# Hubbs' 1989 MonArk Legend 170 Mod V Project



## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

Hey fellas,

I've been lurking here for the past year or so while I worked on a project that has now reached completion (if that's possible with a boat :lol: )

Thought I would post some of the details and pictures of my build

The boat is a '89 MonArk 17' all welded aluminum hull jon-style bass boat. Nothing fancy but enough room and features to make a day on the lake enjoyable. Both the boat and trailer were in rough shape. After a thorough inspection I decided it was worth the $600 asking price. The outboard was not included.










First order of business was a float test to check stability and for leaks.





With the boat floating I was able to give the trailer a closer inspection. No major problems.


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## Brine (Feb 14, 2012)

Welcome aboard. Great looking boat. I look forward to seeing the project.


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## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

After suspending the boat from the carport rafters, I was able to roll the trailer out. 

I went to work breaking the trailer down and attacking the surface rust. Along with a fresh coat of primer and paint I ended up replacing the wheels, tires, leaf springs, winch, coupler, safety chains, lights, bunks, and rollers. 

Yep, basically everything. 

The axle and the hubs were in good condition. I replaced the bearings, races, and bearing buddies. Repacked with new grease of course 

Trailer before:










After:


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## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

I scoured craigslist daily looking for deals on the parts that I was going to need to finish the boat.

I came across a MinnKota 54# bow mounted, foot controlled trolling motor for $200.00 Its a Maxxum series 24v.






Once the trailer was finished, I began tearing out the boat. I took it down to the metal including all decks, flooring and foam. The foam was saturated with water and was obstructing the passages that water needed to flow to the bilge.


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Feb 14, 2012)

Nice boat. You should post some pictures of the trailer in trailer forum.


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## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

lckstckn2smknbrls said:


> Nice boat. You should post some pictures of the trailer in trailer forum.



Thanks, I'll be sure to do that.

While gutting the boat I started researching some options for putting it back together.

Decided that I wanted to use the boat for fishing and duck hunting. And since I can fish year round in Texas I figured that will be the main purpose and duck hunting would be second.

Next I focused on stripping the old decals and prepping the surface to receive paint.


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## fool4fish1226 (Feb 14, 2012)

Man thats looking great keep it up =D>


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## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

Laid down 2 coats of self-etching primer. It chemically binds to the bare aluminum and because its OD green it also serves as the base layer for the camo pattern. 










It was about this time that I came across the big motor for my boat on craigslist
Its an 1977 Evinrude 70hp and I gave $500 for it.

I went ahead and prepped it with the same etching primer that I used on the boat


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## SlowRollin' (Feb 14, 2012)

You're definitely keeping busy. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to see what your plans are for the inside!


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## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

Inspired by several projects that I saw on this forum, I wanted a professional looking camo pattern. 

Decided to use a stencil kit and take my time to get it right.
Picked up some yard sale signs in both large and small formats

Made some leaf stencils first 





Taped a few leaves and sprayed for an outline










Cut out the leaf and sprayed a test run on a piece of scrap wood. Worked well if I do say so myself.





Larger signs for the main camo pattern


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## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

The trick to doing a good camo pattern is to work in layers.

The base layer is the self-etching primer. On top of this I randomly placed sweeping arcs with flat white. 





Then using a stencil I applied a layer of brown. It appears much more orange in this picture than it actually is.















Next comes a layer of black shot thru a stencil with many narrow slits. 










Here's what it looks like with 4 layers done.


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## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

A look at the entire boat done with 4 layers. BTW the adapter that clips onto the spray cans is a life saver.





Now to use the grass stencil I made















Boat going back onto the trailer.





Hung the motor and camo'd it to match the boat


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## Hubbs (Feb 14, 2012)

Picked up a Lowe side console and windshield off ebay.





Some seats from Academy sports. Testing the layout.





Built a bench for the seats and added storage










Installed the livewell pump


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

Installed gauges and switches. 




Wired up the lighted rocker switches for nav lights, bilge pump, and livewells. All switches are independent of the key switch. Still leaves 2 switches unassigned. I'm thinking of installing some LED courtesy lights later which will take a switch and I will probably use the last switch for a 12V accessory outlet. 

Wired the gauges. Backlights run off of the key switch. Tach runs off of the Evinrude, volts from cranking battery, and fuel from the sender in the tank. The speedo works off of a pitot attached to the transom.

I still need to install an ignition interrupter switch (a.k.a kill switch) for safe boating. Its not a requirement but I think its a good idea to have one.

Also installed the steering wheel I picked up from ebay.


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

I went back and forth trying to decide how to cover the decks and floor. 

I would have preferred to of used sheet aluminum coated with a bedliner material. For the sake of expense I elected for an alternative 

What I finally settled on was 5/8 exterior grade plywood treated with Thompson's WaterSeal. 

I thought that a porch and floor paint with polyurethane would work well. I coated both sides of all plywood but it still didn't look quite the way I wanted. 

I turned to carpet for the solution. 





Found so decent quality marine carpet at the local home store. I used contact cement and stainless staples to install it.






I paid attention to the details and took my time. Kept the "grain" of the carpet running in the same direction.


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

Under the rear casting deck is the fuel tank, 2 Interstate 27 series deep cycle batteries, 1 cranking battery and the on board 3 bank battery charger. There is also room for an extra prop, small took kit and some 2 stroke oil.


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## ChitownBasser (Feb 15, 2012)

Carpet looks great. Good job. If you don't mind me asking, how much did it run you? How many square feet? I am looking to get carpet for my boat this weekend. I have looked at Bass Pros and Cabelas. Might be cheaper to go with the Home Depots or Lowes option.


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## ChitownBasser (Feb 15, 2012)

Carpet looks great. Good job. If you don't mind me asking, how much did it run you? How many square feet? I am looking to get carpet for my boat this weekend. I have looked at Bass Pros and Cabelas. Might be cheaper to go with the Home Depots or Lowes option.


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## fool4fish1226 (Feb 15, 2012)

=D> Amazing job - That camo paint jod turned out great


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## morecoffee (Feb 15, 2012)

Looks great, in and out.


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

ChitownBasser said:


> Carpet looks great. Good job. If you don't mind me asking, how much did it run you? How many square feet? I am looking to get carpet for my boat this weekend. I have looked at Bass Pros and Cabelas. Might be cheaper to go with the Home Depots or Lowes option.



I bought it from the Lowes here in town. Its a Berber loop carpet with rubberized marine backing. They had several different colors to choose from. Black, maroon, grey, sand, and a darker brown. I chose sand to match my application and wasn't too dark to absorb heat in direct sunlight.

If I remember correctly it was $3.97 a linear foot. The carpet comes 8' wide and I bought 22'. The carpet cost about $90. Throw in another $20 for contact cement and $15 for marine grade staples.


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

morecoffee said:


> Looks great, in and out.





fool4fish1226 said:


> =D> Amazing job - That camo paint jod turned out great



Thanks guys, I couldn't have done it without the information found on these forums. 

Lots of ideas and inspiration for my project came from fellow contributors.


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

I removed the livewells (on this boat there are 2) and wrapped all sides and bottom with rigid foam insulation. I used an adhesive to attach the foam board to the outside to the aluminum livewell. My goal was to create built in coolers that also doubled as livewells. I installed spray heads that can be dialed on or off independent of each other. So, for example, I can use the front livewell/cooler to keep fish and the rear livewell/cooler (which right now keeps some tools) to keep drinks and a sandwich cold. This way I can keep floor space clear without a big bulky cooler getting in the way. 

Front livewell





Rear livewell


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## JasonLester (Feb 15, 2012)

Man that camo job is sweet. I have always been to scared to camo anything myself...I may have to try it now. Not on my boat though I think I'd be scared too...lol


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

JasonLester said:


> Man that camo job is sweet. I have always been to scared to camo anything myself...I may have to try it now. Not on my boat though I think I'd be scared too...lol



You know, it wasn't to hard.

I was a little hesitant at first but then I saw where others had tried and it turn out good for them. I had nothing to lose so I went for it. 

And of course, its really hard to mess up camo. lol :lol:

I'm constantly getting good comments at the ramp and on the water.


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## JasonLester (Feb 15, 2012)

I think I will try it on something else first. I have a V bottom. I dobt it would look that great camo'd. I'll have to think about that one. .... 
My plan was to just paint a black stripe and some red accents....kinda like this..but I got alot of work to do before paint....LOL


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

Here's a picture of the under seat storage that I made. I used some angled aluminum riveted together to make the frame and and plywood for the floor and front face. The seats tumble forward giving me access to a space measuring the width of the floor (4') x 1' W x 1'D. 






Its not dry storage but it allows me to keep all the required safety equipment (flares, throws, vest, etc), some rain gear, paddles and various other items. 

Also you may notice the all important cup holders, what boat would be complete without cup holders.


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

The last fabrication was the base for the console. Once I determined the best distance from the seats I built a small frame, wrapped it in matching carpet and secured it to the floor. Then I secured the console to the base and to the side of the boat. 






I mounted a vertical 3 rod holder/tackle and tool organizer to the front of the console. Gives me a place to keep my rods up off the floor while casting from the front deck. Works great.


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

So here's the boat and trailer complete






Went down to the TPWD office and made it legal





Which allows me to do this:





this





and this


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

double post, please ignore


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

Hubbs said:


> JasonLester said:
> 
> 
> > I think I will try it on something else first. I have a V bottom. I dobt it would look that great camo'd. I'll have to think about that one. ....
> ...


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## bigwave (Feb 15, 2012)

Great job Hubbs'....I am hinging on camo too.....just in a bluewater pattern. Thanks for the guidelines for layering the base on the camo....I have been trying to figure that out for a week now.
=D>


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## JasonLester (Feb 15, 2012)

Thats the nice thing about camo for sure ... mostly who cares if it gets scratched but if it is bad enough its easy enough to fix. 

I'm trying to stay pretty basic with my boat. I'll really only be using it on 10 hp lakes. I don't know where I could duck hunt so no real need for camo. Although if I had a place I would sure try it. 

If I end up with a Jon style, some day, I may do what you did though. Of course I think you just made it look easy.


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## vahunter (Feb 15, 2012)

Man I love that build! Excellent job!!!


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## PitFishin' (Feb 15, 2012)

great job =D>


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## Hubbs (Feb 15, 2012)

Thanks fellas for all the kind words.

To be honest, building this boat was almost as much fun as using it. 

I live only a mile from the lake which means I have the opportunity to fish nearly everyday once the weather gets nice. Having my own boat now gives me some freedom that I didn't have before.


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## Justin (Jun 21, 2012)

I have the exact same boat that i am restoring. Only problem is I do not have the Maximum Capacities plate. The manufacture is no longer in business so I can not ge one that way. Do you still have this on yours and if so can I get a picture of it so i can get one made?


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## Lowcountryman (Jun 26, 2012)

great looking boat. =D>


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