1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

hey every one my names brandon im 17 years old and im enlisted in the army i go to basic in june so i have a short time to finish this boat and fish it. i ended up trading a dirtbike that me and my dad bought with a blown up motor we ended up completely redoing the bike for under $800. i found this boat and offered the guy to trade and now im here feeling all my money and time being drained out of my pocket. ohhhh and so yall dont think im crazy my dad is a mechanic and ive raced everything from gokarts to dirt track stock cars all my life so fiberglass work and a little engineering is nothing to scare me away. the good news is the floors been redone but im redoing a patch on the bottom that looks like crap theres 2 holes in the top of the hull the guy before me had some ghetto rod holders im going to patch those holes and the transom is broke off on one side the wood is in good condition but im gonna brace it with aluminum and the fiberglass over it it needs new seats a new livewell pump and my buddys dad is replacing his electronics so imma get those for a preety good deal and imma re wire the boat into a fuse panel as they rewired the boat but now theres a million wires running to the battery it looks like crap and the conectors dont look so good do imma just clean that up but im going to florida to fish the Big O with a guide i leave this saturday so the project will be postponed for a week i will post picture as soon as they finish resizing

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Welcome to iboats Brandon! You came to the right place for help. Lots of knowledgable folks here willing to lend a helping hand. Looking forward to seeing the pics!

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Welcome and good luck with your project

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

any suggestions on color and do yall think acrylic enamel paint will work good? i know its a high luster without the three stage paint job i know the paints not gonna be perfect but i really dont care and im having trouble with the whole color choice any thoughts? also my pics are to big to download how do you down size them

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Photobucket seems to be the easiest way to resize and post pics. As far as your paint question it all depends on how much you want to spend. Lots of fellas on here have had good luck with Rustoleum with proffesional looking results.

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

i was looking at a little better quality one that comes with a hardener its like 90 bucks for the kit just trying to figure out the paint

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Welcome to iBoats!
Check out the Pic posting link in my signature below. Also, Page #10 of "My Flamingo" thread listed below will tell you about using acrylic enamel paint on your boat. I'd recommend staying basic. Red and White Blue and white Green and White. You can use Photobucket like stated before or MS Paint on your pc can resize em for you.

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

imma get more pics up hopefully tom i just dont have the drive i have exams tom ... so happy about that

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Okay so today when i get home i plan to pull up the carpet and check the floor and also I need help does anybody have a way to wire the boat with a fuze pannel or something under the dash to where i can have 2 batteries a trolling motor/accessories and a cranking battery with out the cluster of wires that happens to be running to the battery now? it looks like crap and the wiring job they did sucks quite frankly so if yall have any ideas of how to possibly limit the number of wires running to the accessory battery please fill me in because with the new troling motor and depth finder going on its only going to get more clustered up

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

today i got all of the floor ripped up theres a little bit of stringer damage but seing as how im trying to get this done in under a month im just going to repair the stringers and the crossmember type floor supports then imma put a new plywood floor in and fiberglass it. i know that i should really split the hull but seeing the value of this boat and the time constrant with me leaving for basic training in june im just going to mend whats there and make it preety then trade it in on a nicer used boat

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

and like i said before if it would have been an older ranger or something that holds value i would be splitting the hull but i plan on my first purchase while im in the army being a newer pheniox bullet or stroker so im not to worried about doing it to the 100% best of my ability i just want the floors to be solid to tie me over until i have the money to put down on a better boat

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Here's a basic wiring diagram for you.



Make sure and use ext. grade plywood and coat both sides with epoxy. Predrill any holes and coat the screws/bolts with epoxy before installing.

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

thanks i was going to fiberglass any wood i put down and it will be marine grade imma let it dry out completely while im in florida roll it over and fix the patch on the bottom sand and spray the enamel (i will be using a hvlp gun) then i will roll it over install the floor and repair stringers and crossmembers paint the top then lay the carpet down and install all the cleats and the troling motor etc.

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Welcome Brandon,

Thanks in advance for your future military service, you do us all proud!

Good luck and Godspeed on your plans to get this boat in the water soon...we'll be watching, helping out where we can, and supporting you all the way.

Don't over analyze things like paint. Paint doesn't do anything for the overall safety of the boat. A great looking boat, that is not safe, can cost you more than you know...even though you only plan on getting it good enough to do some fishin as fast as you can, you should concentrate on making it reliable before you make it pretty...being even a few hundred yards from shore with an engine that doesn't run properly, or a boat that is sinking, due to a structural defect, can get quite hairy real fast.

Again, don't take this the wrong way... I just want you to enjoy your boat and be around for a long time, so you can come back from your service, with your pockets full of loot so you buy that nice new fishin boat.

Best Regards,
GT1M

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Welcome to another Charger boat owner.

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

Isn't amazing once you start pulling out rotten wood how much of it there actually is??

I know that I was super surprised when I started my project!!

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

yes glnbnz it is amazing to see how much of it comes out and i didnt mean to sound like i was over analyzing the paint its just were already set up to spray with a hvlp gun and i was just giving some insite on how i would be painting it but while i was in florida i have fiberglass marine ply wood and i picked up a newer trolling motor for 100 bucks i couldnt pass it up and i have to pick up a fuse block any suggestions of where i should mount it and on a bass boat where should the weight be positioned? im just debating where to put the accesory battery

but on another note i scheduled a bass fishing guide for lake toho on tuesday while im on vacation ill post some pics of the bass me and my dad catch

Re: 1976 charger bass boat 17 year olds first restoration

so got back from florida yesterday had a great time but its time to get to work i got the motor off who ever said that 55hp evinrude was light lied lol it was a pain because someone borrowed our chery picker and its yet to make it back so i had to do it the old timer way grin and bear it lol o well its off and when it came off i found out that ill be doing a seacast transom what exactly do yall use to get the rotten wood out? i seen some using a chainsaw but my chainsaws a little to big to manuever in a boat transom with out cutting to deep what do yall think