# 14' Sears GameFisher



## trueblue1970 (Jul 4, 2012)

Brought home a 14' Sears Gamefisher w/ trailer yesterday. Was fortuante to sell my 12' on CL within a day and parlay that into this one. Great deal as PO just wanted it gone. Not sure how much or how little I will to it but it is pretty much a clean canvas. The PO didnt do much to it at all. I do have to paint it as the old paint has faded and redo my transom. And re carpet the bunk on the trailer. I like the wide bench seats and all the foam is still there. No holes and doesnt leak! Overall a nice solid boat...a 1992 14' with a 46' beam. A nice project for me and my 2 boys to work on. As soon as I parked her, the pole holding rig was removed, as well at the seat which did not swivel. Just one pic for now...

Happy 4th to everybody.


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## sixgun86 (Jul 4, 2012)

Good looking boat, do you have an idea on what will be going on the back?


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## trueblue1970 (Jul 4, 2012)

Thanks 6. For now I have a new Minn Kota 55lb thrust for local freshwater (city will not allow gas motors). Im hoping ot be brave enough to use this on the skinnys though....have yet to experience a wake with a boat like this. What sice motor would you suggest? One of those 9.9s?


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 12, 2012)

Ok, well I am finally making progress. I went ahead and stripped the boat, primed it with Rustoleum self etching primer and painted it with Rustoleum "Army Green"... Yes, I know for some boring but I like boring lol. Im thinking about doing some camo job using some leaves, grass, fern etc. Not sure yet, but my son wants to and he usually talks me into things. 

Next up is the transom. Ive been reading some older posts on here to get ideas. Just have to figure the thickness of the plywood. Should the outer part of the transom wood be 2 pieces glued together? I know to use Spar. Any help with this would be appreciated. Thanks for all the amazing posts I see on here. I love this site.

The sun is bright today, sorry for the 1st pic, too much of a shadow and it looks dark. I tried to get the same angle from that very 1st pic when I brought her home.


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## TheMaestro (Aug 12, 2012)

Thats a nice job on the paint, seems nice and even...I like the green, i dont think its boring, it mqkes it look like serious business 8)


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 12, 2012)

Thanks maestro. My phone does not take great pics. The boat looked worse when I brought it home and it looks better after being painted....of course you cant tell from the pics lol. I have a clean canvas now and I think im going to keep it simple. Plywood on the benches with carpet or hydro turf, with the screwed in sliding seat brackets so the seats can be shifted. I also think I may go with the plastic seats that have the cushions built in...so less weight on the boat. If anybody has them let me know how they hold up. Thanks...


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 13, 2012)

Decided to do a camo job. Used fern (khaki) and palm frond (dark earth). The fern print shows up well in person, but hard to see in the pics. Blame that on my poor camera phone. Well painting is complete, now its time to work on the transom.


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## inlovewithsurfin (Aug 13, 2012)

love this paint job!!! i am going to do some type of camo on my lowe 1436....


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 15, 2012)

Hey thanks. It was a last minute decision to go with the camo. My phone pics are terrible and it looks better in person. Now I have to decide what im going to do as far as wood work goes. I like the hydro turf and the samples they sent to me. My plan is to carpet plywood to put on the benches and I bought these tracks that screw into the bench. The track is actually an adjustable that will allow my seat to slide back and forth and even remove the seat when I want. Im doing this on the rear bench so I can move around when operating the motor. Love your mods by the way, great job


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 15, 2012)

How did you screw your plywood into the benches? What did you use? And did you screw in over the carpet so you can remove whenever you want?


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## inlovewithsurfin (Aug 15, 2012)

I love the seat track idea! I may have to use that on my back bench!!! As far as attaching the carpeted plywood to my benches I just use sheet metal screws and screw thru the carpet and wood down to the benches. I use one in each corner and so far it's worked pretty good


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 15, 2012)

inlovewithsurfin said:


> I love the seat track idea! I may have to use that on my back bench!!! As far as attaching the carpeted plywood to my benches I just use sheet metal screws and screw thru the carpet and wood down to the benches. I use one in each corner and so far it's worked pretty good




Thanks, seems easy enough. Just trying to decide if im going with hydro turf. And if I go that route, should I just glue it directly to the benches or onto plywood. (seats will be mounted on benches)


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## inlovewithsurfin (Aug 15, 2012)

I like the looks of the turf stuff but I look at it and wonder if it would catch hooks easier than carpet does? I know I've hada few hooks get caught in the carpet! 

As far as gluing it strait to the bench or to plywood... I would use plywood just in case you ever have to re-do it. That way you won't have to deal with taking the carpet and clue off again.


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 16, 2012)

inlovewithsurfin said:


> I like the looks of the turf stuff but I look at it and wonder if it would catch hooks easier than carpet does? I know I've hada few hooks get caught in the carpet!
> 
> As far as gluing it strait to the bench or to plywood... I would use plywood just in case you ever have to re-do it. That way you won't have to deal with taking the carpet and clue off again.





Thanks for the input. It looks like im going to go with carpeted ply on the benches. After stripping, priming and then painting...id hate to have to do that all over again when I want to change things up. I like the idea of removing 4 screws to make a change. 

And from the hydro turf sample I received, it didnt appear that hooks getting stuck would be an issue. I have to say it seems like a great product. Id love to put it on the flooring, but another member advised not to glue it to ply.


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## inlovewithsurfin (Aug 16, 2012)

Why do you have to use glue at all? All of my carpet is just stapled down... No glue? If you take your time and pull it tight you might be surprised how good it turns out without any glue!


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 16, 2012)

inlovewithsurfin said:


> Why do you have to use glue at all? All of my carpet is just stapled down... No glue? If you take your time and pull it tight you might be surprised how good it turns out without any glue!




I was going to glue for sure had I used hydro turf. But im going with carpet for sure now as I ordered it at home depot. Picked up all of my wood and hardware. Should be done next week after the carpet gets in. I may do what you did and staple it down. Good idea....


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## DJBombar (Aug 16, 2012)

I stapled mine and it seems to be holding well and looking great.


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 16, 2012)

DJBombar said:


> I stapled mine and it seems to be holding well and looking great.




Thanks DJ, good to know. Seems like a lot of people go that route. I had glue on the mind with the other material. Im sold!


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## inlovewithsurfin (Aug 16, 2012)

what carpet did you order?


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## DJBombar (Aug 16, 2012)

BTW the paint looks great. Did you use a commercial sprayer or roll it on?

Dave


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 16, 2012)

inlovewithsurfin said:


> what carpet did you order?




I ordered outdoor carpet in an olive to match the paint. I think is was about $33 for 36"x12' roll. And another roll 44"x12'. It was a little more than the stock gray, but the color looks better with my scheme...I think it does anyway lol. My son actually liked it better so we went with it.


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 16, 2012)

DJBombar said:


> BTW the paint looks great. Did you use a commercial sprayer or roll it on?
> 
> Dave




Thanks Dave. I used Rustoleum in the spray can. My phone takes lousy pics, but in person you can see the pattern better. Im happy with how it came out for my 1st time.


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## DJBombar (Aug 17, 2012)

trueblue1970 said:


> DJBombar said:
> 
> 
> > BTW the paint looks great. Did you use a commercial sprayer or roll it on?
> ...




Thanks it looks great!!!!!!!


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 18, 2012)

I may pass on the sliding bracket for the rear seat and put low ped. seats in....Id prefer to center the rear seat though, but hope it isnt a hassle controlling the motor.


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## DJBombar (Aug 19, 2012)

Yeah I'm getting ready to do my rear seat and am trying to decide wear to place it also. I like the sldier idea but I just think once I find the right spot that I wouldnt move it much after that.

Dave


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 19, 2012)

The one that I have sits on top pf the bench and the slide mount touches the bench directly. Im concerned it will tear up the carpet. After viewing everybodys builds on here, I dont know which way to go lol. Too many options.


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## inlovewithsurfin (Aug 19, 2012)

i like my back seat in the middle where it is! just put it as far forward as possible so that the tiller handle doesnt hit the seat! when im driving i turn sideways and have my feet up against the side of the boat and it works just fine!


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 19, 2012)

inlovewithsurfin said:


> i like my back seat in the middle where it is! just put it as far forward as possible so that the tiller handle doesnt hit the seat! when im driving i turn sideways and have my feet up against the side of the boat and it works just fine!




Thats exactly what im going to do. It seemed to have worked for me with my 12' jon, but I didnt do the work to that boat.


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## Talons (Aug 19, 2012)

Really nice paint job man!

So, you just spray painted it with RUST-O-LEUM? Hmm... I was not planning on painting my 1436, but after seeing yours, well, I may have changed my mind. 

Why do we have to paint aluminum boats anyway?

Talons


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 19, 2012)

Talons said:


> Really nice paint job man!
> 
> So, you just spray painted it with RUST-O-LEUM? Hmm... I was not planning on painting my 1436, but after seeing yours, well, I may have changed my mind.
> 
> ...




Thanks! Yep, just Rust O Leum...I had to because the prior owner of mind as put one coast of paint over the original and it was beat up. Plus I had to strip off glue he had on the benches. It was easy to be honest, Ive never painted a boat before. It does look better in person. You can see the detail of the leaves etc.. I did use self etching primer on the bare aluminum. Some guys do amazing jobs on here with the paint, way out of my league. Glad there is a broad spectrum of options when it comes to these boats. 

Look forward to your paint job...Mike


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 19, 2012)

While working on the boat, I discovered its actually an OMC Aluminum Boat Group. The prior owner must have just put gamefisher decals on the boat.


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## Talons (Aug 19, 2012)

If I paint mine it will be pretty run of the mill garden variety coloring. I was thinking either going with the original Olive drab green or a sand color. That could look pretty neat.

Talons


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## Talons (Aug 19, 2012)

trueblue1970 said:


> While working on the boat, I discovered its actually an OMC Aluminum Boat Group. The prior owner must have just put gamefisher decals on the boat.



I think Sears, the original owner of the GAMEFISHER brand name, bought all of their stuff from OMC. I bought a Sears outboard once. GAMEFISHER = Johnson = OMC... but, meh, whatever, I could be wrong too!

Talons


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 21, 2012)

Talons said:


> If I paint mine it will be pretty run of the mill garden variety coloring. I was thinking either going with the original Olive drab green or a sand color. That could look pretty neat.
> 
> Talons




I agree...I like the original color and adding some sand/khaki and the other camo varieties. I have a silver and blue boat and wanted something more earthy....


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## trueblue1970 (Aug 21, 2012)

Talons said:


> trueblue1970 said:
> 
> 
> > While working on the boat, I discovered its actually an OMC Aluminum Boat Group. The prior owner must have just put gamefisher decals on the boat.
> ...




Ive heard a few different stories myself. I googled OMC and they bought Lowe. I had previously owned a 12' Sears jon and the 14' I have now is a much stronger/solid grade aluminum.


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## Gators5220 (Nov 8, 2012)

Nice boat man, how's she coming?


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