x8 at .125 aluminum in your neck of the woods?


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## SVOMike86 (Aug 19, 2011)

BassBlaster said:


> I got directed to your build


Told you it looked good :lol: Don't discredit yours though, not bad at all Man...


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## pwshepard (Aug 20, 2011)

All: Thanks for all the props. I've found many good ideas on this forum and wish I would have found it before I started my build. 

BassBlaster: Don't be so hard on yourself man, your camo is sweet. Styx River is actually purchased my stencils. I looked at the ones you used, but decided to go with the shadow grass. Only regret is that the stencils are a pain in the butt to clean up.

Howard: I have a metal distributor close by, they had tons of different materials. The sheets I bought were about $125/each. That seemed to be a decent price according to the research I did.

Thanks again guys.


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## Howard (Aug 20, 2011)

That is a good price considering I was given a price of $250 this week, geez


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## pwshepard (Aug 22, 2011)

Howard: I bought the aluminum in Macon, GA at Industrial Alloy. They have tons in stock. It would definitely be worth the drive from Gwinnett county based on the price you were given. Let me know if you need more info on the location.


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## Howard (Aug 22, 2011)

Wow, you are right. I was going to PM you in the event your local and I would say yes. I will give them a call now. Thanks =D>


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## Howard (Aug 22, 2011)

Found them with a quick google seach, looks like I will be headed to Macon this week, thanks for the info. Man I love this site!


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## pwshepard (Aug 22, 2011)

Be warned, they have stranger hours than bankers (no offense if you're in the banking business). You have to go to the main office to actually order and pay for your materials. I think this office closes around 5:00. Then you have to drive a few blocks to there warehouse to pickup your order. The warehouse stops filling orders around 3:30, I think. If you're considering any angle aluminum, it's super reasonable there as well. It comes in 25' sticks. However, the warehouse does have a bandsaw and they will cut it for you for free. Probably just 1-2 cuts per stick. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions about this place.


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## Howard (Aug 23, 2011)

Thanks, I will be sure to get there by noon. I only need one sheet for my floor and I will be mostly done with my mod. Walking on the ribs is a little awkward for me.


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## crlatoursr (Sep 6, 2011)

Howard, I noticed that you use a pic of a CV and Chopper as your avatar. Mind telling me what ship she is? I was comcrew on USS America CV66 and also served on the Ranger, CV61. Thanks, Charlie Latour
Powder Springs GA


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## pwshepard (Dec 10, 2011)

Here's an update on the boat. I've added few more items/modifications since my last update. 

1. After launching the boat a couple times, I realized it rode way to high on the trailer. To fix this, I flipped the trailer bunks 90 degrees and moved the trailer axle to the inside of the springs. This lowered the boat almost 6 inches. I also added side guide-ons. It's much easier to launch/load now.
2. I outfitted the trailer with galvanized wheels all the way around. Found these wheels/tires at a Wal-Mart in Florida for about $50/each.
3. I bought a covered to protect the boat during off season. I also fabricated cover supports to keep water from pooling on the cover. 
4. Today, I installed a Humminbird 798ci HD SI Combo. OK, so yeah, I went a little overboard on the fish finder. But hey, I'm a techno-guy and I might get boat bigger than 12 feet one day.

Let me know what y'all think.


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## pwshepard (Dec 11, 2011)

Here are the pics.


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## Lahaye141 (Apr 6, 2015)

What a great build! Do you have a material list by any chance? I'm thinking of buying a 12 foot jon boat and would like to replicate what u did here =D>


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## Skiffing (Apr 7, 2015)

Lahaye141 said:


> What a great build! Do you have a material list by any chance? I'm thinking of buying a 12 foot jon boat and would like to replicate what u did here =D>



This thread is over 4 years old and the OP hasn't been on this site for almost two years.


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## pymybob (Apr 7, 2015)

Incredible job!


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## YAK (Jun 14, 2016)

Just traded a fishing kayak for a 12 ft. Jon with the B&S 5 hp air cooled motor (bullet proof)
Not sure where I'm going with the mod but yours turned out great.,


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## pwshepard (May 4, 2020)

Finally logged back on to this site. I’m planning on selling the boat and needed to link back to all the work I did. 

Thanks for the compliments.


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## samuelh1987 (May 8, 2020)

Just want to say, One of the best Camo jobs I've seen on here.


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## F_joey (May 8, 2020)

Camo stensels are the way to go









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