# 1999 Carolina Skiff J-14 Mods



## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

I recently sold my 1988 Alumacraft and purchased a wider, fiberglass jon boat. I wanted something more stable as the Alumacraft was pretty tippy and I had a nice scare when we got stuck on a hidden tree top. Water almost rushed and and only thought in my mind was a new 4 stroke motor going 15 feet into the drink. After that day, I did not use that boat anymore and it sat for a year in a friends garage ( although he had permission to use it and he didnt ). One day in late March 2012, I came across a Carolina Skiff on Craigslist that was about an hour away for $1300. Knowing that I had always wanted a Skiff, I had kept this one in the back of my mind. I figured by the time I got the funds, it would have already been snagged as these boats are pretty sought after in this area for the smaller lakes. I called the number in the listing and sure enough, he still had it! I went and got it that Saturday and didnt even haggle on price or really look it over that much.

When I got it home, it was really nasty, and I can tell it had been sitting for a long time, even though there was a tarp over it, didnt seem to help much. It was parked under a tree and just debris was everywhere in the smallest of areas in the hull.

Issues that have been corrected and Mods:
Big chip in the fiberglass chine: Patched, Sanded down smooth and shot with white Krylon spraypaint and clear coat ( matches great )
Various other small chips: Filled with JB weld, sanded smooth and shot with white paint ( did a great job with JB weld! )
Cleaned the hull with stuff called "Awesome" from Dollar General ( only $1 a bottle ) did wonders and shined it up!
Scrubbed the nasty old leaf debris and dirt out of the floor with a wire brush and cleaner
Removed an old trolling motor bracket and filled the holes with JB weld and sanded down
Fixed a big hole in the deck where a depth finder was located, with fiberglass repair kit, sanded and painted
Installed a new red/green light on the front
Installed a new rear light socket with new LED light for night saftey
Cleaned the storage box the best I could and sprayed it with white krylon and clearcoat ( it was nasty!)
Ripped out ALL of the wiring
Ran wires from the back to the front ( through a pvc pipe attatched to the floor)for TM, Fish finder, Light, 12volt outlet and a spare
Remounted the switch panel 
Added a master on/off with removable key, in the rear bench, behind the seat, on the lip
Added a 12volt aux outlet in the rear bench, behind seat, on the lip
Installed a Eagle ( made by Lowrance ) Depth Finder on edge of bench so it can be seen with running
Installed a Garmin 140 on the front deck
Installed a New MinnKota 45lb 12V TM with foot control
New Deep Cycle group 29 battery
New gold positive battery terminal with power distribution block
New front seat post mount
New front seat pole and butt seat
New bilgepump
All wired to the power panel switches
Under the deck by the access holes, i put in a truck bed net to keep the life jackets from coming out.
Installed new Battery box
New 3.5gallon fuel tank

Trailer:
Tongue of trailer was really long: Cut of 24inches of tubing, put on new 2 inch coupler
Trailer wiring: Replaced the wiring and 2 side lights
New Tires on trailer
Rubber no slip grippers put on fenders and tongue
New trailer jack wheel
New Trailer wench and strap


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

The day I brought it home. Sitting in the parking lot of the DMV


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

I put it on a friends driveway since there was alot of room to work and not in anyone's way. It had rained so much, it was hard to get anything done for a few weeks.

Here is one of the many times it was full of water and I had to pump it out with an old bilge pump and half dead battery. This was not much water compared to other days. Some days water was half way up the front under the deck.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

Cutting down the trailer tongue as it was WAY too long. The trailer is a SmokerCraft Tennessee trailer and did not originally come with this boat.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

New 2 inch coupler, new jack wheel ( old one not removed yet) and ready for a rewire.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

Some fiberglass repair. I have never done this before and bought a kit from Walmart. It was really simple to patch, wait an hour or so while I did something else to the boat, then sand her smooth and paint.

There were several places I had to pull in, like knicks and chips and used JB Weld on the small areas. Which worked like a charm. I then shot Krylon White spray paint and a clear coat over it.


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## sixgun86 (Sep 13, 2012)

Good looking rig, what are your plans to put on the back?

I had a J16, lots of water in the floor.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

Cleaned out the storage box, it was the battery box and I dont know why the other owner had it on the side instead of in the back of the boat near the panel. I removed the box, hosed it, scrubbed it, then said to heck with it and painted it white and clear coat. Bolted it back in and siliconed the bottom and the screw holes. I also filled in some holes in the bottom of the bench that was used for wire pass throughs, used JB weld


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

sixgun86 said:


> Good looking rig, what are your plans to put on the back?
> 
> I had a J16, lots of water in the floor.



I have a Tohatsu 9.8hp 4stroke.. only goes 7mph though and wont plane. I may have water in the floor.. how do i get it out?


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

Drilling the front deck for the seat post mount. Smoked my cheap drill!


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

Front fish finder mount installed. I ran all wires under the deck at a later time, so there is less trippage.. Installed a 12volt plug for night time headlamps.. which worked great the other night


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

New Trolling motor from Bass Pro Shops

MinnKota ( only the best) 12volt 45lb

This thing will scoot that skiff pretty good on #3 setting, and seems like a rocket on #5


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

Another view of the trolling motor mounted to the deck. This was really hard to get the nuts through to the under side as we didnt take the deck off to mount the TM. My friend had to lay in the boat, hold the nut and washer on a crescent wrench with a dap of silicone for it to stay and the wrench was attached to a metal pole so it would reach. I screwed from the top with my drill and after the 3rd bolt, it was super easy. We had it mounted in 15 minutes.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

Ready for a test run...You can see the rear depth finder bracket on the bench edge. We strapped the motor down because it wanted to bounce. For some reason the motor wouldnt lock down.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

My buddy, firing up the motor for the 1st time since late 2010. She ran like a top.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

Some bass from the 1st fishing trip, I stood in the back, because I am clumsy. I let my friend deal with the trolling motor all day. Knowing me, i would have tripped over the footcontrol and splashdown..


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

So far this boat will only run 7mph with the 2009 Tohatsu 9.8 4stroke motor loaded with 2 guys and some light gear, 3 gallons of fuel. I figure it should at least run 12mph as my tinboat that was decked went pretty quick.

I added a TH Marine Mini Jacker - Jack plate thinking that would help some, but it didnt.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

I had mounted 2 halogen automotive fog lamps to a section of 2x4 wood and wired it to a 12 volt outlet plug and took it with us one evening, knowing that we usually stay out until dark. We were able to stay and fish are little area longer and these lights were perfect for running back to the boat ramp in the pitch dark. 

I have ordered some LEDs from superbrightled.com and going to make a removable LED bar with UV Blacklight and Blue lights for night fishing.


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## sixgun86 (Sep 13, 2012)

cyberflexx said:


> sixgun86 said:
> 
> 
> > I may have water in the floor.. how do i get it out?


 
The problem was Cskiff didn't and still hasn't designed a way to drain the boat. Each stringer creates a sealed off section so water can be trapped. Easiest way to determine is your hull is water logged aside from the weight would be to put pressure along an existing hole and look for water to come up. 

Some guys add drain plugs in ea. corner, or small holes and reseal, in the transom between the floor and the bottom of the boat, low as possible, and tilt the bow so the boat can drain. This could take a very long time and usually won't get it all out. I did this and it slowly seeped for days. Some use a vacuum with shocking results. Others remove everything off the boat, re-seal each screw that is penetrating the floor with 5200, then drill a line up either side the boat inside along the gunwale on the floor to drain each section that is closed off by the stringers running port to starboard. Usually 6-8" apart. Then tip the boat on it's side. This will drain the boat in a couple days entirely. Then re-seal ea. hole with glass or 5200. 

If you go to the C-Skiff forum you will be able to see how it was done. It's bit of a touchy subject there... There have been brand new boats that had gallons in the floor that would have been completely trapped if it weren't for the owner coming up with a way to drain the floor. There is no way to know the extent of the problem until you have access to drain each closed off section. One guy actually came up with his own drill bit that will the entire length of the floor. Dangerous, but effective.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 13, 2012)

I think i read something like that on carolinaskiffowner.com I became a member there a couple months ago. I didnt think they were that friendly and it took a day for someone to even reply to a post. I dont go there much anymore. I do have a website sticker on transom of the boat though, that they sent me.

I wonder if there is water trapped in the hull as to why it wont plane out. I dont want to undo all the work I had done to tip it on its side. I saw a picture of how the stringers were made and a drill from the transom all the way through to half way would be the easiest way, then I could tip the boat up at an angle to drain. But all that work for not knowing for sure if that's the problem is one thing to gamble with too..


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## fool4fish1226 (Sep 14, 2012)

Nice looking rig :beer:


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## cyberflexx (Sep 16, 2012)

Thanks!..

About the possible water in the hull, I am going to try something in the next few weeks.

I am going to pull out the bench/storage box that runs down the side of the floor, it is attached with 8 screws and very solid. After I remove the bench, i am going to drill a couple 1.5 inch holes in the floor and check for water and pump it out with a shop vac. I will then fill the holes with fiberglass and sand smooth and put the bench back. 

I dont know if there is water in there or not though..


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## peabody (Jul 20, 2013)

what happend ? was there any water in it ?


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