1985 Bass Tracker refurb

[Duke62]

Bought a project boat today. 1985 Bass Tracker, 17 foot, 50 hp Mercury. Needs a lot of work.

 

[Dirtmonkey]

What are your plans for it? There are a ton of old tracker projects on here you can refer to


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[Duke62]

Not sure of the plan yet. Will start by ripping out all of the old carpet and wood.

 

[Weldorthemagnificent]

Looks like the weather did most of the teardown for you. Lol. Good luck with the project.


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[gatorglenn]

Great platform to start with. Have fun [emoji106]


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[Duke62]

Will post more pictures later.

 

[ncfishin]

Just looked at your other project. Damn fine job. I think you're gonna do just fine. That Bass tracker looks like it needs somebody like you to bring it back.
Good luck.

 

[Duke62]

Thanks! The little green boat was a lot of fun. This will be a bigger challenge.

 

[Duke62]

Made progress today on the demo. There is not one piece of wood on this boat that is not rotten. The boat is 32 years old and I believe it has spent it's entire life outside and uncovered. Still trying to decide if I will pull all of the foam out and replace it.

 

[Duke62]

Pics of todays progress. Looks like some wasps really liked this boat.

 

[Duke62]

More progress on the demo. I thought I would be able to save some of the foam, but it is wet. Looks like I will be tearing it all out.

 

[Dirtmonkey]

I hate foam haha i just finished getting all of mine out of my bass tracker. Is the foam in between the ribs solid or is it in layers? Mine is a mod v so it was a lot thinner than yours


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[Duke62]

The foam is both solid and layers. Most is solid except the six inches closest to the center. It is layers. I thought some of the foam would be ok, but I was wrong. The closer I get to the back the more wet it is. I am going to have to remove all of it. It's going to be a pain to get the stuff in the back. Going to be more disassembly than I wanted. But it's all good because I'm having fun.

 

[PZLTracker]

Its got potential! Keep at it!

 

[Duke62]

More demo completed this weekend. Motor, live well, battery pan, and plenty of foam removed. All foam under battery tray was soaked. Pressure washed the inside, things are moving along.

Question: The only remaining foam is in the two rear corners. Anybody know a good way to remove the foam without more structural disassembly? Some of it is attached to the hull with solid rivets and I really don't want to mess with it. All ideas welcome.

 

[Weldorthemagnificent]

If it's not waterlogged, leave it.


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[gatorglenn]

I took all the foam out of my 06 175. But it was all waterlogged and one way or another throughout the whole boat. If those back sponson's are not waterlogged leave them.


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[gatorglenn]

But what I did was cut the top plate leaving 3 inches all the way around the top from the outside.where you see the holes or where they filled it. That way you can put tubing underneath and rivet to each side and then put a cap back on it.


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[Duke62]

That's what I was thinking, cut the top and replace it. I will give it some more thought. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Duke62]

FINALLY! The foam is all removed. Glad I decided to remove foam from rear corners, it was soaked with water and gas. I don't understand Bass Tracker. They pour foam all the way on bottom of bilge area. Any liquid that ends up there can't help but get soaked into the foam. It won't be going back in that way. It will have a gap to allow for drainage. Pressure washed inside. Next is the leak check and rivet repair and then it's coming off the trailer to get paint stripped and trailer reworked.