1989 bass tracker pro 17 rebuild - livewell question

[jalockwood]

got that back deck buttoned up today fellas feels good to see some hard work paying off. looking at buying that foam now and some carpet through bass pro. ill post some pics doesn't look like a whole lot was done since last post but its still a bear of a project and I worked on her all day pretty much. picked my plywood up today as well will be coating in urethane to hopefully stave off weather damage. Anyone know if bass pro is the way to go with carpet or not? its expensive anywhere just curious lol

 

[WVfishnfool]

Check bassboatseats.com they have carpet and check these guys out on ebay boat carpet sales. Here's the links.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xbass+boat+carpet&_nkw=bass+boat+carpet&_sacat=0&_from=R40
https://www.bassboatseats.com/

 

[jalockwood]

Awesome!!! very much appreciated I believe ill come out roughly 100$ cheaper with the bassboatseats.com I am thoroughly happy! lol now I gotta figure out exactly how much I need I have a rough calculation but of course I want to double check and order just a bit extra to be sure. I sure wish I could find a template or something like that to go by haha this is definitely time consuming making all the measurements and hoping I didn't goof up along the way. any who I do believe ill be using your source to make my purchase here very soon ive been busy cutting plywood tonight to get those floors prepared. I didn't go with marine grade its just way to expensive and I believe treated ply with some urethane on it will do just fine in this application I plan to buy a good cover once all is complete any how.

 

[WVfishnfool]

DO NOT USE TREATED PLYWOOD!!!!! Hope you get this before you bought it. The treated plywood contains chemicals that will corrode the aluminum. Use exterior grade plywood (I think it's rated CDX). Then coat it with urethane or better yet epoxy resin. Also the treated wood will not absorb much coating because it already has chemicals in it. Also it pays to use stainless screws to fasten down your wood and when you do put some type of sealant on the screws to keep moisture from entering there. On a few other builds I've done I would predrill a hole about 2 sizes smaller than the screw then dip the screw into silicone (about halfway up the screw) before running it down into the wood and the metal. This will seal the wood as well as under the head of the screw. When it comes to carpet usually you add about 4 to 5 feet extra over your boat length. If the boat is 17 feet figure 22 feet on a fiberglass boat but on aluminum you need more because of covering almost all the deck and wrapping around the seat boxes and stuff. If the 6' wide roll will cover the deck width then you could probably get by with 25 feet. Also remember that carpet has a grain to it so be sure when you cover the lids the grain is running front to back the same as the boat or other wise it will look like it's a different color carpet. I use to mark an arrow on top of my lids showing the front and do all those first then make sure the carpet was running the same direction when running it on the deck. If you go to bassboatcentral.com and look under the forum bass boat restoration you can find more info than you'll ever need about carpeting boats. Although most of it's about glass boats you can apply a lot of it to a tin boat.

 

[jalockwood]

honestly I had already bought two sheets of Georgia pacific plywood for the floors but im not entirely sure what they're rated for but no big deal, I need to make new work benches for the garage any how I suppose I could just go back and buy new wood for the floors I wasn't aware of the chemicals causing corrosion haha im a noobie at this ill admit. any how if you don't mind let me ask your advice on the weight of the carpet as well, I had first considered 16oz carpet when I was looking to purchase it through bass pro mainly due to the price. however I now see that bassboatseats.com offers the 20oz at a reasonable cost as well...would you prefer the denser carpet such as the 20oz? or would the 16oz suffice? I do already have spar urethane on hand to coat the plywood before carpet is laid on top of it, I do want to try to water proof as best as possible and I was thinking that the epoxy and the urethane either would do the job but I may be wrong. I have several unknowns im facing at this point like whether or not the carpet adhesive will bond to the urethane no problem or am I gonna end up with a chemical mess on my hand (I plan on letting the urethane dry adequately before hand of course) but having said that im just unsure what kind of bond I will achieve once the adhesive is put on top of the urethane. and last but not least would I be safe in saying that 25feet of 6' wide carpet will do my whole boat? I originally planned to measure everything but now factoring in the grain of the carpet im at a bit of a loss for a plan now.

 

[jalockwood]

just got home and took a look at my ply and its CAT rated...im assuming that would be the treated stuff right? lol

 

[WVfishnfool]

jalockwood » Yesterday, 18:56[/url]"]just got home and took a look at my ply and its CAT rated...im assuming that would be the treated stuff right? lol

Is it the blue green looking stuff if so then it's treated. Now to answer some of your other questions. 20 oz. carpet is thicker and plusher and will last longer I'd go with it, matter of fact I have 20 or 24 oz.(I can't remember which) to put in mine when I'm ready. Urethane should be OK to coat the wood with just be sure and let it cure good before starting the carpet job. I'd use Henry #663 Premium Outdoor Carpet Adhesive for putting carpet on the wood. Be sure and use a notched trowel to apply it with and once it's laid down you need to take some type of roller and be sure and press the carpet down to achieve good adhesion and roll out any wrinkles. Only thing is it has to be above 65 degrees to apply it and you have to keep the carpet dry for a minimum of 5 days so it will set up and won't release.(as in park the boat indoors if possible) When it comes to putting carpet on the aluminum sections and the lids I'd use Weldwood Contact Cement(non water based) and you can apply it with a brush. You just brush it on the deck and on the back of the carpet, let it sit for a little while and then press the carpet on to the decking. Just remember unlike the Henry or any other outdoor carpet glue that takes sometime to set up and you can move the carpet around a little bit if you have to once you stick the contact cement together the stuff is stuck together and it aint moving. Best way to put the carpet on the deck using contact cement is to lay the cut piece out on to the deck and then fold it over exposing the deck and back side of the carpet. Apply the cement to both and then fold the carpet back over sticking them together. Basically pushing it over and rolling it down as you fold it back. (It's a lot easier if you have help doing this). Then once it is stuck you can pull the other side back and repeat the process. I'll PM you my phone number just in case you want to ask me any questions because I've probably confused the heck out of ya :lol: but it's not as bad as it sounds. Also 25 feet should be enough I would think maybe 28 feet just in case you might mess up a lid or something. Like I said I'll send ya my number if you want to give me a call and pick my brain.

 

[jalockwood]

Awesome information!!! thank you and I will more than likely call you at some point haha I followed everything you said pretty well though but as a side note my plywood does not have any coloration to it at all....I did some reading on plywood grading and I believe the CA part of CAT refers to the quality of the wood faces on opposing sides with A being best and C being a blemished sheet. Which makes sense because one face of the plywood is smooth and has a quality look where the opposite side has knots and blemishes that aren't smooth at all. I do not know what the T stands for but as I said theres no color or hue that would indicate chemicals being applied. Great info on the carpet glue I would have asked had you not clued me in lol. Im not able to park the boat in the garage at the moment but seeing as how the carpet glue for the wood takes 5 days to set couldn't I just glue it down and let it set up inside the garage to prevent moisture? sounds like the contact cement on the aluminum inside the boat will be pretty instant and require less time avoiding moisture than the Henry 663.

 

[WVfishnfool]

Good talkin to ya ja I happened to think about a couple of other things this morning and thought I'd post them. First here's the link on how to cut the corners on the carpet for your lids. https://www.bbcboards.net/bassboat-restoration/159416-how-cut-corner-your-new-carpet-job.html
Make sure you have real good sharp scissors to do this. Now the other tip I forgot you need a good carpet knife and blades and you need to change the blade often so it doesn't fray the carpet on you. You can pretty much tell when the blade is starting to get dull it usually doesn't take long. Here's a link to the knife and extra blades I bought at Harbour Freight and they've worked fine. This tool works good because you get 4 uses out of each blade before throwing it away. If you look at the blade and knife you can see what I'm talking about. Make a few cuts with the blade then flip the back side over then after that side is used flip the other end out and use both sides to cut with. The knife has a push button to release it and it swivels open to make replacing the blades real easy. https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=Carpet+knife. One other tip also you didn't mention if you were going to cover the seat bases where your pedestals go in to for your fishing seats with carpet or if you were going to mount the bases over the carpet. I recommend putting the bases down on the flooring so you can seal them and carpet over them. If you cover the bases with carpet once you cut the holes for your pedestal to go in to take an old soldering iron if you have one and go around the edge of the hole you cut in the carpet and this will melt the carpet strands keeping it from fraying this also works good where you cut the holes in your lids although most people just fasten the lid pulls down on top of the carpet I still do it to the holes in the lid. I usually cut the hole in the carpet about 1/8" bigger than the hole in the lid and then either seal the lid pull or some of them come with a rubber O-ring type seal and this allows them to seal flush plus the carpet can't wick water up under the lid pull and then run down into your storage that way. This should just about cover everything including what we talked about on the phone. Like I was telling you last night just call me if you've got a question and I'll try and help if I can. I'll check in on the post from time to time also. Just keep plugging away at it and you'll be done before you know it. :wink:

 

[jalockwood]

ive been looking for a carpet knife and harbor freight is one of my favorite stores lol i will be picking one up soon! After we got off the phone i went ahead and ordered my carpet last night i decided to go with the 20oz version...not the cheapest or the most expensive just looking to go a step higher than the lowest grade offered. I also went ahead and got my henry 663 premium adhesive ordered (2 quarts like we discussed). I do however want to touch on what you mentioned with the seat bases for the pedestals, i kinda wanted to mount them on top of carpet for two reasons one purely just for looks i seen someone restore this boat and they did it this way i just thought it looked neat once it was painted and all. But also if the pedestal mount is below the carpet will this pose a likely area for the carpet to come loose after the adhesive is dried? thought about how the mount is higher above the aluminum floor when bolted down i wasnt sure how well it would work being under the carpet. im gonna check out the links you sent me and try to get familiar with how to do some of these cuts but i forgot to mention...i ordered 30ft of carpet just to be safe, mistakes happen and for the extra money i would just rather have it on hand in case lol. Only question i forgot to ask last night was on carpeting the rear aluminum deck, when i go to lay that carpet down do i want to lay one solid piece ( covering the bilge/ livewell cutouts) or do i need to measure and cut them before the carpet is put down. obviously ill want to carpet into the recess where the lid sits but i didnt know if it would be easier to just lay one piece down and cut after the glue dries.

 

[WVfishnfool]

Most people carpet over the seat bases because you get a better seal by mounting the bases directly to the flooring keeping water out of the deck this way. Plus if the carpet gets wet from fishin in the rain or setting outside it will dry out fully where if you have the seat base on top of the carpet it will actually wick water up under the base and stay wet which can cause mold problems. I've never seen the carpet come loose from the bases as long as it's glued properly. I guess you could always cut the carpet around the base instead of covering it or maybe cut the square out and just leave about an 1/8" of carpet to go up under the seat base to tack it down but you would still have the possibility of water wicking thru the carpet and going up under the base. I would either carpet the base or cut the carpet around it and make sure it's glued good. When it comes to laying carpet on the back deck I would lay it out and then make the cut outs for the livewell and bilge access after it dries. If I remember right the way me and my buddy done his we cut from left to right thru the middle of the opening starting and stopping about 5" from each end and then made a cut from the 4 corners starting about a 1/4" from the point of the corner then cut to the center cut. This will leave 4 V-shaped flaps in the opening. We applied glue to the inside metal and the carpet in the opening. My buddy had cut some scrap 3/4" plywood squares to use that were a little shy of exact measurement of the opening themselves and we pushed them in there forcing the carpet against the sides of the opening. Two important things to remember right now: #1. Be sure and sand the edges of these plywood squares to keep them from hanging on the carpet and leaving splinters in them. #2. Be sure and cut some holes in the center of these plywood squares so you can grip them to remove them once the glue is dried. I never mention this around my buddy because he usually starts spouting off at least 10 of the 14 cuss words he invented that day when we did this job. :lol: :lol: :lol: Okay now that the glue is dried you can remove the plywood and take your knife and trim the carpet even with the aluminum wall of the opening. This method leaves the corners of the opening bare but that is kind of a good thing because it won't be tight there now and put excess wear on the carpet corners of your lids. Also your lids will fit tighter now because of the thicker carpet your using and that will help relieve some of the tightness. Also if the lids are to tight to open and shut allow for some wear time to crush the carpet a little bit but if for some reason it's still tight even after some wear and tear you can take a set of hair clippers with a comb on them and trim a little bit of the carpet off the lids relieving some of the tightness.

 

[jalockwood]

I believe ive changed my mind on the base now lol after spending the money I think it stands to reason that I don't want mold under the carpet. Would it be a good idea to lay a bead of 4200 under the base just to maybe keep a water proof barrier around the center hole? maybe keep that bilge area dry in case water gets on the deck? just a thought but ill definitely be carpeting over the base now that you have explained the draw backs of not doing so. I plan to make that harbor freight trip this weekend and get my carpet knife as well as a stapler, I think some staples would be a good idea where that carpet wraps around the wood floor, ill glue it then tack it with staples just as a precautionary measure. I already checked the specs on the staples they wont be long enough to make it through the opposite side of the wood so im good there.

 

[WVfishnfool]

You can put some 4200 around that to keep water from getting to the exposed wood where you cut the hole and drilled for the bolts to go thru. I bought an electric stapler at Lowes last year that wasn't to expensive and it makes the job a lot easier. Also be sure and get stainless staples or they'll just rust out. If you redo your trailer and put new carpet on the bunks you'll really thank me for the electric stapler and stainless staples idea. :wink: Although the next time I have to replace bunk boards or carpet I'm going to use this.
https://www.gatorbak.com/

 

[jalockwood]

ill definitely be getting the stainless staples soon! ive got my urethane process underway as we speak and hopefully by the time the carpet is delivered ill be ready to smear some glue on and get to finishing up some new decking i can be proud of lol. had to take a break from it all this weekend and finally got to toss a line, caught one small bass no more than a pound and lost one about 3 pounds what a heart break haha got him all the way in before he threw the bait so all i caught was a glimpse at him taking back off into the murky water but thatll keep me motivated to get back at em.

 

[jalockwood]

Though id get a rough idea on what it would cost when I get to fix the trailer a bit and definitely like your idea on the galvanizing, if I am lucky enough to find a place that can do it locally for me I was curious if you felt it was reasonably priced to do the work or should I look into going another route as in finding a used trailer? Called around for some quotes today but waiting on a few phone calls to be returned. Im not exactly close to starting in on the trailer just a thought ive been toying with here lately and I had some down time at work so I figured why not shoot ya a question real quick lol.

 

[WVfishnfool]

Well I kind of went overboard on mine just because I planned on keeping it for a while and then handing it down to my son eventually. I bought the sandblaster from Harbour Freight because I already had the air compressor. Got the blasting media and new fenders from Tractor Supply. Bought new aluminum rims and tires(bought 3 so I'd have a spare), hubs, bearings, leaf spring kit, trailer coupler, light wiring harness, led lights and tounge jack from etrailer.com. Winch, winch strap, and spare tire bracket from Wal-Mart on clearance along with the bed liner paint I used to paint over the galvanizing with. New yellow pine 2x6's from Lowes for bunk boards and stainless lag screws. Bunk board capet from boatcarpet sales on ebay. If I'm not mistaken adding up all the stuff I listed above along with what I paid for the galvanizing and welding I had done before hand I've got about $1800 invested in the trailer. I could have bought a new trailer probably I don't know but this one is the same as new and I know what's in it. That's not counting my time and transporting the stripped down trailer on my big utility trailer I have. In order to have it galvanized you have to strip the springs, axle, all bushings, wiring, and lights off. Then all the paint has to be removed. Then you have to drill holes in the bottom of the trailer ever so often as well as the cross members so the liquid can flow thru and drain back out. After all this they still can't guarantee that it won't warp it when they dip it. This was a chance I took though because I didn't have much invested in the boat and trailer and my trailer was in bad enuf shape it probably would have only lasted about 3 years if I hadn't done this. The galvanizing itself only cost me about $140 including tax.

 

[jalockwood]

wow haha yea I knew something like that wouldn't be exactly cheap, I understand why the trailer must be stripped down to nothing so the zinc will stick when its dipped. any who Ive been putting some time into the boat this weekend and got all my materials in the mail this week, including my new pour in foam. im gonna post a couple pics of the pieces I was able to carpet this weekend and see what you think! oh and p.s. that soldering iron trick sure gets the job done! haha

 

[WVfishnfool]

Carpets lookin good. I started getting some things done to mine this past week. Going to work on it some more until Thursday. Thursday morning my son and I are going to the Hatfield McCoy trail system and ride 4 wheelers for 3 days. We didn't get to do a lot of things together when he was growing up between me being on the road and him playing sports. We mostly hunted because he didn't like fishing that well and camped out some and fished a little in the summer. He was in the Boy Scouts and completed his project and become an Eagle Scout right on time. So that took up a lot of time also. Any ways once I get a little more work done I'm going to take some pics and start a thread on my project.

 

[jalockwood]

hey man I hope your trip goes well! I got a pic im posting with the front deck all wrapped and good to go but I do need to give you a ring again sometime soon, let me know when you get back in I don't want to interrupt your trip by any means I completely respect that. I ran into a situation with the pour in foam in the rear deck and I would kind of like your input on it before I proceed so any how take care and have a good time with your son!

 

[jalockwood]

got some hard work put in today! im very excited now im starting to see a bigger picture