# My Crawdad MOD



## ddupre (Apr 10, 2010)

I have started a project to transform a 1984 Coleman Crawdad from a boat about to be disposed to a lil fishing vessel for me and my daughter (2 1/2). Bellow will be step by step of what i have done. To preface this, this is my first boat and have never work on a boat before. So i am doing this by trial and error. Your comments are welcomed.

Here she is in all her glory. Notice the stern deck is completely gone, the metal frame for the seats is out of wack, and the bow deck is in desperate need of some TLC






Step 1: Gut the boat. I removed the seats and plastic divider in the stern. I decided that i need some sort of floor...





Step 2: Cut out the floor and have my daughter do some artwork to give it her own pazazz. This is 3/4" Ply and cut holes for the metal seat brackets.





Step 3: Make sure the holes line up with the help of my lil girl.





Step 4: Staple carpet to floor.





Step 5: Install floor and new seat to match floor. I went with a "Canoe" Type seat to help in weight and center of gravity.





Step 6: Install the stern deck. I used the same ply/carpet to create a stern deck. Then i decided to first trim the foam to create a hatch in the deck and made a hole for the hatch and added a door. See behind foam.





Step 7: Added hardware to the hatch. I think it will work to hide my troll motor bat





Step 8: Reinforced the plastic divider of the stern.





Step 9: Installed the stern seat.





And this is where this weekends project ended. 





Still to do:
Step 10: Bow Deck, same as the stern deck. Need more ply and carpet
Step 11: Install Bow mounted Trolling Motor plus wiring. Need to buy battery and motor, might be some time
Step 12: Apply fishing mods, ie Rod holders, anchor, etc.
Step 13: See if she is sea worthy,

More to come...


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## UtahBassKicker (Apr 10, 2010)

Looks good so far...I also have a 2 1/2 year old that has helped me build my boat. Their help is priceless isn't it?


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## wolfmjc (Apr 10, 2010)

looks good...enjoy the little help, when you turn around she will suddenly be oh 11? (this just hit me with my lil girl.......)lol


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## raven174us (Apr 11, 2010)

Great work! Looks like she worked her butt off. Make sure to post pics of you two out on it.


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## Froggy (Apr 11, 2010)

Good job Man!


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## robr3004 (Apr 13, 2010)

Awesome Job. I still have an old crawdad I added decking and seats to. It's a great little boat and small enough that I could tow it with my Mini cooper.

I do have one suggestion if you are going with a bow mount motor, build some kind of rudder or the tail end of the boat will whip around on you. I used transom mount trolling motor as a rudder. Another user on here build a rudder on a hinge so that it the rudder hit something it would just pivot up and out of the way.


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## fender66 (Jun 24, 2010)

Where did you get the pull latch hardware for your hatches? I like that idea. I'm at the stage in my build to put in hatches, but I don't want to buy the sizes that are available to me.


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## thatcarguy09 (Jun 24, 2010)

it will be a sweet little boat when it hits the water!


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## MadCatter (Sep 22, 2010)

Just a little question here: what if you decide later on to mount a small 6hp or less outboard? where would you put it since you blocked off the transom? Love what you're doing to it though and gives me some ideas as I'm picking up a crawdad on Friday and planning to mod it.


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## texas bass (May 23, 2011)

Question for you.. I ahve the same boat and going to do mine.. the 3 rails running in the center what are they made of..

also where did you find the metal frame for the seats







ddupre said:


> I have started a project to transform a 1984 Coleman Crawdad from a boat about to be disposed to a lil fishing vessel for me and my daughter (2 1/2). Bellow will be step by step of what i have done. To preface this, this is my first boat and have never work on a boat before. So i am doing this by trial and error. Your comments are welcomed.
> 
> Here she is in all her glory. Notice the stern deck is completely gone, the metal frame for the seats is out of wack, and the bow deck is in desperate need of some TLC
> 
> ...


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## brianc88 (Jun 22, 2011)

i have the same boat i was wondering if these mods will make the boat to heavy


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## Pweisbrod (Feb 19, 2012)

This may be late, but any idea how fast this thing zooms with just the trollin' motor?


-Paul


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