88 glass bass tracker restore

[chris lell]

Well I have been watching and learning a lot on the forum for a long time, and am finally ready to get dirty. I have a 88 bass tracker 1600tf with a force 120, that has been in my family since it was new. However after my uncles passing the boat sat outside uncovered for awhile and isn't in great shape but fixable. So we broughtit home and cleaned it up last fall, tried starting the motor (merc 70hp). After blowing out the lines and cleaning the carbs she came to life.
Then disaster struck, we were testing to see if it was going to rev up when the lower unit engages
for no apparent reason. After the smoke had cleared we took a closer look and pulled the prop to reveal the lower unit had became a mess of gear fragments and metal shavings. So we called it a day with our heads hung low. After looking for awhile for partsit became apparent that it was going to be an expensive fix. But the very next day our luck seemed to had improved when we found a force 120 for 300$ just a hour away. We went and looked at it and figured that we could get it for less than 300 since the guy didn't have a boat and wanted it gone. We looked it over and figured since it was almost identical to the mercury 3 cylinder than was on the boat but with a added 4 it should make a good replacement.

Well enough back story and more on the task at hand, here is the current state of the boat.







The front deck and the console floor is all rot and needs to be replaced.



All the seats need to be redone.



New gauges to be bought.

 

[chris lell]

Re: 88 glass bass tracker restore





The whole boat stripped of everything but the outboard and the throttle controller.

Now I have some questions if you boating guru's would be so kind to answer .

1.The console used to have a hummingbird depth gauge in the middle of the console but I no longer have it so what could I put as my third large gauge?


2.Since Im picking out gauges what senders does the force 120 have, and is this the temp sensor?

 

[chris lell]

Re: 88 glass bass tracker restore

3. Im not sure if they did a poor rebuild or just glued up a leak but the hydraulic motor needs rebuilt if anyone knows why this was done or if it doesn't need a rebuild.


4.Alot of wires were cut, crimped, and missing so im redoing the wiring harness since its not to complex and adding some led lighting, on the threads I been reading 14g seems to be the best wire gauge?


5.It seems that my grandad,uncle and dad all wanted to put there own trolling motor holes on the bow so now it looks pretty bad. Has anyone made like a stylish plate or cover for the bow to cover it up?


6. Finally the big question. I found this thread http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...acker-fiberglass-full-restoration-420085.html were the guy flipped his cap on a 18foot version of my boat and replaced the floor. So my question is how hard is it to flip a cap and will the hull deform?

Thanks for any and all help i'm sure ill have more questions, and if you want pics of anything or want to ask something go right ahead the more knowledge to be shared the better

 

[gm280]

Re: 88 glass bass tracker restore

Welcome aboard and good pictures too. You have some equally good question as well. Yes I do see where you will need to remove the cap section of your boat to seriously refurbish it back to its glory days. The rub rail around the top side of the boat has a insert that hides all the mechanical attachments to remove to aid in the cap removal. Do a little research on these forums and see the huge number of folks that have done that to their boats. It isn't that difficult. And yes you will need to take tons of pictures, measurements and even build a hull cradle to keep the lower hull from getting out of shape if you even want to successful reinstall the cap again. But there are pictures on here as well as how to accomplish that too.

As far as gauges goes, I'd actually clean those up first and see how they work before buying all new ones. Since they really don't look all that bad, I'd save the funds for the hull material. And the wiring is going to take some money too to refurbish it back to usable again. But if you are serious, it all can come together for a nice usable boat again. It is going to be a ton of laborish work but it is a self satisfaction reward at the finish...

 

[chris lell]

Re: 88 glass bass tracker restore

Thanks for the info gm, the more I can learn the better. I got the rub rail removed and found that the cap and hull are only connected in two places. First place is under the console with a flimsy piece of glass I can removed by hand, and at the splash well with pb.





About the cradle, is it necessary or will leaving it on the trailer bunks enough? If not could I make some clamps to hold the hull from bowing? I don't have room to build a complete cradle with the construction of my garage starting, and was wanting to get a start on the boat so I can maby get some lake trips in this year.

And as for the gauges, only the tach and voltage meter work.

 

[jfas]

Re: 88 glass bass tracker restore

Hey Chris,

I just got done restoring a bass boat. I didn't use a cradle, but I did add some additional support from the trailer as well as brace the hull after removing the cap. My setup looked something like this.

 

[gm280]

Re: 88 glass bass tracker restore

chris lell, however YOU decide to work the lower hull section is up to you. But as you start reinstalling the stringers, transom, flooring and such, you absolutely positively need to make very sure that when you are ready to reinstall the cap back on your boat, it will actually fit and that the hull didn't get splayed out of shape making all your work useless. Folks take tons of pictures AND a ton more measurements before they start and along the way too. If the lower hull widens, the top cap will never ever fit again. There are lots of good reading on these forums of others that have accomplish their rebuild. And I'm sure some of them will chime in here as well. Keep the pictures coming as well as the questions. That is the only way to learn and be successful with your project... Lots of work ahead of you, but so is a very nice rebuilt boat too...

Oh I forgot, don't discard those gauges just yet either. Lots of times it is the wiring and not the gauges. So hold on to them until you absolutely verify they are toast.

 

[chris lell]

Re: 88 glass bass tracker restore

Hey Chris,

I just got done restoring a bass boat. I didn't use a cradle, but I did add some additional support from the trailer as well as brace the hull after removing the cap. My setup looked something like this.

Thanks for the pic jfas, after seeing it I went and checked out your build and think I will do the same to support my hull.

Gm, is there anything I need to measure before I take the cap off, and ill hold on to the gauges till I get the rewire done to be sure.