HOUSE's 14' Crestliner V-haul MOD (photos added)

[fool4fish1226]

Great job =D>

 

[Ride_Klein]

Very well done. Clean, simple, and effective. Those spaces under the decks look like they'll fit a plastic filing cabinet or smaller rubbermaid almost perfectly.

 

[HOUSE]

thank you, thank you
This has been the LONGEST project I have ever encountered! You would think by now that I would have built myself an actual Tracker boat. I am definitely the worlds "longest-procrastinating-boat-builder" alive.

Question:
Does anyone know if there is a law regarding how low in the boat the back seat has to sit? I vaguely recall reading that the captain's chair has to sit lower than the edge of the boat for safety reasons. I wanted to build a small storage box under it, which would make it sit 3 inches higher than in my last photo, which would be well above the edge of my boat. Am I crazy?
:---)

updated floor carpeting: 10/23/2011:

updated front panels (still need to carpet them) and began storage compartment under the captain's chair:

 

[HOUSE]

2/19/12 I finally got back into the groove with my boat. I haven't really worked on it in probably 2 months due to it being so darn cold in my garage! Here are some pics of the latest carpeting and hinge work. I still have to screw everything down, but I think she's coming along nicely.

By the way, I really do envy you guys that make modding your boats look so easy...there are so many things I have to keep going back and re-doing because of my lack of experience...grrr. I can't wait until my next mod

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[jimmy fins]

Looks good House. =D> I know what you mean about the first mod. But the wisdom you learn is priceless.

 

[Jdholmes]

Looking nice.

 

[HOUSE]

2/28/12: Got some major work done on the boat this weekend > Carpet, done! Hinges, secured! Internal compartments, painted! Front fishing deck, secured! Rear captain's chair storage box, complete! Internal hull, painted! Flush pulls for the compartments, ordered! Band-aid on left leg from new hammer drill slipping, installed!

I'm left with the terrifying task of running the wiring without blowing up my garage. I feel like Jack Bower from 24 every time I splice a wire, except I have no clue what the hell I'm doing. I'm going to post a picture of my intended wiring setup in the "Electrical" thread. Please take a look if you have the time and toss in your 2-cents. That's the final frontier for this mod, and I can't tell you how excited I am to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

Here's some updated boat porn:

Here are the pull handles I ordered for the flaps from Amazon.com @ $3ea plus shipping. I think I got 5 shipped for $21bucks total:

Leftover projects:
1) Wiring 2) touch-up paint 3) mount fish-finder & trolling motor 4) cup holders 5) rod holders 6) LED lights 7) Anchor/Ropes 8) FISH!


Finally: Here is my preliminary sketch for my wiring setup. I'm going to post this in the Electrical forum for advice, but feel free to comment here too. When I get it all finished, I'm going to make a guide for future newbies with pictures and links to help them. I read through all 50 pages of that forum and feel like I'm finally comfortable tackling the project, but still about 5% uncertain as to whether or not my boat is going to explode.

 

[fool4fish1226]

=D> House your almost there!!!!!!!!!!! The boat is looking great

 

[HOUSE]

I spent 2 hours trying to get my anchor light seated properly...I had the darndest time getting it to sit flush with the carpet. Here's how it looks lit up:

I also re-sketched my wiring schematics and simplified it a good deal. I posted a thread about it in the Electrical forum and got a lot of really helpful feedback. Here's a picture and a link to the electrical post: https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24045&p=245502#p245502

 

[goinhtn63]

House
Great job on the mod. I have the exact same boat and am wanting to do the samething. I am currently working on my trailor and when its done I will start with the boat. Hopefully I can pick your brain as I go along with it.

Kevin..

 

[HOUSE]

I worked on my LED's last night and could not get them all running unless I ran a separate positive wire to each LED strip...pain in the butt! but at least they wont all go out at the same time. Here's my finalized wiring diagram with the actual parts I used. I'm going to make a wiring "guide" for other rookies and post it in the Electric forum with some helpful links and explanations. As to my boat...I got the 5 flush pulls in the mail so I'm going to add them to all of my flaps. I also painted yellow racing stripes down the sides after a long night out drinking...luckily, they turned out pretty sweet so I'll upload some pictures tomorrow.

 

[HOUSE]

I picked up some rod holders at bass pro this weekend, along with a new BASS FLAG! Tell me this thing isn't sweet:

 

[Jdholmes]

That thing is sweet. I know those rod holders are a good deal - they are the same I am getting. I want that flag,

 

[HOUSE]

I went to the BMV today and got the title and registration officially completed! My mod is now "street legal"

 

[ChitownBasser]

Great flag. I like it. Could you let us know how the rod holders work out? I read mixed reviews on the bass pro website. Thanks.

 

[Jdholmes]

Agreed...I would love to hear your review. They are certainly the best deal I have found...puts the, right at 7-8 for each holder (2 in a pack).

 

[TheDeNomProject]

Love the Boat man..Great Job! =D>

 

[HOUSE]

4/10/12: Almost all of my internal wiring is complete! I installed the switch next to my captain's chair and wired in the bow light, anchor light, LED's, and all I have left to do is run a wire to a future livewell and the bilge pump that just came in the mail. I also designed a creative way to move my fishfinder back and forth from the front of my boat to the back using those Bass Pro Shop rod holders. I mounted it on a 5/7" 5-inch bolt that rests pretty tight in the rod holder. (pictures below).
Remaining projects:
1) Wire 5 more LED strips inside the storage containers.
2) Re-paint the inside hull with textured silver paint.
3) Paint the name "MINNOWTAUR" on the back of the boat (after the proper name-change ceremony, of course!)
4) Install bilge pump & possible livewell.
5) Mount spare tire on trailer and weld a "problem area" back together.
6) Finish trailer wiring on my suv.
7) GO FISH

Switch:

LED's:

FishFinder:

 

[JasonLester]

Nice.. I like the layout... I have kept mine simple because its less than 14 feet...but I like your setup... I may do something like what you did. I like the ability to take a few of the kids with me and still have some room to move.

 

[bigwave]

Looking good house, I like the led's. I can't wait to show you guys the LED light that I just picked up. I know this is going to sound crazy but I just got a 16 foot continuous string of LED's that has a remote control with features like strobe, dance, flash, and you can change the colors to any color you want. Talk about break dancing...... :shock: these things are bad ass and they only cost 35 bucks.....My buddy installs hi end led's for houses and he gave them to me. I will take some video of the lights in action and post on monday......It will blow you away.