# MDFishermen 16' 1985 Bass Tracker V16 Mod



## MDFisherman57 (Jan 12, 2011)

Here is the pictures of what I have right now before im starting this mod.



















Here are a few questions,

1) What type of plywood can i used thats not expensive but not crappy?
2)What should i waterproof/seal it with? Read one mod who just used fiberglass resin over the wood but not sure it that would work. Keep in mind i am putting carpet over it.
3) What products would be good to paint the side. Im thinking of sanding the side down and prime it with a certain primer but not sure what primer and paint?

As ive read, i will be using steelfelx for the bottom once the weather changes to warmer temperature.


----------



## jasper60103 (Jan 13, 2011)

Welcome aboard, MD.
That's a nice rig you got there.


----------



## Brine (Jan 13, 2011)

Nice looking rig MDF. Here are a few suggestions for your questions.

1. Regular Exterior Plywood found at all the big-box retailers will do the job.
2. Spar Urethane would be my first choice. I just haven't seen enough feedback on the resins to reccomend them.
3. There are so many paints out there, it's hard to guide you without knowing what your finished expectations are and your desired budget. Interlux and Petit are known for quality marine paints, but the options run from Rustoleum to sky's the limit. If you expose any of the aluminum in your prepwork, you'll want to use a self etching primer. If the paintjob you have on there now is on there good, I'd bypass taking it down to bare aluminum and use a regular primer recommended by the same supplier you get the paint from.

Hope this helps.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jan 13, 2011)

Thanks for the input guys. Im hopefully going to get to work on this soon. Going to start making out drawing for the designs. Problem i have is its 32 degrees here so i cant steelflex the bottom i guess till early summer.


----------



## Outdoorsman (Jan 13, 2011)

I like the layout as it is.... maybe fish from it as is a few times to help in your ideas to Mod. I hope this does not cause me to loose my man card membership but for starters I would color corordinate with new seats to match carpet... maybe something in brown camo.... Also mouting the spare out on the front of the trailer would be another idea...

Outdoorsman


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jan 13, 2011)

Yea the spare im going to just keep in the back of my covered truck. As for fishing in it, I fished in it in the summer and it wasnt bad. I would like to move the bow platform up some more and I will be changing out the seat with newer and since ones.


----------



## Outdoorsman (Jan 13, 2011)

Those seats a real nice... just not the right color.... :-k  

Outdoorsman...


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jan 13, 2011)

haha yea i know. Im thinking of painting the boat a dark blue with like a white or grayish bottom. Then from there ill have grey carpet overtop. Problem with those seats are they are old and the same for the mounts. Im going to replace then with stuff at me work. I work at Bass Pro so it works out.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (May 3, 2011)

Alright so its been while trying to ghet everything set. Finally got the boat in the garage and now im gonna start to work on painting the boat. What kind of self etching primer would work? Can i use Dupli-Color DAP1690 General Purpose Self-Etching Primer? Its a spray can flat green that ill spray on the outside then im gonna paint over it with blue.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (May 23, 2011)

Well hopefully this week ill get to painting. Pulled up part of the boat.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (May 25, 2011)




----------



## MDFisherman57 (May 26, 2011)

What a task this was. Started out with grinder and wire cup brush and it was just taking a toll on me. Used a sand and was ok but I went to walmart and got a product made by 3m with like a round disk and it worked wonders on it. Took a day though but it looked like it just got made at the factory. Added the self etching primer to the boat 5 srapy cans later with 2 full coats. Its coming along.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (May 26, 2011)

Well I got the first coat of paint applied to th boat and all seems good. I used Interlux Brightside Kingston Grey for the inside of the boat. I applied the paint with foam brushes instead of the roller and it seemed to work really nicely. Hopefully next week ill be working on painting the outside of the boat.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (May 31, 2011)

Well ive got three days to strip the paint of the outside of the boat and repaint it. Heres what i got so far.





BEFORE











AFTER!

I got one side done took from 8 - 2:30 to get that side done on a 95 degree day with heat advisory lol #-o 

Also just wanted to recommend this item to some folks as an alternative to wire brush and sander.






Its made by 3m and is like a rubberized abrasive disk. It works really well for my job. Ill keep you guys posted in a day or two on how everything is going.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jun 1, 2011)

Alright well got the other side of the boat stripped down and have primmed the entire area. I have not stripped the paint off the back part of the boat due to I have to relase the transom wood and must rescrew everything and I dont want to mess up the paint.


----------



## Ictalurus (Jun 2, 2011)

Looks great so far, going to be a sweet ride!


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jun 2, 2011)

Thanks! I can't wait to see it all complete. It does take awhile but with all the time put in I think it will last forever lol [-o< 

Well since then I have painted the outside with interlux brightside sapphire blue and I must say it looks very nice!


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jun 27, 2011)

Alright its been a few weeks since ive been working on it but ive now started on the waterproofing.
















OLD Transom! 






NEW Transom! Took 15/32 plywood and a 25 or 24/32 and used waterproof gurilla glue and clamped everything together to for the new transom. Transom is an inch and a quarter.

It wasn't easy as I thought getting that transom off. The left side eye bolt for clamping the boat to the trailer was seized and wouldn't budge even with wd40. So we torn the rotted side of the transom up and just pulled the tansom out then used a grinder with metal cutting wheel to cut the bolt off the back. It was pain but it is now off!


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jul 8, 2011)

Alright well im getting down to the home stretch of things. Ive now replaced the transom and have it in permanently. I have also applied the contact cement and the carpet to the waterproofed flooring and it came out quite nicely. Last step is to mount everything back on and add seat bases.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jul 13, 2011)

Alright well im on the home stretch. Almost everthing is placed and mounted with just a few small items. Hopefully by next week ill have her out and running again.


----------



## architorture (Jul 13, 2011)

The interlux looks nice, I'm doing mine with it in fire red. How much did you use and how many coats did you apply? And did you roll it or spray it?


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jul 13, 2011)

I actually used foam brushes from walmart. They worked great and it was easy to handle. The blue outside I only used a quart and the interior grey I only used a half of a quart. I did two coats of paint but I applied a thick second coat. I really like the interlux paint though!


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jul 14, 2011)

This is her all cleaned up.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Aug 10, 2011)

Got the new hubs on. Hubs were 37 each with all bearing and pregreased assembly and no tax. You can't beat that. Added my two new tires as well today and grinded off old trailer jack and installed new one. Will have to get some pictures of that.


----------



## Ictalurus (Aug 10, 2011)

Looks great man =D> =D>


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Aug 11, 2011)

Here is the picture of the new tires and I redid the lights and ran all new wiring.


----------



## basstender10.6 (Aug 12, 2011)

Looks great. I would get some new brackets to secure the axle to the spring.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Aug 12, 2011)

Im going to use it for a few months then replace everything when it gets to cold out. Gives me something to do.


----------



## SVOMike86 (Aug 15, 2011)

Looks good Man, did those hubs come with the bearing buddies?


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Aug 15, 2011)

they didn't  i wish lol. I got those at bass pro. Tehy work great and the were only 16.99 which i looked on the internet and is the cheapest you can really fine.


----------



## erwinner (Aug 15, 2011)

My boat used to sit on a trailer identical to that when my dad had it and he had the axle bracket give out on him, so I would second swapping those out with a new pair. 
Fortunately for me, dad bought a new trailer and gave the rig to me for my birthday a few years back.


----------



## basstender10.6 (Aug 15, 2011)

MDFisherman57 said:


> they didn't  i wish lol. I got those at bass pro. Tehy work great and the were only 16.99 which i looked on the internet and is the cheapest you can really fine.


Northern tool has complete hubs with everything (bearings, races, seals, hub cap) for $31


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Aug 16, 2011)

Well went for the maiden voyage today and everything went great. No leaks and the engine ran great. Couldn't be happier! Hopefully be out fishing sunday and get back to fishing.


----------



## Canoeman (Aug 16, 2011)

Turned out sharp man. 

Loox great!


----------



## cooter brown (Aug 16, 2011)

Nice job! It really looks good. Did you roll the paint or spray it?


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Aug 16, 2011)

I painted it on with foam brushes. It worked very nice!


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Aug 23, 2011)

Well was out fishing today while the earthquake it. I didn't even feel anything out on the water. Did pretty well with around 7 good white perch.


----------



## jasper60103 (Aug 25, 2011)

MDFisherman57 said:


> Well was out fishing today while the earthquake it. I didn't even feel anything out on the water. Did pretty well with around 7 good white perch.



Nice fish.
The mod turned out great too. Love the open floor. =D> 
I'm looking forward to getting out on the water again soon.


----------



## Butthead (Jan 30, 2012)

Your rig came out looking really good! 

I'm curious though, where were you fishing in those pictures?
And do you ever need a fishing partner? :LOL2:


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Jan 30, 2012)

Right across the line of Maryland is cadorus state park and lake marburg. Right outside Hanover pa. We were fishing there. Its a 20 hp limit but its really nice water. Bass, white perch, cat, and muskie. I live in Westminster so the bay isn't accessible and I don't care for res. Fishing.


----------



## 311hemi (Feb 21, 2012)

Sent you a PM about the Yamaha you put on here. I'm curious to know how it performs compared to the Merc you had and what size it is. I have the same boat and am looking to add a new engine.


----------



## MDFisherman57 (Feb 22, 2012)

Performance wise I love my Yamaha. Did have much problems with the merc which was a 25hp. I switched to a 15hp four stroke and it still moves the boat quite fast with 2 people and gear. Big plus is the 4 stroke Yamaha is spooling quite that I cab talk to my buddy while running the motor at it full speed. Im glad I made the switch!


----------

