# 86BassTrackerV17 1st fishing trip w/son 10/11/13 vids p15



## DaveInGA

I picked up a Bass Tracker V17 today for a thousand bucks. It wasn't perfect, but I felt I got my money's worth. It's very much like a 16 ft. vhull with completed mods, but I think it can be improved. We'll see.

I've having trouble resizing the pics my wife took with irfan. When I figure it out, I'll post them, but for now here's images from my "should I buy it?" post:

















If anyone knows anything about the motor or any controls when I post them, please let me know. I'm wanting to get manuals, etc. Here's the stuff that came with it for posterity:

1986 Bass Track V17 SN: BUJ58352F686
1986 Bass Tracker Trailer SN: GA001377
1986 Mercury 75 HP motor with tilt and trim SN: 0A994929
1986 Minn Kota Model 565 28 ft.lb. ft. controlled trolling motor SN: 122521
1986 Hummingbird LCR2000 SN:993862 (I think this is a flasher, but I'm not sure.  )
2 of restore-able condition 6 gallon metal gas tanks

According to the owner's son (Original owner has passed.), the motor had been put up with "dry" carburetors last he knew, so hopefully he's right and that's good. I did see evidence under the motor's cowling of a dirt dobber's nest, with some wiring damage from the dirt dobber's mud (dirt dobber - name for a wasp that makes it's nests with mud and tend to put them in awful places like garage/carport walls and inside of boat motors) causing corrosion. With my background, rewiring things isn't a big deal.

I've decided to have the local marina check the motor out for me and let me know if it's worth reworking. I figure if the engine turns out not to be good either top or bottom, I can part out or sell the motor and have a good start on a new motor.

The steering wheel is faded and feels powdery/nasty and if I can't get it cleaned up, it'll need replacing. The good thing was the steering cables still moved freely, though I could tell they needed cleaned and fresh grease applied.

The acceleration controls (don't know the proper name) were dirty, but the cables and controls felt okay and didn't show the typical sun fading wear. I think they'll clean up okay.

The trailer looks like it's got several issues - winch, wheel bearings, dry rotted tires, short front, rotted stepside wood, etc. It'll need cleaning up, repainting and the typical refurb., but it's fundamentally sound with more surface rust than real structural problems. It does need new bearings and I suspect the guy drove it without bothering to grease the hubs. I'll replace the bearings and races during the refurb.

The front deck is wood and is basically rotted to nothing. My biggest concern is figuring out how to disassemble without damage to anything useful. The middle deck is also wood and is rotted as well, but not quite as bad.

The rear deck appears to be aluminum and may be supported by some plywood, hard to tell. I'm going to have to get into it more to figure out what to do to fix that. 

All the seats are shot, but the aluminum hinges on these 1986 seats are much heavier than what they sell today. I'm considering stripping the good parts off and rebuilding these seats myself. I can shape the plywood seat bottom and back and replace the foam. The only thing needed then would be the plastic coverings. May be cheaper than buying new. Have to figure that one out.

A lot of the hatches have aluminum backed with plywood. I'm probably going to keep these and redo them, perhaps with some other material in place of the ply. Have to think on this one.

Lots of work to do and need to take pics of the boat before rework so I can remember how things were built down the road.

I'm excited and am starting the strip down tomorrow. Wish me luck.

I'll get more pics up when I figure out what's wrong with the resizing. I'm getting a "can't shrink this pic down this far" message.


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## DaveInGA

I have a lot of pics, so I decided to make a public album on photobucket with some comments. Have a look here:

https://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v33/DaveinOakwoodGA/1986TrackerV17/

Let me know what you think. I'll get them into a better viewable setup when I figure out how.


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## DaveInGA

Made some progress cleaning up and I've got a few pics below with descriptions:

The trash - after closer inspection, the old MK 565 TM didn't make the cut. Just too many broken wires, corroded and rusty parts to repair/replace. I decided my efforts/money were best placed elsewhere. I did, however, decide to rescue the very heavy duty aluminum brackets on the old seats. These were so much heavier than what I saw in Academy Sports, I may just buy cheap seats and replace the brackets. These should hold even my 300 pound self. I also decided to trash the jack stand and the old wench. Just too much rust and cheaper to buy than to repair.






This is a pic of the bow area with the old decking cleaned off. The flotation foam was in surprisingly good condition and I'm going to keep it. The original bracketing is aluminum and will be easy to work with. I labeled the original wiring, but I don't think I'm going to use it. I was also able to save a transition bracket (bow deck to seat deck) that mounted the original trolling motor and trim control panel.






A closer picture of the bow, showing the bow deck mounting brackets. About enough space to mount a trolling motor and a fish finder, but I'm not sure if it's a a good area to build storage below. 

The original owner's son bent these when he yanked the old trolling motor and part of the old bow deck off. I hope to re-use them, so I'll need to straighten them, re-buck the rivets and perhaps add some cross tie aluminum bracketing to reinforce the bow deck. Any suggestions on straightening them without removing them?






The area just behind the bow deck. This area wasn't used in the original design, but I'm thinking it looks ideal for building storage for those small lure bins you can buy everywhere these days. It would require some inventive thinking on how to build the bracketing for the storage "down" while building it sturdy. But for those light bins, should be okay. In the bottom aft area, you can see a aluminum bracket the edge of the storage deck below the seat was laid on. 






The original storage under the front seat. Stern, the bracket has a sheet of aluminum riveted to it to form the front bulkhead of the storage area. It is painted battleship grey. The original storage deck slid under this bulkhead and rested on the bracket mount mentioned in the previous picture. The storage deck's only fixtures were where it was screwed into the aluminum bracket (looks rusty, but is dirty) in the aft section of the under seat storage. I'm debating if I should further compartmentalize this area or leave it open to store larger objects. Right now, I'm leaning towards larger objects.






Starting disassembling the side console to remove it. The pic shows a crack I'm concerned about. I'm considering if I should repair or replace the console with a new one. The base of this one is aluminum, so I do have something I could potentially build on.






A closer view of the crack in the console. If anyone has a good solution for a repair, please let me know.






Side view of the console showing dis-assembly progress. I'm going to have to get some plywood to lay on the old deck to get in there to finish the console removal. The old deck won't support weight on it, too rotten.






That's it so far, tomorrow I hope to finish up removing the console and center deck.


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## jsharp

great progress so far those boat are grat boats and you can do so much with them have fun with it


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## DaveInGA

Completed some more work on the V17. Managed to strip out the the console, the console deck, the rear storage boxes, all the rear deck lids and get a handle on what caused the port side rear deck separation. Also removed the motor cover, washed it. 

Saved a lot of stuff for clean up and reuse, though I can see there's going to be quite a bit of replacing. Here's pics:






Local Marine dealer had a replacement console for my badly cracked console (new old stock) and only wanted a hundred bucks for it. Since I hate working with fiberglass, this is cheaper than I could pay a guy to repair the one I have. To the left of the consoles is some sheet aluminum I picked up at the local recycling center. I think I have enough to deck my console deck area and maybe the storage areas.






Console and console deck removed. Console had an aluminum base and a fiberglass top. It was a bear to remove, with all the stuff to label and disconnect, but got it done. The deck was like the front decks and was rotted out. Again, self tapping sheet metal screws (not stainless) were mostly rusted and hard to get out. I removed as many with locking pliers as I did with the battery powered drill. Some broke off and I'll have to grind them off and drill them out. The pic shows the foam (again, still good), the stringers with deck supports on top and the bilge (which doesn't drain due to lack of through holes). I'm going to have to clean the bilge out and drill through holes so the water will drain properly. #-o 






Seats bases and rear deck enclosed storage removed. All of these are re-useable, but the storage compartments will need new wood/carpet. They were held in with rivets, so simple to drill them out.






Rod locker, with carpet removed, I'll either have to replace carpet or install some sheet metal to make it re-useable. Probably do both.






Rear deck foam damage. Looks like they poured too much foam, causing rear deck to arch. Pic also shows pour holes if you look close. Not sure if this or some type of damage to port side (hard to see if there is) damage caused separation in follow pic.






Deck Port Side separation - The second rivet from the rear has actually separated and it looks like the port side may be bent slightly away from rear deck where it's fastened. Many of the decks rivets were popped when I removed the carpet. I'm not sure on how to fix this outside of removing this deck. I think this repair is going to be the toughest part of the fix. Could really use some suggestions.






Livewell with original components. I'd like to upgrade/improve the aeration if possible. Any suggestions?






Livewell drain hole area - shows battery strap down. This area will hold two batteries and two 6 gallon tanks. I'm wondering if it would hold one of those plastic 12 gallon tanks.






Live well fill area - I'm thinking that starboard bulkhead would be a good place to mount a battery charger. Anybody have any thoughts? I'm not sure how much room these take up. Are two batteries enough for an electric start motor and a 50-55 thrust TM?






Rotted transom - this is going to have to be replaced. I'm thinking two 3/4" plywood boards and considering fiberglass resin vs. Spar Varnish to water proof them. Anybody have any input on a transom coating?






Muddy motor from dirt dobbers. This is going to be a pain to clean up, but worth it if it runs.






Shorted wiring on left side - probably from dirt dobber mud and wet.






Close up of fried wire damage. I'm going to replace the rectifier and I'm hoping either a single coil or wires on the stator if the motor has good compression. It's going to get expensive if I have to replace the stator. It's going to be a while before I get to it. The boat and trailer have priority right now.

That's it for now. If anybody has any suggestions on solutions for the tough problems, please do post them. I'm looking for input on that port side deck repair.


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## Zum

You certainly have your hands full.
Sorry,I don't have much to add to help you but I am watching.
It shows the power of that foam,if thats the reason why the rivets popped on the port side.Hard to beleive they had it so contained,diffenitly see the seperation and bowing of the aluminum.
I'm sure you will think of something,keep up the good work.


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## Ranchero50

The transom repair will be the hardest. I'd go ahead and pull the rear decking to get to the wood. You can then trim down the foam (if it doens't need removed to get to the transom).

I'd also try to get the engine running so you don't dump a lot of money into a hull without an engine to push it...

Jamie


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## DaveInGA

Zum said:


> You certainly have your hands full.
> Sorry,I don't have much to add to help you but I am watching.
> It shows the power of that foam,if thats the reason why the rivets popped on the port side.Hard to beleive they had it so contained,diffenitly see the seperation and bowing of the aluminum.
> I'm sure you will think of something,keep up the good work.



Yes, my hands are full, but I bought it as a project and what is life without challenges? I am thoroughly enjoying working on it. I think they were using the foam as "support" to strengthen and stiffen the back deck, but I think on the one side, they over did it a little bit.

I think I figured out the cause of the separation is the foam expanding not only upward, but outward in both directions as well, pushing the port side and the rear port deck away from one another. 

I have a plan cooked up where I remove the rivets on that side, use a Harbor Freight hand saw (coarse teeth) to cut some of the foam out, then see if I can pull it back together using strapping around the boat. If that works, I'll lock it down with nuts and bolts, then reinstall some fresh rivets.

Thank you for the encouragement, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed today, so took a trip down to Harbor Freight for a grinder, an air riveter, a portable blaster unit and assorted "goodies." Proved to be helpful in I had time to think while looking at tools I didn't have.


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## DaveInGA

Ranchero50 said:


> The transom repair will be the hardest. I'd go ahead and pull the rear decking to get to the wood. You can then trim down the foam (if it doens't need removed to get to the transom).
> 
> I'd also try to get the engine running so you don't dump a lot of money into a hull without an engine to push it...
> 
> Jamie



Yep, getting the old transom out will be a tough job, but do you think I'll have to pull the rear decking to get to the wood? (The way Tracker built the boat, it was from the rear decks forward, so I'd have to pull out a good bit of the aluminum storage, live well, etc. forward of the rear decks to get the rear decks completely out. That's a lot of those bigger rivets. Ouch, I hope that isn't the case.

Checking out the engine conflicts with the need to get the transom fixed. One of those fish or cut bait decisions. I think I'm going to have to stop working on the boat, check out the engine, then remove the engine to finish working on the boat. To go with that, I need to get an engine stand built, get my buddy over to help me wire up the 60 gallon compressor (air tools) and he's got stands to remove the motor with. Then there's refurbishing the trailer.

The good thing I have going is I'm surrounded by several large lakes and a good number of smaller water sheds. So there's lots of available outboard motors in the area. What is tough if finding a V-hull type boat deep enough and big enough to satisfy my wife's desire to feel "safe" without paying out a large sum of cash. I figure if either the upper or lower is bad on the motor, I can sell the other half for enough money to get a good start on buying another motor. Then there's the tech school I graduated from - they have a boat motor mechanic program and I can likely get them to rebuild it.....gotta love have options.


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## DaveInGA

Just a few items to report since last time:

1. Managed to drain the lower unit oil. Dirty, but no water. It appears the lower is in good shape. So at worst, I can sell the lower to offset costs on a different motor if I had to. If anyone wants to see pics, it's in the motor section.

2. Inspected motor thoroughly. Other than mud dobber wasp nest damage, the motor looks like it has very low mileage even though it's filthy. I did remove the plugs, sprayed PB Blaster into the cylinders, let it soak around the pistons and moved the flywheel by hand. The motor moved freely, a good sign, so I'm going to mix up some Sea Foam and Marine 2 cycle oil, then spray it in with a hand pump into each cylinder to fully lube things up for a compression check. 

After doing a compression check of the motor, I'm going to remove it and continue working on the boat. To do the compression check, I've got to clean the motor of mud dobber filth, remove some damaged stator wiring, rusted post rectifier and get the starter/battery/starter wiring into shape to crank the motor over.

3. I stopped work on the boat this weekend to complete other projects so I can move forward with the boat. With the help of my buddy Myron, I completed wiring up a 220V 20 Amp circuit for my compressor as well as adding another 110V 20 Amp circuit for my power tools. The garage in this home only had a single 110V 15 Amp circuit and that wasn't getting it for doing any work out there. Lots of outlets in the kitchen though. I wonder about the original owner.

4. I also completed setting up my new 60 gallon compressor, including installing all the regular, filter and assorted fittings/hoses. Amazing how much time/effort putting teflon tape on all those fittings, figuring out what hose fittings went where (my first compressor) and assembling the works turned out to be. Here's a pic:






5. Finally, I built a motor stand out of 2 X 4's and 2 X 6's to put the motor on so I can get it off the boat. Had to do a few mods from the original plan I downloaded from a .pdf file from another site, but it turned out to be the perfect size. Here's a pic:






Since this was not my plan, I want to give credit to the designer,who posted this on another forum:

https://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=266570


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## DaveInGA

It's been a frustrating weekend. I picked up the o-rings, oil and a pump to replace my lower unit oil with, but managed to lose the o-rings somewhere in the garage. Probably hid them from myself for "safe keeping." So no oil fill up. Strike one.

The battery I got with the boat I charged up, but even though it showed a full charge, it wouldn't run the starter, so going to have to get another battery tomorrow if I want to check the compression. Strike two.

On the plus side of things, I had bought a Harbor Freight variable speed Multi-Tool for cheap on sale and of course with a 20% discount. I'd used it for cutting out the holes for the power outlets for my compressor and it had done well, so I wanted to see how it worked as a scraper. Turns out it works pretty well. Here's some pics I made of me cleaning up a deck hatch lid:


Here, I'm drilling out the rivets to remove the piano hinges.





Next, I start cutting into the carpet with the multi tool.





The HF tool moves easily through the old carpet and glue.





Peeling back the old carpet. This tool made this task much faster and easier than doing it by hand. Was really controllable as well.





Starting down a narrow side.





Almost done with a side.





Narrow edge done.





Carpet stripped hatch.





Total elapsed time: About 5 minutes. I was able to finish stripping several hatches and various carpeted sections of sheet metal very quickly and without a lot of physical work. I'm really impressed with this tool.

Going to the dealership tomorrow to pick up another couple of o-rings tomorrow if I can't find the two I hid. Also going to pick up a battery to finish the compression check. Seems like you get into this and you find yourself taking two steps back for every step forward at times. At least most of the carpet is off the sheet metal now. Think I'm going to watch football for the rest of the night.


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## DaveInGA

Got the lower unit oil installed today, but the compression check is going to have to wait. See the turkey buzzard story in the Watering Hole forum.


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## bobothewizard

If you dont mind me asking, what are you going to use to get the brown glue looking stuff off of the aluminum?

Reason I am asking is I have a tracker tx 17 and I re-did the front deck last year and I am going to rip out the rest of the carpet this year and re-do it. 

Also what are you planning to use to glue the carpet down to the bare aluminum?


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## DaveInGA

bobothewizard said:


> If you dont mind me asking, what are you going to use to get the brown glue looking stuff off of the aluminum?
> 
> Reason I am asking is I have a tracker tx 17 and I re-did the front deck last year and I am going to rip out the rest of the carpet this year and re-do it.
> 
> Also what are you planning to use to glue the carpet down to the bare aluminum?



Hi Bobo,

The next episode of "As the Bass Tracker Turns" will cover removing the glue and bits of carpet residue and should be out sometime this weekend if all goes well. Had planned on finishing it today, but resting from working at the hospital the past few days (12 hour days and it was busy) and replacing the grill on my truck put it a bit behind. 

The glue is a bit down the road yet, but I'm researching that now.


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## Brine

Looking like progress Dave.

That little multitool looks pretty handy.

Here is a vid I came across last week on removing carpet/carpet glue. First time I had seen someone do it this way.

[youtube]lZFqz8w-GaE[/youtube]


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## DaveInGA

Brine,

Thank you for the link.

Looks like a solution that minimizes physical work. I'm going to have to get some of that and try it out on my panels and such, even though I've already gotten most of the carpet off. One concern I have with using chemicals like that is do they dissolve the two part foam. Going to have to be careful not to ruin my flotation.


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## Brine

guys...

I didn't check to see if my vid worked or not before leaving this thread, and realize I'm having a problem with the embed function here. Could someone post the vid above for me? When I put the youtube brackets before and after, it just hangs.


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## DaveInGA

https://www.youtube.com/v/lZFqz8w-GaE?fs=1&hl=en_US

Here it is just posted as a link. Not sure how to do the fancy stuff. I tried to use the youtube button, but nothing posted when I selected preview. I'm thinking the youtube button has a flaw.


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## DaveInGA

Well, made a little progress, but not as much as I would like. A lot of time was eaten up this weekend replacing my pick up truck grill and going over to my Buddy's house to pick up a bandsaw, then assembling it and just doing stuff the wife wanted. But here's pics of what I did get done:






Here's a pic of the pump and oil I used to refill my lower unit. I used the cheap stuff since I plan on changing it again after I complete reworking the upper unit, assuming the compression turns out to be good. Debating on what sort of battery to buy, if any, right now.






Here's the grill the turkey buzzard busted. Got that replaced. 





Taiwanese replacement grill bolted right up and was $140.00 cheaper than one from the dealership. I was glad of that. Onto working on the boat.






I sold this Harbor Freight (made in Taiwan, not mainland China, so very good motor) woodworking bandsaw to a buddy of mine about 3 years ago. He hasn't used it, so I borrowed it back to use it to cut aluminum with. I'm finished assembling it, but I need to change the pulleys and add a quality metal cutting bandsaw blade before I can use it. This will make cutting the aluminum much easier though, especially since I added the 20A 110V service. The motor will run very efficiently.






I tried out the Goo Gone spray on one of my aluminum pieces to see if it would work. I was hoping it would, because the lighter weight pieces will be difficult to sand down due to all the odd ankles and some fragility. Unfortunately, here's the effect it had on the 24 year old carpet glue:






Didn't phase it. Left it on over night, hosed it with fresh, but using a steel scraper yielded poor results. So I guess it depends on the glue formulation and age as to the effectiveness of this stuff. Looks like I'm stuck with the sanding wheel/grinder combination.






This is a pic of the Porter Cable palm sander I used, along with the Norton 3X 60 grit sanding pads. They proved to be very controllable for me and gave me the results I was looking for. The only problem was the palm sander didn't fit into tight spots well. I liked using this sander the best because of the good control. Not as fast as the grinder combo though.






This Norton 3X hook and loop sandpaper lasted through about half the boat, but started getting banged up in the aft sections of the boat where there were lots of rivets and metal edges. Worked very well on larger surfaces.






Harbor Freight 4 1/2" grinder with Dewalt sanding wheel attached. This combination was fast, but could take off more metal than you wanted. You have to pay attention and use a light touch. Stirs up lots of dust. You'll need a mask and eye protection, even if you have glasses. Slings lots of small metal bits and filth and can damage eye glasses, so use a set of goggles over your glasses if you wear glasses.






Closeup of the bottom of the Dewalt Sanding pad. These are likely made by Norton, but were what the Lowe's in my area carried, so I bought one. Glad I did. Just remember, use a light touch. BTW, the HF grinder is much tougher than it appears. I ran it steady for long periods with no problems. I did remove the cover, clean the cheap grease out of the grinder gears and replaced it with Mobile 1 bearing grease. The chinese tend to leave machining crapola in their work, so replacing the grease gets rid of lots of quality control problems. But since most of the "name brands" are now made in China, I see no reason to pay more for a tool like this that I'll use once in a while than what this one costs. In this case, it's doing a great job for me.






I bought these cheapie knee pads many years ago. They have saved my beat up knees from a lot of pain over the years crawling around in attics, on concrete, on roofs and now, in my boat. I highly recommend this to anyone who has or thinks they might get bad knees. Saves a lot of unnecessary pain.


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## DaveInGA

A few more pics of the sanding/glue/rust/carpet giblets removal progress:






Bow Area - decided to use stripper to remove the paint around the top.






Taken from aft.






Starboard aft deck






Port aft deck






Another view, both aft decks






A view of the port fore deck area.






Center Deck area, ready for deck installation.

Most of the glue that would affect carpet installation is gone now, so I think I'm about to a point carpet could be reinstalled in the boat itself. I'll vacuum out the boat and do a basic wipe down for now. I'll work on the removed panels as I run into "fill in" time with other parts of the project as well as cleaning up anything I want to reinstall in the boat.

Next up:

I'm figuring on checking the compression tomorrow if all goes well. I'll use my truck battery to turn the motor over to check compression, then remove the motor and cables and get the boat off the trailer. This will allow me to start on the trailer and get that done.


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## Brine

Dang Dave.... I was hoping I had found a good solution. One thing I noticed about the video after watching it again, is I hear him say "Goof Off" and "Goo Gone". Not sure if they are one in the same, or different formulations. 

Looks like you're making progress, and that bandsaw should come in real handy once you get the pulleys and blade.


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## DaveInGA

Brine said:


> Dang Dave.... I was hoping I had found a good solution. One thing I noticed about the video after watching it again, is I hear him say "Goof Off" and "Goo Gone". Not sure if they are one in the same, or different formulations.
> 
> Looks like you're making progress, and that bandsaw should come in real handy once you get the pulleys and blade.



I think the Goof Off is a different formulation. Wish I had heard it clearly. This Goo Gone is citrusy stuff. Smells nice, but not effective. I still have lots of deck panels and detail work to do, so I'll pick up some Goof Off and try it today. Home Depot has both brands in the same area. I tried finding it at my local Walmart, but never found any in the larger size.

I'm making progress, but I swear it seems like every time I move forward, something stalls me. I'm planning on finishing the large bulk of the cleanup stuff inside the boat today, get the compression check done and remove the motor this week. Things should speed up a bit. 

BTW, where did you buy most of your structural aluminum? I can't find a good source in my area for the framing and would like to buy a couple tubes of the 1".


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## Brine

I've been buying the framing from Metal Supermarkets @ Pleasantdale Rd and I-85 in Norcross. Don't know that they are the cheapest in the area, but they are a 5 minute drive for me.


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## ron

I also have a 1986 tracker boat do you know where a can find storage compartments for it my opening is 13"x 15" 9 3/4 d? Bass pro was no help at all


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## RBuffordTJ

You are doing a great job on that Tracker. I like those boats and would love to get my hands on one. Maybe one day.

Bufford


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## DaveInGA

ron said:


> I also have a 1986 tracker boat do you know where a can find storage compartments for it my opening is 13"x 15" 9 3/4 d? Bass pro was no help at all



I plan on making mine out of aluminum framing and aluminum sheet, then building a lid either with wood or aluminum.


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## DaveInGA

RBuffordTJ said:


> You are doing a great job on that Tracker. I like those boats and would love to get my hands on one. Maybe one day.
> 
> Bufford



Bufford,

Thank you for the encouragement, I need all that I can get. Sometimes it seems like I'm going backwards. I'm posting some progress I made today below.


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## DaveInGA

I made a bit of progress today in spite of making a trip over to the nearby town of Gainesville to pick up some additional link belt and a couple new bearings for my bandsaw to set it up for aluminum cutting. The new blades are coming in Friday, so I should have the bandsaw ready to cut aluminum soon.

Some more pics, this time of cleaning carpet glue and carpet residue off of hatches with both Goof OFF and a home brew I came up with. I tried out a small bottle of Goof Off and while it worked okay, it was expensive. I noticed the can said it contained acetone and xylene, two items I just happen to have about a half gallon of each on the shelf in my garage. I mixed a 50/50 mixture of acetone and xylene up in a spray bottle and tried it out. Same results as the higher priced Goof Off, but a good bit cheaper. Here's some pics of the process:







With both the Goof Off and the home brew mix, I soaked the area I wanted to work with and let it work for a few seconds. Unlike the guy in the video, this stuff dried pretty quickly and things returned to "hard to remove" if I waited too long. Might be better with carpet or newer glue, but the 24 year old stuff I had was long since dried hard. 

So once soaked in, I scraped the big portion of the stuff off.






Next, I used a green scrubbie pad to finish cleaning the carpet glue off the hatches. Each small area had to be soaked and then scrubbed off. I think steel wool would have been a better choice, because the scrubbie pads very quickly lost their cutting ability with the action of the home brew on them, but I had these as leftovers from bedlining my truck and wanted to get all the use out of them. I just kept turning them over until there was no useable edge. Worked pretty well and left a blackish residue that I would have to rinse off.






The fumes from this kinda stuff are NOT good for you. I was working outside my garage and used a fan to blow the fumes away. A good mask is also adviseable, but I couldn't find mine.






After everything was scrubbed off, I rinsed off the residue with the water hose. I think it might be better to use soap and water, but I wasn't feeling that energetic for something I'm likely going to goop back up with carpet glue.






Blowing the water off with an air compressor. I coulda used a towel, but again, I'm lazy.






End results. The one on the left is the panel cleaned using Goof Off and the above pictured methods. The one in the middle was cleaned using Acetone/Xylene 50/50 home brew and the above pictured methods. The one on the right was cleaned using a 60 grit Norton 3X hook and loop on my palm sander. Notice the area close to the rivets that still have glue. Any area where the sander pad didn't reach well had the same problem.

Notes:

1. The Acetone/Xylene 50/50 home brew in a spray bottle was just as effective as Goof Off and cheaper.
2. The amount of effort using the scraper and scrubbie pad method was about the same amount of effort as the palm sander, was a bit more controllable and a bit slower. 
3. The nod goes to the chemical method as being the most effective at removing most of the glue.


----------



## Brine

Good post Dave, and nice work.


----------



## DaveInGA

Thanks Brine,

No picture worthy progress made since the last post, but I did make some progress:

Got some link belt, metal blades and new support bearings for the HF bandsaw, so I was able to get it set up and running. Reinstalled the original pulley system I had pulled off and replaced to get 3000RPM for woodcutting. Set up the bandsaw for 600RPM and installed the new blade. Tried a test cut and the saw cut aluminum angle like butter. I think I'm set for my straight cuts. I should have ordered a 1/8" blade, but only ordered a 1/2" blade, so I'll have to make any curved cuts using a jig saw. I may rethink this and order a 1/8" blade as well.

Got a battery and was able to complete a compression check on my motor. I definately got lucky with this boat. Compression measurements are as follows:

Cylinder 1. 155 psi
Cylinder 2. 150 psi
Cylinder 3. 150 psi
Cylinder 4. 150 psi

That's a variance of between 3 and 4 percent tops. I had some variance I think due to how tight I screwed the compression tester into the cylinders. I suspect that may account for the 5 psi difference on Cylinder 1. In any case, it's well within the 10% and the over all compression seems to be real good. I'm happy.

Now to remove the cables/controls and remove the motor from the boat so I can repair the transom.


----------



## DaveInGA

Buddy of mine loaned me an "old school" swing set style cherry picker, but the swing set legs didn't fit underneath the boat in such as way as to fully support the motor. So I went to plan B and picked up a Harbor Freight 1 Ton fold-able/store-able cherry picker. Got the "on sale" price and used a 20% coupon to reduce the cost.

Assembled it last night when I got it home and had it ready today. Used a special tool for Mercury motors I ordered online with the extra "O-ring" to help with motor lifting. Glad I bought this tool, made the motor removal much easier to deal with. Some pics:






The motor being placed on the wooden stand I built after being removed from the boat. This tool made removing it from the boat much easier, because the original owner had used a transom saver and had it too long and age had made the rubber stick, making removing the motor tougher than I would have thought. The cherry picker made this a much more controllable operation. Totally worth it for a larger 300 lb motor.






Front view where you can see the bolts I used to fasten the motor to the wooden stand. These were the original boat bolts, but I'll have to replace the brass nuts, because they're those self locking nuts with the plastic ring. I hope I can buy some as nice as those.






Close up view and you can better see the special tool I used to remove the motor with. If you have a big Merc., these are worth it.






The HF cherry picker folded up and put out of the way. Gotta love it folds up when done. The orange color keeps you aware you're handling a heavy object, so I'm glad it was painted orange. Kinda like hunting gear, keeps you safety aware.






The motor moved out of the way. The straight wheels were kinda difficult and I now wish I'd gotten four of the swing type wheels instead of just two. I'll remove the cables tomorrow and reassemble the assorted brackets back on the motor until I finish working on the boat and get back to the motor.






The transom sans motor. I've got some work ahead of me.






The transom with the cap removed. The manufacturer used 3/4" and 1/2" pieces of plywood glued together to form the transom. Total thickness was 1 1/4". This may be difficult to duplicate until I can find some plywood with those measurements. I may end up having to buy marine plywood unless I can find the proper measurements. Another good alternative is to build up the transom thickness using fiberglass mat. Good, but not something I like doing or am good at. Going to have to think about this one.

Another difficulty will be removing and replacing the upper drain. A fella posted earlier I'd likely have to remove the back decks to get to the transom and it appears he's right about that. This is going to be the biggest project on the boat I think. Once I get this done, everything else will be downhill.

I'm going to remove the decks and get that old transom wood removed tomorrow I hope.


----------



## bassboy1

I highly doubt you'd need a narrower blade than the 1/2 inch for most anything on a boat. I use 1/2 inch blades almost exclusively, and you would be surprise how tight a radius can be cut with one (at least a quality bi-metal blade - if you are still using conventional blades, then all bets are off). You shouldn't need an 1/8 inch blade unless you are doing some weird decorative scrollwork or something. 

I'm surprised after 3 years, you still have the crosscut sled for that saw. I don't know who ever thought a crosscut sled on a bandsaw was a good idea, but there was either a great lapse in judgment, or marketing genius involved.


----------



## DaveInGA

bassboy1 said:


> I highly doubt you'd need a narrower blade than the 1/2 inch for most anything on a boat. I use 1/2 inch blades almost exclusively, and you would be surprise how tight a radius can be cut with one (at least a quality bi-metal blade - if you are still using conventional blades, then all bets are off). You shouldn't need an 1/8 inch blade unless you are doing some weird decorative scrollwork or something.
> 
> I'm surprised after 3 years, you still have the crosscut sled for that saw. I don't know who ever thought a crosscut sled on a bandsaw was a good idea, but there was either a great lapse in judgment, or marketing genius involved.



Thanks for the information on the bandsaw blade width. I'm using Timberwolf brand bimetal blades, about as good a bandsaw blade as I've found. I have done quite a bit of decorative scrollwork in the past, but only with wood and I'm not used to cutting metal at all, this is a first.

I actually used that bandsaw cross cut sled for cutting some trim once, but I didn't use it on the bandsaw, used it on a router table. Worked pretty well. Got a good laugh when you mentioned it. You're right, they're really not needed, but I just have trouble throwing a tool away unless it's worn out or broken and not worth repair.


----------



## bassboy1

DaveInGA said:


> bassboy1 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I highly doubt you'd need a narrower blade than the 1/2 inch for most anything on a boat. I use 1/2 inch blades almost exclusively, and you would be surprise how tight a radius can be cut with one (at least a quality bi-metal blade - if you are still using conventional blades, then all bets are off). You shouldn't need an 1/8 inch blade unless you are doing some weird decorative scrollwork or something.
> 
> I'm surprised after 3 years, you still have the crosscut sled for that saw. I don't know who ever thought a crosscut sled on a bandsaw was a good idea, but there was either a great lapse in judgment, or marketing genius involved.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the information on the bandsaw blade width. I'm using Timberwolf brand bimetal blades, about as good a bandsaw blade as I've found. I have done quite a bit of decorative scrollwork in the past, but only with wood and I'm not used to cutting metal at all, this is a first.
> 
> I actually used that bandsaw cross cut sled for cutting some trim once, but I didn't use it on the bandsaw, used it on a router table. Worked pretty well. Got a good laugh when you mentioned it. You're right, they're really not needed, but I just have trouble throwing a tool away unless it's worn out or broken and not worth repair.
Click to expand...


I've been using the Lenox bi-metal blades for years, now, and have been very pleased with them. You _can_ damage even a good blade with tight radius's, but nothing on any boat mod I've done has ever had a radius too tight for a decent blade. 

Whoever first put the crosscut sled on a bandsaw clearly had no grasp of the concept of blade lead, especially on some of the wood blades with a significant set to the blade. We've had some resaw blades that had a very significant lead. 

I've always been fascinated with bandsaws, especially much older ones, more so than other tools in the shop. They are probably one of the most versatile sawing/shaping tools in existence.


----------



## DaveInGA

bassboy1 said:


> I've been using the Lenox bi-metal blades for years, now, and have been very pleased with them. You _can_ damage even a good blade with tight radius's, but nothing on any boat mod I've done has ever had a radius too tight for a decent blade.
> 
> Whoever first put the crosscut sled on a bandsaw clearly had no grasp of the concept of blade lead, especially on some of the wood blades with a significant set to the blade. We've had some resaw blades that had a very significant lead.
> 
> I've always been fascinated with bandsaws, especially much older ones, more so than other tools in the shop. They are probably one of the most versatile sawing/shaping tools in existence.



Glad to hear about the radius. I'd not used any 1/2" on wood for anything but resawing, since a lot of what I did related to curves was scroll type work and I used the 1/8". (Decorating outdoor landscaping benches with fluff for the wife to sell. She's a landscaper.)

Yes, those Lenox blades are excellent. I chose the Timberwolf (bi-metal and wood blades) because they're less expensive than the Lenox and Timberwolf has great technical support if you need to modify your bandsaw for an application. You can also run them with less tension than other blades. They also give ya a 15% discount if you buy three, a good deal. Their shipping is USPS out of New York, so not a lot of money to have them delivered to your door in a reasonable amount of time.

I like bandsaws too. I'd prefer to have the older American iron like you have, but at the time I bought the HF one, I wasn't able to find one. This bandsaw is basically a copy of an older American type and has done really well with excellent power for a 14" bandsaw. 

I agree bandsaws are extremely handy. I was very glad to get this one back from my buddy, who was basically letting it collect dust in his garage for the past three years. In fact, the little crosscut sled was still in the box where I packed all the accessories from the saw. 

Sadly, the box was banged up and he'd managed to lose the manual, but I was able to download it from their website. But once I got to putting it back together, my memory broke off the rust and in a few minutes, I was able to get it running with metal like I used to have it running for wood: smooth, quiet and efficiently. I like to have my power tools tuned as much as possible. Makes them better to work with.


----------



## Ranchero50

Looks like good progress. The transom is going to be the hardest part of the job, but only because you get to take so much apart to get it exposed. Quite often it's easier to use the flap wheel to sand the rivet head off vs. using a drill.

The engine is good news. Have you had a chance to check the reed valves or rebuild the carbs? They'll both need cleaned if it's sat for too long.

My bandsaw is a Porter Cable portaband held in a vise. #-o 

Jamie


----------



## DaveInGA

Ranchero50 said:


> Looks like good progress. The transom is going to be the hardest part of the job, but only because you get to take so much apart to get it exposed. Quite often it's easier to use the flap wheel to sand the rivet head off vs. using a drill.
> 
> Yes, I'm currently working on removing the rear decks to get at the transome and it's being a beast. I used the HF grinder with what I think is a type of flap wheel to remove the rivet head off. Worked real well. I'm not looking forward to replacing all those rivets when it comes time.
> 
> The engine is good news. Have you had a chance to check the reed valves or rebuild the carbs? They'll both need cleaned if it's sat for too long.
> 
> No, I made a decision to set the engine aside, get the boat to a point I can remove it off the trailer, then complete the trailer first. I suspect this engine may have not been ran since the time most gasoline did not have alcohol in it. It's like the boat was put up by the original owner for the winter, then he dies and son takes the boat out of storage and leaves it in the backyard to rot in the weather. ](*,)
> 
> My bandsaw is a Porter Cable portaband held in a vise. #-o
> 
> If that's what I had paid for, I'd use it. I've already spent way too much in tools to work the metal with. May spend more before it's over.
> 
> Jamie


----------



## DaveInGA

Managed to get the aft decking removed today and got the rotted transom cleaned up. Also started addressing the port aft deck separation due to excessive flotation foam expansion.

Some pics:






Some very handy HF air tools. Used the drill to drill out many of the standard rivets. Used the cut off tool to cut some hooks off the back deck allowing it to removed up and back, making removing it much easier. I also used it to cut off any rusted screw/bolt that I couldn't get to break loose. A big time/labor saver. 

The air screw driver greatly sped up removing nuts/bolts from the transom. These inexpensive tools worked great. You just need to make sure they're oiled well with a few drops of oil and adjust them properly if they have adjustments. Well worth the cheap price. If you have a compressor that will run these, they are major labor savers.






The rear deck removed. I removed it as an assembly after I realize it had been installed as an assembly and disassembling it further would gain me nothing. I'm going to strip the paint off of it, clean it and repaint it as well as reassemble all panels before reinstalling it.






Rotted rear transom with all bolts removed. This was easy to clean up at this point and a shop vac took care of the crumblies.






Cleaned up transom area. There was a elbow-shaped mount for a bilge pump mounted on the right hand the transom support, but I removed it before the pic. It is aluminum, so I'll clean it up, paint and reuse it to install a new bilge pump.






Here I'm pointing to an area where the foam expanded just a bit too much, pulling the port aft decking away from the port side. I'm going to trim this off a bit to allow the deck to be more square and reattach the deck to the port side.






Another view with a different angle. You can see the excess foam sticking out.






Using a handy dandy HF saw to trim off the excess foam. Using this five buck cheapie kept me from ruining my quality wood handsaws. It had a very aggressive cut that worked perfect for trimming the foam.






The foam trimmed and squared up. Much better.






Here you can see the thickness of the foam I removed. Not a lot. I'm going to also level the top a bit and then reinstall the deck to see how it fits. I'll do this process a few times until the deck fits properly, then I'll set the deck aside until I finish reworking the trailer and repairing the transom.

That's it for now. Since this is the lightest the boat is going to be, I'm going to finish fitting the rear deck, then I'm going to remove the boat from the trailer and start on the trailer. While the trailer is in process, I'll use boat clean up as "fill in time" whenever there is a work stoppage on the trailer.


----------



## Zum

Nice work again.
I know your trying to match the transom up the same way it was before,nice and tight like but have you ever thought about just strengthing it up with aluminum(transom) and scraping the wood all together?
Just wondering.


----------



## Ranchero50

He could but I think it would flex too much based on how the motor mounts and twists the hull. Either wood or a fiberglass replacement would be better I think.

It looks good. One nice thing is you can unload the boat in the garage, then work on the trailer then the boat pisses you off too much.

Jamie


----------



## bassboy1

Ranchero50 said:


> My bandsaw is a Porter Cable portaband held in a vise. #-o


Yeah, but you have a CNC mill. Argument denied. :mrgreen: 



Ranchero50 said:


> He could but I think it would flex too much based on how the motor mounts and twists the hull. Either wood or a fiberglass replacement would be better I think.



I've seen some nicely done aluminum transoms, built primarily with extrusions. It may not be best in this particular boat, but I wouldn't dismiss the notion in entirety.


----------



## DaveInGA

Zum said:


> Nice work again.
> I know your trying to match the transom up the same way it was before,nice and tight like but have you ever thought about just strengthing it up with aluminum(transom) and scraping the wood all together?
> Just wondering.



Zum,

I'm thought real hard about it. I also have looked at making/pouring a 100% fiber glass transom or having a board cut and mahogany board planed down to the thickness I need from a place called Peach State Lumber in Kennesaw, GA. 

I finally decided I didn't have enough mechanical aptitude to come up with an aluminum structure that would be stiff and durable enough for the application. I really like the idea of making a 100% transom, but the costs were around $250.00-$300.00, a little bit too much when there's so much else to do. 

Fiber-glassing the plywood laminate or "painting" the transom with fiberglass resin seems like a good idea and I'm real tempted by that approach, but cost is again an issue along with the difficulty acquiring the fiberglass related materials in this area. 

Another idea is to have Peach State Lumber in Kennesaw cut and plane me a solid Mahogany transom. Cost of this is right at a $100.00 plus tax and gasoline costs to drive there (an hour drive or so from here one way). This approach would also require some type of water proofing and I'm not sure the mahogany would be any better than laminated plywood. I'm still debating this one in my mind.


----------



## DaveInGA

Ranchero50 said:


> He could but I think it would flex too much based on how the motor mounts and twists the hull. Either wood or a fiberglass replacement would be better I think.
> 
> It looks good. One nice thing is you can unload the boat in the garage, then work on the trailer then the boat pisses you off too much.
> 
> Jamie



Yep, you've got the same thought I have, the aluminum flex and how to prevent it. I know the answer is some type of frame work, I just don't have quite enough mechanical aptitude or mechanical engineering background to come up with it.

I'm also with you on the wood or fiberglass, with the fiberglass being a better solution and one I'd like to do. 

But ultimately, I'm having to go back to plywood due to the fact I can pick up enough plywood for not only the transom, but also some of the decking. Plywood will weight more than the aluminum, but with this boat and if I don't use carpet, it may give the benefit of some desired (balancing) added weight up front and sound deadening. A consideration I hadn't thought of earlier. Choices, choices.

I've about reached the "I want to take the boat off and work on the trailer, it's simple" point. More decisions than I originally expected on the boat. I'm wanting mindless labor for it's simple pleasures and dang if my engineering background didn't wake up and kick me.


----------



## DaveInGA

bassboy1 said:


> Ranchero50 said:
> 
> 
> 
> My bandsaw is a Porter Cable portaband held in a vise. #-o
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, but you have a CNC mill. Argument denied. :mrgreen:
> 
> 
> 
> Ranchero50 said:
> 
> 
> 
> He could but I think it would flex too much based on how the motor mounts and twists the hull. Either wood or a fiberglass replacement would be better I think.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I've seen some nicely done aluminum transoms, built primarily with extrusions. It may not be best in this particular boat, but I wouldn't dismiss the notion in entirety.
Click to expand...


Jamie has a CNC mill? Dang Jamie, I wish you lived near here. I have several items I can think of I'd like to have fabricated for this boat I can't find commercially.

Bassboy, do you have a link or pics of those transoms? I'm real curious. 

I'd go with the fiberglass if doing it didn't cost so much. I hate to admit it, but the plywood is winning out based on I can use the extra for decks up front. Sound deadening and weight is likely to become and issue in this boat long term if I don't go with carpet. And I really DO NOT want to go with carpet and won't if I can find some light-colored rubber locking mat for the decks.

If anybody knows where to get light-colored interlocking mat with a fine mesh for cheap, please let me know.


----------



## bassboy1

Here's one from this site. The concept was a good one, but I think the execution left a little bit to be desired.
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5306&hilit=aluminum+transom&start=50

Here's one from bowfishingcountry.com (forum is password protected, so I just had to steal the picture from it).







I've seen a handful of nicer ones, but I can't remember off the top of my head where they are at. If I get a chance, later on, I'll try to search for a few of those, and post them up. 

A number of the newer aluminum boats, even some of the cheaper cookie cutter boats (including Tracker, if I remember correctly), are built with aluminum transoms from the factory. No reason the same concept couldn't be retrofitted into an older one.


----------



## DaveInGA

Bassboy,

After looking at those pics, I'm liking the concept. The critical part for me is I'm hanging a 300 pound plus motor off of it and I have to bolt it on as well. I'd like to do the all aluminum transom, but I'll need to find tubing that's a true 1 1/2" by say, 2" to 4" I'm thinking, then I'll need to find someone to weld it up. 

Okay, I'm going to stop work on the boat other than clean up and see about getting the boat off the trailer and repair the trailer so I can transport. Going to need some ideas on how to get the boat safely off the trailer and onto some sawhorses, etc. 

If anybody has some good ideas on removing a heavy tin, please post or provide a link.

Thank you all,

Dave


----------



## Zum

My boats rated for 60hp,has an all aluminum transom.
I'll take acouple pictures of it if you want?
Wonder if you could gear up some type of sling(straps/net?) and use that nice new cherry picker.
Does it extend(wide) enough?
Thought I seen a picture on this site of someone using one,I'll try to find it.
Just wondering how he straped/slinged it .


----------



## Arrowhand

You could lower to bow/trailer down as low as it will go, then place some blocks under the rear hull, then lift the bow/trailer up as far as it will go. the rear hull should be resting on the blocks and not the trailer bunks at this time, then use that picker to hold the bow up and pull the trailer part way out till the trailer tire hit's the picker. Then lower the bow back on the trailer and put some blocks under the hull at the end of the trailer and pull the trailer out from under the boat. little time consuming but works

just a idea.

Awsome build so far-really enjoy seeing it


----------



## DaveInGA

Zum said:


> My boats rated for 60hp,has an all aluminum transom.
> I'll take acouple pictures of it if you want?
> Wonder if you could gear up some type of sling(straps/net?) and use that nice new cherry picker.
> Does it extend(wide) enough?
> Thought I seen a picture on this site of someone using one,I'll try to find it.
> Just wondering how he straped/slinged it .



Zum,

Yes, I would very much appreciate as many good detailed pictures of your boat's transom. Good idea on the cherry picker, I already have straps on hand I can use. If you can find a pic of someone using the cherry picker to remove the boat, I'd love that as well.


----------



## DaveInGA

Arrowhand said:


> You could lower to bow/trailer down as low as it will go, then place some blocks under the rear hull, then lift the bow/trailer up as far as it will go. the rear hull should be resting on the blocks and not the trailer bunks at this time, then use that picker to hold the bow up and pull the trailer part way out till the trailer tire hit's the picker. Then lower the bow back on the trailer and put some blocks under the hull at the end of the trailer and pull the trailer out from under the boat. little time consuming but works
> 
> just a idea.
> 
> Awsome build so far-really enjoy seeing it



Arrowhand,

That's another good idea and I think with that, I should be able to get it done. A good idea, I'm thinking and would allow me to not force my buddy to drive 30 minutes over here to get the boat off the trailer. 

Thank you for the compliment on the build. As you go along, a guy really need some of those to keep him going and not feel overwhelmed.


----------



## Brine

I did what Arrowhand said for getting the boat off without the cherry picker. Once the transom was on the sawhorses I was able to physically slide the boat off to the next saw horse. Admittedly, this was after applying the steelflex, and the boat was completely stripped.


----------



## Zum

Thought I replied to this in an edit earlier?
I either messed up or it's on someone elses post

Arrowhand has it pretty much bang on,lower the tongue,block the stern(jack posts,wood,cement blocks,syrofoam blocks.),then use the cherry picker to lift the bow,either bow post or strap near the bow.Should be able to angle the trailer out after it's lifted,then block her up good.

Not sure how strong your ceiling joists are but a block hanging from the ceiling would work good also.Even a sturdy tree with a block(winch).

May not even need your C.picker but hey you have it and it may be easier with it.

I'm just getting home,to dark right now for them pictures but I plan on going fishing tomorrow so I'll get a few shots of that transom for you.


----------



## Zum

Heres a few pictures.
My boats has a 100 gauge skin,the bracing and tubing looks close to 1/4".
The seats are part of the structure as there is bracing welded to it.
The 2 middle braces go right to the floor,where my tunnel hull is.
The 2 stainless bolts you might see is where I had another outboard mounted.
The tubing seems to be around 11/4" by 3",sorry didn't bring a ruler to get better measurements for you.
Maybe someone without a false floor can post you a picture to see how they are welded to the ribs/floor.


----------



## DaveInGA

Zum said:


> Heres a few pictures.
> My boats has a 100 gauge skin,the bracing and tubing looks close to 1/4".
> The seats are part of the structure as there is bracing welded to it.
> The 2 middle braces go right to the floor,where my tunnel hull is.
> The 2 stainless bolts you might see is where I had another outboard mounted.
> The tubing seems to be around 11/4" by 3",sorry didn't bring a ruler to get better measurements for you.
> Maybe someone without a false floor can post you a picture to see how they are welded to the ribs/floor.



Zum,

I want to make sure I'm understanding you here. Please confirm if the statements I make about welding are correct.

You're saying your boat's overall aluminum sheathing is .100" and the tubing used for bracing the transom is one quarter inch thick.

There are two large, very thick aluminum braces that go straight to the floor and from what I can see, are welded at all attachment points.

The tubing dimensions are 11" long, 4" wide and 3" deep and are also welded in place.

The two stainless bolts are filling holes where another outboard was mounted.

Let me know if that's got it.

Thank you for posting this. It's very useful information. Was the big bracing always there? As in part of the original setup?


----------



## bassboy1

DaveInGA said:


> Zum said:
> 
> 
> 
> Heres a few pictures.
> My boats has a 100 gauge skin,the bracing and tubing looks close to 1/4".
> The seats are part of the structure as there is bracing welded to it.
> The 2 middle braces go right to the floor,where my tunnel hull is.
> The 2 stainless bolts you might see is where I had another outboard mounted.
> The tubing seems to be around 11/4" by 3",sorry didn't bring a ruler to get better measurements for you.
> Maybe someone without a false floor can post you a picture to see how they are welded to the ribs/floor.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Zum,
> 
> I want to make sure I'm understanding you here. Please confirm if the statements I make about welding are correct.
> 
> You're saying your boat's overall aluminum sheathing is .100" and the tubing used for bracing the transom is one quarter inch thick.
> 
> There are two large, very thick aluminum braces that go straight to the floor and from what I can see, are welded at all attachment points.
> 
> The tubing dimensions are 11" long, 4" wide and 3" deep and are also welded in place.
> 
> The two stainless bolts are filling holes where another outboard was mounted.
> 
> Let me know if that's got it.
> 
> Thank you for posting this. It's very useful information. Was the big bracing always there? As in part of the original setup?
Click to expand...


Keep in mind, his hull being a tunnel hull is going to have a few differences over designing for a conventional hull. Tunnels inherently lack certain strengths that conventional hulls have anyway, and as such, needs to be designed for differently than would a conventional hull's transom.


----------



## DaveInGA

bassboy1 said:


> Keep in mind, his hull being a tunnel hull is going to have a few differences over designing for a conventional hull. Tunnels inherently lack certain strengths that conventional hulls have anyway, and as such, needs to be designed for differently than would a conventional hull's transom.



I agree and understand what you're saying. But for the purposes of making sure the transom is over engineered instead of under engineered, such a transom may just be ideal. So far, what I'm getting from his pictures and the other pictures you posted of home builds is the approach appears to be one of building a sandwich out of structural aluminum tubing and capping the front and back with fairly heavy sheet aluminum (.125") or something along those lines.

Here's something I've come up with tonight and thumbnail sketched in paint for thinking purposes (Nope, I'm not an arteest.  ):






The tubular box frame in dark grey could be 1 inches thick and width could vary, depending on availability. If it were 1" thick, then it could be sandwiched either side with .125" sheet, giving the desired 1.25" the original transom this boat had. This should give reasonable rigidity and stability from most directions when the torsional forces of the outboard motor acts upon it. This frame "sandwich" would be inserted in place of the original transom board and welded into place.

To further enhance the "sandwich" strength and rigidity, thick sections of aluminum could be placed at key areas (See the blue "airbrush in the drawing above - the corners of the transom and mounting area for the motor). These enhancing sections could be significantly thick, perhaps as thick as diamond plate.

Additional rigidity could be achieved using two part flotation foam poured into the tubing through weep holes or before final weld up. 

Finally, the drawing doesn't show these, but 2 to 4 vertical supports similar to the one's in Zum's picture could be added to aid the "sandwich" in supporting the 300 plus pound outboard motor I have. These may not need to be so large and thick, but I'd love to have a mechanical or structural engineer toss their two cents in on this one.


----------



## Troutman3000

That transom wouldnt go anywhere. If I were building a boat that I planned on keeping forever then this is the only option I would consider for a transom.


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## Ranchero50

You could probably halve the number of vertical supports shown and be fine. Keep two right where the motor clamps are. I wonder what they used to skin the trackers? Usually they are .080 or .063". The tie plates that go to the floor should go to stringers or at lest the next forward rib. One nice thing is if they build that frame seperate you should be able to slide it in place and then puddle weld the existing sheets to it. 

Call some welding shops and see if anyone would be interested in doing it.

Jamie


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## Zum

Zum,

I want to make sure I'm understanding you here. Please confirm if the statements I make about welding are correct.

You're saying your boat's overall aluminum sheathing is .100" and the tubing used for bracing the transom is one quarter inch thick.
Yes,to the sheathing,not sure about the tubing thickness,maybe 3/16"
There are two large, very thick aluminum braces that go straight to the floor and from what I can see, are welded at all attachment points.
I'm thinking yes but with the false floor hard to see,I will post another picture down below.The 2 braces on the seats are only welded to the seats not the floor and there only bolted to the transom

The tubing dimensions are 11" long, 4" wide and 3" deep and are also welded in place.
I was trying to say 1 1/4" wide by 3".I went out with the ruler just now and the tubing is 1 1/2" by 2 1/2",sorry my picture of this didn't come out clear and it's raining and blowing to hard right now to get another.

The two stainless bolts are filling holes where another outboard was mounted.
Yes

Let me know if that's got it.

Thank you for posting this. It's very useful information. Was the big bracing always there? As in part of the original setup?
The bracing is all factory.
I see your diagram below,looks real sturdy.The tubing on my boat is more like a 10-12" ladder just across the top of the transom.It has acouple extra pieces of tubing where the motor would mount.


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## Zum

Something interesting about those braces in the middle.
There not welded(atleast what I can see)at the top by the tubing.
Only welded below the tubing right to the stern.The side ones aren't either but they were bolted.
Maybe it's to allow for some flexing in the transom?


Hope you can see in the picture were I say "weldings here"that there is a tab that skirts out to the sides where the welding takes place.You can see it even on the side braces.
Edit:Those triangle braces have like a "tee"part where there welded.Flared out,not just a butt weld.
Trying to explain myself...don't think it's working.


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## DaveInGA

Troutman3000 said:


> That transom wouldnt go anywhere. If I were building a boat that I planned on keeping forever then this is the only option I would consider for a transom.



The only thing that might keep me from doing this is money considerations due to all the expenses I had this one. Then again, I might be able to delay doing the transom for a bit while I'm finishing up the trailer while I recover from the week's activities.


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## bassboy1

DaveInGA said:


>



Whoa, keep in mind, the original transom was just 1.25 inches of plywood. Obviously going a little above and beyond is always good, but at the end of the day, all the boat really needs is that 1.25 sheets of plywood amount of strength. 

You may be underestimating the strength the .125 sheet on either side is going to give that thing. You are making one big, stout box beam, with the design you drew, and shouldn't need nearly as many tubes. 

I've seen successful transoms made with half as many tubes as shown (although usually 1.5 or larger inch tubes), _and_ no sheet on either side, save for the outer transom skin (which is often .090 - .125 on some of the rigs with aluminum, welded into place transoms). 

If you did foam fill it, weep holes are a necessity, as that piece is going to get far too hot during weld-out for the foam to withstand.


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## DaveInGA

Bassboy and Ranchero,

Both you guys are saying I've over engineered my first cut at the design thrown out for response and criticism. It was late last night, I was taking Lortab for pain and had a shot of brandy in the hopes of getting some sleep with the pain from my tooth. 

I was hoping you guys would come back with an altered design or suggestions on tweaking that design, which now that you did, I can modify. Then getcha to look at it again. I'm excited it may cost a good bit less materials wise.

A couple of the design thoughts I had when I drew that drawing: 

1. The design has to be 1.25 inches thick when finished to fill the "hole" I have.
2. I'm not sure I can get 1.25" tubing, but I can get 1" tubing and .125" sheeting. (Note: If you guys know I can 1.25 inch tubing, I can eliminate the sheeting except for "exposed areas of the transom or areas I want to build up for addition stiffness.)
3. Stiffness is a concern when supporting 300 pounds of outboard I'm thinking, so I don't want to under engineer. I'd rather have it too strong than have to go back and reinforce it.
4. I want to be sure to have enough reinforcement nothing will flex and pop a weld down the road at an inconvenient time.


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## DaveInGA

okay, here's a second cut with some of the tubing eliminated and the .125 taken out. I've kept some sheeting in areas where there is no sheeting now or there may be a need for some reinforcement:






Whatcha think?


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## DaveInGA

Zum said:


> Something interesting about those braces in the middle.
> There not welded(atleast what I can see)at the top by the tubing.
> Only welded below the tubing right to the stern.The side ones aren't either but they were bolted.
> Maybe it's to allow for some flexing in the transom?
> 
> Hope you can see in the picture were I say "weldings here"that there is a tab that skirts out to the sides where the welding takes place.You can see it even on the side braces.
> Edit:Those triangle braces have like a "tee"part where there welded.Flared out,not just a butt weld.
> Trying to explain myself...don't think it's working.



You're doing fine, I'm getting it. Thank you for posting more data. Helps a lot.


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## bassboy1

DaveInGA said:


> Bassboy and Ranchero,
> 
> Both you guys are saying I've over engineered my first cut at the design thrown out for response and criticism. It was late last night, I was taking Lortab for pain and had a shot of brandy in the hopes of getting some sleep with the pain from my tooth.
> 
> I was hoping you guys would come back with an altered design or suggestions on tweaking that design, which now that you did, I can modify. Then getcha to look at it again. I'm excited it may cost a good bit less materials wise.
> 
> A couple of the design thoughts I had when I drew that drawing:
> 
> 1. The design has to be 1.5 inches thick when finished to fill the "hole" I have.
> 2. I'm not sure I can get 1.5" tubing, but I can get 1" tubing and .125" sheeting. (Note: If you guys know I can 1.25 inch tubing, I can eliminate the sheeting except for "exposed areas of the transom or areas I want to build up for addition stiffness.)
> 3. Stiffness is a concern when supporting 300 pounds of outboard I'm thinking, so I don't want to under engineer. I'd rather have it too strong than have to go back and reinforce it.
> 4. I want to be sure to have enough reinforcement nothing will flex and pop a weld down the road at an inconvenient time.



1.5 tubing is no problem to get. One of the more commonly used sizes. I last bought some of that on 9/22, and as of that date, the price for 21' (.125 wall) was $54.90, just so you can get a price reference. You can also get 1.25" square tube, without a problem (probably takes ordering, but locally, I have to order all my aluminum, and it usually reaches my supplier within 2 days, with no price difference over an in stock item).


----------



## DaveInGA

bassboy1 said:


> DaveInGA said:
> 
> 
> 
> Bassboy and Ranchero,
> 
> Both you guys are saying I've over engineered my first cut at the design thrown out for response and criticism. It was late last night, I was taking Lortab for pain and had a shot of brandy in the hopes of getting some sleep with the pain from my tooth.
> 
> I was hoping you guys would come back with an altered design or suggestions on tweaking that design, which now that you did, I can modify. Then getcha to look at it again. I'm excited it may cost a good bit less materials wise.
> 
> A couple of the design thoughts I had when I drew that drawing:
> 
> 1. The design has to be 1.5 inches thick when finished to fill the "hole" I have.
> 2. I'm not sure I can get 1.5" tubing, but I can get 1" tubing and .125" sheeting. (Note: If you guys know I can 1.25 inch tubing, I can eliminate the sheeting except for "exposed areas of the transom or areas I want to build up for addition stiffness.)
> 3. Stiffness is a concern when supporting 300 pounds of outboard I'm thinking, so I don't want to under engineer. I'd rather have it too strong than have to go back and reinforce it.
> 4. I want to be sure to have enough reinforcement nothing will flex and pop a weld down the road at an inconvenient time.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1.5 tubing is no problem to get. One of the more commonly used sizes. I last bought some of that on 9/22, and as of that date, the price for 21' (.125 wall) was $54.90, just so you can get a price reference. You can also get 1.25" square tube, without a problem (probably takes ordering, but locally, I have to order all my aluminum, and it usually reaches my supplier within 2 days, with no price difference over an in stock item).
Click to expand...



That's sounding good. Sounds like the tubing is within the affordability range and I already have any sheeting I may need for this task. The only choice now is which size tubing 1.25" square or 1.25" X 2" rectangle. I'm leaning towards the rectangle. 

Any changes from the second drawing?


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## tccanoe

Dave. this has to be one of the most interesting and best conversions done thus far on tin boats. Your step by step progress is the bomb. When you posted a thousand bucks for your V-17, I thought "Milka-What?" has he lost his mind? But you snached your boat from the jaws of the recycler. Put an extra couple of ribs in your transom and let's get going. It's killing me. I think that foam was just poor quality control at the factory. My hat's off to ya.


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## Ranchero50

One thing I would consider is getting a big chunk of carboard from the grocery store or furniture place to make a template for you new transom. It's a lot easier to cut and fit vs. aluminum and you can use it to mock up your metal.

Are you going all the way to the floor? Any allowances for drains or through transom fittings for tie downs?

Jamie


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## DaveInGA

tccanoe said:


> Dave. this has to be one of the most interesting and best conversions done thus far on tin boats. Your step by step progress is the bomb. When you posted a thousand bucks for your V-17, I thought "Milka-What?" has he lost his mind? But you snached your boat from the jaws of the recycler. Put an extra couple of ribs in your transom and let's get going. It's killing me. I think that foam was just poor quality control at the factory. My hat's off to ya.



Yes, that price was a little high, but I was willing to pay it for the size boat I was getting. I knew the boat, once rebuilt, would be ideal for most of the larger local waters. It is a bit on the big side for a quick, easy reconstruction and remodel. Add onto that my adventure this week: https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16118 and you have a serious delay. I've been using the delay (I'm trying to heal up and the dr/dentist bills ate up my cash reserved for this project.) to figure some things out I'm going to do long term. 

So while it's been slow and deliberate, the long term results will hopefully be worth it.


----------



## DaveInGA

Ranchero50 said:


> One thing I would consider is getting a big chunk of carboard from the grocery store or furniture place to make a template for you new transom. It's a lot easier to cut and fit vs. aluminum and you can use it to mock up your metal.
> 
> Are you going all the way to the floor? Any allowances for drains or through transom fittings for tie downs?
> 
> Jamie



Yep, cardboard is in the plan for making a good fit and preventing material waste.

I'm not going all the way to the floor. I'm going to do nothing more than replace where the wood was, a little over half way down the back of the boat. And yes, allowances for everything and thank you for reminding me of all those things.


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## DaveInGA

Well, the swelling in my face is going down and I didn't have a fever today, so I decided to try and do some work on the boat. While I'm planning the transom, the boat project as a whole has moved to the stage I'm almost ready to get it off the trailer. All that remains is stripping the paint and cleaning most of the filth out of the inside of the boat before removing it from the trailer and putting it up on blocks. I had the materials on hand, so I decided to start stripping the paint. Some pics:






Supplies on hand - SOS pads (Wife says they work the best.), some 4/0 steel wool I had on hand for areas where no soap is needed/wanted, some chip brushes from Harbor Freight and a gallon of aircraft stripper from the local auto parts store (in this case, Auto Zone). Note: The brand is less important than the fact it's aircraft stripper. I've used strippers before many times in both wood and metal stripping and it's more how you use it than anything else.






Applying stripper - note: Get a good coat on, let it soak, then come back with another coat. When you're using these chip brushes and have lots of them like I do, you can use your brush as a "scrubber" to help you remove the paint as it breaks down. This works the best and let's the chemical do the work without applying anything that'll weaken the chemical stripping action.






Sticker and paint ready to go. Note: Do not rush this process, other than work just fast enough to prevent the stripper from drying out.






Begin by using a scraper to break the edge of sticker off the side of the boat. Paint should peel away easily.






Peeling back the sticker. Note: Go slow and let the sticker fall away as a whole piece as much as you can.






Sticker almost off. I'm going as slow as I can here.






Sticker broke. I was a bit too impatient and I'll have to slop on a bit more stripper and this will be right off.






End result, starboard side. You can see the white haze from the SOS pad. I should have used a 4.0 steel wool to scrub this. So now I'll have to wash the soap off before I paint.






End result, port side. Again, you can see a white haze from the SOS pad soap. This will have to be cleaned off before painting begin. The lucky thing it won't take much work.

My wife came out and helped clean the rear transom after some stripper was applied to remove a couple stickers back there. She worked hard and did a great job. I feel lucky to have a good woman like this. Here's some pics of the cleaned transom sheet metal:






Rear transom cleaned, outside view






Rear transom cleaned, another view






Rear transom cleaned, inside view. This had a lot of rust and a mix of applying the aircraft stripper acid and scrubbing with an SOS pad took off most of it.

Some end notes: 

1. Use the SOS pad to scrub down the rusty mess in the boat.
2. Apply aircraft stripper to the rusty areas before hitting it with the SOS pad.
3. Use the 4/0 steel wool to scrub down the paint and break up the last of the paint before rinsing off with the water hose.
4. Your wife can be a great partner to help you get things done. She was helping me stripping the outside as well. She scrubbed with the steel wool while I applied the stripper and did the water hosing. Not everybody is as lucky as I am.


----------



## Brine

Looking good Dave. Glad to hear you're on the mend too. 

I meant to comment earlier, but it looks like trimming that foam was a good (and neurotic) call. Love to see folks with attention to detail. =D>


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## DaveInGA

Brine said:


> Looking good Dave. Glad to hear you're on the mend too.
> 
> I meant to comment earlier, but it looks like trimming that foam was a good (and neurotic) call. Love to see folks with attention to detail. =D>



Thank you Sir, glad to be on the mend. Hope it keeps going that way. Still don't feel "good" but do feel "passable."

"attention to detail" - Isn't that a nice way to say Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?  Yes, like most medical personnel, I have a good dose of that. 

I'm not sure if trimming the foam will help or hurt, but at least the back decking will be square and won't pull out the rivets. When I was cleaning out the carpet stuff, I noticed a lot of pulled out rivets and separated sheeting/paneling. I hope to strengthen and eliminate this during the rebuild.


----------



## Ranchero50

that's the curse of tracker boats, they are mass produced for the maximum profit while hitting the minimum standards of safety and usability...

Jamie


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## DaveInGA

Ranchero50 said:


> that's the curse of tracker boats, they are mass produced for the maximum profit while hitting the minimum standards of safety and usability...



I'd much rather of had an alumacraft, but I couldn't find one anywhere near like what I wanted for anything the money I had to spend. This is the reason Tracker is still in business when other boat builders are long gone - they build a product that works and while it isn't perfect or the best, it'll get the job done and people can afford it.


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## tccanoe

Like you said early on. The foam was/is used to give the deck support but got over poured. I think squaring it up is the only way you're going to pull the hull back together. I don't think you over paid for your boat by a long shot. I just think you were able to see past the rot and ruin to what it could be. You will have a boat worth may thousands of dollars when done and (this is the best part) you get to keep all those new tools for your next project. Dere will be a next project cause you are a PROJECT GUY.


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## DaveInGA

tccanoe said:


> Like you said early on. The foam was/is used to give the deck support but got over poured. I think squaring it up is the only way you're going to pull the hull back together. I don't think you over paid for your boat by a long shot. I just think you were able to see past the rot and ruin to what it could be. You will have a boat worth may thousands of dollars when done and (this is the best part) you get to keep all those new tools for your next project. Dere will be a next project cause you are a PROJECT GUY.



Yes, there probably will. Most likely some book shelves to replace the particle board we have now. The wife's been on me for ten years to build. 

Had a frustrating day today. Spent a significant amount of time running around trying to find etching primer in a quart can. No joy. If I want it in this area, I'm going to have to order it. Considering if I want to order online or have my local NAPA, the only outfit that didn't try to sell me a two part paint.

The good thing is I finished stripping the paint off the inside of the boat. Tomorrow the boat comes off and trailer breakdown begins. Hopefully, I can get most of it done because after that I have to work Wednesday through Saturday long hospital shifts.


----------



## DaveInGA

Today wasn't a bad day, considering I didn't sleep much last night (dunno why, oldmanitis I suppose), finally got to sleep, slept late and went out to get a haircut.

Came back home just after lunch and got the boat off the trailer, then started stripping the trailer down. Things went really smoothly. Here's what went on:

Used some security straps I had on hand, my cherry picker and a 1 X 4 scrap board I had to pull the boat off the trailer and put it on the saw horses I built a while back just for the purpose. Here's some pics with explanations:






Boat on trailer. This turned out to be a slow, but not difficult process. Because of the size of the boat and weight issues, I needed to be careful and think about things before I did them. I tend to move slow with such things anyway and in this case, probably made the overall job faster with no accidents/disasters.






Picture of the rear transom reinforced with a 1 X 4 scrap board I cut to length with a handsaw and stuck in there to keep the transom from collapsing (I haven't replaced the wood I removed with anything yet, so the transom is very thin and fragile right now. The board stabilized it and kept it from collapsing while I removed the boat. The scrap worked perfectly in conjunction with the cherry picker to lift the rear of the boat high enough to slip a saw horse under the rear of the boat. At that point, I could slide the boat back a bit and the trailer forward, as the front of the boat was on the trailer rollers. 






Here's a picture of the strap still hooked up and the cherry picker lowered. You can see how I ran the strap through the bow eye, then over the top of the boat and hooked the cherry picker boom to the center of the boat area of the strap. As I cranked the boom up, the strap was caught on the bow cap and was very stable there. The only problem was I had to locate the cherry picker in such a way as to enable me to roll the trailer out once the boat was clear of the trailer.

All done and the total amount of time was about 30 minutes, including a lot of checks and think it throughs to prevent any accidents.






Trailer out of the garage with most of the stripping done. Once I had the boat off of it, stripping went fairly quickly and about all I have to do now is weld on a new hitch, cut off the old safety chain, rework the bearings, sandblast trailer/rims and replace the tires.

A close look will show you that part of the fenders and side steps are missing. Turns out the carpet on the fenders and the side steps were made of a carpet covered board. I'm going to have to come up with an alternative for those carpeted boards, including the bunks, because I don't think I want to use carpeted bunks on this build. May take some thought and some price comparisons. Right now, the plan is to use some type of plastic board to replace the bunks and the boards if I can find something suitable.

Some useful information notes:

1. When taking trailers apart, penetrating oil used generously on old bolts is your friend. I used PB blaster (really like this stuff, comes out generously in a pressurized stream and saturates the desired area) and soaked every single nut and bolt I could find. Once I soaked it, I went inside, got something to drink, rested for a few minutes and let the PB Blaster (A good penetrant) do it's thing.

2. When wrestling with old nuts and bolts, the larger size the tools you have are, the more leverage you have and the easier the work is. I used half inch sockets with a 1/2" breaker bar on one side and a larger box end wrench on the other side to break the nuts loose, then used a 1/2" ratchet to crank the nuts off.

3. If you have a compressor, then a 1/2" air ratchet would be even better. I regret not buying one from Harbor Freight. These air tools I have are very hand. I used my pneumatic screw driver and pneumatic drill to remove a lot of the smaller nuts and screws. This made things a lot faster and saved me a lot of physical labor.

4. I also used a pneumatic cut off tool to cut the bolts for the old, broken jack. The bolts for that were rusted shut and I didn't feel like messing with them, knowing the new jack had new bolts in the box. I borrowed this tool from a buddy of mine and this is another tool I wish I had bought and will buy next time I make a Harbor Freight run. What a labor saver to get rid of junk bolts quick and easy.

Tomorrow I'll rework the trailer axle bearings and get it ready to take to my buddy for a new hitch getting welded on.


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## tccanoe

Dave, Sorry to keep chiming in but I just got to talk to ya. I'm a 22yr RN by profession if you know what I mean. Anyway. After getting all the decals off, I can really see the lines of the hull and that is an outstanding looking boat. I guess the decals are like a bill-board and just draw my eyes to them, blurring the overall boat. That hull is one of those that looks fast sitting still.


----------



## DaveInGA

tccanoe said:


> Dave, Sorry to keep chiming in but I just got to talk to ya. I'm a 22yr RN by profession if you know what I mean. Anyway. After getting all the decals off, I can really see the lines of the hull and that is an outstanding looking boat. I guess the decals are like a bill-board and just draw my eyes to them, blurring the overall boat. That hull is one of those that looks fast sitting still.



Tccanoe,

Keep right on chiming in, that's what keeps me motivated and my spirits up. If you're an RN, you'll know how I feel (I'm an RRT) about going to a doc in the box or a dentist for medical care. 

This past week, I had to go to both. Had a crown get infected and what the dr. wrote for (Augmentin) wasn't touching the bacteria. Got real sick over the course of four days, with huge facial swelling on the left side nearly closing my eye, fever/chills out the roof and pain bad enough Lortab wasn't touching it (and I'm a square, don't do drugs or drink) - got so bad I took a drink with my Lortab and still didn't help the last night before the dentist/oral surgeon (No sleep that night.). 

Ended up with the good ole oral surgeon lancing the swelling over the tooth with a scalpel to drain it, but he didn't put in a drain, so drainage was slow over this past weekend. I'm reasonably sure I was about a half step from becoming septic (Won't say why, but you know the signs, I was starting to see some of the basic ones.) 

Post like yours and other guys helped me keep my mind off the misery of that episode while it was going on. I'm on the mend now and starting to taste the new antibiotic (metallic taste) in my mouth and feeling more like myself.

Thank you for your posts. Really helped me out when I was miserable.

On the boat: I agree with you about the lines. I think it's a nice combination of a V-Hull and a bass boat. An old pro that lives out on Lake Lanier, known as Lanier Jim on Georgia Outdoor Network forums told me he thought it may be an ideal fishing boat for fishing on Lake Lanier for spotted bass and the occasional striper. I have high hopes for the boat as I move along in the remodeling process.


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## tccanoe

Dave, I was thinking ( a dangerous place to be). About the bunks, they make a recycled deck material that is like plastic press board that comes in a dark tan. I think I remember some of the railing material in a 2X4 configuration. Like the hand rail or something? That stuff would be like Teflon for the boat to slid on and off of and never rot. Just a thought. Did I see it a Lowe's? They use it out in Origin where wood rots in 6 to 7 weeks.


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## Brine

Great work Dave. 

There is a company in Winder (I think) called Ultimate Bunk Boards which may be what you are looking for. It's like cutting board material. Super slick from what I've heard, and last forever. I don't remember without going through your build if the bottom of the hull is riveted or not. If it is, I'd stick with carpet. If not, you may see what they can do for you. 

Keep up the great work. You'll have a masterpiece in no time. Slow, calculated and methodical. =D>


----------



## DaveInGA

Brine,

Why would you avoid the plastic board if you have a riveted boat? Does the plastic board damage rivets?


----------



## Brine

Hi Dave,

I don't have any first hand experience, but I've seem some of the manufacturers of the bunk glides state "not intended for riveted hulls". I think you'd be safe with something that was continuous the length of the boat (as ultimate bunks are I'm pretty sure), but I can't say for sure. Best to discuss with the mfg. The products I've seen the caution on were the ones where you space the glides on as 3 or 4 seperate strips with gaps between each. I can see how ramming the rivets against the edge of these things could do some damage over time. I believe this was brought up during *Baptistpreach*'s mod which can be found in the mod section. I haven't seen him here lately, and I'm not sure if he's still around to ask how the boat is doing after a year. 

Russ put a set of Ultimate Bunks on his first build if you want to ask him anything specific about their product.

While I'm thinking of it, want to make sure you know that your bare aluminum (now exposed) has begun to form it's own protective coating of oxidation that will need to be lightly scuffed before applying your primer if you plan to paint. I'd do it the same day you plan to prime.


----------



## tccanoe

I put the Ultamate Guide bunks on my trailer and they are OK. I think they run a little short when you order. No problem with rivits at all. They are made of a recycled plastic press-board like meterial with a tiney shark skin like strip on the up side for grip (for looks I think). Like I said before. If we could find a bulk meterial made the same way, I'm sure it would be cheaper, just as effective and long lasting and we could cut to size without busting the bank. Every foot you go up in size with the Ulta Guide the price BAMS!


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## Zum

https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com/gpage4.html
Although the price seems alittle high,I'd take a serious look at them.
For shallow water launching/loading they'd be great.
Shipping is what holds me back from getting them.

I went to a butcher(big store)and they use cutting boards that are 4' long,1/2" thick.
I plan on ripping that to put on my bunks but I'll still have wood to deal with.


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## tccanoe

Zum, could you rust proof steel 2x4's then top them with the butcher board? Seems the steel bunks would not rust any faster than any other steel part of the trailer. You think?


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## tccanoe

Dave, Cofer/Adams in Lawrenceville, Ga. has an engineered wood dept. 770-995-3907. Might be worth checking out. I don't know how close Lawrenceville is to you but it looks like a big place with lots of building products.


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## DaveInGA

Brine,

Some comments in red in the quote.



Brine said:


> I don't have any first hand experience, but I've seem some of the manufacturers of the bunk glides state "not intended for riveted hulls". I think you'd be safe with something that was continuous the length of the boat (as ultimate bunks are I'm pretty sure), but I can't say for sure. Best to discuss with the mfg.
> 
> I spoke with Joe (I think the owner.) of Ultimate Bunkboards this morning before I had to leave to go to a training class. He stated uses his bunks on his own riveted jon boat and is comfortable saying his boards are safe to use with riveted boats. He said the plastic is soft enough a rivet hitting the bunk would leave a divot in the plastic board, but he doesn't see how it would hard the rivet.
> 
> Of interest to those living in Georgia is his warehouse is on Hwy 129 headed toward Gainesville just off I-85. For me, it's about a 10-15 minute drive tops. So I could pick the boards up with no shipping costs associated. Others within a reasonable drive of that exit could likely do the same.
> 
> The products I've seen the caution on were the ones where you space the glides on as 3 or 4 seperate strips with gaps between each. I can see how ramming the rivets against the edge of these things could do some damage over time. I believe this was brought up during *Baptistpreach*'s mod which can be found in the mod section. I haven't seen him here lately, and I'm not sure if he's still around to ask how the boat is doing after a year.
> 
> I can see how having the separate strips with gaps would cause such a thing and totally agree with you on this. With solid bunks, I'm thinking the major risk would be when you're bringing the boat on and off the bunks and a rivet would hit the end of the board. But that would be similar risk to a 2 X 4. I'm guessing you could cut the end of the board to an angle to minimize this risk. What do you think?
> 
> Russ put a set of Ultimate Bunks on his first build if you want to ask him anything specific about their product.
> 
> I'd love to. Do you know his full nick name? I've seen it, but I'm having oldmanitis and can't think of it.
> 
> While I'm thinking of it, want to make sure you know that your bare aluminum (now exposed) has begun to form it's own protective coating of oxidation that will need to be lightly scuffed before applying your primer if you plan to paint. I'd do it the same day you plan to prime.
> 
> Thank you for reminding me of that. I'd let it slip my mind and I'm definitely wanting to get as much painting done on the boat before the winter starts cooling things down to much, so time is of the essence now. Do you have any recommendations for what to scuff the aluminum with? Green scrubbie pad?


----------



## DaveInGA

tccanoe said:


> Dave, Cofer/Adams in Lawrenceville, Ga. has an engineered wood dept. 770-995-3907. Might be worth checking out. I don't know how close Lawrenceville is to you but it looks like a big place with lots of building products.



Thanks for the information. Lawrenceville is where I used to live and it's a reasonable drive from here and where my best buddy lives. I'll give these guys a call.

Btw, I got your pm with the quotes, but couldn't find where you'd typed anything new in. I'll look again, maybe I was just tired at the time. :shock:


----------



## tccanoe

What I tried to say about your tooth was: Man, what a horror story. It sounds like the infection was one step ahead of the people treating it. It's hard to stay in the patient role when the medical professional in you gives you the gut feeling that someone is goofing up. Glad you're mending and back at the boat. I've spent many a long night with an RT at a sick sick patient's bedside trying to keep them alive and I've also spent many a long night with a group of coworkers sitting around telling tall tails and cracking wise. All good. I too am square. No drink, no drug, no smoke. If you don't smoke then you're the only RT in the SEC that don't!


----------



## Brine

Dave, 

Yes I know Joe. I fished in an all electric club (HVBA High Voltage Bass Anglers) with him for 3 years. I tried talking (emailing) him into being a sponsor here a year or so ago. Never heard back. Seems like we would be a perfect audience. 

I haven't heard anything negative about the Ultimate Bunks and riveted hulls, just as you imgined....on the individual strips that are spaced out. 

I don't see the value in the angled bunks. The difference with the strips vs a 2x4 is that portion of the bunk should/would be below the waterline and not make contact with the hull while loading or unloading. I guess we're on the same page in that if you decide on the plastic route, get the Ultimate Bunks or a similar one piece job vs the strips. 

Russ010 ~ He can be found under the Bass Clubs section next to "BANG"

I'd go with a cup brush on the drill or angle grinder just because I hate sanding :LOL2: You should only have to hit the surface very lightly at the stage you're in. Wipe down with acetone, tack cloth, and prime away.


----------



## Troutman3000

Dave is your hull leaking at all? MIne has some decent leaks and I haev rebucked the rivets and that helped a little, but without reinstalling a ton of rivets do you think gluv it would work? I have a tracker v-14 so a very similar hull but i have a tiller instead of a console. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Jason

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14066


----------



## DaveInGA

Troutman3000 said:


> Dave is your hull leaking at all? MIne has some decent leaks and I haev rebucked the rivets and that helped a little, but without reinstalling a ton of rivets do you think gluv it would work? I have a tracker v-14 so a very similar hull but i have a tiller instead of a console. Thoughts?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jason
> 
> https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14066



Jason,

I haven't seen any leaks from inside the hull. I did see the chines (right word?) on the outside of the hull leak when I pulled the boat off of the trailer, but I think they have some wrinkles where water can get inside them instead of actual leaks from the inside of the boat/hull. Haven't decided what I'll do about these yet. Probably rebuck rivets and try to straight out the wrinkles as I do that.

I am reasonably sure I'm safe, but I've had a lot of water inside when I stripped the paint inside.

If it were my tin, I'd water up the hull, mark the leaking rivets, rebuck them and if that did not work, I'd replace the rivets. But then, I've got a good case of OCD from working in the medical field.

Dave


----------



## Troutman3000

DaveInGA said:


> Troutman3000 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dave is your hull leaking at all? MIne has some decent leaks and I haev rebucked the rivets and that helped a little, but without reinstalling a ton of rivets do you think gluv it would work? I have a tracker v-14 so a very similar hull but i have a tiller instead of a console. Thoughts?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jason
> 
> https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14066
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jason,
> 
> I haven't seen any leaks from inside the hull. I did see the chines (right word?) on the outside of the hull leak when I pulled the boat off of the trailer, but I think they have some wrinkles where water can get inside them instead of actual leaks from the inside of the boat/hull. Haven't decided what I'll do about these yet. Probably rebuck rivets and try to straight out the wrinkles as I do that.
> 
> I am reasonably sure I'm safe, but I've had a lot of water inside when I stripped the paint inside.
> 
> If it were my tin, I'd water up the hull, mark the leaking rivets, rebuck them and if that did not work, I'd replace the rivets. But then, I've got a good case of OCD from working in the medical field.
> 
> Dave
Click to expand...



I thought that you would say that. How hard is it to replace the rivets? Can I use a hand tool or should I get something from Harbor Frieght? I am kind of intimidated to install new rivets because if you mess up it could be bad news.


----------



## DaveInGA

Troutman3000 said:


> I thought that you would say that. How hard is it to replace the rivets? Can I use a hand tool or should I get something from Harbor Frieght? I am kind of intimidated to install new rivets because if you mess up it could be bad news.



Yeah, doing things the right way is always a pain in the rear, but in the long run, you'll have a more durable repair and you'll be more satisfied with the results.

This is based partly on experience, partly on research, but here is what I think I know about replacing rivets:

Replacing the rivets, what you have to deal with:

1. Removing the rivets - couple ways to do it, but I simply ground off the inside tip of the rivet, then carefully tapped the rivet through the hole. If you want to make it easier, drill a hole through the center of the rivet to allow more give, just like with a pop rivet. The reason I did this was to get a rivet head I can use to order replacement rivets.

Link to order rivets given to me by bassboy1:

https://www.grainger.com/Grainger/solid-rivets/rivets/fasteners/ecatalog/N-8mk

2. Reinstalling the rivets: - 

I. If you only have a couple rivets to do, then a ball peen hammer, a bucking bar and a rivet set are all you need. The rivet set fits in a pneumatic rivet gun, but you can use it with a hammer. You'll need a man on the inside to hold the bucking bar and a man on the outside to strike the rivet set against the rivet head.

a. Place rivet through hole, hold in place with rivet set.

b. Place bucking bar against rivet on the inside.

c. Strike rivet set with hammer while partner inside boat keeps an eye on how the rivet is setting. He'll tell you when the rivet has mushroomed to an appropriate amount.

II. If you have a bunch of rivets to do/replace, then consider getting a pneumatic rivet hammer. Using the rivet hammer is basically the same process, except you use the rivet hammer in place of the ball peen hammer. A lot less work and less likelihood of missing with the ball peen hammer.

Some rivet links:

Tools

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/topcanrivetsets.php

Closed in pop rivets for applications not involving the hull, such as decking, etc.

https://www.hansonrivet.com/w22.htm

How to:

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13114&hilit=bucking+rivets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr24Nvs7fd0&feature=related

Hope this helps,

Dave


----------



## Troutman3000

Thanks Dave - Im gonna fill up this beast with water and see what happens this winter. I cant stay off the water long enough to get anything done!


----------



## DaveInGA

Been a few days since last progress, been busy at work. I've stripped down my trailer and needed to get new hubs going so I can take it over to a buddy's house, who is going to do some welding stuff for me.

Here's the hub changing process:







The original Dexter hubs - I didn't like the through bolts these hubs had and wanted to replace them with a more standard stud and nut arrangement. Nothing wrong with these hubs, but between the clean up and the odd bolts, I felt $30.00 each for a pair of new hubs with new bearings, etc. in a configuration I liked better was worth it. Note the cast in number. This helped me when I went to Airport Trailers in Gainesville, GA. Airport Trailers is a top notch outfit with very competitive pricing and excellent customer service. They were able to get me out of there with two new hubs, all new bearings, marine grass and a can of CRC spray to clean out the old grease for $76.00.






Packing the new bearings. Here is a pic of me removing a bearing to show it after I'd already put it in the setup. My wife missed the pic and wanted me to remove it so she could take a pic of the assembly. The gadget I'm using came from Advance Auto Parts and it cost $6.49. Greatly sped up the bearing/grease packing process.






Assembling the bearing packer.






Attaching the bearing packer to a grease gun.






Packing the bearing.


----------



## DaveInGA

This is a continuation of the previous post on hub replacement:






The packed bearing.






Installing the grease seal. The grease seal on this particular Dexter axle/hub combination has a large opening. Check out the following pics to see why.






Note the worn portion on the dark part of the axle. This is where the grease seal must ride for this axle. Dexter made two sizes of grease seal for the hub I have and the larger size is required by this axle.






Here is the correct grease seal. Note the wide opening.






A close up view where you can see the wide opening. This seal, combined with a standard set of bearings allows a modern hub to work with these bearings. The only way I found this out was to find a retailer (Airport Trailers) who use a lot of Dexter products and was familiar as well as having parts in stock. Made life much easier. Small businesses are your friend.






Final seating of the grease seal using a brass punch. Any further seating will be done when I tighten the castle nut during hub installation.


----------



## DaveInGA

Trailer hubs now ready to be installed:







Hubs ready to go. Any leftover grease from packing was wiped off in the hub to help fill it with grease.






Installing castle nut. First, turn down as far as possible by hand.






Tighten down with slip joint pliers. Keep tightening until you "feel" the bearing press against the face of the shoulder in this case. At this point, the hub should be difficult to turn and is "too tight."






The back of the hub and you can see the hub is now overlapping the thicker portion of the axle like it should be. This allows you to place your cotter pin and have proper tension on the castle nut along with proper movement of the hub.






Backing the castle nut off enough to place cotter pin.






Don't forget the cotter pin and don't forget to bend it down to lock it into place! About ready to install bearing buddies.


----------



## DaveInGA

With the hubs and cotter pins installed, it's time to check the the hub movement to ensure the hub moves smoothly without binding while not wobbling.






Grabbing the hub and spinning it. If it moves smoothly and spins a couple turns on it's own, it's likely good to go. If you're not sure, have a mechanic check it.






Time to install bearing buddies. This is the side that goes in.






This is the side that goes out where you pump grease into. Note the rubber with a grease fitting and the spring. The spring pushes the rubber and thereby pushes grease into the hub for you.






Place buddy by hand, then tap with rubber mallet until line on buddy is flush with end of hub. Ensure buddy is even all the way around by tapping all the way around the face of the bearing buddy. You should feel the bearing buddy bottom out.






Finished and ready to grease.






Pumping grease in until spring is depressed and bearing buddy is relatively full of grease.






When the grease comes out of the bearing buddy weep hole, you have it about as full as it can go. Here, the excess grease will weep out and I'll have to clean it up. I was a bit too enthusiastic. No harm done though.


----------



## DaveInGA

Final tips:






Don't forget the buddy caps!






CRC makes cleaning non-marine grease out of my new hubs much easier. One of the two hubs I bought had been pre-greased. Airport trailer was kind enough to let me know none of the "pre-greased" hubs come with marine grease, so you're better off buying dry hubs and bearings and greasing them yourself. Since he only had one dry hub, I had to buy a greasy hub. But he was kind enough to remove the greasy bearing and give me dry bearings, so I only had to clean out the hub.






Cleaning the axle with CRC. This is the stuff Airport Trailers recommended. I sprayed generously, then wiped off the axle with a wrag. Worked great.






One of the hubs installed with bearing buddy. Ready for a wheel and tire.






Those cheap nitrile gloves from Harbor Freight kept the grease off my hands, along with any old filth. I highly recommend a roll of paper towels, a pack of these gloves and a pack of the red shop towels. Make things a lot easier/cleaner.


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## TNtroller

very nice work, attention to the details is great, hope you continue to make good progress on the boat. The hull cleaned up really nice, didn't even look like the same boat.


----------



## tccanoe

Dave, Glad to see ya back at the boat. You must'a worked a long stretch. Did you see the post on making a solid glass transom? It looks like something you could tackle. I'll find it and add it to this post. My problem with bearing buddies was I always blew out the back seal from over greasing. Does the weep hole keep that from happening? I guess you did see "how to pour a solid glass transom" Seeing as how you asked a bunch of questions of da guy. My bad.


----------



## DaveInGA

TNtroller said:


> very nice work, attention to the details is great, hope you continue to make good progress on the boat. The hull cleaned up really nice, didn't even look like the same boat.



Thank you for the compliment. I'm in the process of sandblasting the trailer right now. It's going slow because I only have a siphon blaster, which isn't very powerful and has to be held very close to actually get the paint to strip, thereby taking forever. Therefore, I do a little bit at a time each day. Slow going.


----------



## DaveInGA

tccanoe said:


> Dave, Glad to see ya back at the boat. You must'a worked a long stretch. Did you see the post on making a solid glass transom? It looks like something you could tackle. I'll find it and add it to this post. My problem with bearing buddies was I always blew out the back seal from over greasing. Does the weep hole keep that from happening? I guess you did see "how to pour a solid glass transom" Seeing as how you asked a bunch of questions of da guy. My bad.



I looked real hard at the solid glass transom as a viable idea, but the material costs were prohibitive. It costs significantly more than any other solution. I think I'm going to do a spread sheet with the costs of a glass transom, a aluminum frame transom and a wood transom, both hardwood and plywood. Right now, due to vehicles and being sick eating up a big chunk of my fund, I'm having to look real hard at plywood again. It's appears to be the cheapest solution, but that's on the surface before adding in all the variables.

On the bearing buddies, I think the weep hole does keep that from happening if you don't get too crazy with the grease. But a weep hole can only leak so fast and if you cram in enough grease fast enough, I'm sure you can blow out a seal. I was just lucky I stopped in time.


----------



## DuraCraft

Wow, Dave, wow! Man, what a great rebuild! About the only thing I know anything at all about is greasing the bearings; my old bearing buddy has a red indication line that you are supposed to stop pumping in grease when the spring held thingamabob reaches the red line. It pushes out as you fill with grease, and you stop when it reaches the red line. Now, everything I have is like me - geezer stuff! Old. Only problem is me brain got stuck at about 30 years old, but me body kept going!

Now, not only do I need to move my seat back, but I need to paint my trailer too. Thanks :x not really, it does need painting. Can hardly wait to see more of your work.


----------



## DaveInGA

Duracraft, thanks for the encouragement/compliments.

Here's an update:

I'm hoping to do some more work soon. Been through another go around with those two teeth again. Turns out original dentist cracked roots on both teeth, so no way I was going to be able to keep them. Had to have both teeth removed and before that happened, got another infection/abcess that caused my face to swell up and shut my left eye again. Lost about a week's worth of work, both on the boat and at work between being sick and recovering from the teeth being removed.

I'm going to a buddy's house to get some minor welding repairs done on my trailer and a couple mods to reinforce an area or two. He's also got a couple spare ceramic nozzles that fit the sand blaster I have. I bumped the nozzle on the blaster I have against the frame trying to clear it and caused it to crack and shatter, so I need another one. ](*,)


----------



## Brine

Darn Dave! Sorry to hear the mouth acted up again, but glad to hear you got it taken care of. 

We need you healthy! You're one of the few working on a build right now. :mrgreen: and it's been a great one to watch thus far.


----------



## Troutman3000

Feel better buddy!


----------



## DaveInGA

Thanks Fellers,

I'm on the mend now and will be working on the boat this Saturday. Daughter is in town with some grand babies, so that's taking priority as well.

After welding, I'm going to finish off the sandblasting of the trailer, coat it with Ospho solution, let that dry over night, then hopefully if the temperature hasn't dropped below 35 degrees F, paint the trailer. Also going to order ultimate bunkboards, etc. if things go well.


----------



## DaveInGA

Lots of delays due to teeth, family visiting, son-in-law's van needing a radiator, etc., but managed to get in a tiny bit of work on my boat trailer this weekend. 

I'm using the plastic deckboard for the fender "bunks" and for the side steps. In order to do this, I felt a repair to the fenders where they had begun to separate from the frame and reinforcement of the step area (and some welding repair to the original step supports as well) were in order.

I called a buddy of mine who owns a small TIG welder setup with gas and he agreed to do the work for beer. (Gotta love this payment system, as after the work is done, we watch college football on his TV while drinking the beer and his wife feeds us.) My wife was going to be out of town Saturday, so I headed his way and arrived at 10AM. 

He had lots of steel surplus ladder rack (You guys in the IT and Telecom industries know what I'm talking about.) to supply the steel we'd need, so I didn't have to buy anything but a twelve pack of quality beer. (What can I say, he's a cheap date. LOL) We got to work and had the work done in a couple of hours.

It isn't pretty, as he's an amateur welder, but it's sturdy (yes, we tested all the welds via big ball peen hammer) and it'll mostly be hidden by either the board I'm putting on or ground smooth and painted. Here's some pics:






The left fender reinforced/repaired. He did the best job on this weld.






The left step reinforced and repaired. Welds aren't pretty, but they're solid and the framing will do the job. The original supports had a weld added vertically to eliminate the possibility of their original thin and rusty welds failing.






The right fender reinforced/repaired. Again an ugly weld, but I'll smooth it out a bit and with some paint, it'll do fine. I checked it and while ugly, it was strong.






The left step reinforced and repaired. Again, ugly repairs, but with some blending and paint and most of this covered up, it'll do the job I need it to do. It'll prevent me from falling through the step and breaking an ankle.

Lastly, I picked up a couple of nozzles for my sand blaster up from my buddy, so I'll be able to finish sandblasting the trailer this week and paint it. Finally! Some progress!


----------



## tccanoe

DaveInGA said:


> Thanks Fellers,
> 
> I'm on the mend now and will be working on the boat this Saturday. Daughter is in town with some grand babies, so that's taking priority as well.
> 
> After welding, I'm going to finish off the sandblasting of the trailer, coat it with Ospho solution, let that dry over night, then hopefully if the temperature hasn't dropped below 35 degrees F, paint the trailer. Also going to order ultimate bunkboards, etc. if things go well.


I know it's hard to keep a good man down but this man stays up AND positive to boot....


----------



## Troutman3000

How many if those fish elites were left? I really want one but dont want to wait until 9 to go if there were only a few left.


----------



## 89Suburban

Dave, you are doing one hell of an amazing job on that boat and trailer, excellent thread, keep it up. Thanks for the pics and desciptions and step by step posting. There isn't enough time to get the job done to begin with and when a person takes the extra time to put this on a forum is a lot of work, dedication and pride.

=D>


----------



## DaveInGA

Troutman3000 said:


> How many if those fish elites were left? I really want one but dont want to wait until 9 to go if there were only a few left.



At the time I bought mine, about 2/3rds of a box/case.


----------



## DaveInGA

89Suburban said:


> Dave, you are doing one hell of an amazing job on that boat and trailer, excellent thread, keep it up. Thanks for the pics and desciptions and step by step posting. There isn't enough time to get the job done to begin with and when a person takes the extra time to put this on a forum is a lot of work, dedication and pride.
> 
> =D>



Thank you for the compliment. It's been slower than usual, between work etc. I planned on picking up some more sand blasting nozzles today, but I was called into work and won't be able to pick them up until Monday. I'm probably going to make a trip to Northern tool to get some media with more bite on Monday along with picking up the nozzles and a face shield then.

Then hope is to finish sandblasting Tuesday if all goes well, order Ultimate bunks Tuesday night/afternoon. I'll Ospho Wednesday, let dry and paint Thursday. Pick up hardware Thursday afternoon and assemble Friday. My fingers are crossed. I really want to finish the trailer and get back to the boat, but everything, including the weather, isn't cooperating.


----------



## Troutman3000

Did you get the 480 or the 640? They didnt have any of the color ones when i called.


----------



## DaveInGA

Troutman3000 said:


> Did you get the 480 or the 640? They didnt have any of the color ones when i called.



I bought the 640 online a while back. I got the 480 at Bass Pro on Black Friday.


----------



## 89Suburban

I used to do backyard redneck boat mods and posted them on another site, I wish I was a member here then. Did it just like you Dave with all the step by step pics and stuff. Just not to this extreme because my boat had to be ready to hit the water during the process. I'll have to see if I kept any of the home vids I made and share it here. I will be following your thread here, keep up the great work. Nice to see you have a decent enought workshop to do this in. I had to do everything outside. I was out there all winter last year replacing wood and carpet and wiring in my old boat in 20 degree weather. :shock: I sold that and picked up the tracker in my sig. I want to mod that as well, make a center console out of it.


----------



## bassin026

Dave, 
I put the ultimate bunks on my trailer in June and Love them, the only addition I made was to add bunk enders
from Cabela's for $12.99 per pair (item # IK - 013509 EZ - Slide Bunk Ender Pads) as I did not like the rear of the bunks being square, 
I was afraid that they could damage the boat somehow, depending on the angle of the boat ramp, the bunk enders took care of the matter and now the bunks have round ends. I could not be happier with this combination
Mod looks great


----------



## hsiftac

any updates on this?


----------



## DaveInGA

It's been a long time since I've been able to work on the boat, trailer or anything. Last spring a year ago, my 90 year old father came to live with us. He's been quite a handful to take care of, as he's suffering from Alzheimer's, congestive heart failure and just plain old age. But after a long hard year, was able to get back to working on the boat or at least the trailer. Got the trailer completed. I apologize this post won't show my normal detail, but there was just too much to get done and it was done as quickly as possible, as I really wanted to get done.

Last anyone knew, I had stripped the trailer down, started sandblasting it and then took it over to a buddy's house to get some welding done for repairs and strengthening. Once that was done, we disassembled everything and dropped it off at a body/auto repair shop to finish the sandblasting and for paint to be sprayed on everything needing paint. My son was with me when I picked it up and helped me assemble the freshly painted axle, springs and such back to the frame to take it home. About that time, Dad showed up and work got busy, so that's where everything sat until this past two weeks.

I got a huge amount of help from my son in law, who was very patient with me during the work, as I was very demanding of him about paying attention to detail and doing a good job. We discovered the painter had done a mediocre job of painting the trailer and several areas had paint worn thin, so we decided to clean up any rust, touch up with Ospho paint prep and repaint with brushes. Doesn't look quite as pretty real close up, but it looks great from five feet away, is thoroughly coated with paint and should last a long time. Here's some pics:

My son in law doing some touch up paint near the front chain and wiring. You can see the keel roller bracket welded in by the trailer factory and one of the bunk supports. The welded-in bracket was made for an 8.5" roller, which are no longer made today and the bunk support only has one hole for a bolt or lag screw. 






A pic back towards the rear of the trailer. You can see where my son installed the axle, springs and such using the original stainless steel hardware. I made a decision to paint over that hardware because the old stainless steel had rusted some and needed a coat of paint to protect it. Original springs, u-bolts and such were used. The Rustoleum Industrial paint from Home Depot I used to paint the trailer and axle parts is excellent stuff. Covers in a single coat, is very easy to paint with and looks great when done. At around 30 bucks a gallon, it's a lot less expensive than the boat paints and according to information I received from a very old boat salesman, works just as well or better. Tires and rims are new replacements, as originals were dry rotted from years of neglect and rims would have cost more to restore than using new. Note the support brackets for the side bunks and the tire fenders with the tabs to mount additional side support. Originals were carpet covered wood. I used plastic board I got from Home Depot at a discount, as the original purchaser changed his mind after it had arrived.





A couple of pics of the side bunks and the replacement steps and additional side support. I used ultimate bunk boards in black for the bunks and the plastic wood from Home Depot to replace the original. To shape the plastic wood/boards, I used a contractor saw, the bandsaw pictured earlier and a palm sander to smooth out the bandsaw cuts. To drill holes, I used a small drill press from Harbor Freight. The materials all cut smoothly. All hardware was replaced with new stainless steel.





In this picture, you can see where I drilled and counter sunk to use #6 stainless steel machine screws with lock washers and nuts to mount the side support plastic board through the original holes made by self cutting screws used by the original manufacturer. I thought the #6 screws might be a bit light, but they worked and held great if not over torqued. If any break during use, I'll replace them with a #8 machine screw.





In this picture, you can see the drilled and counter sunk stainless steel bolts mounting the bunks to the trailer. The little blur on the side of the 2x4 in the photo is actually a small weep hole I drilled to drain any water from the area. If the hole clogs with lake water silt, I'll drill it out a bit larger with a larger bit.





View from the rear, shows the three foot side bunk, the side support and the foot step as well as the left tail light with the license plate mount. If you look closely, you can see the bar the left signal light is mounted on is canted to water will drain out. What you can't see is the weep hole drilled in the bend of the bar to allow water to drain off and prevent corrosion. A little extra work, but I suspect I'll be glad I did that down the road.


----------



## DaveInGA

Post continued. It's hard to see in this pic, but the frame had bends to accommodate the V-hull of the boat and the bends had a trough that held water and caused rust/corrosion. If you look close, you'll see a dark spot that represents the weep hole I drilled through the top and bottom of the frame to drain the water out of the frame. Found out it worked when my son in law got soaked from water that had been in the frame for who knows how long.





The original owner used these use L-brackets with bolts to mount the tubing for his guide-ons to the frame, then used stainless U-bolts below. I re-used everything, but replaced the rusted out standard nylocks with stainless hardware. Because the U-bolts cleaned up okay, but tended to rust, I chose to paint over them to prevent corrosion. I don't see myself removing them any time soon.





The original owner mounted the signal lights by pushing the bolt on the back of the light through a hole in the J-shaped square bar, then somehow managing to put a single nut inside the J-shaped square bar, then tightening it down. I fabricated some aluminum brackets, mounted them to the J-shaped square bar, then mounted the lights to the J-shaped square bar. Seemed to be much more solid. You can see in the picture where the wire has been soldered, then heat shrinked. The ground wire (in yellow) has been tinned with solder, then crimped to minimize corrosion. I wanted to solder it as well, but my soldering iron was not of sufficient wattage to get the job done in the cold and wind the day of install. The plan is to push the wires back down in the frame, create drip loops at the bottom of the frame and wire bundle everything down.





A view of the other light with the wires pushed down and the license plate mount visible closer up.


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## DaveInGA

The side light mounted, working and touch up painting completed. Note: You have to splice to the hot, then remove some paint on the frame for the side light to work with the frame ground. Doing so required some touch up of the paint after the light was installed. All lights worked well. If you have questions, I'll put it off and take a picture of the splice and device used for the splice.





Wiring coming out the front of the frame and ending in the plug for the truck. Note the split plastic protection held around the wiring with plastic wire bundle ties and the ground wire tinned, crimped to a connector and held to the frame with a stainless bolt. The original bolt was short and the bolt held the chain on the other side, so was unable to hold the frame ground tightly. I'm sure the original owner had problems. See my solution in the next picture.





In this picture, you can see the solution. A nut with washer and lock washer against the frame to solidify the frame ground mount (seen opposite the frame as a small bit of yellow) in the previous picture. Then a washer, the chain, another washer, then a nylock stainless steel nut to hold the chain firmly in place. the double washers around the chain allow the chain to turn and twist, while allowing the nylock nut to hold firmly and not be twisted off, because the washers rotate and the nut stays still.


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## DaveInGA

A problem I ran into. The original welded during manufacture keel roller brackets were made for an 8.5" bracket, an item no longer manufactured. The closest thing was a 8" roller, leaving a big gap between the roller and the bracket. A lot of roller rod was exposed to the weather, not a good thing from a rust standpoint. Here's a couple pics:





Both pics show the same problem, too much gap, even if the hat/cap nuts are installed.





I found a solution at Ace Hardware. They carried a nylon washer, 5/8" inner diameter and 1/8" thick. Four of these took up the half inch of exposed roller rod and solved the problem. I greased the roller rod with Mobil 1 synthetic grease, installed the roller, the four nylon washers and the hat/cap nuts. Worked perfectly and solved the problem. The hat/cap nuts were a handful to install with the bracket located in a tight place between the frame. My son-in-law and I used a couple pieces of hard wood board, two wood clamps and managed to get the whole business locked down, then a couple taps of hammer on the hard wood to set the hat/cap nuts and whalah, keel roller installed. Note the nylon washers at one end of the roller, two to an end.


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## DaveInGA

The last keel roller and the wench installed on the original mount. The original setup was badly corroded, in pieces with the original wench and mounting bar in pieces in the boat when I bought it. I found the pieces, cleaned then up, sandblasted them, painted them, bought some new hardware and nuts, replaced the wench, the roller & caps, then re-installed everything. I was able to re-use some of the original bolts, but had to touch paint the exposed threads due to corrosion. The bolt tips are painted black in the picture. In this pic, the mount was mounted in the rear set of holes, which I guessed were the correct ones. I was wrong and we ended up moving the entire assembly to the holes in the frame closer to the hitch. You'll see that in a later picture.





A close up pic of the wench. It's axles have been lubed with synthetic oil and the gear greased with water proof grease. Like the rest of the trailer, stainless steel mounting hardware.





Left side view of the completed trailer. You can see Mobile 1 synthetic grease on the jack. I also removed the top cap and placed a big wad inside on the gears. Ran much smoother than with the who-flung-dung grease it came with. The chinese made grease fitting wasn't worth much and I plan to replace it with a better made one - it leaked out the side. 





End view of the completed trailer. I ordered the bottom bunks to be one foot longer than the originals. This allowed them to sit right at the frame in the front and run beyond the boat six inches to the rear with the boat on the trailer. My hope is this will help with support and trailering.





All in all, I was pretty satisfied with the trailer's appearance, even with the brush painting.


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## Brine

Welcome back Dave. Looking good.


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## DaveInGA

With the trailer done, the next step was to get the exterior of the boat as clean as possible, then put the boat back on the trailer so it can be transported to get an aluminum framed transom welded up. So I needed some chemicals to clean it with.

First up, "The works," a bathroom chemical, didn't work so well with the significant amount of many year old hard water deposits (calcium, lyme, etc.) the boat had from years of sitting in the water at a dock. This stuff cleaned some, but didn't get enough off.





Next up, Mag cleaner for rough wheels. This was a mixture of several acids and while it wasn't perfect and required a good bit of scrubbing, it got the job done. I was very appreciate of my son-in-law, who did the hard work of taking the lower sections, allowing me to save my back working on the upper sections.





The boat on the trailer ready to go to the welder's and get a new transom. It's been a long time coming and I'm glad to get the project going again.


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## DaveInGA

Brine said:


> Welcome back Dave. Looking good.



Thanks for the welcome back and the compliment. I'm glad to be back working on the boat again. Since the last I posted, I've gained 7 grandchildren in my life. An amazing thing at my young age. Children and children in law have been busy.


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## gillhunter

Dave Your project was one of the first ones I looked at when I started lurking on this site a couple of years ago. Glad to see you are able to start on it again, it's looking great!!

Mike


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## dkhunter8383

Haven't been on the site for awhile and just read this whole post, and all I have to say is WOW. Great pictures and incredible detail. This is a great thread and congrats. Can't wait to see the finished product!


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## hsiftac

Glad to have you back, I've been watching this build from the beginning and am really looking forward to see the end product. You do great work and do an excellent job of documenting it


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## DaveInGA

gillhunter said:


> Dave Your project was one of the first ones I looked at when I started lurking on this site a couple of years ago. Glad to see you are able to start on it again, it's looking great!!
> 
> Mike



Mike, Thanks for the compliment. For a while I didn't think I was going to be able to for taking care of my Dad. He's finally settled down and now it's more about scheduling and re-thinking what I was going to do. I'm torn between using rivets in many areas as I originally planned or having several things welded.



dkhunter8383 said:


> Haven't been on the site for awhile and just read this whole post, and all I have to say is WOW. Great pictures and incredible detail. This is a great thread and congrats. Can't wait to see the finished product!



Thanks dkhunter, always good to have encouragement. Motivates me to finish.



hsiftac said:


> Glad to have you back, I've been watching this build from the beginning and am really looking forward to see the end product. You do great work and do an excellent job of documenting it



Thank you for the welcome, hsiftac. It's good when you guys that have watched the build from the beginning speak up. Makes me feel like I didn't get lost. Also motivates me to do good quality work to get a good end result.


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## fender66

Great project....very impressed with the details and great photos too.


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## Gators5220

I love this build and the attention to detail, might have to steal some of these ideas for my future larger offshore build.


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## Bugpac

Dave, how thick are your hatch covers, you could get Bassboy to bend some spines you could rivet to the backside instead of the plywood. Looking good Btw.


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## DaveInGA

fender66 said:


> Great project....very impressed with the details and great photos too.



Thank you. I try to do a good job with pics, because I've learned so much looking at other's posts on this board, I want those who read my posts to benefit from the pictures I put out.



Gators5220 said:


> I love this build and the attention to detail, might have to steal some of these ideas for my future larger offshore build.



Just be aware I'm building for freshwater use. If I were doing saltwater, I'd be using tinned wire and be even more particular about sealing of wiring, touch up painting, etc.



Bugpac said:


> Dave, how thick are your hatch covers, you could get Bassboy to bend some spines you could rivet to the backside instead of the plywood. Looking good Btw.



The hatch covers are either half or three quarter inch thick. Not sure what you're meaning about spines and riveting to the backside. Can you elaborate?


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## Bugpac

How thick is the aluminum, they added the wood backing to stiffen them correct? If they were like .080 you could probably just add a spine "stiffener" to the back sides, and ditch the wood.


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## DaveInGA

Bugpac said:


> How thick is the aluminum, they added the wood backing to stiffen them correct? If they were like .080 you could probably just add a spine "stiffener" to the back sides, and ditch the wood.



With the exception of one hatch cover that was entirely wood and needs replacing, the rest had aluminum stiffeners. Right now, I'm planning on getting Bassboy to make an aluminum hatch to replace the wood one.

The storage bins, on the other hand, all had carpeted wood lids and the seat supports used a double stuff of 1" plywood to strengthen them (Made it a bear to take them off the boat when I was removing and cleaning.). The storage bins had an aluminum hinge and aluminum plate backing to strengthen them. I'm probably going to use more of the plastic wood like I used on my trailer (The brown stuff) to replace the carpeted wood on the storage bins, as I feel like I'm going to need some sound deadening and I like the way these feel under the feet and the way they should look in the color scheme I have planned. That leaves the seat supports, which I'm thinking right now would be ideal candidates for aluminum bracing.

Overall, I should end up with a significantly lighter boat than before. Hopefully, this will help the 75HP motor have a bit more get up and go from the improvement of the power to weight ratio. Can't improve the power, so lightening the weight is the alternative.


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## bigwave

I have to say your mod is one of the best in regards to the attention to detail. Very nice work sir. I cant wait to see the finished product. =D>


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## Gators5220

Yes I realize all the issues that come with saltwater all too well, that's why I always a go way big on wire size to prevent corrosion and b use shrink wrap followed by liquid electrical tape on all connections...


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## DaveInGA

bigwave said:


> I have to say your mod is one of the best in regards to the attention to detail. Very nice work sir. I cant wait to see the finished product. =D>



Thank you, I'm in the planning stages now related to re-building the transom, replacing items that were wood on the original boat and deciding what level of modifications I want to do. I'm picking up a sheet of aluminum hopefully tomorrow and should have enough sheet aluminum at that time to do the work.

Can't decide what I want to start on first, cost is going to be a consideration and some of the work I'll have to farm out, as I don't have the tools and don't want to buy the tooling to do the work myself (too big and too expensive). I'm working with a fabricator to handle the stuff I don't want to buy tooling for.

Please be patient though, because of cost associated with doing things right, it may take a while.




Gators5220 said:


> Yes I realize all the issues that come with saltwater all too well, that's why I always a go way big on wire size to prevent corrosion and b use shrink wrap followed by liquid electrical tape on all connections...



That is exactly what I would do. I went standard wiring with my trailer, due to the fact the trailer is a trailer and I've seen how lights, wiring and such can get tore up and need replacement with my wife's business. I'm not going to use marine wire on the boat, but I will use larger wire and tin any wiring that is exposed as well as solder connections and box as much electronic/electric parts as possible. I think a lot of factory boats had failures due to the exposed electronics.


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## DaveInGA

I'm excited. Picked up a sheet of the .125" aluminum bugpac had for sale. Got home and took some measurements a couple minutes ago. Near as I can tell, I should have enough aluminum to complete the flooring of my boat and do all the reinforcing I want to do.

I am considering having some "C" channel made per bugpac's suggestion to use as floor reinforcement rather than buying a more expensive aluminum bracketing or square tubing. 

There's a couple things I need to work out and make decisions on, because of course nothing is perfect and I'll have to make a butt splice or two to cover the floor area completely unless I replace one section of aluminum side wall or modify a couple panels by adding "skirts" to make the panels longer. Decisions, decisions....


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## blink

Awesome build!

I love how your winch says "NOT FOR THE MOVEMENT OF HUMANS"


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## DaveInGA

blink said:


> Awesome build!
> 
> I love how your winch says "NOT FOR THE MOVEMENT OF HUMANS"



That is funny. Thing works great for boats though.


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## klaypigeon

I am impressed. Looks like a great project...looking forward to the progress.


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## Gators5220

What kinda fishing do you do up your way? Bass, crappie, pike, catfish, bronzebacks, etc?


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## DaveInGA

Gators5220 said:


> What kinda fishing do you do up your way? Bass, crappie, pike, catfish, bronzebacks, etc?



Freshwater stripers, spotted bass, crappie, bluegills and blue/channel catfish are all in the larger lakes. The boat I'm working on is intended to get me into some of the larger lakes, such as Lake Sidney Lanier.

In the smaller lakes, you'll see blue gill, crappie, catfish and hybrid bass being stocked now. In local ponds, you'll see largemouth bass as well. In the rivers, other types of fish, depending. Georgia has a pretty wide spread of things, depending on what part of the state. Lots of trout as you head back towards the mountains. I may yet go into these smaller lakes, but I'll need to add a trolling motor front and rear for that. My 75HP Mercury may be a big deterrent for the smaller lakes, not sure I can leave it on the back of the boat and just add a rear troller or not. 

Of all those mentioned, I have a real taste for bluegills and spotted bass. I'm probably not a good catch and release kinda guy, depending on the fish.


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## DaveInGA

Got what appears to be a little bit of progress done in between getting my Dad's minivan ready so my son will have something to drive now that he's finished up Columbia University in New York and has been accepted into the University of North Carolina's program.

I've been doing some planning and acquiring some aluminum for decks as well as other supplies and tools. I picked up a rolling toolbox from HF to hold the tools I'm going to need for working and installing the aluminum sheeting/decking as well as various other stuff. I wanted something I could roll close to the boat without hauling around my huge rolling toolbox. Here's a couple pics with a sheet metal setup:












I decided to go ahead and install the fore storage deck (replacing an original wood deck) and put up a couple panels to protect my rod tips and wiring that will be on either side of this deck next to the hull.

High tech marking tool and a nice big hunk of cardboard to mark on:





I wasn't going to touch the sides, so just needed a rough outline so I could follow the curve of the hull while staying safely away. No need to be close in this area. Curve roughly copied and ready to transfer:


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## DaveInGA

With the sheet aluminum cut and ready to install, I needed to drill some holes and set some rivets. 

Here's some old school tools for you, power cord and pneumatic line attached. They're big, bulky and have the power to get the job done and save you labor. The DeWalt drills torque and a high speed steel drill bit made short work of drilling out 1/8th inch aluminum sheet and the Harbor Freight Pneumatic Riveter handled those high strength rivets with ease. I was done with the storage deck in a few minutes and never even got a sore arm:





Part Number of HF riveter:





Storage Deck installed. I tried out my excellent battery powered drill, but the DeWalt was the ticket in this situation:


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## DaveInGA

Making angle brackets the quick way on the table saw. I'm using a cheapie Harbor Freight carbide tipped blade. Much less expensive than my Italian made blades I use for woodworking and once I'm done with cutting this aluminum, in the trash I can toss the blade. 

Cutting support brackets:





I didn't have a lot of L shaped angle aluminum, so I decided to fabricate some thinner brackets for the non-structural panels I'm using on both storage area sides to protect my rod tips and wiring. Here's how I got it done:

El cheapo Harbor Freight sheet metal brake. Not very strong, but works great on light weight aluminum as long as you clamp the bar down like I did - see next couple pics.





Clamping work down:





Completed bracket:





Installing lightweight bracket:





Backside of wire protection panel, viewed from fore. Note L bracket at bottom and homemade bracket at top:





View of same panel, viewed from aft. Note L bracket at bottom and homemade bracket at top:





Port view of wire storage protection panel installed. Not sure if you can see the nasty angles. This panel was a pain to make. Glad I only had to do two. I can't show the other side because some of my pics came out black for some reason. I'll have to retake some and post later.


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## DaveInGA

With the storage deck done, I started prepping the 5 storage hatches (3 with bins) the boat original came with. Here's a couple pics of original condition:

In boat:





Removed from boat:





First I painted them:

Good paint and the attached doodad saved my finger:





Results. Note I am NOT and DO NOT claim to be a spray painter:





Next, I installed trexx board using my tablesaw and a good blade to cut it. Stuff cuts like butter with a saw blade. Here's the trexx laid in for a mock up with the hatch lid pull on top:





I didn't have quite enough of the trexx board to complete using two board, so for one bin, I had to use scrap. Here is the scrap mocked in. There are no screws holding things down, so they look a little un-level, since the old aluminum lids under them are a little banged up and bent. Screwing them together will pull the boards level. I am debating rounding off the side edges with a 1/4" round over bit to make the gap look a little more natural on all of these hatch lids.


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## DaveInGA

More pics to come soon. Stay tuned.


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## DaveInGA

Bugpac delivered on the 59" by 53" sheet of aluminum I needed to complete the console deck and the pressure was on to finish the storage access and storage bin refurbs, because as soon as the console deck is installed, the casting deck is next on the list, so the hatches have to be ready. My son is coming into town tomorrow and I'm hoping to get a huge jump on completing many of the tasks necessary to complete the major aluminum work done while he's here.

In the meantime, here's pics of the refurbed hatches and storage bins. I'm real happy with how they turned out, even with the paint dings I managed to get and will have to touch up:





Getting the trexx board to fit in the banged up 1986 hatch lids was a tougher job than I thought. Took me two days to fit the boards to length, round over the edges with a 1/4" round over bit in a trim router so the edges would have a finished look against each other, then drill the needed screw holes and mount the boards. Because I was buying someone else's reject trexx board, the size wasn't perfect and I had to fit what I had rather than being able to make a couple cuts and toss it in there. Not ideal, but I got it done.

A comparison of the two:





A close up of the installed hatch pull. I re-used the 1986 originals after learning how much these things cost. They were greyish from sun and dirty, but I cleaned them up, scrubbed off the grey, then wiped them down with Turtle Wax 2000 silicone spray. Stuff made them look pretty decent and wasn't greasy slick like Armor All. They don't look new, but they do have a little character being as old as they are. I really liked the look:





Here's a close up of the toughest one. This bin had a bent aluminum lip (originally had plywood covered with carpet on it) and I had to fit four boards. Ironically, it turned out to look the best to me. Mounted the boards with #8 sheet metal screws 1/2" long. Used three per board. Drilled holes for the extra screws and enlarged some of the original screws to fit the #8 screws. Also used a 1/16" drill bit to drill a pilot hole in each trexx board for the mounting:





For comparison, here's a closeup of one of the two board bins. Much easier to do, but didn't look near as nice. I wasn't perfect in taking the same amount of material off each board. My 30 year old back injury was flaring up today and I needed to get it done, so I got it done.





Finally, my screw job. Looks crappy with misaligned screws, but the back was saying "you need to speed up," so perfect alignment went out the window, but strength was maintained. I'll have to touch the paint up. But the bins and hatches are ready.


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## DaveInGA

Started installing the console deck, the fore casting deck and fore trolling motor deck. Here's some pics:

The console deck installed. No additional support was needed, so it was a straight drill and rivet job.






The aluminum sheet was sheered to length thanks to bugpac and all I had to do was trim the slight inward curve of the starboard side towards the front. (At least, so I thought.) Made some measurements, trimmed off the needed aluminum with my new (you guessed it) Harbor Freight jigsaw I bought on sale for $50.00. This one: https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/jig-saws/orbital-jigsaw-with-laser-cutting-guide-94560.html). Saw worked fantastic with a Bosch high speed metal cutting blade in it, cutting through the aluminum like butter. 

My son drilled the holes for me and set the rivets using my pneumatic pop rivet gun. (Young man has much more mechanical aptitude than he thinks he does. Did a great job with the drilling and riveting. Didn't wear out my bits using too much downward force. Let the drill bit do the work instead of pushing.) Once the sheet was cut, it went pretty fast. What I didn't count on was the port fore and after corner areas of the console deck area not being square. (Both were several degrees larger than 90 degrees. Not enough you could see with the human eye though.) We got the deck in, but due to gaps caused by the angles being off, I'm going to have to trim with some 90 degree angle aluminum I had bent from .125" scrap I had. Here's a pic of the gap:




Midway the port side, gap not so bad looking.




This picture shows the gap a bit better. Gap is actually about 3/8" or perhaps a bit more. You can also see the grey rubber mat I'm going to use to pad the rod locker with stuck in the rod locker.


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## DaveInGA

My Grizzly Grip samples came in. Here they are next to one of the refurbed hatches:




I was originally liking the safari tan/sand color the best, but after comparing the three colors to the hatch and the chocolate brown fiberglass console, I'm leaning toward the camouflage tan, which is more a true tan. Jury still out on aromatic vs. aliphatic. The aliphatic is very hard while the aromatic is softer. But the aromatic fades and is more easily damaged. I do think I prefer the fine grit over the coarse rubber. Easier on the knees.

Close up of safari tan:





Closeup of camouflage tan:





Closeup of almond:





Any of the three should be cool enough. The camouflage tan matches my stuff the best in person and the safari tan/sand would show dirt the least. Right now, it's a tossup between the camo tan and safari tan.


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## DaveInGA

Beginning of casting deck frame work. First, a pic of the mockup of the port deck hatch and the seat base:





Beginning frame work using hat channel. Love this stuff. Very easy to install and very strong once installed.





Framework in progress:




I was going to add hatch accessible storage area to the forward section of this deck, but found out during installation about half the forward area will be covered by the trolling motor deck, so I decided against it. Instead, I'll add organizing compartments for the plano tackle trays in the current storage area and on the outside edges of the casting deck.

Framework complete for port hatch and seat base:




Note the green paint covering the sheet aluminum reinforcement I made from scrap aluminum sheeting I had. This addition substantially increased the stability and ridgity of the seat base mount. Addition of the aluminum decking will create what I hope to be a very stable sandwich I can mount the seat base through and have no wobble, a key to prevent mounting bolt wear out and base bending. I am debating adding vertical support at the center under the seat base and hatch framing. Haven't made a decision yet. May have to lay the sheet on the frame and walk on it before I can make the final decision.


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## DaveInGA

Fore Trolling motor deck support begun:





I didn't have any flush mount rivets, so to save time, I used flush mount stainless steel screws with nylock stainless nuts. If I have to order any more rivets, I will replace these with flush mount aluminum rivets before final assembly. But using the stainless steel screws allowed me to see if my concept for the fore deck would work. It was very sturdy.

Closer view of the aft section of the trolling motor deck support. I am going to add some additional c-channel across the back. It won't be mounted to the side unless I add some solid rivet mounted brackets to the hull, but should add additional stiffness even if not mounted.





Closeup view of the fore deck mounting support showing what's left past the support. The 1/8" aluminum sheet will rest on the nylock nuts of the nose cap mounting bolts. This will make the trolling motor deck be very close to the top of the rub rail, allowing easy mounting of the trolling motor. Should be plenty of room for the forward light and the fish/depth finder along with the GPS puck as well.


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## novaman

Real Nice =D> . Really fine looking conversion, can't wait to see the finished floor, since I'm just installing my floor now. You've also presented a very complete set of pics for everything done. great job 8)


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## DaveInGA

novaman said:


> Real Nice =D> . Really fine looking conversion, can't wait to see the finished floor, since I'm just installing my floor now. You've also presented a very complete set of pics for everything done. great job 8)



Thanks Novaman. I'm not a professional sheet metal worker or anything like that. Just a guy who wanted a nice boat to fish and run around on the lake out of. I had never worked with aluminum at all before this build, so I'm learning as I go. I have worked enough with woodworking to know that tools can make a job a lot easier, so I tend to post the tools I use so folks can use that information and either make the job easier or save money on a tool. So far, it's worked for me. I noticed from checking out your build you've done some of this. I wish I had a few of the tools you mentioned, such as a brake. Several things I'd like to do I have to hire out due to the lack of such tools.


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## Brine

Looking good Dave. 

How much does the hat channel run? What are the dimensions?


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## bigwave

Very nice work Dave, I would like to know how much that cap channel cost too. =D>


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## fender66

Beautiful work. =D> =D>


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## DaveInGA

Brine said:


> Looking good Dave.
> 
> How much does the hat channel run? What are the dimensions?





bigwave said:


> Very nice work Dave, I would like to know how much that cap channel cost too. =D>



Thanks Brine and bigwave. 

The hat channel was made out of aluminum scrap I had. The scrap was bought over a year ago in a big batch I bought with a couple other large sections, so I'm not sure how much it costs. I do know it was 1/8" thick, about 8' long and about 16" wide. I located a local metal fabricator, called them and asked them to do form the channel as a "work in" job. I got a single 2" wide, 1/2" tall "C" channel, 5 sticks of the "hat" channel and 7 sticks of "L" channel done for *$100.00*. They also gave me back the two left over aluminum strips, which are clean enough to use as spacers, trim, etc.

The dimension of the finished sticks, not including length were:

"Hat" channel: 5/8" tall, 1" wide at top, 1/2" wide at bottom. Top will be where the rivets for the deck sheet will be riveted. The bottom is where the rivets are set in the pictures.

"L" channel: Bent at 90 degrees, there is a curve to deal with, just like in structural extruded aluminum, but the strength is there. Each side of the "L" is 1 inch. Note: After using this, If I did it over again, I would make it either 1 1/2" or 2 inches. 1" is pretty tight to get rivets into and if you cut a 1" section to use as a bracket, you can only place a single rivet, where with taller section, you could use two rivets.

"C" channel: 2" wide, 3/8" tall bent at 90 degrees. Thick was made as an "error" by the fabricator, but was useful channel I was able to use in the front section. Turns out if I didn't have it, the "hat" channel would have been too tall to use in that area with the reinforcing backing sheet I used underneath the "C" channel. The hat channel used that way would have pushed the deck above the rub rail. The "C" channel combined with the 1/8" aluminum sheet above and below it gave me a height/thickness of 5/8 inches, a perfect height for placement of the deck sheet above the mounting nuts of the nose cap and allows the sheet to rest on the nuts, giving a bit of support in an area where there was none.

I am not sure, but I think this is much cheaper for the amount I bought than what a couple 25 foot sticks of channel would have cost me had I bought it pre-made from a aluminum distributor. I priced some extruded structural "C" channel online for $68.00/25ft, but the shipping was double the cost of the channel, making the total price unreasonable.

I want to make mention that when replacing rotted wood decks with aluminum, location of the deck height is a consideration to think about, especially if you want to re-use original aluminum paneling, which is cut to fit the thickness of the wood. 

If you just throw the sheet down without raising it, you end up with side (and other) panels that are too short to reach down to the new deck without adding a "skirt" or other trim to make up the gap. I made a decision in the console area to not use additional support, because the center to center spacing was good to support the 1/8" thick aluminum, but I ended up with one panel that's too short and I'll have to add some trim to close the gap.

On the fore casting deck, I guessed the original deck height was 3/4 inch and used the channel I had made to raise the deck sheet to that height. On the trolling motor deck, I decided to raise the height where I could use the front cap's mounting nuts as support for the front tip of the deck. I may be wrong on the thickness of the original fore casting deck, it may have been thicker. If so, I may have to use channel or a piece of 1" square aluminum tubing I have to make up the height for the original transition panel I am wanting to keep. 

I'm going to hire a man to weld in the transom and I may get him or the fabricating company to make me a new transition panel out of 1/8" sheet. This will make the trolling motor deck much more stable and secure, but will add additional cost. Decisions, decisions.....


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## DaveInGA

fender66 said:


> Beautiful work. =D> =D>



Thanks Fender66


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## Bugpac

quickly playing around.

If enough people were interested, I would consider taking a entire sheet of Aluminum and making 10 ft sticks of hat channel out of it. it would be a bit pricey. probably 40.00 each.


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## DaveInGA

That's a nice drawing. I've got some work ahead of me cutting up the big aluminum sheets I have now, then I think I'll be ready to do something about the console. I'd like a center console like the one you have drawn up, but routing the steering cable and setting the boat up for a center console would be just a bit to much work to do in my boat. Too many things would have to change that I liked about the boat.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to use the Bass Tracker console and base I now have, so I'll likely sell that and any related parts to help offset some of the costs of making a new console. It'll make someone who is putting back in plywood floors a quick easy install.


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## Bugpac

DaveInGA said:


> That's a nice drawing. I've got some work ahead of me cutting up the big aluminum sheets I have now, then I think I'll be ready to do something about the console. I'd like a center console like the one you have drawn up, but routing the steering cable and setting the boat up for a center console would be just a bit to much work to do in my boat. Too many things would have to change that I liked about the boat.
> 
> I'm pretty sure I'm not going to use the Bass Tracker console and base I now have, so I'll likely sell that and any related parts to help offset some of the costs of making a new console. It'll make someone who is putting back in plywood floors a quick easy install.




were the controls on the side of the console, or the side of the boat. I drew this as a side console, Its to short to stand as a center I think. If you give me some dimensions and stuff I can edit and adjust.


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## DaveInGA

Bugpac said:


> were the controls on the side of the console, or the side of the boat.
> The controls were mounted on the side of the boat.
> 
> I drew this as a side console, Its to short to stand as a center I think. If you give me some dimensions and stuff I can edit and adjust.



It may be a day or two, I still have to figure out what height and such I want the console to be.


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## DaveInGA

Well, decided to go a different way on the console, cost and a need to get done returned me to standard console. Will still add some mods later on, but that's the one I'm going with. In the meantime, here's some progress 6-16-12:

Mocking up electricals - charger socket






Mock up - battery trays





Mock up - breaker and LED light





Old casting deck panel





Drilling new casting deck panel





Painted new casting deck panel


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## DaveInGA

Progress 6-16-12 continued:

Panel painted, mocked up and ready for lettering (Lot of work in making a panel)





Lining rod locker (Wish I'd used a different adhesive, but it worked well in the long run.)





Rear storage compartment painted, will be floored like rod locker above later on.


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## DaveInGA

More Progress on 6-22-12:

Adapting inexpensive trailer LED lights to work with boats. These lights were water proofed/potted, but used a tab for the ground against the trailer. I replaced the metal tab with a soldered in wire and potted the finished areas.





Here's the stuff I used to pot/waterproof the LED board with:





Completed panel with switched installed and ready to go into boat. The Rustoleum Hammered green paint and stick on vinyl letters has been over-coated with clearcoat to prevent them coming off.


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## DaveInGA

More progress 8-20-12, yes, I've been slack on my posting. I've been busting tail trying to get boat finished and ready to fish.

Installing bilge (one auto and one manual bilge pump) and aerator pumps, glued to bilge floor with goop.





Running bilge and live well exhaust hose





Good tool to save wrists when tightening hose clamps.





Trim wire bundle repair in process - the yellow bundle ties remind me of what needs repair/replacement. Blue tape is label/identification tags.





Console wire bundle repair in process


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## DaveInGA

More progress 8-20-12:

Replace rod locker rotted wood with Trexx board leftover. Heavy, but cheaper than hiring someone to make a new locker door.  Used stainless steel screws.





Adding flotation to rear deck area. Pink board replaced old open cell foam chunks installed by Bass Tracker.





Installing cleaned/painted/refurbed fuel/battery deck.


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## DaveInGA

Progress from 9-16-12, yes, I know I've been slack. Boat is almost finished and more pics to come.

Old console panel, plastic, crumbly and showing it's age





Replacement aluminum panel mocked up and ready for paint





Rebuilt console wiring bundle, ready to be installed and connected.





New fuse panel added to replace well worn old fuse panel.





New tach replacement cable installed, ready to be connected to control wiring.


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## DaveInGA

More progress pics to follow as soon as I can get pictures taken. Most of back deck is done, installing front casting deck and trolling motor deck tomorrow. Once I do that, then everything else is clean up, paint and start installing accessories like trolling motors and fish finders.


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## fool4fish1226

Dave - The boat is coming along great keep up the the good work :beer:


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## DaveInGA

fool4fish1226 said:


> Dave - The boat is coming along great keep up the the good work :beer:



F4F, 

Thank you for the compliment and encouragement. Your "A Little Snookered" boat has been one of my inspiration boats when I come on the forum. I'm putting on the front decks and will be putting down the Grizzly Grip this week. 

I went with aliphatic coarse to insure traction and durability. I would have went with the fine, but my wife has some issues related to vision and I want to make sure she has the best in traction I can give her without going to carpet.


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## Brine

I think the finish line might be in sight


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## DaveInGA

Brine said:


> I think the finish line might be in sight



So close I can taste it. It's making me drool.


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## DaveInGA

Got the front casting deck cut, fitted (What a job, whew!) and mounted today. Just gotta cut out the hatch holes and trim it out, then on to the trolling motor deck. Pictures to follow at some point.


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## DaveInGA

Got to a point I'm about ready to put on Grizzly Grip and mount accessories, so decided it might be time to post some pics, so without further ado:

Son in law James cutting hatch holes for me. He was a life saver when my carpal tunnel and tennis elbow acted up, leaving my right hand numb & unable to control jigsaw:






One done, one partial:





Edge of deck before applying L-bracket for trim:





Trolling motor deck transition area:





Rear decks nearly done, minor stuff left, you can see console base installed and raised 2" to compensate for lower aluminum deck. I also raised the seats 1 1/4.":





Casting deck mockup, note L-bracket trim installed, hatches, seat base and wiring ready:





Making brackets to finish trolling motor deck install:





Trolling motor deck installed, ready for mockup:





That's where I'm at right now. Got some more problems with my teeth, going to the oral surgeon tomorrow morning. Who knows when I'll get back to the boat. Getting close to November and the start of my work busy season. #-o


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## Bugpac

Looks good Dave.


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## fool4fish1226

Looks real good :beer:


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## fender66

Awesome job! Looks great.


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## DaveInGA

Thanks guys, surgeon looked me over this morning at 11 to assess where I was at, then decided to wait and operate in the morning to give himself some more time. Not a good sign on one hand, but at least I'm not sick enough he has to operate now.

Looks like I might be able to finish the boat this fall and get it into the water after all. Picked up a Ram mount and transducer TM mount at bass pro while I was in the area as well. :lol:


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## bigwave

Your boat sure has come a long ways, I dont think there is anything else you could do......great job, hope you feel better.


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## DaveInGA

bigwave said:


> Your boat sure has come a long ways, I dont think there is anything else you could do......great job, hope you feel better.



The only things/extra touches I can think of are:

1. Build frame or "tower" to support the console fish finder with the Makita Contractor radio I bought as my "noise on boat."Am going to do, but haven't done yet.
2. Build frame/tower for casting deck/trolling motor deck, haven't decided which one to mount the front trolling motor on. I did pick up a "swing arm" style ram mount for the front trolling motor with the plan of using the original bracket that comes with the fish finder as my vertical gymbal while the swing arm will provide horizontal movement. Decided against, got a mount that worked better.
3. Build battery storage inside the console deck area, just behind the console deck in the corners there. This would open the storage back up under the casting deck to hold fishing tackle trays and "stuff." Another alternative would be to buy large tackle tray type tackle boxes and place them in the same area on the console deck with a "loop and rubber strap" arrangement. I'd like to hear input on this, but right now I'm going to use the boat and get a feel for what would be better after fishing it some.Still thinking on this.
4. Thinking on adding a front live well between where I mentioned putting the batteries. I could make this deep enough, while adding a "step" to make it easier for my wife to come on the front casting deck. Decided against this, due to cost and I'm not likely to keep a lot of larger fish.
6. Debating on whether to remove some paint and add the grizzly grip in key walking spots in the rear areas I have painted now. Probably going to do this at some point, as it's looking like I'll have of extra Grizzly Grip. Ended up with extra, will do this after it gets too cold to go out on the lake.
7. Thinking on adding grizzly grip to certain sections of the rub rail to increase safety. Another alternative was to sand it using a coarse grit to make it safer to step on getting in/out of the boat.
9. Grizzly Grip on parts of the trailer frame to increase safety while walking on the frame getting the boat on and off the trailer and the usual places people step. Did this.
10. Mounting the anchor light storage, the Nav light socket up front, the trolling motor w/quick release mount, the fish finder GPS hockey pucks, running associated wiring for all of the above. Done
11. Install starting battery group 24 and combo starter/trolling battery group 27 in back. Starter for starting only with a float charger on it and starter/trolling with a charger/float charger on it to run on board electronics/lights/horn/etc and to serve as a back up for the starting batter. Group 24 behind me and Group 27 behind my passenger, both in the fuel/battery/bilge area. After installing both, I've decided to eliminate the Group 24 starter battery and only use a combo Group 27 battery for the motor and accessories.
12. Install a short rubber cord to keep bilge hatch from bouncing. The plastic fuel tank holds it about 1/16" off the splash pan in back and I'm betting it would rattle going across the lake. Did this and it worked perfect.
11. Paint the exterior of the boat with a strip similar to the original, but in green, with the required areas for pin strip and letters pre-painted in black, then covered with peel off letters, then spray over with green and so I end up with painted letters and a painted pin stripe. I'm looking at Black for the base coast for letters and pinstripe and the same green I've been using for the over coat. Doing this after it turns cold.

Would love to hear comments on the boat and things I still am considering.


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## DaveInGA

Forgot to mention, extractions went well and though I'm numbed up right now, I actually feel healthier without that infection/abscess with it's swelling and put in my jaw. Just have to deal with the recovery from the guy cutting into my jaw to get teeth fragments out and I'm golden. Should be able to do small stuff this morning on the boat, rest this afternoon and I'm on my way to completion by this weekend! I am SOOOOOOO excited.!


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## Gators5220

Man that boat is so awesome and clean, nice job man... =D>


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## DaveInGA

Well, these are the final pics I'm posting. I still have a couple minor things to do, but I'm calling the restoration finished. I'll be putting the motor back on this week and by then, the last couple of things will be done. Here's the last pics:

Trollng motor deck in it's final form.





Trolling motor deck, different angle.





Casting deck, you can see how I managed to adapt the original transition panel to fit the change from plywood decking to aluminum.





Casting deck with rod locker in background.


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## DaveInGA

Front to rear view





Another front to rear view, shows paddle holder and console light better





Console viewed from port side, I opted for new tach, new console fiberglass top and new motor controls.





Port side view of console again, showing fuse block for easy access. If I had it to do over, I'd use blade fuses instead of the cylinder type.


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## DaveInGA

Console fore view showing navigation lights, wiring/cabling routing and home made horn sound port.





Aft view of console showing tach and home made switch panel that replaced a plastic factory panel that was crumbling.





Rear casting deck, the two items on the deck, a battery charger for the starting/accessory battery and a piece of plastic board to fill a gap in the trim & livewell hatch, are the last two items I need to install before I put the motor on. I'll do that today or tomorrow, then the motor is back on.





I'd like to say I'm excited, but at this point, I'm relieved. The shakedown voyage will be in the next two weeks after the motor is installed to tune the motor, test all the electronics, trim, etc and make sure the boat is water worthy.

Final plans are to add a bracket to hold another fishfinder (800 series side image Humminbird) and a place to mount the contractor radio I bought, a cover for the boat and motor and a bimini cover for myself and my fair skinned wife.

Thanks for looking, the advice and support I got here at tinboats.


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## gillhunter

Looks great Dave =D> =D> =D> . Can't wait to see pictures of it in the water. I know you will really enjoy it!


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## DaveInGA

Thanks Gill,

It's been a long time coming, but I'm hoping it's worth it.

Dave


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## RivRunR

Looks great...nice craftmanship!


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## Brine

Congrats Dave. You've done a great job. =D>


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## fool4fish1226

Real nice job - awesome =D>


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## DaveInGA

Thanks gentlemen,

Having seen the quality work you do, makes me feel great to read those comments. Now to get that motor on. :beer:


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## Gators5220

Sweet boat man!


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## DaveInGA

Thanks Gator,

Love your build, except for those funny colors. You oughta repaint it Georgia red and black! 

Ordered a cover for the boat today, picking up the motor tomorrow. Gonna feel weird having the garage empty after two years.


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## Gators5220

What kinda motor you puttin on it?

And nnnnoooo way man, I'm orange and blue through and through. I respect Georgia but could never wear those colors lol!


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## DaveInGA

Gators5220 said:


> What kinda motor you puttin on it?
> 
> And nnnnoooo way man, I'm orange and blue through and through. I respect Georgia but could never wear those colors lol!



I had the electronics replaced on the original motor (1986 75 HP Merc), the carbs rebuilt and a new water pump put in. Mechanic says it runs like it's new and I've been over there to see it run, it sounds like a Harley motorcycle. 

I hear ya about the colors, never could see myself in orange and blue.


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## Gators5220

Did you go to the University of Georgia? I have some friends who did PA school there, so I've really learned to hate them (Georgia) by having to hear the last few years how we got our butt whopped (which we did lol)...


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## DaveInGA

Gators5220 said:


> Did you go to the University of Georgia? I have some friends who did PA school there, so I've really learned to hate them (Georgia) by having to hear the last few years how we got our butt whopped (which we did lol)...



Nah, I went to Athens Technical College, but my daughter in-law, son in law and several others go to college at UGA or have graduated from there. I live about 30 minutes tops from the campus.


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## Gators5220

Ya well hard not to be a Georgia fan growing up in Athens, Athens reminds me a lot of Gainesville actually, the campuses are alot the same, old southern brick campuses.


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## DaveInGA

Gators5220 said:


> Ya well hard not to be a Georgia fan growing up in Athens, Athens reminds me a lot of Gainesville actually, the campuses are alot the same, old southern brick campuses.



Yes, it's a nice place for sure. I'm not from there though. But one other thing the area shares with Gainesville is all the lakes/fishing areas. Unfortunately here, if you don't have a boat, you just about can't go fishing, very little bank access. But the lakes, both small and large, are every where.


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## Gators5220

My buddy and I were talkin about this the other day actually (not sure if it's the same issue), when we were kids and not that long ago mind you maybe 15 years lakes were all public, no one trashed them or really kept the fish. But now it's so hard to find a lake that is public and allows fishing from the bank, which I find crazy.


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## DaveInGA

Gators5220 said:


> My buddy and I were talkin about this the other day actually (not sure if it's the same issue), when we were kids and not that long ago mind you maybe 15 years lakes were all public, no one trashed them or really kept the fish. But now it's so hard to find a lake that is public and allows fishing from the bank, which I find crazy.



Illegal aliens seems to be the "unspoken" issue around these parts. Too much trash, debris and crime related to having the banks open to the public. Sad, but true.


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## Gators5220

Ya its a shame, people don't pick up after themselves and spoils it for all of us.


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## harleydoc

I have a 1985 Bass Tracker V17 I am about to take part and redo it as well. I am so glad I found this web site and you project. You go look outstanding. I can wait till duck season is over here so I can get started on the overhual of my boat. 
Dave did you have a problem with the foam being water logged? 
I think my foam is what logged in my boat becuase it seat very low in the water. 
How low does your boat seat in the water? pics would be nice if you have some of it seating on the water.


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## DaveInGA

Howdy, answers in red in the quote below.



harleydoc said:


> I have a 1985 Bass Tracker V17 I am about to take part and redo it as well. I am so glad I found this web site and you project. If you have questions, feel free to message me or email me and I'll be glad to help you in any way I can. The one thing I would suggest strongly for you to do is to take lots of pictures at various angles to insure you know how things go together so you will be able to get things back together. Missing a single detail can cause lots of problems later on down the road. This particularly boat has several quirks that can be a pain if you've had it apart a good length of time and can't remember how it went together. Particularly the console.
> 
> You go look outstanding. I can wait till duck season is over here so I can get started on the overhual of my boat. Thank you. The one thing I would do different is I would buy a quality aluminum console and eliminate the fiberglass one I now have. I would not cheap out on the console.
> 
> Dave did you have a problem with the foam being water logged? I was lucky and did not. For some reason, most of the foam in mine was in excellent shape, those I did replace almost all of the "board" foam with closed cell.
> 
> I think my foam is what logged in my boat becuase it seat very low in the water.Could be, I honestly don't know.
> 
> How low does your boat seat in the water?
> I still haven't had mine on the water because just about the time I got the motor back on it, winter hit here and I've had to work a lot of hours in the hospital taking care of sick patients. So the boat is languishing in the garage still with two minor lighting problems to resolve (wire reversal for LED lighting I couldn't test without a battery earlier) and still need to go to the lake with the mechanic for final motor tuning and stainless steel prop selection. I feel frustrated, but the hospital takes priority. Hopefully, flu season will have a break or two and I'll be able to get it in the water for testing.
> 
> pics would be nice if you have some of it seating on the water.
> When I get it in the water, I plan to take a few pics to post here.


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## harleydoc

Thanks and I am sure I will be hitting you up for some info. I am going to strip the whole boat down and prime and pair the whole boat inside and out. We hunt And fish in salt water sometime so just just want to keep the water from eating it alive. Plus I will have it all the way down to take all the old foam out and replace that.


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## fender66

harleydoc said:


> Thanks and I am sure I will be hitting you up for some info. I am going to strip the whole boat down and prime and pair the whole boat inside and out. We hunt And fish in salt water sometime so just just want to keep the water from eating it alive. Plus I will have it all the way down to take all the old foam out and replace that.



Hey....Welcome to TinBoats harleydoc! We're happy to have you on board. Don't be afraid to ask any questions and please take pictures when you can. We love pictures. :wink: 

The search engine in the upper right hand corner also will take you places that I'd bet you don't have enough time for in a week. Enjoy!


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## DaveInGA

Finished final work on my 1986 Bass Tracker boat restoration this week. Cranked motor to flush after lake tests and fishing trips, then ran the last of the fuel out of the engine/carburetors to ensure good cranking next time. The little 75 HP Mercury motor will move the boat, an extra 6 gallon tank, several tackle boxes, a cooler and two large men at a brisk 32 MPH on the GPS. Not bad for a motor made in 1986. 

The Terrova 80 ft.lb. trolling motor gets you out of the wake of a skier quickly (I love the remote control and ipilot) and the two Hummindbird fish finders, a 998 SI and a 898 DI, make finding fish in deeper water a whole lot easier. 

This boat is a lot of fun and I really like her. You can see the added fish finder at the console and the added rod holders. This floor layout is no good for laying rods on the deck, but the rod holders work well.

A couple things I would do different:

1. Use no other paint than the Grizzly Grip.
2. Use the two part epoxy primer Grizzly sells.
3. Use double the amount of Grizzly Grip every where.

Without further ado, here's a video of the upgrades and motor cranked. Much thanks to my wife Donna and her patience for making this video for me and putting it on Utube. Otherwise, it would not have happened.

https://youtu.be/2y1_so0XC1E


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## fender66

Looks awesome Dave! I want to know more about that HB bracket in the front though.


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## DaveInGA

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=327266#p327266 said:


> fender66 » Sat Aug 24, 2013 9:40 pm[/url]"]Looks awesome Dave! I want to know more about that HB bracket in the front though.



It's a RAM mount. I really like that particular one and used a version of each for both Humminbirds.


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## fender66

Thanks....looked different to me for some reason.


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## DaveInGA

Went on a fishing trip with my son Thursday, 10/11/13. Didn't catch much, just a spotted bass and a channel catfish, but we had a good time. It was his first time fishing with me since he was a small kid (I put aside fishing for his love of sports, baseball, football and basketball, those took up a lot of time back then. Many of his teams I helped out with the coaching, no regrets there.), so it was a pretty new experience for him.

He got to try out fishing with a spinning rod for the first time, quite a challenge and he did pretty well, considering it was a totally new thing to him. Was fun watching him do something I hadn't coached him on. He wasn't sure if he'd done okay or not, but I was happy with him.

For the fun of it, on the way out I ran the boat out a bit with both of us (500 pounds of men plus tackle, etc.) and got an easy 30 MPH on the GPS with the feeling as long as I had gasoline, the motor could do that all day long without missing a beat. I had lake tested the boat at max rpm and achieved about 32.7 on the GPS, but saw a bit of porpoising at that speed and had to back off. I decided then not to put a whale tale on the motor to give myself more power. The boat runs beautifully on plane at 3000 rpm with a speed of around 24 MPH. Boat ran really well, both on the gas and trolling motor. 

The extra torque of the larger trolling motor really moves the boat quickly when you need to get move quickly and I'm glad I over powered the trolling motor. Makes for a much more energy efficient package as well. Have ran the trolling motor batteries a half day with no discernible change in charge level. My fair skin won't let me stay out a full day.

Unfortunately, I managed to cut the sonar wire to the front Humminbird in half and forgot to turn the rear fish finder on, so no vid of the GPS speed, you'll have to trust me until I can get back out on the lake. My plan is to repair the wire on the front sonar, pull the TM apart enough to get the wire in a more protected location, then put the TM back together. Something I wanted to avoid, but will have to do to protect the puck wire.

Without further ado, here's the three short vids my son made for me. They're primitive and not perfect, because I'm don't know how to edit these things, but right now are the best I can do. I hope you all find encouragement from then to complete your conversions, modifications and refits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfu8fJCWENk&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbjw4x9nDnI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH1q9to6N2Y


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