My $1500 Bass Tracker Restoration Project

Hello. I figured it's about time to start my own project thread. It's an 89 1800TF. Overall I think I got a good deal if the motor runs as well on water as on land. The trailer is mint and overall the boat is decent. It needs floors as both sections of foam are full of water. The transom is also wet so I'll be doing that too. Once I'm done I should have a nice boat. I figured I could have spent 5k on a boat and still had to do these things so why not start cheap! Here are some pics. I currently am very close to having the cap off. Just need to figure out the main floor and the splash well.

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It really seems to me that the main floor comes off with the cap. If you put your hand through the large drain hole you can feel that this floor is glassed to the cap from the bottom, and there is a small gap between it and the main floor. The last pic is of a section that looks like it is added under the console after the cap is in place. Anyone have any ideas on this? I'd rather not cut this floor as it's solid as a rock and if my theory is correct I shouldn't have to.

The splash well is also connected to the transom with that bondo like substance and it seems like it goes all the way up http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/mad.gif . I ran out of time to mess with it, and we had a small oops with the sawzall so I had to give up for the day. My buddy accidentally sent the sawzall into the splash well making about a 3" cut where we didn't need one! Oh well. The cap isnt pretty anyway yet and its just fiberglass. Plus, its under all the wiring/hoses so you'll never see it anyway. Just gotta glass it in from underneath so it wont leak.

Anyone got any tips on separating this area? I'm going to bring it down to my shop where I can use the car lift to separate the cap. I think if I put a 2x4 under the splash well and run rope through the 2 vent cap holes it should give me some even pull on the rear of the cap while using the front 2 legs of the lift to get the front of the cap up. I just cant seem to get the splashwell to separate and I think we've cut all we can cut.

Air chisel, prybar, along with chisel and hammer... and PLENTY of elbow grease... thats the ONLY way to go... and how I did it on my 1800FS...

Word of advice... since you are going to replace the transom, aim the chisel/prybar towards the transom wall...

XR4 is definitely a workhorse... but its downfall is the lower unit... thin wall in the prop shaft housing... normally a lower unit would be 4.5" wide at the prop shaft housing but the XR4 comes with 4.25"... which means the wall at the prop shaft housing is significantly thinner... prone to cracking if not maintained properly (water left in winter, etc etc)... I have had recommendations from few others saying that I should look for lower units from 2.4L or 2.5L to replace the XR4 LU... I researched from far left to far right... apparently the top-end speed ranges from 72-76mph... with unverified report of 82mph... I know last time my XR4 went 72mph GPS and that was with two fried ECM... Those has been replaced... but hasnt been run since due to a crack in the lower unit housing...

I have not heard or know of Bass Tracker changing their production methods... as far as I know... the top cap is attached to the flooring by bondo and some internal fiberglassing... The flooring itself is fiberglassed on the top but on the bottom where its nailed to the stringers, its not fiberglassed, which is why my flooring rotted out completely... It sounds like your flooring was replaced at least once in the past???

Tip #1: NEVER NEVER attempt to lift the top cap unless the splashwell is completely separated from the transom... You will damage the top cap... the leverage theory wont work here as the bondo is wayyy stronger than the top cap...

I would love to see more pictures of this boat... including all consoles (switches, gauges, n etc)...

Oh yeah, before I forget... the interior of the boat isnt the only place its attached to the hull/flooring... theres a wall under the console... and its fiberglassed to the side of the hull, and check all storage compartments along with both livewells being fiberglassed onto the flooring... be sure you cut those areas... I know I had two of my forward compartments' wall attached to the floor and the hull...

Just take a sawzall... make sure its FLUSH against the floor... and cut away... you wont cut into the actual top cap... you'll be cutting into the bondo... you should be able to see through the walls inside the compartments and under the console... cut through where theres just fiberglass... you can save the wall... and re-fiberglass it back to the hull when you're putting the top cap back on... livewell, sawzall blade flush against the floor and cut away... be careful with the drains...

Hope this helps some... and good luck!!!

Thanks again Rebel. I'm hoping to go at it again maybe later this week or next monday. We'll see what happens. I'm thinking if I can get a shorter prybar in there I might have better luck.

The inside walls of all front storage was glassed to the main floor. I ran my little air saw around the perimeter and cut all that. Same with the forward wall under the console. Then I removed that piece under the console. Under the ply that you can see in the pic of the console is more ply that seems to be the main floor. You can put a screwdriver between the floor of the cockpit and that piece of ply which seems to make up the main floor. I don't believe that the whole floor was replaced in this boat, but perhaps the section under the steering console though it's hard to tell.

Thanks for the warning on the LU of the xr4. I'll keep an eye out.

I wont try to yank the top cap off. What I'm hoping to try is to put a little upward tension on it (not much) as I chisel, hammer, pry etc to get it to pop. I was able to run my air saw all along the top of the transom under the cap so that part is free.

I'll get some more pics. I keep forgetting to take my camera with me to the shop. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/mad.gif

Well, I finally got some more time to get this thing going. It's hard when you have another boat you can fish from. Trying to balance between fishing and itching http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/smile.gif So I got the cap separated. The main issue was the splashwell but thanks to Rebels advice with the air chisel and a sawzall I got it done.

Another fun time was the cockpit floor. It is part of the top cap as suspected, but was attached to the stringers with the same bondo like substance as the splashwell was. I have got to get some of that stuff. It is amazingly strong. So I had to cut the cockpit floor out and sawzall the overlap between the cap and the stringers. Now it's ready to come off once I find a place to put it! I'm glad I had to cut this floor out though. I was planning on leaving it alone since it's solid, but once I cut into it I found that the wood was damp. Not rotten at all but damp. Same with the transom. The sawdust coming out while cutting the splashwell was nice and yellow but wet. It's too bad someone left this boat out last year. It was obviously cared for until the last owner let it fill with water http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/crying.gif

On to the good stuff!

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Now I see and understand completely what you were trying to say about the top cap being attached to the flooring... Your boat and mine apparently were put together differently... amazing how a year between productions really make a difference... Other thing I noticed your boat has that metal wall covering the livewells... Mine didnt, mine had fiberglass covering the livewell and attaching it to the flooring... My floor wasnt bondoed to the top of the stringer like yours...

Was the hull wall inside the console carpeted or what??? Looks like theres foam in there???

OUCH... the infamous "BROWN WATER STAIN OF DEATH"... you'd be better off replacing your transom for sure...

Also it looks like your foam's completely saturated with water... Man, yours looks way worse than mine did!!!

Same color scheme as my very first bass boat. it was tracker as well and I loved that boat to death. . . till I upgraded.

Yeah, my foam is completely soaked. In the rear area where I hole sawed some access holes, it actually forms a puddle when you dig out some foam. The way this boat was made, the "foam bays" are not sealed off and any water that makes it over the stringers WILL get the foam wet. The "floor" of the boat stops under the seat area and begins again in front of the console. This leaves a couple feet of foam exposed under the floor of the cap which is not sealed completely. If for some reason (other than being left outside) the boat took on water above the strigers, the foam would be exposed to water.

Yes, the hull under the console had carpet. What you are seeing is just glue and leftover carpet residue.

Made some more progress. Cap is off and in the driveway while the hull gets worked on at the shop. We did it with a team of 6. 4 lifters, me to spot and remove things as it was going up, and the wife to drive the trailer out from under it. Worked pretty well. Then we flipped it so i can replace the floors on it. The hull is a bit strange. The floor is cut to match the cap almost within 1/4 of an inch. I must be precise in my replacement or I will have issues. It really is a shame that the PO let this boat fill with water. As you can see in the pics the transom is really OK except for being saturated. This is how most of the wood is on the boat. Even the stuff that does not have resin on it isn't that bad. So enjoy the pics. Now the work begins!

Oh, and in that last pic, what sort of medium did they use under the resin? Looks like some sort of perforated mat. If I didn't know better I'd say it was a sham wow! It looks to be about 1/8" thick or so. You can see it in the pics. The light color is where they used this stuff. Any ideas?

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Modified by Basketcase at 8:06 PM 5/17/2010

Looks like you have a project on your hands but the end result will be worth it. Keep us updated w/ progress and pictures.
http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/embeer.gif

[quote=Basketcase] I figured I could have spent 5k on a boat and still had to do these things so why not start cheap! ]

Could not agree more http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

good luck

I had 89 1800 FS for 11 years and the only problem I experienced was with the transom rotting. The repair shop said it was a matter of a poorly designed transom that wasn't sealed properly from the mfg. Mine was equipped with Johnson GT 150. I traded it only to upgrade to a larger boat.

Did some more ripping and trearing today. Only strange thing I ran into was the patchwork pieces of plywood on either side of the transom. Instead of 1 solid piece they used a series of "scraps". Is there any good reason for this or simply just using scraps up because it didn't really matter much? I'll say it again, it's a shame the boat got wet. The transom is fricken solid and not rotten much but ALL wood in this boat is wet.

One bonus I have found so far is that the foam in the stringers is dry about 1/3 of the way forward so I''m hopeful I'll only have to open up that much of them. It makes sense I guess since the only place on the boat where there were points of entry are in the bilge. (battery trays, oil tank etc). I plan to take some sample plugs about every foot or so forward of here to make sure they are dry but I'm hopeful that they are.

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Made some more progress this week. Got the transom cut, glued and tabbed in. Just waiting to go pick up some more 1708. I was going to use 18 oz woven, but after tabbing with 1708 tape I fell in love and need to do the whole transom with it. So heres some more pics.

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Oh, and in that last pic, what sort of medium did they use under the resin? Looks like some sort of perforated mat.

it is called coremat............. the bondo looking stuff is transom putty....it is applied with a putty pump and a special gun with a long mix tube so the catalyst is mixed in as it comes out..it is evil stuff

It sure was evil stuff. You think a mix of resin, milled fibers, glass beads and cabosil would be a worthy replacement for the transom putty? That is my plan as of right now.

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/popcorn.gif This restore is fascinating to me can't wait for the finished product!!

So I hadn't updated in a long time, but just wanted to show where I've gotten with this. Really close to fitting the two pieces back together. Gettting excited. Here are the pics
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Very nice work http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif The difference is night and day and looks like you did it all the right way.

Props to you guys out there that can do something like this, but it's way over my head.

I re-carpeted my Ranger recently and that was the extent of my patience.

Good luck!