# Here I Go: 70's 18x48 Ouachita Rebuild



## WebMonkey54 (Nov 30, 2009)

Hello everyone. I finally signed up on TinBoats.net after lurking around for a while. You guys inspired me to go out and tackle my own project. Thanks to everyone for the great advice and photos.

I have been looking for something big enough for my three boys and I for duck hunting, bass, and inshore flounder gigging. I'm pretty sure I found it! The boat is solid but the trailer is a real mess. I'm heading down to Bass Pro Shops later this week to pick up a camo 25 HP Mercury 4 stroke outboard along with seats, carpet, trolling motor, etc... Also priming, painting, rewiring, and replacing hubs and tires on trailer.

Here is the boat when I got it home. I'm just glad the trailer did not fly apart between Lexington and Winston-Salem, NC.






Here are a few more pics with the paint stripped and the base green paint applied. I will be putting on a camo pattern to match my new motor... more pics to follow later!


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Nov 30, 2009)

The boat looks nice. What are you going to do to the trailer?


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 1, 2009)

Trailer has had the rust sanded or blasted off, and now has one coat of 'rusty metal' primer. I have pulled off the wheels, hubs, old wench, wiring, and jack stand. Just about all my replacement parts for the trailer are coming from Northern Tool - what a cool store!  

I'm going to try and get the wheels sanded, primed, and painted this week. I'm waiting on my camo paint stencil kit to arrive from Cabellas.


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## cyberflexx (Dec 1, 2009)

Welcome to the site! 

Good work So far!!!!!

Keep the pics coming!


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## Cheeseball (Dec 1, 2009)

Welcome to the site! Very nice boat... reminds me of Codeman's project.


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 1, 2009)

Trailer work tonight! I had my boys removing rust from the bottom of the trailer and the steel wheels. I hope to get the trailer and wheels painted this week so I have time to work on the boat this weekend!






My youngest son is searching for rust before we add more primer...


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## cyberflexx (Dec 2, 2009)

Nice work!.. Good idea by putting the kids to work!.. When mine get older, i'll do that too, LOL!! :lol:


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Dec 2, 2009)

Ha! Had my buddy come over to help me strip my boat and his son wanted to help us out. You'd be amazed at the amount of noise an 8yr old can make with a 1" paint scraper. He didn't get much done, but definitly had fun hangin' out with the guys in the garage


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## danmyersmn (Dec 2, 2009)

what is flounder gigging?


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## dearl (Dec 2, 2009)

danmyersmn, Flounder gigging is when you use a boat to move thru shallow salt flats in search of flounder trying to hide,, you use a metal 4 or 5 prong gig to impale the flounder, We have a size limit here in N.C. so you have to judge your fish pretty careful before you gig him. Same thing with frog gigging, frogs are just harder to hit. :LOL2:


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 2, 2009)

Here is a pretty good video of Flounder gigging, complete with dramatic movie music!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLtSm5Y6-c8


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 6, 2009)

I bought a Stencil pattern through Cabellas to camo my boat. It is the Advantage Max 4D camo pattern and the stencil is made by a company called Styx River. All in all it turned out really nice, but I did have to make an additional run to Lowes to get more paint. The toughest part was getting the leaves applied correctly - the ridges on the side of the boat caused me to hold the pattern with my hands. When I finished my hands had a weird camo color. :roll: 

Base Sand Coat for Camo:





Shadow Applications:










Adding Cattails and Leaves...










Camo Finished!


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 9, 2009)

I managed to pull the old hubs off my trailer and just got some new tires put on the wheels. I went to Northern Tool today to get hubs, bearing buddies, and a grease gun... I then realized that I didn't know what the heck I was doing. The people at Northern helped me get the right sizes, but I was not feeling so confident about getting everything back together. (I was always get great help at Northern - maybe its because I'm wearing a suit and looking clueless).

This video on TinBoats was extremely helpful: https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=9000

I'll try to knock out the wheels/hubs tonight so I can replace the carpet on the bunks and rewire the trailer!


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## USSWormy (Dec 10, 2009)

The paint job turned out awesome! Looks great!


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## danmyersmn (Dec 10, 2009)

WebMonkey54 said:


> Here is a pretty good video of Flounder gigging, complete with dramatic movie music!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLtSm5Y6-c8



Looks like it could be fun.


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 11, 2009)

Hubs and Wheels on! It would have taken a lot less time if I had not loaded the grease gun backwards..

The bearing buddies worked very well, except one of them did not want to release its nipple from my grease gun. I ended up pulling so hard that the bearing buddy came apart. Its probably not the bearing buddy - its probaby the operator of the grease gun..


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## Arkdave (Dec 11, 2009)

WebMonkey54 said:


> Hubs and Wheels on! It would have taken a lot less time if I had not loaded the grease gun backwards..
> 
> The bearing buddies worked very well, except one of them did not want to release its nipple from my grease gun. I ended up pulling so hard that the bearing buddy came apart. Its probably not the bearing buddy - its probaby the operator of the grease gun..




Actually It might not be the operator, I got a pair of them from Walmart Last summer, Both Sides stuck . I had to pry them off, Took them back, and went to Auto Zone and got a pair, No more problem!!


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 15, 2009)

I got some neighborhood kids to help me and my boys get the boat on the trailer. It is very long!

I also discovered how much a new 25hp motor weighs.  Looks like I will need to raise and reinforce my transom.. More pics of that later!


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## Rat (Dec 15, 2009)

ctl+alt+D, greatness! 

There's no place like 127.0.0.1


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 16, 2009)

Thanks! License plate was CODEMNKY until divorce caused a personal reboot last year. System seems to be running just fine now.


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Dec 16, 2009)

Nice motor. 
I would have let it ride in the back seat.


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## ericshayes (Dec 17, 2009)

I'm in Greensboro NC.


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## Rat (Dec 17, 2009)

WebMonkey54 said:


> Thanks! License plate was CODEMNKY until divorce caused a personal reboot last year. System seems to be running just fine now.



Knowing that makes it even better!


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 18, 2009)

Hey Guys,

I got my transom built. I needed about 4 to 5 inches in additional height, so I got three 2x2 Oak timbers and pressure glued them together (added up to 4.75 inches). After trimming the edges, I stained it twice with the oil based stain I used on my deck and fence - it works so much better than Thompsons Water Seal. 

To mount the transom addition I drove four 8 inch lag screws down through the wood and into the original transom. I had so much torque on those bolts that the boat moved off the bunks and one of my socket wrench adapters split! Once that was tight I sealed up the holes on top with wood putty and liquid plastic. I then took one of the pieces of Aluminum that I cut out for seat storage and shaped that to fit over the transom. I used four 1 foot pieces of Aluminum strip from Lowes and 12 carriage bolts to tie everything together. I put a coat of primer for Galvanized metal on - I will be painting later. Hopefully I measured correctly and the engine bolts will line up nicely between the carriage bolts. See pics below


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Dec 18, 2009)

Does it flex with the motor hanging on it? You should do a search for jack plates. Some have been built as motor risers only. I got my mini jacker on ebay for $42.


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## dyeguy1212 (Dec 18, 2009)

WebMonkey54 said:


> Thanks! License plate was CODEMNKY until divorce caused a personal reboot last year. System seems to be running just fine now.




Haha this is low key.


Woulda made a great (drunken) tattoo. :lol:


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 31, 2009)

Hey guys - here is a picture of the boat at 95% complete. I just have to wire up the front lights, bilge pump, and finish a few hatches for storage. The boat handled great with 6 people! The only problem is a slow leak - I think it is the seal around the drain plug. There is no flex on my custom transom.  I added a huge cooler with a cushion in the middle (I will camo that later).


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## Rat (Dec 31, 2009)

Great job, she looks good sittin' there, ready for the first flight to drop in.


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 31, 2009)

I forgot to post some pictures of the aluminum frame and floor. Pop riveting was actually a lot easier and faster than I first thought. After the framing was done I cut out some untreated 5/8 plywood and put on a couple coats of oil based primer and paint. I added some Quickcrete anti slip to a gallon of paint - it turned out great. The wood's first exposure to moisture has been salt water at Hatteras this week - It will be interesting to see how long it will last.


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 2, 2011)

Hey guys,

I wanted to show an update after 2 years of use. Overall the boat has been great, but I learned that you should not take a flat bottom boat out in the Pamlico Sound with 2 foot swells. [-X I now have a great little bilge pump installed.

My growing problem has been the transom. I built it up to fit my new motor, but most the stress on the transom was taking place about 3 inches above where the transom was braced. As I trailered the boat all over NC, big cracks started developing. I found a local welder that helped me seal the cracks, and reinforce the transom. Pictures below of the reinforced transom, as well as some brag photos with my boys duck hunting and me hitting the Spring Striper run!











Duck Hunting with 2 of my 3 boys





Striper Fishing on the Roanoke River last April





The finished boat in all it's glory!


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## hotshotinn (Dec 3, 2011)

I like your boat very much.I now have one very simalure to yours but mine is a 1648.I removed my middle seat but plan on adding to the front deck like what you did.Did you end up useing carpet in your boat anywhere or just painted surfaces?You stated useing some sortof non slip added to the paint.,how is that working out for you?


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## fool4fish1226 (Dec 5, 2011)

Really nice work =D>


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## WebMonkey54 (Dec 5, 2011)

hotshotinn said:


> I like your boat very much.I now have one very simalure to yours but mine is a 1648.I removed my middle seat but plan on adding to the front deck like what you did.Did you end up useing carpet in your boat anywhere or just painted surfaces?You stated useing some sortof non slip added to the paint.,how is that working out for you?



I used 3/4 inch plywood and mixed some non-slip additive (you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot in paint area) to a combination of oil based deck paint and some green oil based house paint. I then painted both sides of the plywood after I cut it fit the ribs of the boat and the aluminum deck frame. It has held up pretty well - I just hose it off if it get too muddy.


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## hotshotinn (Dec 6, 2011)

thats a good idea to hose it off.I do that with my 1448 to clean itup,no carpet in my 1448.I has carpet in my fiberglass bass boat but that baot i use on lakes and the tin is for river hunting and fishing where mud is,i would hate to clean carpet with mud onit


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## y2k600f4 (Jun 19, 2012)

Defineately a nice boat ! Too bad I missed out on it's sale on my local craigsist  The ad was gone by the time I was ready to seriously look for a Jon.


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