1988 Bass Tracker Project

Here are some pics of the boat project I am currently working on. I fished out of it for a year and half and finally decided to fix it up. The stickers were peeling, the carpet was shot and coming up, the wood was horribly cut, the seats were coming apart at the seams and the wiring looked like a rats nest. I tore everything down and ground all of the old glue off (this step took the longest). The foam was mostly saturated and there were several cracks that I had welded. I also went over the trailer while the boat was off and repacked the bearings, painted the wheels, ran new wiring, painted the trailer, and installed all new wood/carpet. The boat was was cleaned, etched with Jasco, primed with a self-etching primer and painted with Natural Gear stencils The new floor is 11 gauge aluminum and the floor/decks will be covered with Tuff Coat and painted to match the tan color on the outside of the boat. I bought a new Lowe console and installed that as well and the seats are new Max4 camo. There is new closed cell foam as floatation also. I still need to install the front deck after I brace it some more and install the tubes for the rod holders. After that it will get another coat of Tuff Coat and painted. Once that is done the switches, fish finder, and all other electrical will be finished. Hopefully I will be fishing out of it in a couple weeks.

Is this your duck boat? Ive been trying to keep my colors dark because im going to but some of the camo burlap for some river hunting.

Here are some pictures of what I found when I tore everything down. The flotation was a mix of plastic bottles and foam. I don't think the foam could hold anymore water. There was a mix metal tape, fiberglass and a maybe resin (?) used (inside and out) to repair some stress cracks (TIG welded prior to reassembly). Between all that crap and the rotten wood from a previous deck, there was barley any drainage to the back. All new foam was used under the floor and front deck.

theyyounggun said:

Is this your duck boat? Ive been trying to keep my colors dark because im going to but some of the camo burlap for some river hunting.

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I may try to hunt out of it, but I will use it mostly for fishing.

What kind of boat is it what model of Bass Tracker, mine looks similar to yours, but mine is an 87 Bass Tracker MV-16.

It is an 88 Pro17

Oh nice, what kind of motor? Has your decal on the nose of your boat been pristine like that the whole time or did you repair it? Mine looks like crap with all the cracks and what not into it.

The motor is an '88 35hp Merc. Before the tear down it would go 22-25mph depending on gear and # of people. The decals as far as I know are all original. They were really cracked, but toward the rear they were somewhat beat up, probably from bumping a dock or something

Paint is finished. Just need to finish the wiring and installing all the interior pieces.

this is bothering me....but i got a thing for it. you should put something behind your reels where you have the rod mounts so they dont get dinged up. for some reason since i was little if my reels/reel got a scratch or ding on it i dont like to use them anymore. not sure what ive got but i think im just real weird about my reels........boat looks SWEET!!!

It is finally finished and I have taken it out a few times. I will most likely post this for sale soon so I can work on another boat project (Lund Tyee). Here are some more pics







Dont mind the rod holders, I only put one screw in until I was sure where I wanted them.