1980 Bumble Bee KING BEE Deck Extension and Carpet replacement

Ok fellas. This is my buddies boat. We are going to add a whole front deck with some more user friendly rod lockers and also re-carpet the area. This is our first attempt at a real bass boat. So we will probably be asking a bunch of questions. I'm going to post some pics so you know what we are dealing with. We have an idea of what we want to do, but we are wide open for suggestions. In fact we would love some input from the experts.

And this is "THE" big bass boat! Every big fish either of us has caught has been in this beast!

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Looks like you guys are off to a good start! Your front deck looks identical to mine. Im going to be doing a deck extension also. There are a ton of good threads here on that subject that should be a lot of help.

Looks like your made some good strides and once you install the new carpet that boat will pop.
nice http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

We didn't even know the center storage was between the seats. We want to utilize that space as well. I thought the fiberglass was weak last summer when my big arse stepped on it and I heard it crack. Glad I didn't break all the way through. Some new carpet will really make it look good. We will probably wet sand it as well since we have it apart. Couldn't hurt. We are also going to put a recessed trolling motor tray in as well as move the seat back.

Score! Always nice to have more storage. I am wet sanding my boat as well, like you said might as well while its apart.

We are wanting to know how and what kind of hinges we should use? Any suggestions would be great along with some pics if available. Thanks!

Here are some pics of the second day of work. Doesn't look like we got a lot done but we got the glue off. We put the Citristrip on the glue areas and let them set for 45 min. It helped but it didn't get it as good as we wanted so we reapplied and let set over night and it just fell off! We are going to work on it hard tomorrow evening. We are doing a lot of brain storming about the deck extension right now. I think we have it figured out so far, but I'm sure things will change as we go. I'll keep you updated. Once I get back up there tomorrow I will take some pics because we have a couple of questions.

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It's looking good! I also just finished removing all the glue. I have not purchased the lumber for the extension yet.

Are you going to trim the extension platform so that whatever you plan to use is aligned with the front platform? Example: Trim it to 3/4 in below the front deck to lign up with 3/4 plywood?

I'm still up in the air if i'm going to use 3/4 treated OSB or 1/2 treated OSB. What are you planning to use for the doors/platform?

We actually have a 3/8" lip that we have to build up to and over to even get from the front deck to the extension. What we are planning on doing is fitting a piece of 3/8 plywood to help raise that section up level and then lay the 3/4 on top of it to match up with the extension. As far as the doors go we are going to make them out of the 3/4 plywood as well. We have some drawings made up. They are still in the garage. I will get them and take a pic so that may help you. We are going try something different with the frame of the extension. It is hard to explain but I will take a bunch of pics tomorrow when we get to working on it.

The hardest thing we are having problems with is actually figuring out what hinges we are going to settle on. When we do I will post pics of them as well.

were goin to treat everything with epoxy resin, doors frame and anything that is wood, i called us compocites and they told me to make sure that i did not use treated wood if i was going to use resin... just alittle fyi

Keep us updated I want to see this finished.

Okay. We made some major headway last night. Got a lot of work done. Changed some initial plans. I believe that turned out for the best. I think that we have pretty much finished the frame other than the resin and bolting it in. Here are some more pics. Feel free to let us know if anyone sees anything that we have done wrong or has a good idea that maybe we could do.

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off to a great start. My pond boat I redid had lips like that at the edge of all the boxes. Search my name and you will see rebuild pics of that. I redecked over the top and it works great.

Thanks Greg. I will do that. They have been the biggest hurdle so far. And the lip on the back of the old front deck. It is going to work out but man it threw us for a loop when we started.

great project. got a question if i may. instead of using 2x4's could oyu use plywood instead? i am going to do the same thing to a boat. is the 2x4 lighter than plywood? i am wanting to know so i can make mine as light but still have the strength and support. thankyou !

I don't see why you couldn't use plywood. The insert that we have made there honestly doesn't weigh any more than 40lbs. It is way lighter than what we both imagined. We just figured that it would be a sturdier base than plywood as well. Plus we both are big guys and we figured the extra support couldn't hurt either. Once we put the plywood down it will get considerably heavier. We are going to work on it again Monday evening. He will probably work on it some more next week without me. I'm going to Illinois to fish with my buddy on Newton Lake! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif I will keep putting up pics to chronicle our progress. If you have any other questions or comments keep them coming. We love to hear other ideas.

thnaks, i was thinking of using 3/4 inch marine grade plywood. or thiniing of trying to graph osme fiberglass along with the SEACAST as stringers. don't REALLY know what i am gonna do since i jsut started. looking for some ideas onhow to make it stronger and not add too much more weight. it's only 17 1/2 foot long. 1982 model cajun. i am excited aobut it though. thanks.

and good luck on the trip!

I'm sure that will work great. I don't see why it wouldn't. 17'6 is how long this boat is as well. This full deck is going to make this thing fish so much bigger. I can't wait to get out in it.

And thanks, I plan on catching a few good one. I'll post plenty of pics when I get back.

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by jemyers10lber &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Thanks Greg. I will do that. They have been the biggest hurdle so far. And the lip on the back of the old front deck. It is going to work out but man it threw us for a loop when we started. </td></tr></table>
I used playwood and painted it w/ Thompsons water seal on both sides and then padded and carpeted to be dead flat. Work perfect.

Hey guys we are getting ready to apply the epoxy resin to the wood now. Does anyone know how thick that it sets up?