MrSimon's Bass Tracker 1542 w/ 25 Mercury

[MrSimon]

I've been looking for a diamond in the rough for a while now, and I finally found it.

Its a 1984 1542 Bass Tracker with a 1996 25 Mercury that runs nicely. It came with two nice pedestals, some nice seats, a good battery, two gas tanks, a Humminbird fish finder, a flasher, and a rusty trailer.

It was less than an hour from my house and cost a grand total of $550.

Its in rough shape and will take some work to make it shine .... but I'm convinced there is a diamond in there somewhere.

I can't get started on it until later this summer ... we are in the middle of a kitchen renovation so I'm pretty busy.

My plans are to gut the whole thing completely and put it back together with pretty much the same layout, but with no wood anywhere. I might extend the front a deck a bit and re-build the console to take up less room, but thats about it. I'm sure I'll have to gut and re-do all the wiring too.

 

[crazymanme2]

Awesome find =D>

Make sure you take plenty of pics during the mod. [-X

 

[MrSimon]

4 hours of work with an angle grinder, power drill, pliers, screwdriver, pry-bar, utility knife, a socket set, and a good pair of gloves gave me this:

It was a dirty job, but everything came out without too much trouble. All the wood was soaked and in some placed completely rotten. The foam under the floor was sopping wet! The foam under the decks is nice and dry and the transom is still solid - I was worried about that. The carpet was disgusting.

I really like the layout of this Bass Tracker .... its going to be very easy to add in some bracing and lay down aluminum for the floor and decks. Two 4x8 sheets should be enough to do the floor, the front deck (extended back about a foot), the rear deck (really just a hatch cover), the bow plate, and a bench seat right in front of the rear deck. It will be less than $240 for all the aluminum. Thats not a whole lot more than plywood, resin, carpet, and adhesive would cost.

BUT, after looking closely, I realized three or four of the main floor braces are cracked all the way through. I think this is bad! I'm pretty sure these cracks have loosened up a few rivits, causing leaks. I'll have to take the boat to get these cracks welded properly. I'm a little agitated by this. I know its a 27 year old boat, but having almost every single floor brace crack in the exact same spot?!? Good chance there is a design flaw there. This will add some extra cost to this project that I wasn't expecting. Big surprise, huh?

 

[MDFisherman57]

Those cracks could have been from a hard wave they may have hit since its so old. I still think you fixing these few problems and you still have a deal. That motor is probibly worth more than the 550 you paid. You have controls and everything so you got a good deal.

 

[MrSimon]

I hadn't thought about a wave, thats a good point. Good possibility.

I was thinking maybe there is a roller in the middle of the trailer that stressed the center of the hull every time the boat was launched and recovered. I'll check that out when I re-do the trailer.

Or maybe they ran over a rock, log, or stump at speed.

Either way, welding them and adding some additional bracing should fix it up nicely. I was really hoping to keep the whole build under $1000 including the cost of the boat. That might be tight. I'll keep track of everything and see how it comes out in the end.

 

[crazymanme2]

I had those same cracks in my support beams.


My beams where dented like that from the factory

My breaks where in the middle.Since I did the repair I have had no trouble & I go through some rough water.

 

[NEfish]

bummer about the cracked ribs #-o I just thought I would show you some pictures of my boat I just finished. Its the exact same boat as yours and was in comparable shape when I bought it. Its nothing fancy but it was really an easy thing to do and I really enjoyed it! Goodluck and keep us posted!
These pictures were from before I put the seats and bases in

 

[reedjj]

Nice find! The motor is worth more than what you paid by itself. A few pieces of Aluminum angle welded to the cracked ribs and you will be in good shape.

Because its one of the older riveted trackers boats and because of its age, you may want to go through and check all the rivets for tightness/looseness and replace any if needed. A good coat of Steel flex to seal things up may be a good idea too.

1542 is a nice size boat and you should have a lot of fun with this build. What are your plans?

I am looking for a deal like that on a something in the 1648 or 1750 size range to make a center console jet rig out of.

 

[reedjj]

NEfish,

Do you sit on the rear deck or are you going to install seats? Looks great!

 

[MrSimon]

Thanks for the input guys!

NEfish - thats a sharp looking boat. You did a real nice job.

My plans are pretty basic:

• Put down sheet aluminum on the floor and decks.
  Build a new all aluminum console that is situated better than the original one. The original one was big, bulky, and too far away from the driver - and the steering wheel was positioned in an awkward way.
  Re-do all the wiring and put in a nice switch panel / fuse box.
  Paint the interior with non-skid paint.
  Tune up the motor a bit - it runs good now, but a good cleaning and tune up is always a good idea.
  Clean up and paint the trailer. Fix the bunks and lights.

 

[NEfish]

Sounds like you have some good plans! Those pictures of my boat were from before I added the seats. I have a pedestale on the front deck and a pedestal on the back deck. I still havent decided if I am going to put the driving seats in, I really like having the extra floor space and I dont mind reaching way forward to steer when Im sitting on the back deck, most the lakes I am on are fairly small so im not using the outboard all that much anyways.

 

[MrSimon]

I was considering re-building the seat area to just be a flat bench that sits a couple inches lower than the rear deck and right up against it. I could put two flush mount pedestal mounts in the bench. I would only have two seats in the boat, and four spots to put them - two on the bench and one on each deck.

That way I could leave them on the bench while driving and move them to the decks while fishing. (actual pedestals would be stored in a hatch somewhere). I could also leave them on the bench if I don't want to sit while fishing.

Update: I took the motor off last night. Just a bit more carpet and the side panels to remove ... then its time for a good ol fashion scrub down.

 

[NEfish]

Thats a good idea with the bench! I didnt like how much space the driving seats take up in a boat of that size

 

[MrSimon]

Thats a good idea with the bench! I didnt like how much space the driving seats take up in a boat of that size

Thats just what I thought too.

If I build the bench, and move the driving seats to the decks while fishing, the bench will act as an extension of the rear deck.

I thought about just making the bench the same height as the rear deck, but once you put the seats on, its just a bit too high for me.

 

[MrSimon]

Got a quote of $125 - $150 to weld those cracked ribs back together. Thats with me doing all the cleaning ahead of time. The shop recommended I use some aluminum wheel polish to scrub the area really good .... maybe even let it soak overnight. Should get all the corrosion and dirt off so the weld is clean.

I'm hoping to get this done soon. I try and get pics of the process if possible.

 

[MrSimon]

I finally got the boat back from the welding shop. He did a great job fixing the four cracked ribs as well as welding up three pretty big cracks. I'm sure there are still a few leaky rivets, but it should be a LOT more water tight now.

Plans have changed a bit for the boat. I sold the motor that came with the boat because the three lakes around here are electric only. The new plan for the boat is to make a very simple, open floor plan that me and the family can easily fish from. Simple is good.

 

[mmf]

That is a nice find. Make sure to check the plywood in the transom, usually when the floor is rotten the transom is too. My transom on my 1990 tracker was rotten along with the floor. It looked good and I took a core sample next to the top and it checked alright, however when I drilled into it close to the very bottom part where it ends, it was falling apart rotten, I'm glad I checked it and it was a pain to replace it too, had to cut weld joints but in the end it worked out great.

Good luck with your project!

 

[Flatbotm]

Looks good mr Simon. That boat has alot of great stuff allready there. It just neede a good gut and rebuild. I'll keep following along it's good to see another 1542.

 

[Brine]

Nice find on the boat, even with the unexpected repairs.

I wouldn't worry too much about the transom if you plan on using it solely on electric only lakes. If you plan to put a big motor on it one day, I'd say replace the transom now.

Good time to do a leak test. Just fill it up with about 4" of water and check for leaks from underneath. Having zero leaks feels much better than "alot more water tight."

 

[ssg catfish]

you have a great tin there .i hope it gives you years of svc. i cant wait to get home and start working on mine. no water over here to look at . oh wait the waste ponds on" KAF" kandahar air feild afghanastan. but they smell to bad to fish in . go forth on the project