Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

[gooseofdeuce]

I recently acquired a 1986 Bass Tracker from a friend who's wife was needing him to "get that piece of junk out of the yard" for $500.00. It came with trailer and motor. He said the motor has a hole in the head or the cylinder wall but said he couldn't remember, just knew it would cost more to fix than to replace. The boat is actually in pretty good condition, with the exception of the wiring. I decided i wanted to redo the decking and overhaul the boat as much as possible. I towed it to my cousin's house and started the destruction. I pulled all the carpet off, storage boxes out, and set aside all wooded parts for templates. I removed the old water logged foam from one side of about 1/3 of the hull and believe I shed about 60 pounds of weight. I'm planning on adding a "built in beer cooler" right behind the two seats and moving the misc. junk storage boxes closer to the back. I'll post pictures as soon as I get to my personnal computer, right now working the desk on night shift on Christmas eve for the 5th year in a row

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Merry Christmas gooseofduece and welcome aboard.

I'll start by saying I think you got a pretty good deal @ $500.00. Which model is it? The Vhull or the mod-john. 16'? Of course everyone here is going to want to see pictures.

As for working, this is the 1st Christmas in 4 years that I actually have off, though I will now have to work New Years Eve.

 

[gooseofdeuce]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

It's listed at a 17ft boat through SCDNR (South Carolina Dept. Natural Resources). The only data plate i can locate is for the HID. No plates for capacity, hp limit, etc. If anyone knows where to find i'd appreciate the help.The first twho pictures are of the boat when I bought it, the last is the progress if you want to call it that...

 

[herefishy]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Hi Goose.

I like your boat. I've had my 17' tin Lakesport for 15 years. I just remodeled it - the project thread is in my signature.

I'm not sold on built-in coolers. insulate a tank with drain and recirc/aerator, and use it as cooler when no live well is needed, perhaps. You can see how I treat my cooler in my project.

I like replacing all the wood with aluminum, too - YMMV.

I'll be following your project with interest.


Cheers!

~Fishy

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Nice pictures! Still think you got a very good deal on that rig even for it's condition. Looks straight and solid which is what counts the most. With the HID #'s you should be able to figure out who actually built that hull and then be able to find the capacity info.

The plate in my Lund is all faded so I contacted Lund with the HID # and they quickly provided the info I needed along with a lot more history and info on my hull. It was pretty cool talking with them.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Your capacity sticker (they used to be plates) was probably on the plastic backboard that your shifter/throttle is mounted on and it weathered off. You can contact BassPro shops with the HID and get a new one made for about $50. This is what happened to my Tracker.

If your plywood decking isn't rotted check the back of the pieces for a CCA stamp, CCA is a treated marine plywood and you can just use a belt sander to remove the glue and reuse it.

If you replace your plywood don't use ASQ pressuer treated plywood, it'll corrode your aluminum. Use an exterior grade plywood the same thickness as the original. No matter what kind of plywood you use you should seal it with epoxy resin for longivity.

I just did a resto on my Tracker back in the fall and you can see it here:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=509163

 

[gooseofdeuce]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Is the foam structural in tracker or is it there solely in case of a hull breach? What are the negatives to not re-installing foam other than sinking faster if I do take on water

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Is the foam structural in tracker or is it there solely in case of a hull breach? What are the negatives to not re-installing foam other than sinking faster if I do take on water

With the foam in your boat, your boat will not sink. Without the foam in your boat it will go to the bottom.

 

[Teamster]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

I'm a big fan of not dieing, Therefore I recommend the installation of new floatation foam,....

Nice boat and you got a smoking deal,...Have fun with it!!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

While a hull breach is fairly unlikely, a swamping really isn't. I rather have my boat do this http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w200/ezmobee/063Small.jpg than sink to the bottom like a rock.

 

[gooseofdeuce]

More work

More work

Well the hollidays are over and we've had some good weather here in South Carolina the last few days, so I fnally had a chance to do some more work. I took a grinder and cup brush to all the areas that had glue and carpet fibers and gave it a good cleaning, now the new carpet has a good surface to adhere too. I've noticed that the drain holes in through the ribs are not letting water pass through like it should and is backing up under the livewell, next step is to pull the live well out, clean under neath and figure out a way to turn it into an insulated beer... um fish cooler. I also found out my dad has 3 6ft x 3ft aluminum sheets left over from when he made signs, so aluminum flooring is going in soon.

 

[gooseofdeuce]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

I tore back into the boat with the help of a friend of mine yesterday and today. All foam ecept what is under the aluminum sheet beneath the gas tank is out. We cut new holes for a 7x11 Rabud hatch that will be going in soon. Next will be putting a new bottom in the new storage compartents and insulating the factory storage compartments so they can double as coolers. The old motor will be coming off tomorrow, hopefully!!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: More work

Re: More work

Well the hollidays are over and we've had some good weather here in South Carolina the last few days, so I fnally had a chance to do some more work. I took a grinder and cup brush to all the areas that had glue and carpet fibers and gave it a good cleaning, now the new carpet has a good surface to adhere too. I've noticed that the drain holes in through the ribs are not letting water pass through like it should and is backing up under the livewell, next step is to pull the live well out, clean under neath and figure out a way to turn it into an insulated beer... um fish cooler. I also found out my dad has 3 6ft x 3ft aluminum sheets left over from when he made signs, so aluminum flooring is going in soon.

Can you tell if those 2x4s on the bow are a factory install or are they something a previous owner did? Either way I lose those things and frame it up with some aluminum angle instead. Rivets and angle are much better suited for boat framing than lumber.

Looks like you're making good progress, keep up the good work!

 

[gooseofdeuce]

Re: More work

Re: More work

Jig, i am looking at doing something like that. I want to make the triangle in the front smaller, make the Bow deck right behind it larger, and use the triangle as a platform for mounting a trollingmotor and/or bow fishing lights.

 

[gooseofdeuce]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Removed the old trash motor with the help of my brohter's Bobcat today. Decided to go ahead and see what held the fuel tank in and it was surprisingly easy to remove. Broke out a drill, popped out the rivits, and cleaned out all the crap, including old moldy decaying foam. Now there should be no trouble with water draining to the back. I would have more phones but Verizon was screwing with my phone and wasn't able to take as many pics as i wanted. Also started re-assembly of the rear portion of the boat. Fuel tank back in, livewell reinstalled, only had to stop due to running out of rivits. Only had 50 due to not being sure what size to get, so i only picked up one pack. Guess i'm off to Lowes tomorrow. I'll post pics when I get back to it tomorrow.

 

[scubby]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

WOW. You're project is coming along nicely Goose. I was hoping to be as far as you are, in my project but I got distracted this weekend when some friends stopped by (they didn't feel much like helping so I shut it down early Saturday). Is it hard replacing the rivets? I have never done any riveting and had planned to just use self-tapping metal screws when putting back together. After your last post to me about the extra storage you cut in, I think I may follow in your footsteps. It seems dumb to not use all applicable space on the boat. And as I stated my boat is solid insulation where you cut your new holes, so that space would be great for cooler areas. Keep the pics coming, you're giving me some great ideas. I should have my pics up soon from my project (almost done with the demo phase).

 

[gooseofdeuce]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Scubby, my progress is due to me having close to 600 vacation hours and close to 400 comp hours. My supervisors, and higher up the food chain, want those hours way down so I have had a lot of extra days off. No to mention i work 12 hour shifts so if i take 2 days i'm off for a week. If you are thinking of cutting out an area for making a cooler in the area i'm adding storage i'd recommend getting a long drill bit or drilling at an angle and plumbing it as you would a live well; for when water magically appears after you put ice in your cooler. I would also put a pop out plug in the cooler. I want my built in cooler closer to me, you know for when you get thirsty.

Today i finished riviting the rear deck back to together. I also measured and cut one piece of aluminum for the majority of the decking. I'm going to use a smaller piece to fill in the space to the left in the picture so i can remove it if need be without ripping the whole deck out for any cleaning that may need to be done of the drain holes. I also started figuring out how i'm going to re-enforce the bow deck so that the aluminum i'll be using up there isn't under as much stress. Hope to get it all layed out soon so I can start putting in carpet. Also found an old car stereo from one of my old vehicles that will be going in, protected by a modified ammo can.

 

[WNYSoldier44]

Re: Nothing fancy just somethin for hunting/fishing

Looking real good man, good luck, check out my project under 1995 glastron ski to fish

 

[gooseofdeuce]

somethin for hunting/fishing and listenin to music on

somethin for hunting/fishing and listenin to music on

Well, went back to my cousin's house where i'm my work tonight. Start working and realized the tape measure i've been using was in his house and he wasn't around so i had to deviate from my original plan.... so i built a new stereo box so I can have some tunes when i'm on the lake!! Started with an old ammo can and went from there May have to post this on WranglerForum.com also

 

[gooseofdeuce]

Re: somethin for hunting/fishing and listenin to music on

Re: somethin for hunting/fishing and listenin to music on

Once my cousin came down with a tape measure i started working on the bow platform. I finally found a layout that I liked and started riviting again.

Cut out the next piece of aluminum for the decking.

Here are a couple of the bottom for the new storage area that i'm making.