'83 Bass Tracker Revival

[tsohg76]

Wow, I just stumbled on this boat. And I would love to get my hands on this for a rebuild, what a great project. Besides id love to have that boat.

 

[BYOB Fishing]

could these be replaced with stanless bolts with lock nuts.I thank they would be just as strong if not stronger.Please let me know what y'all thank any info will be greatly appreciated thanks.

Hi Robby, welcome to Tinboats!

You can use stainless hardware. Beware, though, of using bolts in place of all of the rivets. The section of the transom cap that I had to cut and remove in order to get access to the wood didn't match up correctly when I re-installed it. When I drilled the holes through the new wood using the existing holes in the aluminum hull and transom cap as a guide, the hole's centerline wasn't perpendicular to the aluminum (even though it matched up with both the boat hull and the transom cap), so that once the bolt was installed, the head was at too much of an angle to keep from leaking, much less look nice. I removed the wood and re-fit the transom cap to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong, but it still didn't fit right. I made a new wood transom and used 3/4" lag screws in the problem holes (probably 1/2 of the holes on the transom), mainly just to cover up the existing holes, and drilled some new holes perpendicular to the surface for my bolts. I sealed it up with silicone and used a washer between the bolt head and the aluminum skin. It looks good and is water tight.




Matt

 

[BYOB Fishing]

Wow, I just stumbled on this boat. And I would love to get my hands on this for a rebuild, what a great project. Besides id love to have that boat.

Everythings for sale for the right price. Even got a slightly submerged '09 Merc 60hp 4-stroke to go with it....

 

[Robby]

could these be replaced with stanless bolts with lock nuts.I thank they would be just as strong if not stronger.Please let me know what y'all thank any info will be greatly appreciated thanks.

Hi Robby, welcome to Tinboats!

You can use stainless hardware. Beware, though, of using bolts in place of all of the rivets. The section of the transom cap that I had to cut and remove in order to get access to the wood didn't match up correctly when I re-installed it. When I drilled the holes through the new wood using the existing holes in the aluminum hull and transom cap as a guide, the hole's centerline wasn't perpendicular to the aluminum (even though it matched up with both the boat hull and the transom cap), so that once the bolt was installed, the head was at too much of an angle to keep from leaking, much less look nice. I removed the wood and re-fit the transom cap to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong, but it still didn't fit right. I made a new wood transom and used 3/4" lag screws in the problem holes (probably 1/2 of the holes on the transom), mainly just to cover up the existing holes, and drilled some new holes perpendicular to the surface for my bolts. I sealed it up with silicone and used a washer between the bolt head and the aluminum skin. It looks good and is water tight.

View attachment 1


Matt

 

[Jim down under]

Ripper job mate she's sure looking good. A quick few questions for you. As i only have slow connection and have to use my phone i could not load all your pics i was wondering how much stress your new welds will be put under? If there will be a fair bit of stress and are not simply to use just stick the aloy back over your sweet timber job is there any peno you can see? As in the welds should have a nice line on the back side of the weld that is even and consistent almost like a skinny bead of elastic or silicon?

 

[BYOB Fishing]

Ripper job mate she's sure looking good. A quick few questions for you. As i only have slow connection and have to use my phone i could not load all your pics i was wondering how much stress your new welds will be put under? If there will be a fair bit of stress and are not simply to use just stick the aloy back over your sweet timber job is there any peno you can see? As in the welds should have a nice line on the back side of the weld that is even and consistent almost like a skinny bead of elastic or silicon?

Hi Jim, and welcome to Tinboats!

I had the welds done by a weld shop that works on a lot of boats, so I'm not too worried about lack of penetration or failures. They are structural welds, they hold the back of the boat together, so I wanted it done right. Also, those welds existed from the factory, and I had to cut them out to get to the wood. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Matt

 

[Jim down under]

I like your thinking done by the pros. You would not want the ass torn off of your boat because you got a back yard job done by talkers not welders. I guess it dose not matter what it looks like as long as it don't fail. You are doing such a nice neet job on every thing else it would have been nice to see them take a page out of your book for you. May i ask what sort of $ they charge for some thing like that to be welded?

 

[BYOB Fishing]

I like your thinking done by the pros. You would not want the ass torn off of your boat because you got a back yard job done by talkers not welders. I guess it dose not matter what it looks like as long as it don't fail. You are doing such a nice neet job on every thing else it would have been nice to see them take a page out of your book for you. May i ask what sort of $ they charge for some thing like that to be welded?

It was $60-$65 I think.

 

[blb515]

Any Updates?

 

[BYOB Fishing]

Not really, the boat is in storage down the street for the winter. I could update the costs on page three, I saw there were a few things I purchased that were not on there.

Thanks!
Matt

 

[BYOB Fishing]

I updated the costs on Page 3 today. I've been able to get a few things cheaper than what I originally set aside, so I adjusted the costs to what I've spent so far. I'm sure other things will come up to increase the costs again, but for now, this is what I've come up with. Check out page three of this post to read the entire run-down.

Oh, and let me know if I've left anything out..

Thanks,

Matt

 

[BYOB Fishing]

Oh, and I was also thinking of getting a Power Pole for it. Do you think it's worth the investment? I fish a lot of shallow shorline cover, and getting blown around is not my idea of a fun day. I also have a big tendancy when trying to position the boat with the trolling motor, to run directly into or over the cover I'm trying to fish. I know it's my lack of skills, but I was just thinking it would help in that sense. Would they hold the boat well in a soft, mucky bottom? I was thinking about the 8' Sportsmans Series. If money wasn't a consideration for you, would you have one on your boat?

Matt

 

[hsiftac]

I've heard good things about power poles but I've also seen quite a few homemade versions that are much much less expensive.

 

[BYOB Fishing]

I bought some LED tail lights. I'm not sure how I like the way they mount to the frame. I'm afraid the boat may hit them when loading, at some point. I don't know if it would be a good idea to mount them to the lower rail of the trailer...

 

[dyeguy1212]

Seems like the trailer would have to be sitting pretty darn shallow to be able to clip a light.. unless you miss the trailer to one side or the other completely.


I wouldnt worry about it

 

[jjkc]

This thread has helped me so much with my 1989 Tracker pro 17 Thank you!! I just stumbled across it this morning and it answered so many questions I will post pics of my boat now.

 

[BYOB Fishing]

No problem, glad it helped! You'll see a lot more activity these next few weeks...i joined the federation nation, so tournaments will be starting soon!

 

[jjkc]

I had no idea at all how to get the splash well out of mine till looking at your post!! =D>

 

[BYOB Fishing]

I made a 10hr round trip drive over to Salem, MO to visit Bill's Boat Stuff. I picked up a used fiberglass console, windshield, two brand new seats, and a brand new Mercury shift/throttle lever. I've got a lot of work ahead of me!

 

[JonBoatfever]

This is going to be one of the great builds, I really wanna get a bass tracker after a another few years in my little jon, can't wait to see this finished!