# 12' sears game fisher my first coversion



## minicuda (May 14, 2008)

I traded 2 guns for this boat and 50lb trolling motor







I started cutting it up today. I cut out the middle seat leaving about 1.5" of the seat metal to use as a flange to screw 2x2s to. by cutting out the seat i lost some of the rigidity of the side walls. a 2x2 frame with plywood gusetts will be bolted to the remaining seat flange to restore the lost rigidity. more on that in days to come.






this is the start of the frame for the floor. nothing is screwed together yet still need to fit a few more cross braces and cut a bunch of gussets. you can see in back the rear seat is notched for a short rear deck.






batteries are up front to help spread out the weight. i cut the front seat out so they would sit lower. they will be covered with a very small deck just big enough to cover the batts and mount a trolling motor. the trolling motor deck will sit flush with the top of the boat but will not be fished from, to small and to tall. there will be a small front casting deck below the original seat height.










well thats about all i got done today... spent more time stareing and talking about how cool it will be when its done then actually working. i will get some more done tomorrow and post up more pics.


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## seaarc (May 14, 2008)

Lookin good keep the progress pics coming. =D> 

Dave


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## Tyler_W (May 14, 2008)

When i looked at the pic of when the seat cut outi was like uh oh this guy soesn't know what he is doing. Then i read what you said and i said, "he definatelly knows what he's doing" lol. Keep the good work up dude! oh and you might want to put some flotaion foam under the floor before you cap it off with some wood because you lost foam you probably want in there when you cut the seat out.


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## Jim (May 14, 2008)

Great job so far on the boat =D> 

Thanks for posting the pics.


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## minicuda (May 14, 2008)

Tyler_W said:


> When i looked at the pic of when the seat cut outi was like uh oh this guy soesn't know what he is doing. Then i read what you said and i said, "he definatelly knows what he's doing" lol. Keep the good work up dude! oh and you might want to put some flotaion foam under the floor before you cap it off with some wood because you lost foam you probably want in there when you cut the seat out.


yep your right i do need to put some foam under there.


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## FishingBuds (May 14, 2008)

Hey nice, that there's gonna help those that want to take a seat out too :wink:


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## minicuda (May 15, 2008)

thanks so much everyone for your coments and compliments. i have a question. i have already purchased my carpet and i my have made a mistake. i got some real nice black outdoor carpet. is the black going to end up getting to hot and cooking me alive? anyone have black carpet in their boat??


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## natetrack (May 15, 2008)

I am using a charcoal color carpet and it isn't to bad, of course the warmest its been here this year was yesterday. 73 degrees.

It might get pretty hot.


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## minicuda (May 22, 2008)

did a little more work on the boat today. i thought i would be doing more on it after work every day but i just want to be lazy after working all day. got off early today so i spent a couple hours working on the boat.











if you look close at the picks you will see how i solved the problem of lost rigidity from removing the seat. the 2x2 frame is braced with 1/2" plywood gussets and then screwed to the remaining seat flange with stainless screws.(i will add more screws during final assembly after every thing is water sealed) The side walls are now much stiffer then before the seat was removed.


























picked up this bow mount trolling motor off of craigslist yesterday, it has some nasty cosmetic issues but it works great. i think they hacked it up to mount something on it not sure. can the plastic side covers for the mounts be replaced? it is a minn kota auto pilot 812 it came with all the wires and the foot controls


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## Jim (May 22, 2008)

Awesome progress! 

You might be able to find replacements. I would call Minn Kota direct see what they say. Hopefully you can find an old destroyed one and steal the parts you need.


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## alumacraftjoe (May 22, 2008)

Nice work!


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## Nickk (May 22, 2008)

very cool! Did you use a Sawsall to chop out the seats?


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## minicuda (May 22, 2008)

Nickk said:


> very cool! Did you use a Sawsall to chop out the seats?


no i used a bosch jigsaw with a metal cutting blade, but a sawsall would have worked just as well


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## minicuda (May 22, 2008)

Jim said:


> Awesome progress!
> 
> You might be able to find replacements. I would call Minn Kota direct see what they say. Hopefully you can find an old destroyed one and steal the parts you need.



thanks for the tip Jim =D> I called Minn kota and they had the pair for 19.60 shipped. needless to say they are on the way


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## Jim (May 22, 2008)

minicuda said:


> Jim said:
> 
> 
> > Awesome progress!
> ...




Sweet! :beer:


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## minicuda (May 25, 2008)

It has been raining off and on alot here in Oregon. so i moved the boat into our hottub/sunroom... the wife is not pleased at all. she wants to know what a boat is doing in her house! I calmy explained to her, "honey i need to use the hottub to make shure the boat still floats after i'm done." :wink:


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## minicuda (May 25, 2008)

This is the start of the pattern for my front casting deck. i used tissue paper and masking tape. the tissue paper is easy to work with. it folds easy and you can push it into corners.







found it like this this morning. cat must of thought it looked like a nice place to sleep.







taped it up good to go again. on the other side is the tissue paper ready to be fit.







side all trim and fit







pattern complete and ready to pull out. the tape x's keep the wrinkles from moving holds the perimiter in place and makes the tissue paper stronger.







pulling her out.







now only need to trace it and cut it out.







almost got it






this is a gussett for the rib under the floor. the lines are the top of the rib, ineed the gusset below the rib so i drill a 1/4 hole in the corrner and run the edge of my jigsaw on the line insted of the blade. the hole also eliminates blade chinks at the end of the cuts in the cornner giving you a nice round cornner which will resisst cracking better then a hard square cornner.







it is starting to look like a boat again


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## evattman (May 26, 2008)

Wow, thanks for the tip. I was pondering which way to make the pattern for the deck. Looks great!!!


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## Waterwings (May 26, 2008)

Great progress, and lookin' good! 8)


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## Zum (May 26, 2008)

great pictures on the pattern advise
gonna look great when it's done


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## Jim (May 26, 2008)

very nice! =D>


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## minicuda (May 26, 2008)

Thanks guys for all the nice comments. This forum is great, i never been on a forum with such friendly people.


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## russ010 (Aug 25, 2008)

this may be a long shot... but do you have any completed pics? 

Also, how does it do in the water with the seats out? I've got a 1236, and I am thinking do doing something similiar, but I want to know how yours works before I start chopping!


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## ben2go (Aug 25, 2008)

Swweeett!Looks like the plan I have but I am using aluminum L channel.


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## minicuda (Aug 25, 2008)

russ010 said:


> this may be a long shot... but do you have any completed pics?
> 
> Also, how does it do in the water with the seats out? I've got a 1236, and I am thinking do doing something similiar, but I want to know how yours works before I start chopping!


no completed pics this project has been put on the back burner.... i plan on finishing it and using it as an electric only boat....
working on this one now when i finish it i'll get back to work on the lil one.


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## brewfish (Aug 25, 2008)

=D> Man I must say you are one heck of a craftsman! I'm truly impressed with how the bigger boat has turned out. 

Just out of curiosity what line of work are you in?


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## minicuda (Aug 25, 2008)

brewfish said:


> =D> Man I must say you are one heck of a craftsman! I'm truly impressed with how the bigger boat has turned out.
> 
> Just out of curiosity what line of work are you in?



thanks very much... still lots to do on it far from finished. I'm going to add a rear casting deck, still need to finish the console off with some diamond plate trim pannels that i will be powdercoating wrinkle black also need to make some diamond plate trim for around the live well and the underside of the storage doors which will also be powdercoated. I also need to mount the seat plate on the front deck and bow mount tm... and a huge list of little things.

I manage a verizon store


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## russ010 (Aug 26, 2008)

so you havent had the 1232 out on the water yet? 

I'm just trying to figure out how stable it is, especially since you added more bracing. Mine has a lot of ribs, so it's not quite in the shape yours was prior to adding the 2x2 braces


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## minicuda (Aug 26, 2008)

russ010 said:


> so you havent had the 1232 out on the water yet?
> 
> I'm just trying to figure out how stable it is, especially since you added more bracing. Mine has a lot of ribs, so it's not quite in the shape yours was prior to adding the 2x2 braces



i have only had it out when it was stock it was pretty tippy so i kept my decks low.... i still plan on finishing it i'll try to get crackin on it for you.


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## chopper6322 (Sep 21, 2008)

hey, awesome mod...i realize this is an old post have you done anymore lately? i have a 12ft gamefisher semi V that i wanna do a similar mod for fishing/duck hunting but i wanna run benches lengthwise from back seat to from to hunt from and store guns/rods, are any of your supports screwed right to the side of the boat? it didn't look like it but mine doesn't have near as many channels and still trying to figure out how to tie it all together.


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