BigTerp's Tracker Sportsman 16' O/B Jet build

[BigTerp]

Thanks Dave. I appreciate the responses!!

I got all the bolts removed from the transom yesterday. I'll plan to replace with stainless steel nuts and bolts. I'm assuming I should use nuts with nylon type "lockers"? The facotry bolt heads had some sort of rubber washer on them. Should I be replacing those as well?

I'm going to order a harbor freight air hammer today for replacement of the facotry rivets that I'll have to remove to get the transom out. Any idea what size rivets I need? I haven't removed any yet, so maybe it would be best to remove them first so I can measure and know what size solid rivets I need? Also trying to get an idea of what size blind rivets I'll need for my framing? Seems alot of guys on here use 3/16" x 1/2"??

I'm still a little stumped on how to mount a seat base to the floor. Not sure I'll have room or even be able to access underneath the floor to use stainless steel bolts. Shouldn't be an issue with the deck, but mounting one to the floor is where I forsee issues.

 

[Vermonster]

Hi BigTerp,
For the base mounting to the floor: I would think about riveting 2 pieces of aluminum angle to your ribs of the boat, and then mount 3/4 " plywood laid into the "channel" that you created with the 2 peices of aluminum angle. The plywood should be sturdy enough to step on. The other thing I would do is make a base using 3 pieces of 3/4" plywood so the pin from your seat has no chance of hitting your hull.

Kind of like this:

 

[BigTerp]

Thanks Vermonster!!

I was trying to figure out a way to get a pin mount flush with the floor, but I don't think it is possible. I can picture my fat butt flopping down on the seat for the first time and the pin puncturing the hull :shock: . Your suggestion might be the best way to go. I'm just trying to keep my floor as open and clear as possible for when I'm chasing ducks/geese and not fishing.

Is that your seat in the picture? If so, how do you have the base mounted to the wood? Looks like with some threaded bolts?

 

[Vermonster]

Yep - that's my seat.

I cut 3 squares of the 3/4" ply that I had left over from my deck (I think I left 1.5 inches on all sides of the pedestal).
Cut holes for pedestal base to go through. I used a jigsaw on one of them to taper the hole so the base would be flush.
Glue squares together matching the holes.
Coated with spar-urethane (3 coats).
Laid the piece where I wanted it on the bench seat plywood (which would be your small deck) with the pedestal in place and drilled holes through the squares and bench.

I then spun the seat bench around and used a spade-bit to countersink the washer and nut.

The square is bolted through the seat with the nuts countersunk in the plywood bench. The bench is fastened to the stock aluminum seat.

If you're chasing birds you may want to add a raised floor (that has enough space for the pin). Not a deck, but a floor. That would give you the flat/flush surface for bird hunting and you can just drop the seat in when you go fishing. Attach that floor to the ribs and existing seats. Raising it 3 inches off the ribs would likely be sufficient space for the base and the pin.

 

[novaman]

You're doing a great job Terp, keep it up and You'll make a lot of people proud besides Yourself. Everybody here likes to see the other guys succeed, (1) because if You use an idea we gave You it makes us proud, (2) You'll come up with ideas of Your own, that the rest of us may copy and You'll be proud. So it's like a family affair without the rantin' & ravin',( most of the time) and we all come away winners. Not to mention some awesome boats when guys get done.

You did what I was talking about on the bow, to cleanup the spot left from the TM mount, and it looks great even with the holes it looks 100x better . You've got the ideas, so run with them, and we'll be here to watch and marvel, and maybe learn a new trick.

 

[DaveInGA]

Answers in red in quote below:

I got all the bolts removed from the transom yesterday. I'll plan to replace with stainless steel nuts and bolts.
If the bolts themselves are not rusted, but just corroded a little, you may be able to hit them with a steel brush and clean them up an re-use them. That'll save you a little money.

I'm assuming I should use nuts with nylon type "lockers"?
The nuts you want are called "nylock" nuts.

The facotry bolt heads had some sort of rubber washer on them. Should I be replacing those as well?
Nah, just use a sealant like 4200, 5200 on both sides of the nut. Will work better than the rubber washers. They didn't have 5200 back then.

I'm going to order a harbor freight air hammer today for replacement of the facotry rivets that I'll have to remove to get the transom out. Any idea what size rivets I need?
The size that fits the holes in your boat. You'll have to get an old one out and measure the hole.


I haven't removed any yet, so maybe it would be best to remove them first so I can measure and know what size solid rivets I need?
Sounds about right.

Also trying to get an idea of what size blind rivets I'll need for my framing? Seems alot of guys on here use 3/16" x 1/2"??
Try ordering 3/16" and order plenty. Order a small quantity of 1/4" for any holes that are "wobbled" out. 1/2" length is about right, depending. Be sure to order some counter sunk heads rivets for your decks. Also, only order the closed end blind rivets. I ordered 200 to start and had to go back and order more. Mistakes can be made. If you tend to make mistakes, then order extras to accommodate that.

I'm still a little stumped on how to mount a seat base to the floor. Not sure I'll have room or even be able to access underneath the floor to use stainless steel bolts. Shouldn't be an issue with the deck, but mounting one to the floor is where I forsee issues.

The other guys have that covered pretty well. But you can also mount the seat, then put your deck down permanently.

Hope this helps.

 

[BigTerp]

Yep - that's my seat.

If you're chasing birds you may want to add a raised floor (that has enough space for the pin). Not a deck, but a floor. That would give you the flat/flush surface for bird hunting and you can just drop the seat in when you go fishing. Attach that floor to the ribs and existing seats. Raising it 3 inches off the ribs would likely be sufficient space for the base and the pin.

Thanks man!! This sounds like a good alternative. I plan to make a small bow deck back to the rib in front of the existing middle bench seat. I'll be removing the bench seat and then attaching a floor from the deck back to the aft bench seat. I want to keep it low, but bumping it up a few inches to allow for a pin mount sounds like a great idea!!

 

[BigTerp]

You're doing a great job Terp, keep it up and You'll make a lot of people proud besides Yourself. Everybody here likes to see the other guys succeed, (1) because if You use an idea we gave You it makes us proud, (2) You'll come up with ideas of Your own, that the rest of us may copy and You'll be proud. So it's like a family affair without the rantin' & ravin',( most of the time) and we all come away winners. Not to mention some awesome boats when guys get done.

You did what I was talking about on the bow, to cleanup the spot left from the TM mount, and it looks great even with the holes it looks 100x better . You've got the ideas, so run with them, and we'll be here to watch and marvel, and maybe learn a new trick.

Thanks for the encourgament novaman!! I'm liking the flush mounted seat base in your last pic. My good buddy, who will be helping me with this build, is a mechanical enginner, has alot of experience working with aluminum and can apparently even weld aluminum. With his help, I might be able to pull something like that off. Thanks for the picture.

 

[BigTerp]

Answers in red in quote below:

Hope this helps.

Definitely, I appreciate the responses!!

 

[BigTerp]

So this evening is going to be "drill some holes in my boat day" :shock: . Going to drill out all the rivets that need removed so I can get the old transom wood out. A bit nervous about doing this, but I'm sure after the first few it will go smoothly [-o< .

DaveinGa had a good idea bout saving the old transom nuts and bolts, but they don't seem to be in the best shape. Some of the heads got a bit stripped when I remeoved them as well, so I plan to replace them all. I THINK I found what I need from Fastenal, but not 100% sure. Also should I be using the 8-18 or 316 grade stainless for the nuts, bolts washers??

Bolts
https://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=72581

Nuts
https://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=70860

Is the above what I should be using??

 

[Vermonster]

Those should work fine. I actually opted for Hex-head bolts because I have a tendency to strip the heads of screws. It's personal preference there, but if you do your transom slow and correctly (which I can tell by your work that you will), you won't have to worry about taking them out again.

Drilling holes in your boat gets easier each time you do it! It's really hard the first time you do it below the water line!

 

[BigTerp]

Got the transom removed this evening. What a chore!! It was obvious I've never worked with rivets before. I center drilled the rivet heads and then popped them off with a flat head screwdriver and hammer. I then popped out the shank end of the rivet with a hammer and punch. The first few gave me quite the headache, but once I got going it wasn't all that bad. I'd give myself a 7 out of 10. I "over drilled" a few of the rivet holes which I don't think will be a problem. The worst one, I'll post a pic, is right at 1/4". So I should be able to just drill it out with a 1/4" bit and replace with a 1/4" rivet. Simple as that, right??? I'm more concerned about some of the holes I marred up while using the screwdriver to pop off the rivet heads. I made a few gouges around some of the rivet holes doing this. I'm guessing I can sand this smooth and it shouldn't be a problem?? I also managed to get my left middle finger in between the boat hull and hammer. #-o How does that happen?? Hurt like hell, but all part of the game I guess.

After removal

Fore side of the transom wood

Aft side of the transom wood

This was my worst drill hole. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to measure over 1/4". Drill it out to 1/4" and replace with a 1/4" rivet??

Now I have a Sunday boat to match my Sunday underwear......nice and holy!!! :roflmao:

 

[Vermonster]

You can always use a SS Bolt and Nut coated with 3M 5200 for those larger holes. Keep your old transom pieces and use them for templates to cut your new ones! Try to clean all that corrosion and white off as well before you install.

 

[BigTerp]

You can always use a SS Bolt and Nut coated with 3M 5200 for those larger holes. Keep your old transom pieces and use them for templates to cut your new ones! Try to clean all that corrosion and white off as well before you install.

Thanks Vermonster!! The hole in the picture is from the bottom of the hull. It is from one of the rivets that held in the transom brace. Wouldn't a solid rivet sized to the hole be better than a SS nut and bolt??

 

[BigTerp]

Here is a few examples of how I marred up some of the holes while using a flathead screwdriver to pop the rivet heads off. Maybe this wasn't the best way to remove them?? These two are the worst and were some of the first ones I did. Once I got the hang of it, the rivets came off much cleaner and easier. Whats the best way to deal with thse holes? Should I just sand/de-bur the holes and be good to go?

 

[TNtroller]

looks like a good deal, on the transom plug, I would just buy a new one for a couple bucks, and test it to see if it will seal up good before you do anything to the actual drain hole in the hull. There is a reason for the drain plug to have rubber on it, change its shape to fit the imperfections of the metal hole.

 

[BigTerp]

looks like a good deal, on the transom plug, I would just buy a new one for a couple bucks, and test it to see if it will seal up good before you do anything to the actual drain hole in the hull. There is a reason for the drain plug to have rubber on it, change its shape to fit the imperfections of the metal hole.

Thanks man. Any links to were I can find a replacement??

 

[Vermonster]

Thanks man. Any links to were I can find a replacement??

Walmart should carry plugs in the boating section. They usually have 2 sizes, and they have an adjustable wingnut type that you can tighten to make the plug a bit larger when you engage it.

As for the SS Bolt versus the Rivet below the waterline, if the hole is too large for the rivet it's fine to use the SS Bolt and seal it up with 3m 5200. The plan would be you're not going to be removing it anytime soon. If you can get a rivet to fit flush go with that (remember to seal them though).

Sand the dings up a bit and clean the aluminum really well before you apply the 5200 and the rivets - you'll get much better adhesion.

 

[BigTerp]

Walmart should carry plugs in the boating section. They usually have 2 sizes, and they have an adjustable wingnut type that you can tighten to make the plug a bit larger when you engage it.

As for the SS Bolt versus the Rivet below the waterline, if the hole is too large for the rivet it's fine to use the SS Bolt and seal it up with 3m 5200. The plan would be you're not going to be removing it anytime soon. If you can get a rivet to fit flush go with that (remember to seal them though).

Sand the dings up a bit and clean the aluminum really well before you apply the 5200 and the rivets - you'll get much better adhesion.

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to try and drill out the larger holes to 1/4" and see if I can get a 1/4" rivet to fit. I have a few more rivets to remove this evening then I'll drill out the holes that need it and sand the ones that are dinged up. I'll try to get everything pressure washed and cleaned up good. Any need to primer the bare aluminum around the old rivet holes that I'll be sanding, or the transom portion that was under the old wood?

Need to start getting materials together to replace the transom wood. I plan to use exopy resin to seal the new wood. Depending on the width of wood I'll need, I'll most likley glue 2 pieces of exterior grade plywood together and coat with the resin. I've read were other guys drill the transom holes bigger than needed, then fill the holes with the epoxy resin and redrill the holes to approriate size. Is this the right way to do it, or am I way off base here?

 

[Vermonster]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to try and drill out the larger holes to 1/4" and see if I can get a 1/4" rivet to fit. I have a few more rivets to remove this evening then I'll drill out the holes that need it and sand the ones that are dinged up. I'll try to get everything pressure washed and cleaned up good. Any need to primer the bare aluminum around the old rivet holes that I'll be sanding, or the transom portion that was under the old wood?

Need to start getting materials together to replace the transom wood. I plan to use exopy resin to seal the new wood. Depending on the width of wood I'll need, I'll most likley glue 2 pieces of exterior grade plywood together and coat with the resin. I've read were other guys drill the transom holes bigger than needed, then fill the holes with the epoxy resin and redrill the holes to approriate size. Is this the right way to do it, or am I way off base here?

Prime the holes after they're plugged with the rivets. The resin will be fine for in-between the wood and the hull but a coat of primer would be fine. I think the resin provides water protection, but not UV, so you may want to throw a coat of paint on the resin afterwards (somebody should be able to confirm that). I think over-drilling the holes and filling with resin will be overkill to be honest - using the 5200 on your hardware should be sufficient. A transom with resin should last forever.

Drill the holes
Clean/sand them
Seal your hardware with 5200 (bolts and rivets) - this should be fine for water-proofing the holes in the transom.
prime bare aluminum with self etching primer
paint (if you're going to)