# GERARD'S OVERPOWERED 16' JON BOAT



## GGUG (Feb 28, 2012)

This is a great site. There are truly some amazing projects that have been completed here. I am excited to start posting my pics and progress. By no means am I building a boat for beauty rather for strength and speed to fish Louisiana's beautiful bayous. My boat is a 16' jon boat with a 72" beam. I bought it from a friend who had a 35 hp johnson and it barely got on plane, to give you an idea of the weight and mass of the vessel. I paid $150 for the boat and trailer, no title. It cost an additional $175 to get a title for the boat. I sold the trailer because it was not practical for the boat. I bought an older bass boat, trailer and motor for $350. I put two new tires, racers, and bearings on the trailer. I then striped the 70 hp Evinrude motor, steering cable/box, controls, anchor, etc… hence why I have an overpowered jon boat. 

First step in putting together this boat is rebuilding the transom. I started with a 1” plywood which I glassed both sides and the edges. I used an oil base coating over the fiberglass. 







Then, I purchased a ¼” aluminum plate where I cut out two templates the inner and outer dimensions of the transom. 






Next, I had to prep the metal on the boats transom. You can see in the picture the corrosion on the transom. This is a perfect example of why not to use treated lumber on a metal boat. To remove the corrosion I used a grinder with a wire wheel. 




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Next, I installed the wood and aluminum plates and used marine 3M 5200 caulk in between aluminum templates, transom wood, and vessel. (This is the only sealant that should be used in any marine application. It is expensive but worth it.) 






To fasten the transom together I used stainless steel hardware with 3M 5200 on the threads of bolts. This is the best way to bolt anything on a vessel. Never use lock washers. 




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I then mounted the motor. I put a new starter and power pack on it. With some fresh fuel, she fired right up. The plugs look good and showed no sign of the jets in the carbs being clogged (plugs were not white or ashy due to the cylinders running lean). I am putting in new plugs and a water impeller. Hopefully, that is all it will need. 




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Next I will weld the corners on the transom (I'm cutting off the paper thin corners and replacing with 1/4" aluminum plate) as well as a bracket to mount the controls and steering wheel. Also, adding smart trim tabs that are operated automatically by gas shocks. (Google smart trim tabs if you are interested) Then, I will take her on a sea trial and see how I am going to engineer weight distribution as far as batteries, fuel tank, and casting decks are concerned. I will be posting pics and updating as soon as possible. Any advice is appreciated; please let me know what you think.


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## GGUG (Feb 28, 2012)

Template picture that did not post. 






1/4" aluminum template for transom


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## edge540 (Feb 28, 2012)

That orta go like He!! I would do some serious bracing on the transom and place ALL possible weight in the bow. Good luck :LOL2:


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## JMichael (Feb 28, 2012)

I had to take a drive Sunday to pick up some hardware for my project. I had just gotten on the highway when a truck passed me with a joh boat in tow. As I caught up to him, it appeared to be about 16-17' long with about a 52" bottom. He had built the transom height up about 12-14" higher than original and added wings that tapered down to nothing as they got near the front edge of the rear bench. That thing had an Evinrude 90 jet mounted on it. #-o


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## Pweisbrod (Feb 28, 2012)

sweeeeeeet.


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## GGUG (Feb 28, 2012)

I mounted the motor as high as i can get it without a jack plate. It is about 2 inches low of where it should but i really do not think it is going to be a problem as far as cavatation. In reply to bracing the transom, it has 3 very strong braces coming off the floor which are mounted to transom as well as the corner angle iron which if you look in the pic you can see I upgraded to 1/4" aluminum angle as well. With this bracing alone this thing could hold twin motors if it would not sink. I did not say it would not bend the boat into a pretzel the first time i hit the throttle.  Anyway, once I add the top, 1/4" aluminum, corners to the transom it should be about as strong as it will get. Believe it or not I put a 25 merc on a 12' jon boat once. Took it out for 2 sea trials, which no intention of this being a build but more of a lets just see kind of thing. Well, it was fast to say the least but the water line was about 2" from coming over the stern and you could see the floor flexing when you were on the throttle. Not one of my brighter moments in life but it sure was fun. I actually saw someone with the same set up but they built a jack plate to where the cowling was taller than the driver when he was seated in the boat. He claimed he would beat anyone. Wonder if he is still alive??? Well I am not looking for a speed boat but I think it will be nice to run 30mph at half throttle. Will try to get it ready for the sea trial by the March 10. Will post pics as project progresses and any input is greatly appreciated. I think one of the great things about this site is we can all learn from each other. Happy boating!!!


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## GGUG (Feb 28, 2012)

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME WITH AN EASY WAY TO POST PICS HERE. I USED PHOTOBUCKET BUT IT WAS PURE HELL GETTING THE SITE TO ACCEPT THEM!!!


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## KevinWI (Feb 28, 2012)

GGUG said:


> CAN SOMEONE HELP ME WITH AN EASY WAY TO POST PICS HERE. I USED PHOTOBUCKET BUT IT WAS PURE HELL GETTING THE SITE TO ACCEPT THEM!!!


Bottom of any post you make has option for adding pics directly. Just browse to the pic on your drive and then select add Pic. pretty basic.


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## GGUG (Feb 28, 2012)

Thanks Kevin. I guess my computer was just being difficult last night. Like your set up. I had pretty close to it at one time (25 merc on 16' jon boat). Those 25 mercs are great on gas and reliability with plenty of power. A lot of people say they are one of the best outboards out there. I talked to someone who upgraded from 25 merc to 35 merc and they said 25 had more power and was faster than new 35 merc. I felt bad for them when i heard that story.


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## fool4fish1226 (Feb 28, 2012)

Nice transom work that should last a lifetime


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## GGUG (Feb 28, 2012)

Built it in your back yard in Ft Laud. Thank you because thats what I had in mind was life span and strength


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## benjineer (Feb 28, 2012)

Please upload your pics to the site. I wanna see this thing! I can't look at photobucket stuff, etc. where I am.


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## GGUG (Feb 28, 2012)

Just emailed them to you. Let me know if you recieved them?


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## dettmer13 (Feb 28, 2012)

If the site is giving you the "Picture must be smaller than 800 pixels wide" error, you can hover over your original picture in photobucket and select resize. It works for me.


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## GGUG (Feb 28, 2012)

Dettmer thank you and thats what i did but it was just acting an a$$ last night. My wife is a wiz with the pc and I finally turned it over to her and she just kept trying and trying and it finally accepted pics after over an hr of trouble shooting. Hopefully it will be a little more user friendly for my next update.


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## dettmer13 (Feb 28, 2012)

Anytime! Mine did the same thing for awhile, then I realized I'm an idiot and forgot to resize one of the 8 photos I was posting.


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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)

Welded the corners and steering console today. Tomorrow I will be mounting the controls and changing the water impeller. Next step - sea trial.


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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## GGUG (Mar 10, 2012)




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## fool4fish1226 (Mar 14, 2012)

Coming along nicely =D>


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## MiPikeGuy (Aug 20, 2013)

that's gonna fly, lookin good


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## Kismet (Aug 20, 2013)

?

No posts since March, and last post indicated "sea trials" were next on the agenda.


[-o< [-o< [-o< 

Let's hope it is a computer problem.


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## Ranchero50 (Aug 21, 2013)

Yeah, I upload my pics in 480 x 600. You can use a simple program called PIXresizer to copy your pictures in a smaller format before uploading them to PB. They'll upload faster when smaller.


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## NH-PLAY (Aug 21, 2013)

Get the app for ur phones

Tapatalk is the app, upload from ur phone it's easy and faster I think, no need to upload to ur computer and then to the site.

And get the free app not tapatalk 2.
That's what I use and I can do all photos for free


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