# 1970's Ouachita Semi V Conversion



## Tman (Feb 22, 2017)

Hi everyone,

I've followed this forum for a while and have recently registered to share my jon boat to poor mans bass boat conversion.

I bought the boat, trailer, merc outboard, trolling motor and all the random crap for $800 in the middle of a 2016 January in Pennsylvania




I got the boat back home after getting 2 flat tires from dry rot (Note the new tires and rims i bought at a walmart on the way home)

the boat sat until March 2016 and I decided to tackle the trailer. i used a combination of chemical peeling and a couple flap wheel disks on an angle grinder to remove the old paint and rust. down to bare steel. primed and painted. as for most of the nuts and bolts i soaked them in a container of vinegar. this removed all the rust and brought them back to a usable state.






Added Some New Hardware, new 2x4 and bunk carpet.

Slapped it back together with some new lights

added a new hand crank winch, trailer dolly on the front and a new hitch and chains.
And Ta-Da! Needed to get the boat back on the trailer because it was time to move from my tiny apartment to my new first home.


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## Tman (Feb 22, 2017)

the motor is a 1961 Merc 60 6HP 2 and wouldn't run because the fuel pump was bad. I checked out oldmercs.com but they didnt have the fuel pump needed. so I got a universal one off ebay and with some cobbling togeter and somehandy dandy JB Weld I was able to make it run!


So we went Fishing!


Found the motor to be a little lacking, we moved but couldnt get on plane.

ended up buying a new 7.5 hoping that would do the trick


So we went Fishing!


After standing on the seats to determine if the boat was stable enough I decided what the heck and began hacking away at the 40+ year old boat

I drew some some plans on a scrap Piece of paper one night drinking, found it the next morning and loved the idea! :lol: 
So I began Cutting!
To save some weight i decided to use 1x1 angle aluminum for framing




if you look closely i removed the sides of the seats that i had previously just cut. i drilled out the existing rivets made larger .25" holes and with some 5300 sealant and new closed end rivets i was able to fill over 100 holes.


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## Tman (Feb 22, 2017)

And decking! went with .5" ply for weight, figured tight bracing would provide enough support.


Routed out some hatch doors

Coated the ply with 3 coats of poly

Bought 24oz khaki carpet through overtons
outdoor carpet glue from the hardware store
and gave my first carpeting job a try!



a recommendation, give yourself a generous amount of space between ajoining parts. i had glued and stapled all the carpeting down only to find i was about a .5"-1" larger than when i started. carpet adds a lot to the overall size so test fit test fit test fit.

by now its late in the season and time to pack up the boat, but before i do that we had a few days of warm weather left.
got out the harbor freight spray gun and a can of Fire Engine Red Paint and went to town!


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## Tman (Feb 22, 2017)

Winter is at my doorstep at this point.

I decided to build a brace for my cover so the snow wouldnt build up on it.
a heat gun and some pvc pipe bent over my knee made some quick work of it.


And now tucked away in November 2016


I just pulled the boat out this week, I'm finializing the decking, fastening it down to the framing and will give it a good float test.
many unused compartments have been filled with the pink foam board found at the hardware store and quite a few cans of Great Stuff for the hard to reach areas.

lots of hardware to install, rod holds/cup holders/fishfinder/ etc.

I glazed over a lot of small details so feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer.

thanks guys!


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## Tman (Feb 23, 2017)

Has anyone ever tried trolling in a small jon? i have a couple 8ft poles will depth counters on them. was going to hook to some inline planer boards and see how it fairs.

thoughts?


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## Fishizzle (Feb 24, 2017)

Nice job on the build, came out looking great! A nice 15 or 25hp motor would be awesome on there.

As far as trolling, I troll for largemouth bass in my kayak and in my aluminum boat down here in florida. Its not something I do all the time, but when travelling between spots I often do. Some days its surprising the fish you may catch on a crankbait, rattletrap, swimbait, etc. out in open water.


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## Tman (Feb 24, 2017)

Everything is fastened in! I used a lot of finish washers to kind of beautify the fact there's bolts and screws everywhere lol




Piano hinges and a dog leash to make the pull tabs


Going to give it a float test this weekend hopefully the the next step is to pack on the goodies!


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## Tman (Feb 24, 2017)

Fishizzle said:


> Nice job on the build, came out looking great! A nice 15 or 25hp motor would be awesome on there.



It's tough to find a 15-25 tiller that's in a reasonable price range. I'd be all over it if I could find one


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## jonboatbob (Feb 25, 2017)

Very nice work on the boat. Thanks for sharing all the photos and info. I often troll the Biloxi and Tchoutacabouffa Rivers here in Mississippi in my 14-ft jon boat as my little Mercury 9.9hp 4-stroke putts along ever so slowly and quietly. I find it to be a very relaxing way to fish and I sometimes find frisky and delicious speckled sea trout along the way! Bob


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## DDudley (Feb 25, 2017)

Great boat, and nice work!

Your PVC frame for the boat cover is genius! 

Also, nice layout with the decking and floor.

Looking good.


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## Tman (Feb 26, 2017)

The pvc frame was one of the easier things to do. A heat gun ti get it soft and then a rough bend, fit and repeat

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## Tman (Feb 26, 2017)

Did a lot on the boat this weekend except put it in the water because it's snowing now lol. Here's a few pics of what's going on.
bilge pump installed 

radio antenna installed
lowrance hook 5 installed


radio installed


fog lights installed 


raised and flush mounted rod holders installed. 2 are raised scotty brand rod holders I also have 4 flush mount rod holders meant for kayaks front two are pointing off the side and two in the back pointing off the stern

All electronics still need to be wired in and I have gang switches to do it. Need to sit down and come up with a wiring diagram. Where do you get marine wiring?

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## DDudley (Mar 1, 2017)

I am curious about how you wired your boat. Do you have a schematic?


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## Tman (Mar 1, 2017)

DDudley said:


> I am curious about how you wired your boat. Do you have a schematic?


Yeah I have something almost completely drawn up. I'll post it tonight

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## Tman (Mar 1, 2017)

Here's my attempt at a wiring diagram. For sake of keeping it clean you'll see interior lights attached to the grounding block in different locations. I'll use the same terminal for all. And you'll see the stern light is actually up at the top of the page with the bow left and right lights. The box in the middle left is a gang switch set of 6 switch.
I may hook the radio to a smaller 7ah battery instead of wiring to the gang switches. Hope this helps, I know it will help me when I get to laying wire. 



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## DDudley (Mar 2, 2017)

Tman said:


> Here's my attempt at a wiring diagram. For sake of keeping it clean you'll see interior lights attached to the grounding block in different locations. I'll use the same terminal for all. And you'll see the stern light is actually up at the top of the page with the bow left and right lights. The box in the middle left is a gang switch set of 6 switch.
> I may hook the radio to a smaller 7ah battery instead of wiring to the gang switches. Hope this helps, I know it will help me when I get to laying wire. View attachment 1
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk



I do love the way this boat is turning out. That schematic looks like an engineer drew it up. Nicely done! Although my knowledge of electrical is seriously limited, this layout was easy to read and makes sense to me. 
Planning the electrical on my boat has been the most challenging part of this project so far. I am opting to go with 2 batteries (1 dedicated for the trolling motor, and 1 for everything else). 

A couple of observations: I may have missed it, but I noticed you don't have any breakers or fuse blocks in the schematic. Are you planning to include any to protect your equipment in the event something happens? For example, I am planning on installing a 50 Amp circuit breaker 8" from the battery in-line with the trolling motor. And, a fuse block w/ negative bus from in between the battery and the switch panel on the other system. 

Also, are you using the same gauge wire throughout the system?


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## Tman (Mar 2, 2017)

Dudley,

I am an engineer actually, good catch!

I have a group 27 deep cycle that i believe is rated for 100ah @ 20 hours so 5 amps an hour can be drawn from it. all of my lights are LED and the only time everything will be used is at night time trolling. the radio specs say 1.1 amp draw but it should be less than that as normal listening volumes unless I'm looking to make friends on the water 8) 

My gang switches have included 20 amp fuses for each circuit. which is way more than what each will be required. my fish finder has an inline fuse i need to install. radio has a built in fuse. so the only one i would possibly think i would need one for is for the trolling motor, but i don't believe ill use one since its a cheapy anyway. anything else i may add would have an inline fuse if it doesn't go through the extra switches i have.

you do have me thinking about maybe adding 1 master right off the battery just in case i guess..

question, does anyone know the best way to connect large wire gauges to one another? like 12, 10 or 8 gauge?


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## water bouy (Mar 2, 2017)

You can find butt splicers for most any gauge wire and use heat shrink tubing to make it waterproof.


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## DDudley (Mar 2, 2017)

water bouy said:


> You can find butt splicers for most any gauge wire and use heat shrink tubing to make it waterproof.


This would be my understanding as well


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## DDudley (Mar 3, 2017)

Tman said:


> Dudley,
> 
> I am an engineer actually, good catch!
> 
> ...



Check these out: 
Heat Shrink Butt Connectors Kit - https://www.amazon.com/Connectors-Waterproof-Automotive-Electrical-Assortment/dp/B01DS5G05C/ref=sr_1_7?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1488553579&sr=1-7&keywords=insulated+marine+wire+tubes


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## Tman (Mar 9, 2017)

I found some of those shrink wrap butt splicers at walmart. 3m makes them. nothing to update lately, still wiring the boat up. waiting on a negative terminal block. hopefully by the end of the weekend everything will be wired. i have my second seat post ordered by springfield.

I also found color match seats so I'm pretty excited.


i chose to hook the radio up to a seperate battery. i ordered a 12Ah sealed lead battery through amazon. it was $26.

considering getting a solar panel and mounting it to the top of my outboard to prolong battery life. i know guys on sailboats use solar. anyone using a tin have one?


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## Tman (Mar 10, 2017)

Got some more wiring done tonight. Radio works and the fog lights work. Wiring isnt fun because progress cant be seen.
The trolling motor is now mounted. It's a transom mount but I spun the head unit around and now it's a poor man's bow mount. A piece of 2x4 and 2x3x .1875" angle aluminum make up the bow mount.






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## DDudley (Mar 12, 2017)

Looking good. Those seats are going to set it off. 
Also, I like how you mounted the switch panel. Good spot for it.


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## Tman (Mar 27, 2017)

Finally got all the wiring done and cleaned the boat! used approximately 150Ft of wire to do it all. the second seat will be in today or tomorrow. Take a look and let me know what you think.


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## RStewart (Mar 31, 2017)

Looks good. You did a great job. Can't wait to see it splashed.

How many rods can you get in that locker?


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## Tman (Apr 3, 2017)

Stewart,

If they are well placed I can fit 6 rods in the locker. I cannot fit the 8 foot poles I have but they break down and I can stuff them at the very bottom.


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## Fishimus_Maximus (Apr 3, 2017)

Boat looks great. My only question is does the extra weight from the storage locker make any noticeable differences when cruising/ fishing as far as lean/tipping?


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## Tman (Apr 3, 2017)

thank you,

we wanted to take out of this weekend but Kinzua Reservoir had a strong breeze and white caps so we didn't want to run it. the locker maybe weighs 15 pounds with the wood, carpet, glue. its not too bad I didn't anticipate it to cause any issue. once we get it on the water i will look for that specifically.


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## Tman (May 10, 2017)

Finally ran the boat last night!
Not a single leak, we stayed high and dry. the boat sits level even with the rod locker full of poles and a small battery for the radio. with the 7.5 hp we were topping out at 10mph according to the GPS. doing a little plowing through the water with some spray coming from the bow. just as underpowered now as it was empty. 

one design flaw was the trolling motor mount. after trailering it to the lake 2 times the 2x4 actually split where it was screwed to the angle aluminum, so we were unable to use it. gonna need something a little more sturdy or dont have it mounted while hauling to the lake.


I got a new fishin' buddy too! his name is Bear


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## captpetej (May 10, 2017)

nice job on the boat! and cute pup!


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## mtntop (May 10, 2017)

Tman said:


> Winter is at my doorstep at this point.
> 
> I decided to build a brace for my cover so the snow wouldnt build up on it.
> a heat gun and some pvc pipe bent over my knee made some quick work of it.View attachment 1
> ...



nice looking boat and a cute pup to boot! awesome idea with the PVC, this is on my to do list


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## Tman (May 10, 2017)

mtntop said:


> Tman said:
> 
> 
> > Winter is at my doorstep at this point.
> ...


The clips to the rails are actually T joints that i cut a channel into. just slightly smaller than the rail so it clips on the rail instead of resting on it. worked well. we had lots of heavy snow this year and it held up very nicely.


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