# Fiberglass winter mod



## stone4140 (Jan 10, 2009)

She was found on the side of the road a few years back for 175 bucks with a trailer. She was redone once before hence the gray paint on the interior and the brown hull but with no modifications. I wish I had a picture from when she was pulled from her early grave. Up until a month ago she was bow covered. I plan on building a small console where the control box is located. I know most would not to save space and that makes sense but I find to much joy in driving her around. And i got a great vintage throttle/shift box that came with the motor that I would feel bad shelving (all for 85$ gotta love craigslist). She still needs a lot done including the front deck cover, all new paint on the topside where there won't be carpet, a small bow cover to mount a trolling motor and my anchor system, carpet, console, all the electrical work and probably just as much that I haven't thought of yet. All the framing members were coated with epoxy fiberglass and then the front deck was fiberglassed with cloth to the hull (not seen in pics)Then I will carpet the piece on top. And I Thompson water sealed all the plywood. Ideas are welcome. This is my first boat modification. I just had my first son in November so everything I am doing has to be relatively cheap. So you may see some previously enjoyed lumber in the pics. Dan


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## Zum (Jan 10, 2009)

Welcome to the site and congradulations on your first born.

Nice looking boat you have there,fiberglass can be real "fun" and sticky to work with but most mistakes can be easily fixed.
I see you have some wires run through some pvc,keeps it nice and neat.Are you going to keep the pvc on the outside of the plywood or is there room to hide it inbehind/underneath?


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## stone4140 (Jan 10, 2009)

Those wires are all from the first time I did the boat. I am going to run larger pvc under the floor board and hide all the wires. And ya the fiberglass can sure hide some bad cuts and other mistakes. But I am spending way to much heating my garage Dang It


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## LarryA (Jan 10, 2009)

Looks like a nice project boat. Good luck with your mods and hope everything turns out great.


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## Zum (Jan 10, 2009)

Maybe you could tarp off part of your garage so you don't have to heat the hole thing.I imagine your heating it so the fiberglass will set?


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## stone4140 (Jan 10, 2009)

Ya atleast I get it warm for the application process. My brother also made the suggestion about tarping above the boat maybe Ill give it a try. The epoxy seems to setup fine it just takes a long time when its cold. And living in Rochester NY its cold for the next cou[ple months. But I have to say I did get a random sixty degree day a couple weeks ago and got some work done. For smaller spots I read to put a lamp near it and I directed the heat with some aluminum and that worked good for small sections. Thankfully all the spots being glassed will be hidden with carpet or I would have waited till summer to really get it good.


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## Jim (Jan 10, 2009)

Looking good! =D>


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## ben2go (Jan 11, 2009)

Nice boat.Looks like a tin unit if you don't consentrate on the pics


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## stone4140 (Jan 26, 2009)

Well I have gotten some more work done. I also just scored a bow mount evinrude trolling motor 43lb thrust for 75 bucks. Its a tiller but i don't care its in great shape. Its 12/24v and I really want to run 2 batteries and maybe even an onboard charger. But its a small boat. My goal is to get both batteries under the bow cover where the troller mounts. But it will be a tight fit. Are there good ways to secure the batteries with little space? They wont fit under the platform. I may mount the charger under there.? Next pics hopefully she will be painted and carpeted.


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## russ010 (Jan 26, 2009)

Looks good. I know you want to put both batteries up front, but don't you think you might be a little front end heavy with those up there - along with you while fishing?

I'm not sure about v-hulls, but I know with my 2 batteries in the middle bench and me in the front deck with a 40# trolling motor, I'm a little front heavy. I did just put a livewell in and if I put about 10gal of water in it, it levels me out and I move a little better through the water.


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## stone4140 (Jan 26, 2009)

Good question. I don't know if it will be too heavy up front. The motor is pretty darn heavy and I will have a cooler,gas tank and gear in the back. I may just have to try it out and see. I will probably plane out pretty quick :lol: . Either way atleast one battery will go there and maybe the charger. How far from each other can you run batteries in a series? I would hate to have to buy a ton of 6 gauge wire I cant imagine its to cheap. Thanks for the thought I'll ponder it.


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## russ010 (Jan 26, 2009)

As far as distance, I have 2 29series running in parallel and I'm using 4ga wire for a 54" span (I have to hide the wires, but its about 3' straight across from post to post. 

If you put them in series and at a distance, you'll lose some power, but I'm not sure how much. If you do a long run, you'll have to do better than 6ga wire.

If you have all of that in the back you'll probably be alright with the batteries up there. I haven't weight them, but I think my batteries weigh about 60lbs each


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## stone4140 (Feb 15, 2009)

Well I got her painted and carpeted. I still have to cut and carpet the hatch covers but I wanted to wait to see how much the carpet changed the dimensions of the cuts. I am glad I did. I got this stuff from the depot. It has a really stiff thick rubber backing and really thickened up my edges. It was $1.17 a foot but totally worth it. I decided to put the batteries on the sides near the back of the boats rather than in the bow hatch. I am going to use those cedar boxes you see in the back. But they will be on opposite side near the mid to back of the boat. Also I ordered some seats from cabelas $5 shipping till tomorrow flat rate and no Cabela's in NY means no tax either  . So I have some work left but I feel like I am finishing up rather than just working with no progress to show for. Hopefully by the end of this upcoming week the electric and more of the detail work will be done. I just got a 2 bank minnkota on board charger as well. I am glad I called their 1800# before splicing the battery leads. The manual says you can extend them but didn't say where to make the splice. I called to be safe and they said it has to be after the fuses and before the battery connection. Would have been nice if they put that in the manual. But for $116 it looks good and sturdy and from everything I have read it should last awhile.


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## Waterwings (Feb 15, 2009)

Great paint and carpet work! 8)


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## evattman (Feb 16, 2009)

Oh yeah.....it's lookin' great! Cant wait to see it totally finished. I bet you can't either! :mrgreen:


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## stone4140 (Feb 16, 2009)

I think my wife probably wants it done even more than me. Little does she know I'll never be done  .


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## Jim (Feb 16, 2009)

Very nice work man! Looks like a Factory job! =D>


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## stone4140 (Feb 20, 2009)

I need to figure out where to place the batteries and charger. My initial idea was both batteries under the bow and charger under the front platform. Then a couple people suggested that would be to heavy. I think they were right. But the problem is i planned that from the beginning so now I am a little painted in a corner. Then I was going to put them behind each seat. But man that takes up a ton of space. I have these cedar boxes I am planning on using for battery boxes. Where I am at now is shown in the pictures. The battery and charger under the bow and one battery in the middle back. I really want the cooler and gas can where they are but I am open to ideas. The seats are on pins so once I arrive at my spot we'll pick the seats up from the driving position (where they are in the pic) put one on a pin base/pedestal on the front deck and one where i have it in the picture (middle back not yet installed). Thats what I am thinking but any ideas are welcome. I wish there wasn't ice everywhar or I would just test it out.


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## Loggerhead Mike (Feb 20, 2009)

lookn awsome i love that motor


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## ben2go (Feb 21, 2009)

Nice werk.Looks great.


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## stone4140 (Mar 11, 2009)

Ended up putting both batteries under the top bow cover and the charger under the bow floor. I'll find out soon how it feels in the water. At least it will plane quick this year. A couple small things to do but mostly done. I still have to mount two pedestal bases so the driving position seats will move when you get to the fishing spot.


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## ben2go (Mar 11, 2009)

Sweet.


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