Newbie from TN.

[spurhunter]

Hey folks, glad to be here. I have been boating all my life, but broke down and bought a toon for the first time back in November. I stripped it down to bare metal and rebuilt it back. I took it for its maiden voyage this weekend, gonna be a big change from my fishing boat days!

[Heatman]

Welcome to the forum!

[HandymanHerb]

Welcome, well let see some pictures of your pride and joy

[spurhunter]

Thanks guys, I will get some progress pic posted up for yall.

[ROLAND]

spurhunter.. welcome to the group...hey, some of my most relaxing fishing days have been seated at the front end of my pontoon... don't forget the pics.

[mike]

[brumbyvet]

Welcome to a fellow Tennessean. Years ago, when I worked construction, I worked in Cleveland some. Good bunch of folks on here who's willing to share their expertise.

[spurhunter]

OK fellers, & gals if we have any.
I am going to try and post the progression of my build. *Admins*, If you think this thread should be re-titled and moved, feel free to do so. I am not going to include the dates, but I started this about Nov 30th, and have worked through brutal cold, and snow (unusual for South TN) If some of the comments dont make sense, remember this was on a different forum, adn some are in response to a question or comment.
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So with the ol CC boat falling apart, I decided it was time for a new ride. I took all the fishing I do into consideration and opted for a toon. I searched high and low for about 4 months and came up with a 24' Pro Craft. It had a nice running 40hp Mainer, but knew I would be needing more HP for my adventures. My plan was to put the 175 Johnson off the CC but Ol EricM made me a deal I couldn't refuse on his 90HP Honda four-stroke. It wont be the speed-demon I was hoping for, but I think it will be a great package. It rides on a super tandem trailer and also came with all gauges I would need and a Bimini top.

First order of biz was to pull the carpet and replace that......Ah, that was a good PLAN.

I realized that some of the deck was not as good as I hoped. I then decided to strip ALL of the decking and start fresh. The boat had a neat back sun-deck built over a custom cabinet with lots of storage. The plan was to reuse all of that stuff, again plans changed. As I pulled EVERYTHING off the boat, I found too much rotted wood for my liking and trashed the cabinet. Still not sure what I am going to do there, but momma and the girls want the sun-deck on the boat. It also helped me decide to re-do the console as well, it didnt have any storage, which is really important with all my gear.

So I got it all the way down to the frame and bought new wood, in this case went with the Avantech sub-flooring. It is super clean, sturdy, and water resistant. Next issue was finding screws. I looked everywhere and finally had to order them out of Atlanta through Cleveland fasteners.

So now I have the sheets of wood in the garage, heater going to warm them up and will paint them with a good oil-based sealant to ward off any moisture in the future, then it will start looking like a boat again. The reassembly will go pretty quick I think.

So here are some pics of the boat as I bought it, and the tear-down, and fitting of the new decking. I really like the little min-decks on the tips of the toons, they hold the front marker lights, and some cleats. I replaced those first as it had to be done with the main deck boards off.

I will post some more progress pics as I get them.




































....more coming......

[spurhunter]

I have lots more pics and info of what I did coming, it takes a while to post it all up. I know I didnt do everything right, some things might have been right, but I have still would have done it differently anyways! LOL
I welcome all comments, please just dont say, "you really should have done this" LOL....I already know I aint the smartest one in the bunch!

[Ron Burgundy]

Damn...I feel inadeauate...I need to change my green navigation light...and it's stumping me...

Nice pics!!

[margaritaman]

Nice pictures, keep them coming. It is always nice to see before and after transformation pictures. Good job !

[spurhunter]

Thanks for the comments guys, wish I had found this forum prior to my rebuild, but oh well. I will try and get ALL the pics up tomorrow up to date. I can tell ya, I feel kinda silly after looking at some of the outstanding pics on this forum. I didnt set out to build a beauty queen, but it will serve as headquarters for my fishing, famiy time, and also my guide business for trophy catfishing ,and noodling...yes noodling. Yes, where you stick your hands in holes and hope to get the crap bitten out of you. Its really fun!

[curtiscapk]

Can't wait to see the progress. I like the idea of cutting AROUND the screws with hole saw!

[spurhunter]

Yea well, the hole saw sounded good but turned out to be a huge PIA.
DO NOT try that one at home. I ended up using a standard grinder and just eating the heads off the old screws right through the plywood, then sawzall the remaining studs after I pulled the wood. Much easier that way.

[spurhunter]

Got the deck boards painted up this week, if it stops raining I will put them on tonight, then carpet and I can really get things moving from there.



Friday before the storm hit, I got the boards on the deck.

Before I put them on, I re-did the winch eyelet support brackets. The old brackets were very thin and buckling from use. You can see the difference in the pic here. A nice CFF member had the material he'd been storing for many years and donated a couple pieces for me.








All boards now installed, just need to put all the screws in, I only tacked it around the edges so far. The remaining should only take me ten minutes though. I hope at the end of the week it will be warm enough to lay the carpet then I can really get it rolling.






New console ordered today, cant wait to get it and start the rebuilding proccess.


Also got my new fence bolts and risers in today. I am ready!!!




So I got the remaining screws in and carpet laid tonight. It now under tarp for 5 days, (keep dry per glue instructions). After that is On!!!!!!!!!!


Got the edge caps back on today, all but the transom area anyways. I am going to have to modify it slightly as the new boards are not the same length back there now. Will start placing the railing and mapping out where some other things go tomorrow.





Ok guys, been a while since the update, but coming along. I got all the rails back on, trim on all four edges and the corner trims back in place. I think I will like the spacers that I bought to raise the rail up. That should make spraying off the floor a breeze. I was also able to knock out the two places in the back where the siding was a little pushed in. If it hadnt been so crazy cold this winter I would have taken time to clean the railing up really well prior to re-instalation, but so be it, I will get that done this week. Having it held tight in place will allow me to scrub it then pressure wash it better anyways. I do have plans repaint the exterior but I have enough money in the project right now, it will be fine cleaned up.

Last week I got the base for the console built. The unit I bought was a little smaller than I hoped, but I couldnt bring myself to spend $800 on the one I wanted. What I built wll give me a seat in the front, with storage under it, and I sealed the whole thing, then put carpet on the base to match the floor. The pics show where I have screwed some scrap wood on the corners to allow it to adhere on the corners better.

Looking forward, weather permitting, to start installing the console pieces, and getting the steering and gauges hooked up. I am crossing my fingers that it will go smoother than I fear after looking at the mess of wires I have for it! LOL

Installing the gas tank, battery selector switch and lighting should be a couple hour ordeal at most, so I COULD be ready to test it out next week some time. Keep your fingers crossed.








Console is about complete. I used a corner trim made of PVC from Lowe's to protect the bottom from being in contact with the wet carpet all the time. Even though I sealed it, I wanted that extra protection. It also gives it a clean look I think. I used clear window silicone then a few galvanized nails to hold it all in place. Will get it installed tomorrow if all goes well.