'83 Mirrocraft 16' Lake Fisherman II Restore

New member here posting my first restoration build here. Picked up the boat and Shore Land'r trailer in what I thought was good shape for $1050. It's a basic 3 bench setup that had wood seat framing done.

After tearing into it further and further from what was initially just poking around its turned into a complete overhaul. Basically replacing almost everything on the boat and trailer and starting fresh.

It all started when we found that the wood floors were soft so we pulled them out and decided to remove the basic wood framing that was done. After gutting the boat and cleaning out debris we water tested it today and found some leaking rivets... I've ordered G-Flex 650 kit to repair it and will be repainting the boat with Aluma Hawk Boat Paint in John Boat Green. The hull has seen better days but should hold up. I've retraced new flooring and painted with deck paint but have to repair the hull before it can go back in.

The trailer has gotten a complete overhaul with all new wiring, new 2x6 wood runners, new winch, new tires, new trailer jack, new tongue coupler and repaired/welded fenders. The rollers had to be adjusted and winch relocated to hold the boat correctly. All the tabs were bent and the original wood runners were rotted and broken.

I'm about 2 weeks into the boat know with very little free time but it's progressing. I thought it was going to get put back together today until we found the leaks. I've bought a ton of gear for it to go fishing in the lakes and reservoirs locally.

Here's a list of what I've bought so far:
Used '89 Nissan 8hp 2-stroke outboard w/ 3gal fuel cell
New 55lb Minn Kota Endura Maxx
Tiller Extensions for both
2 Cannon Uni-Trolls
Hunminbird Helix 5 SI GPS Sonar
New Oars
3 New Deep Cycle Marine Batteries (1) 27 and (2) 29s with battery boxes and a Minn Kota MK 110P 10amp charger
(2) 1/2" 300' anchor lines, rubberized chains and (2) 18lb river anchors
(4) Ram Rod Tube Jr Rod Holders
iboats.com custom cover
Engel 30qt livebait cooler

Here is how it looked when I bought it and where I'm at currently. I hope to get it completed in a couple weeks so I can finally take it fishing. I'll post more updates as I get them.

Welcome to the forum, henro and your new hobby. :LOL2:
And congrats on the new rig.
Sounds like you made great progress.
I have a 16 footer semi-v for several years now, and very happy with it.
That will fish 3 guys and gear comfortably.

Where are you from?
Be sure to update your location under User Control Panel > Profile.

Thanks for sharing and keep the pics coming.

-jasper

Sweet ! good job. I have a 1973 16' lake fisherman ! This restoring hobby is very addicting.

Thanks guys I'm from NJ. The pics I posted went up in reverse order. The gutted pic is how it currently sits and the bottom 3 are when I bought it.

Question: Would removal of the middle bench seat and it's floatation foam hurt the rigidity of the boat and compromise it's boyancy if it went over? Trying to make more room to move around and if it was gone it would help a lot.

Anybody?

henro said:

Thanks guys I'm from NJ. The pics I posted went up in reverse order. The gutted pic is how it currently sits and the bottom 3 are when I bought it.

Question: Would removal of the middle bench seat and it's floatation foam hurt the rigidity of the boat and compromise it's boyancy if it went over? Trying to make more room to move around and if it was gone it would help a lot.

Click to expand...

Hopefully others will chime in, but here's my 2 cents. I think the forum is divided on the question about the removal of a center bench seat and structural integrity. The next hot topic is over powering your boat.
Some have done it and some strongly oppose, its basically your call.

-jasper

I have a 16 foot mirrorcraft and removed all seat the decked. Rigidity no problem. But you will need to replace the foam


BTW I have no foam on mine but it is not recommended

Been pouring a lot of sweat and elbow grease into this project with my buddy... Ground clean all the bottom rivets and seams and then all the remaining side paint over the last few days. Finally got to painting re bottom today and it looks great. Noticed a numerous pin holes in the bottom after painting but could only see one that was all the way through so far. Can't flip the boat until tomorrow to see any other paint coming through. Rest of the holes will be sealed from the inside with more g flex. Hoping the end of the tunnel is in sight soon so it can go back together and wire the batteries and accessories. Will water test after its flipped and sealed next.

Also for whatever it's worth I realized while stripping it down this boat is a Lake Fisherman II 3616-16. The old sticker outlines showed it. The center bench had marks from it previously having a console at one time as well. More prep pics before paint. Tearing into this thing we've found this boats had many of the rivets sealed previously by who knows how many owners with rtv and even bondo.

henro said:

Also for whatever it's worth I realized while stripping it down this boat is a Lake Fisherman II 3616-16. The old sticker outlines showed it. The center bench had marks from it previously having a console at one time as well. More prep pics before paint. Tearing into this thing we've found this boats had many of the rivets sealed previously by who knows how many owners with rtv and even bondo.

...

Click to expand...

Good job. It should be a nice solid boat after all is said and done.
FYI. A quick google on your boat turned up...
https://boatspecs.iboats.com/Mirrocraft_by_Northport__3616-16_Lake_Fisherman_II__1983/bp/66b57695

Keep the pics coming.

-jasper

jasper60103 said:

henro said:

Also for whatever it's worth I realized while stripping it down this boat is a Lake Fisherman II 3616-16. The old sticker outlines showed it. The center bench had marks from it previously having a console at one time as well. More prep pics before paint. Tearing into this thing we've found this boats had many of the rivets sealed previously by who knows how many owners with rtv and even bondo.

...

Click to expand...

Good job. It should be a nice solid boat after all is said and done.
FYI. A quick google on your boat turned up...
https://boatspecs.iboats.com/Mirrocraft_by_Northport__3616-16_Lake_Fisherman_II__1983/bp/66b57695

Keep the pics coming.

-jasper

Click to expand...

Thanks yes I've seen that site as well.

A question I have been running through my head is if the 55lb trolling motor I bought will have enough power to troll with the downriggers. I've read the all the size recommendations on websites and it's right on for my boat size but I'm not sure. Any ideas? I know the boat is not heavy for its size being just a bench boat but it is wide. The one I have is a 36" shaft also.

Does anyone think I will need a bigger 24V setup? I have (2) 29 batteries and a 27 for accessories now. Would I be able to run all day with a 75-80lb thrust trolling motor on the (2) 29s?

Worked on the boat a little today. Found where the pin holes were caused by two small wood pieces that the previous owner had under the floor for support were grinding against the bottom. Sealed them with g flex and etch painted some spots I ground clean. The interior will hopefully get painted this week with Rustoleum and then water tested.

henro said:

Worked on the boat a little today. Found where the pin holes were caused by two small wood pieces that the previous owner had under the floor for support were grinding against the bottom. Sealed them with g flex and etch painted some spots I ground clean. The interior will hopefully get painted this week with Rustoleum and then water tested.

...

Click to expand...

Good thing you found it while you had it torn down. That kinda makes me wonder how the factory originally supported the floor? I see there's a channel in the middle where the floor could rest on, but what about the sides?

jasper60103 said:

henro said:

Worked on the boat a little today. Found where the pin holes were caused by two small wood pieces that the previous owner had under the floor for support were grinding against the bottom. Sealed them with g flex and etch painted some spots I ground clean. The interior will hopefully get painted this week with Rustoleum and then water tested.

...

Click to expand...

Good thing you found it while you had it torn down. That kinda makes me wonder how the factory originally supported the floor? I see there's a channel in the middle where the floor could rest on, but what about the sides?

Click to expand...

The floor wasn't factory as far as I know. I'm not sure if it had one stock. The sides were drilled into the ribs which seemed to work well?

henro said:

jasper60103 said:

henro said:

Worked on the boat a little today. Found where the pin holes were caused by two small wood pieces that the previous owner had under the floor for support were grinding against the bottom. Sealed them with g flex and etch painted some spots I ground clean. The interior will hopefully get painted this week with Rustoleum and then water tested.

...

Click to expand...

Good thing you found it while you had it torn down. That kinda makes me wonder how the factory originally supported the floor? I see there's a channel in the middle where the floor could rest on, but what about the sides?

Click to expand...

The floor wasn't factory as far as I know. I'm not sure if it had one stock. The sides were drilled into the ribs which seemed to work well?

Click to expand...

Oh, I was thinking there must have been a factory floor covering that channel in the middle. So you are saying the channel probably wasn't factory either?

jasper60103 said:

henro said:

jasper60103 said:

Good thing you found it while you had it torn down. That kinda makes me wonder how the factory originally supported the floor? I see there's a channel in the middle where the floor could rest on, but what about the sides?

Click to expand...

The floor wasn't factory as far as I know. I'm not sure if it had one stock. The sides were drilled into the ribs which seemed to work well?

Click to expand...

Oh, I was thinking there must have been a factory floor covering that channel in the middle. So you are saying the channel probably wasn't factory either?

Click to expand...

I guess I'm wrong I just looked back at the 1983 Mirrocraft catalog I have on pdf and it shows a floor on the boat.

henro said:

...

I guess I'm wrong I just looked back at the 1983 Mirrocraft catalog I have on pdf and it shows a floor on the boat.

...

Click to expand...

OK, that makes sense. Thanks.

Can anybody help with my question about trolling motor power on post #12?

I know my 16ft mirrorcraft is not good on the electric motor (55 lb) at all. Very slow.

Never tried to troll down riggers with it