# Mon Ark 1648 mod



## jmcaswell (Nov 24, 2012)

Boys I just finished up a 1436 mod and I think I'm getting into a new project in this '85 1648 mon ark. Solid Jon with heavy duty ribbing. Got to restore first before decking etc. 

It's got some serious pitting going on and I will need to clean up the livewell. Is there a good post that lays how how to go through a full restore a-z-- regarding old paint removal, sanding, prep, painting , aluminum restore etc? How best to clean up the livewell?

Thanks Jim


1436 mod
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=27844


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## jmcaswell (Nov 24, 2012)

Livewell


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## zseverns (Nov 24, 2012)

I just got an old boat that I need to fix up so hopefully I can use some of this build on mine. I got some holes that need to be looked at to see if this boat is worth fixing.


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## jmcaswell (Nov 27, 2012)

Tinny Experts---

Ok Im tinkering with some ideas here for this 1985 1648. She is built really solid and the ribs alone I believe make the boat stable.

The boat has a steering wheel and old mount in place, that wont be hard to move but what will the costs be to get "extension" cables for steering wheel to move the console fwd? Is this an easy fix or will i need a whole new steering system.

I want a three man setup and want everyone to have room and use the width of the boat as best I can. So I am debating between a true center console and front right console. Im debating between using the exisiting well in middle bench or tearing it out. I would really like a fully rounded tank for the blueback herrings but rectangular is ok.. 

the fishing i do requires good access to the rod holders and so I dont want to mount the the front and back seats to the top deck, they will be at floor level, plus its much better stability and with only 20'' walls the reach to cast etc isnt bad at all. plus you dont have to bend down to grab a live rod. See pics and Plans Below! thanks as always ! look fwd to yalls input !!


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## bigwave (Nov 27, 2012)

I am not sure what you want to do with the steering, but there is really no good way to extend the cable. Steering cables are relatively cheap. I put a brand new teleflex 33c cable in my 21' center console 45 bucks. If you plan on making it a center console the old cable might just have enough scope to move to the location. I looks like there is some slack in the cable itself.
You should be able to re-use the wheel, and might even fab the old side console into a center console....that cable looks to be in good shape from the pics.


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## jmcaswell (Nov 27, 2012)

i agree, thanks bud-

Now i am debating where to put the Fish finder. If im solo I sure like it up front but with a crew and while driving I would want to mount it on the steering console, decsions!

where can I get a cheap windshield to fab to this existing steering console, I will have to mod the console for the throttle


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## bigwave (Nov 27, 2012)

Most box stores have plexi-glass. I bought a small piece a few years back and cut the shape that I wanted. I would guess with some aluminum angle iron you could easily put together a windshield cheaper than one purchased from the online places. BTW sure is nice to see your starting from bare bones.....that is what I did. It has been a long time but each step makes me feel better about finishing my project. Good luck take lots of pics for us. Oh by the way I like your design #1 if that counts for anything.


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## jmcaswell (Nov 29, 2012)

ROD HOLDERS and RAILS

I am debating on how to do this, in a solid, well built fashion- and cheap!

I like the driftmaster holders as they are made well, easy to use, etc. $15 a pop. plus if you use there mounts $10 each mount. 

I want to build a rail like others have done, but do so cheaply as well as solid. The driftmaster T bars are $60 so i might save alot of time and work just doing that, but If i can get it done for less than the $120 in T bars ill mod myself. Plus the T bars just have the one center bar so it might not be as stable as I want. 

Any ideas/ Feedback would be awesome and or cheap alum sources besides the nice stuff at west marine and home depot. those parts ADD up quick.


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Nov 29, 2012)

Quick video showing how the rails work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6cbZIlywes



Have you considered mounting the holders to the gunwale or a flat surface in the boat instead of a rail? 

I had a few objectives to meet when I designed them:
- I like to anchor fish from the stern of the boat so that the bow is pointing into the current or wind
- Holders can't be in the way when not in use because my boat is small.
- Holders need to be close to the seats so that you don't have to move a lot to get to them when fishing.
- Holders have to be inside the gunwales of the boat. From a bird's eye view the holders can't be outside of the boat.
- Have to be strong enough to handle a 70+lb catfish (biggest so far on them is about 40lbs).

After a year or more and several design concepts in Google Sketchup and thought experiments (I spent hours sitting in the boat in the driveway pretending I was fishing!), I came up with these. My advice would be to create a list of requirements for your fishing needs and go from there.


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## jmcaswell (Nov 29, 2012)

AWESOME setup-

I have been debating, the costs of Modding a system vs buying a pre fab setup and bc my system will only have 2 rods per back side, 4 total. and I will be flush mounting to the deck inside the boat for sure and not the rails. I might just buy this below

the T500 and the T009 are great, and when you add up the rod holders (base) alone the costs make since, say $40, PLUS i dont have to mod anything. The T009 system is $58 at this great site- shipping cheap- I can building anything that cheap esp at this quality level. 

check it out if ya care! Thanks man! 

https://bottomdwellerstackle.com/driftmaster_tbars.htm


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Nov 29, 2012)

The driftmaster T's are nice. If you go with the shorter unit, the solid rod is fine. With the taller units I recommend the ones that have a tube for the upright. The taller units with solid rod upright vibrate A LOT when you're running.

The star bases are nice because you can remove the entire T pretty easily. You could buy a few extra bases and move the holders around as needed.

There are a lot of good rod holders on the market, but in my opinion Driftmaster's are the best all around.


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## jmcaswell (Dec 3, 2012)

I agree thanks RiverBottom.

Wire Question-

If I have my trolling battery in the center bench( big group 23?) , and my trolling motor on the front bow, that means I would have to run roughly 10' feet of wire from battery to motor- is this ok to have the length that long? Def adding a amp breaker up front.

Jim


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## simbelle (Dec 3, 2012)

I think you'll be fine. I had to run wires 25' for a 36 volt TM I had on a center console. There is an amperage drop after extended runs and up grade in wire size. You can find charts on these things on West Marine or other sights, but at 10' I think it would be nominal.


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## Bugpac (Dec 3, 2012)

What size wire, 14 gauge no, 6 gauge yes.


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## jmcaswell (Dec 6, 2012)

And so it begins! Hope to get her all done in a month or two.

Just go her in the garage and ready to begin! 

I briefly tested some of that Klean-Strip® KS-3 Premium Stripper I picked up at wal-mart. Its def gets the paint off. It will need a thicker application for some of the floor as its got some factory slip resistant grit to it. THe stuff bubbles up quicker than 15 minutes and its ready to scrap around 5 minutes. At 15 minutes (as directions say) the stuff has already hardened back up and wont remove paint- temp today- it was low 60's in Atlanta this morning. 

The existing steering wheel and throttle wiring will need to be extended to be re-mounted as a center console. Ive either got to extend all of those cables or buy a new system. I dont even know where to being with disconnecting it, I got myself a project! The system is all nicely wired from the motor to the throttle/wheel in a very professional / factory manner and I dont want to screw it up. Any help would be great on that!


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## jmcaswell (Dec 7, 2012)

After doing much research and study about my steering system and my control box I now understand what i got. Thank goodness my in place control box has a 14' electrical harness run- so the only thing that needs replacing is the throttle and shift cables. Which I can replace the existing 9' cables with 14' for roughly $60 

Cables- https://www.go2marine.com/item/98977/control-cables-model-cc179-replaces-cc635-for-mercury-controls-cc17914.html

TINXPERTS- Question---

The cable run is to a center console and I dont want to run out and around the gunwale, I want to run down to floor, up the spine and then up to center console where the side mount control box will be located. this is alot of bends and turns- 

A) CAN I DO THIS? Is is smart? etc. 
B) How much room will I need for the wide bends? as the cables cant just be bent 90 degrees etc. as in will the stick out 

See Pic- I guess I got the same issue with the steering cable too?


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## JMichael (Dec 7, 2012)

I know you've got your center console build already started, but have you tested what it's like to get around that console while on the water? Putting all your weight that close to the edge of the boat can have some very undesirable results depending on your weight, how much the boat is loaded with, etc.


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## jmcaswell (Dec 7, 2012)

I hear that! at 200lbs i rock it a bit but nothing too bad. because of the width its really stable and there is alot of room (physcically) to get around it as well.

I had a 1436 and had a seat and or a cooler installed in the center bench and it required the same thing, walking around the edge of the boat, yes the boat sways a bit but it wasnt unreasonable even on that boat.

thats a reason I am going with the larger boat as well, bc of the better stability.


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## bigwave (Dec 7, 2012)

You can feed your steering cables under the deck. I recommend that you use a 1 1/2 pvc pipe for a chase tube secured under the deck. You can make long sweeping 90's back up to the motor and on you throttle body.


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## jmcaswell (Dec 10, 2012)

THanks Big Wave.

Coming along got some work done this weekend. 

FYI --- WholeSale Marine has AWESOME PRICES https://www.wholesalemarine.com/

There steering and control cables are 10% cheaper, their driftmaster rod holders are way cheaper than everybody else- and thats all I have purchased from them so far. plus they have a 10% coupon code- welcomemarine10 !!


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## JMichael (Dec 10, 2012)

There is more room around the side of that console than what there appeared to be in earlier pics. Looking good. 

Are you sure about the brand on the rod holders? I've never seen any Driftmaster brand at Wholesale Marine. I also double checked after reading your post and still can't find any on their site.


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## bigwave (Dec 10, 2012)

Hey it is starting to come along....looks good. I will be back at mine later this week. I have been building some stone crab traps for extra money........santa is coming.


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## jmcaswell (Dec 11, 2012)

J Michael- you are 100% right- I get my sites mixed up. 

I went to bottom dwellers tackle for the rod holders and they are MUCH cheaper than all other sites. 

https://www.bottomdwellerstackle.com/

As for wholesalemarine.com - they had great prices on the teleflex steering and control cables--


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## jmcaswell (Dec 11, 2012)

bigwave said:


> You can feed your steering cables under the deck. I recommend that you use a 1 1/2 pvc pipe for a chase tube secured under the deck. You can make long sweeping 90's back up to the motor and on you throttle body.




BigWave-

To further your suggestion-- I got two options- see diagram-- I dont have enough room to run a PVC under the Ribs, and I can run the controls under the ribs along the water drain channels, but it would be just cable on boat bottom, and as you know, thats where water (if any) drains down to the back of the boat. if I ran the controls via a PVC pipe I would need to drill through every rib (4) and run a pipe and then run the cables through the pipe, that can be done, but I wonder if drilling through all four rinbs from back to center bench, (say a 1'' hole) is smart and will hurt their structural integrity? I can reinforce them etc, but sounds like a pain. but might be what I have to do, the PLY deck will lay flat on top of the ribs so as far as a PVC run, thats my only option really. 

BTW- the new teleflex cables CCX17914 TFCTREME that replace the old CC179's are MUCH more flexible and managable- so thats good. 

As for my steering cable- that puppy is a beast and I might just say screw it and run it along the gun wale tough tough run under the deck.

Thanks again for all of your ideas!


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## JMichael (Dec 11, 2012)

jmcaswell said:


> J Michael- you are 100% right- I get my sites mixed up.
> 
> I went to bottom dwellers tackle for the rod holders and they are MUCH cheaper than all other sites.
> 
> ...



That was a timely link. I picked up a Driftmaster 250 H that I'd been considering for a while and saved a few bucks. Thanks


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## Gators5220 (Dec 12, 2012)

Man this is one sweet lookin jon boat, love the center console on it, and how you kept the center brace! Nice work! =D> =D>


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## jmcaswell (Dec 18, 2012)

Used Dad's Easy Spray® Stain and Varnish Remover from Ace Hardware to remove old paint. The gel is thin and very easy to paint, worked very quick and the old paint litterally scrapped right off. MUCH better thank the Klean Strip KS33 premium. I dont know if it was just the type of paint etc, but this Dads stuff worked much much better and it went from a 8 hr job to a 2 hr job.


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## bguy (Dec 22, 2012)

jmcaswell said:


> THanks Big Wave.
> 
> Coming along got some work done this weekend.
> 
> ...



TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT IM DOING TO MY 78' MONARK 1648


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## jmcaswell (Jan 2, 2013)

Well I finally got the boat all stripped down and primed up- 

I have now put on two coats of Rusto clean metal primer and wet sanded with 400 grit- its looking really nice, like a soft powder white- the Finish coat will look great- debating putting a 3rd coat of primer / sanding on again just to really make that Finish coat shine!

Anybody put on a clear gloss coat after the final? 

I am using the Rusto Marine top side paint (after much debate)


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## bigwave (Jan 2, 2013)

Two coats of primer will suffice. One will actually do.....I put two coats on mine and it was over-kill IMO. The clear coat for final will make the color pop and give you a little more protection.


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## jmcaswell (Jan 2, 2013)

nice- thanks!


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## jmcaswell (Jan 17, 2013)

Finally getting some work done!!

Prepped, stripped, sanded, primed and spray painted with Rusto Marine Paint. She sure is blue! (navy)

I spent alot of time wet sanding the prime coat layers and it paid off. the final coat(s) layed down awesome and looks great. 

Getting all the wiring done soon and then will finish laying deck/carpet. 

Also- i went with a different carpet - 20oz bass boat carpet- not only was it a good price it is very high quality, none loop and the texture of it is very fine and high quality. it pulled around the plywood very nice and is very plush but still very "thin" to the ground. def recomenned.

https://www.boatcarpetbuys.com/bass-boat-carpet-spartan.aspx


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## russ010 (Jan 17, 2013)

looking good... and the blue looks good next to the grey carpet


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## jmcaswell (Jan 17, 2013)

Ole Blue! suppossed to be navy and actually is in the right light...


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## jmcaswell (Feb 5, 2013)

Finally coming along.

I am figured- if you want to build something like this how you want it- there is no way to lay out the steering and control cables perfectly. The steering has some decent bends in it as you can see but the wheels turning. I wonder if its too tight and I will have to relieve it at some pt. cant wait to get this baby on the water.


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## bigwave (Feb 5, 2013)

Looking good.


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## jmcaswell (Feb 11, 2013)

So i was kicking around how and where to mount my Lowrance sonar. I got a RAM mount and it is awesome. Its heavy duty quality at $40 and as you can see and can position it anyway I want. by facing it fwd the front seated passenger can control it easy.

I got it from https://www.themountdepot.com/RAM_111U_p/ram-111u.htm

this website had the best price and shipped really quick


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## bigwave (Feb 11, 2013)

That is a cool mount, hmmmmm I need to figure out where I will put mine, this could be an option.


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## jmcaswell (Feb 11, 2013)

yeah the model I bought RAM-111U has a plate that can fit alot of diffrent sonars. and they sell many more that work.

I was super impressed with the quality of the ram mount. its heavy stainless steal and adjusting it is super easy with the ball mounts, and when you tighten it, it locks in tight. great quality.


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## pjcalla (Jul 20, 2013)

Sorry for the necro bump, but how is your boat working out? I just picked up the same boat, and I am considering a center console as well. Any updates will be greatly appreciated.


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## jmcaswell (Oct 8, 2013)

Final Product. Never Posted pics. This boat has been a TON of fun.


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## jmcaswell (Oct 8, 2013)

I made a a lot of custom hatch openings and this mount for the TM. by constructing wood products (spar urethane'd them before) then bending sheet metal around them and smoothing the edges, that way I could paint them to match the boat and they will last a long time.


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