Who doesn't love restoration project pics? Well when I was a little boy, I had one of those Nylint Bass Catcher Bronco II and bass boat toys. I played with that thing outside in the mud and made little Lakes to float the boat. I've had a soft spot for Bass Trackers ever since.

Up until now, I have fished and hunted out of my grandpas 14' Alumicraft with a 15hp evinrude. It is in immaculate condition, considering it was made in the late 60s and has been passed down to my dad, then me, has been to Canada several times, up to the iron range lakes, on the st. Croix river, fishing in Wisconsin and all over Minnesota. It is a fantastic little boat, but it definitely has its limitations.

I told my best friend this winter that I had decided to buy a bass tracker and was committed to start looking for one come spring. He has had one since he was 15 and we had a lot of good memories in it. He stops me and says, "well if you want mine, you can have it. I just inherited my parents 19' crestliner and I can't store 2 boats. Plus, I don't have time to restore it, but I also don't want to sell it and never see it again." Sounds reasonable to me.

The camo boat:


The day I brought the Tracker home. It had been sitting outside for 6 years and had moss and trees growing out of the floor:



Pulling up carpet and tear down. It was a rotted mess.






The carpet all had the moss like you see on the hatch doors:






Oofda. I have my work cut out for me. The steering was locked up and the wiring was a disaster. I first went about freeing up the steering and then I went through the motor to make sure it even ran still. It works fantastic. We had redone the top half down to the rings not long ago,  so as long as it wasn't locked up, I was pretty confident it'd be fine.


Next wasclean up and recarpeting and cutting new decks:



Covered up speaker holes and cut a rod storage hole in the bulkhead:









This shows the original primary power wire to the fuse box. I upgraded it to 8 gauge.


New fuse box and better wiring with lots of open circuits for more lighting:



Side panels carpeted and installed:


Bottom deck:


New stuff:



Console mocked up. Seat and console are not bolted down yet:




And that's where I'm at! Thanks for looking, it's been a fun project.

Edit 4/17: well I'm mostly done. Front deck is in. I put a shorter folding seat on the rear deck, but I don't think it's in the pics. Only thing left is a passenger seat.





Dad trying out the seat position

Some people here are incredibly talented.

Awesome!!!

does it float? i want to see it on the water and you jumping a boat ramp with it

Great work thus far and thanks for sharing!

Tagged. Awesome thread

Nice work, I would like to do one myself.  I have a Ranger 619vs but would enjoy doing an aluminum boat for some of the lakes I don't want to put my Ranger in.  I just don't have the room for it right now.

Just thinking about all the spiders and bugs that were mixed in with that thing makes me cringe....

Now, just need to distress it for that old fisherman's boat look.

Looks good, I personally would have gone with marine grade vinyl over carpet.I replaced my carpet with vinyl years ago and couldn't be happier. All carpet will get dingy eventually with the vinyl you can hose off, scrub pressure wash and you're good to go and it looks like new.

That's cool as shit! Looks awesome so far!

Wow. Nicely done. Is there any concern about corrosion on the inside of the aluminum hull underneath the carpeted panels? Would you consider painting that metal some day?

OP, I have been down this exact road. Stop what you are doing, take it back apart and tear all that old foam out and replace it. It will be permenantly saturated and add significant weight to your boat affecting performance. Also, while its apart take it down to the lake and find the leaky rivets that will drive you crazy, circle them and replace at home. You can thank me later. Excellent work though, your boat will turn out way sharper then mine did!

looks good, though I'll never understand why people use carpet on boats

I love you and your boat!

I actually haven't put the front deck on yet, but I will be replacing all that foam. The foam under the main deck and under the side panels is new, and I replaced almost all the foam under the rear deck, I wasn't able to get to it all, but a large majority. Thanks for the suggestion!!

This as well. Go buy a couple of gallons of gluv it, prepare the aluminum and paint that stuff over the inside of the bottom of the boat.

I thought about vinyl, but just prefer the carpeted look and feel. If it lasts another 20 years like the oem carpet did, I'll be happy.

Traction, comfort, and lowers the amount of noise transmitted into the water from walking around the boat.

I've got 2 ----yeah,that's TWO --- old boats like that.I actually bought them for the motors.One is worth restoring but I'm afraid the other is too far gone.Both are fiberglass.

You do nice work!!!

I painted the inside of the hull with rustoleum under the panels. Hardly permanent or anything, but it's something. I guess "restoration" isn't the right term, more of like, breathing a second life into it. It definitely isn't perfect. the hull is all welded and doesn't leak. It also has a pump in case I get water in...

I don't know shit about boats, but this looks cool!

Please feel free to post boat pics and fishing/duck hunting pics!!

Good job OP, good luck with it and have fun.

That was going to be my question.

With that covered....Great job 

I bet you could make a few bucks flipping boats from Craigslist

Fantastic job OP.  You going to put in some circuit breakers? Keep up the great work.

Needs a bigger motor.

Neat!

How much money do you have invested?  Assuming the hull is good, this seems like a good way to get a cheap usable bass boat, with only a little bit of work.

Very cool OP.  GOOD JOB. keep the pics flowing.

Question about the foam..........do you just use the spray cans??? Do you use regular stuff or 'minimal expanding' stuff?

I take it you haven't worked on boats. The time and money will never pay off for boats like this. Even fully restored you MAY get 5-6k out it. The brand new bass trackers like that go right around 10k here with trailer, outboard, electronics etc. and the warranty.

I used foam sheets that I cut to size.

Quieter , more comfortable , nicer looking IMO.  

"Bed-Liner" is getting popular down here on bass boats for its low maintenance and ease of cleaning, and 2 of my friends have it on their boats.  I've fished out them....  talk about uncomfortable to kneel or sit on. Ouch.  I'll deal with the extra upkeep of carpet.


BTW- OP , tell me that Minn Kota has iPilot.  If not , return that fucker and upgrade to it. You can thank me later.

I have about 1100 into it right now. Most of the cost is trolling motor. I also would like to put a side imaging sonar up front. It has a hummingbird flasher in the console and I'll put my lowrance hook with down imaging at the drivers seat as well.

I second the motion.

Is this cost efficient?  I would guess so if you got the hull for next to nothing, but where is the cost/benefit line for acquiring a hull to refit?  In another way, what is the costs to refit with retail materials?

Hmm......like insulation foam or something made specifically for flotation?

A very tight cell foam that was rated extremely water resistant. I didn't buy it from a marine shop. It actually came from the previous owner of the boat. I don't know where he got it from. It was brand new and in big sheets. I don't know what it's intended use was originally. Hopefully it works, but then again, hopefully I never swamp it!!!

Excellent OP, between that and the rustoleum you put down your miles ahead of my mistakes! We will need visual proof that the boat is actually capable of catching fish, mega bonus points for pics Wife/girlfriend/cousin/sister fishing with you. ;) good work.

I would say it is as long as you don't need to find a motor for it. As the poster stated above, it does need a bigger motor. It does about 35mph unloaded with 2 adults. But I don't want to invest in a 60 or 70 horse, as that'd cost more than the whole rig is worth. This boat came from the factory with a 25hp, if you can believe that. The owner upgraded to the 45 the next year. The hull is all welded, no rivers. so as long as your welds don't crack, you shouldn't have to worry about leaking, ever.

I hate fishing out of those.

Nice work.  Is that a new console or did it just clean up really well?

Of course! I will show pics that I was capable in the little camo boat for now :)





















Don't worry, I'll still give camo boat lots of love!

Cleaned up really well. I'd like to get the stickers off it under the windshield and either put cooler stickers on it or paint it.

How come?

Thank you very much!

This is ARFCOM GD, he only fishes out of a boat with minimum 1,000 horsepower and 50' length and tows it inside of his yacht

Cool!

Rivets ok?

I assume the rust was from the original fasteners attaching the plywood to the stringer?

It's a good thing that saltwater is over 1,000 miles away!