catmansteve
Well-known member
Howdy folks. Since this is my first major boat rebuild, I figured I'd make a record of it here.
Boat is a 2000 Tracker Grizzly 1648. It was already setup when I bought it, but after fishing it for a couple months I found a number of things I wasn't happy with, so I've decided to tear it down to the bare hull and start over.
If you hadn't guessed by now, the boat was setup mainly for catfishing. I do a lot of catfishing myself, but I also like the convenience of raised casting decks and the storage space they provide underneath. My biggest complaint was the livewell in the middle is a pain in the a$$ to get around, so I'm going to move it to the front and build a deck around it.
The back end will be pretty straightforward; this boat has boxes on either side as opposed to a rear bench, with room for the gas tank and starting battery underneath, so I'll just build a hinged lid to cover the space between the boxes and a cover for the front and call it good. All of the framing and decking will be aluminum.
I'm not a fan of carpet, so the entire interior will get some type of rubberized or non-skid paint, haven't decided on what to use so I'm open to suggestions. I'm seriously considering painting the outside of the hull as well, the old green is looking tired and I think a dark navy gloss would look pretty sharp with a light grey painted interior.
The boat is powered by a 97 Mercury 30 Jet (40/28) with stick steering; I've been playing around with it since I've had it, and I'm still not satisfied with the performance. The fastest I've gotten it was 27 mph riding solo, averages around 25, but throw an extra person or two in and it barely wants to get on plane and tops out about 20-22mph. I have an 87 Johnson 40/28 I had on my old boat just sitting in the garage, so at some point I'll switch the motors to see which does better.
Boat is a 2000 Tracker Grizzly 1648. It was already setup when I bought it, but after fishing it for a couple months I found a number of things I wasn't happy with, so I've decided to tear it down to the bare hull and start over.
If you hadn't guessed by now, the boat was setup mainly for catfishing. I do a lot of catfishing myself, but I also like the convenience of raised casting decks and the storage space they provide underneath. My biggest complaint was the livewell in the middle is a pain in the a$$ to get around, so I'm going to move it to the front and build a deck around it.
The back end will be pretty straightforward; this boat has boxes on either side as opposed to a rear bench, with room for the gas tank and starting battery underneath, so I'll just build a hinged lid to cover the space between the boxes and a cover for the front and call it good. All of the framing and decking will be aluminum.
I'm not a fan of carpet, so the entire interior will get some type of rubberized or non-skid paint, haven't decided on what to use so I'm open to suggestions. I'm seriously considering painting the outside of the hull as well, the old green is looking tired and I think a dark navy gloss would look pretty sharp with a light grey painted interior.
The boat is powered by a 97 Mercury 30 Jet (40/28) with stick steering; I've been playing around with it since I've had it, and I'm still not satisfied with the performance. The fastest I've gotten it was 27 mph riding solo, averages around 25, but throw an extra person or two in and it barely wants to get on plane and tops out about 20-22mph. I have an 87 Johnson 40/28 I had on my old boat just sitting in the garage, so at some point I'll switch the motors to see which does better.