New boat

[paulheels]

Got a new boat, atlest for me. a 1987 Aggressor, I have not been able to find anything about these boats online. Its 14', replacing the power head in about a month, re-siliconed the bumper, tore out the deck extension, painted steering wheel, hid some wires. That is what has been done so far, escept for the motor. Got to dfo some carpeting and new seats, uncle works for stingray doing fiberglass work, so getting that done this week.

Some pics, these are the first things I did, get some newer pics up tomorrow hopefully!!








Modified by paulheels at 9:30 PM 4/12/2008


Modified by paulheels at 3:24 PM 10/8/2008

[Bass Ackwards]

Looks like a good project, keep us posted with pics please.

[Rollo331]

congrats on the new ride and welcome to the BBC....
keep us updated........

[Alan S]

I can't help but admire ALL of you guys that restore your boats!

Keep us updated!

[cmclairday2]

Welcome to BBC, keep us updated on the progress

[paulheels]

I have searched the forum too see how to remove the floor and replace it. I have not been able to find anything to helpful to me wityh this boat.

How would I remove the old floor and put new board in? Under the steering column is pretty spungy. I thought about just putting some wood on top of the existing floor for right now.

Thanks
Paul

[Rmart30]

Nice project...what kind of motor does it have on it ?

[paulheels]

right now it has a 1983 50hp evinrude. the lower cylinder and piston are shot. bought a 1984 60hp johnsoin and I am going to switch the power heads, lower unit is bad on the Johnson.

[lakefolk]

would it not be easier to switch lower units?

[paulheels]

The mechanic who is helping me said he can switch the power head for the same as the lower unit. In doing this I will not have to swap the entire motor. We are also going to change the water pump while we are swappnig power heads. Probably goign to switch the control box as well.

Here are some updated pics, just got done with some carpeting about an hour ago. No quite professional but still looks good, got the "ok" from the fiance, so I guess it will work!!



Got to figure out what to do with the big ass wole, where an old radio used to be on the dash. Also, what is a good speedometer for this boat, not looking for an expensive one, just a nicer one. The other one is the original and the glass is cracked, not even sure it if works.

If anyone sees anything they want to suggest in these pics, let me know!!! Criticism is good, new at this and looking to learn! Might have found a deal on a 55lb motor guide today as well..

Thanks
Paul

[STRETCH1]

To cover the radio hole you can get a phoenolic plate and just screw it over the hole. You can buy some 1/4" King Starboard from West Marine and cut it to fit and router the edges and it would look professional. I just mounted a whole piece of king starboard over my console to cover up all the holes from the previous owners. It looks great and I could install just the gauges I wanted to.

For a Speedo you might consider not having one and using a GPS unit. They are much more accurate. Otherwise you can find a new speedo for relatively little money.

The boat is looking great, keep up the good work...

[paulheels]

finally got the motor on the boat. got 145 lbs in each cyl, mechanic said it runs like a brand new motor. getting it in the water today sometime.

My next project is the clear coat, maybe. The clear coat now it cracked and chipping, it looks lik someone put clear coat on it before and did not do it right.

What I am looking for are some directions on how to take off the clear coat and how and what the reapply.

Thanks Paul

[paulheels]

took the boat out and it ran great. not sure how fast it goes, will have to wait til i get a gps unit. i dont have a tilt/trim yet, so it takes it some time for it to plane out. but once it does she will roll.

I am in the market for a trolling motor, anyone got one

Paul

[paulheels]

i have been looking at a tilt/trim for the boat. i found one that works and fits, the guy says it will cost 300 for the tilt/trim and installation. so looks like i am going to hop on that and get it done

The other thing is I have been looking for tm and found a used motor guide 43lb for 150. not ever owning a bass boat til now, would that tm be enough for that boat when the wind blows. I have a 40lb tm on my 14ft john boat and it does well. I figured the tm would do a little better on the bass boat since it cuts the water better.

Thanks
Paul

[STRETCH1]

My advice would be to get a new TM with a Warranty!. Sure it will not be as cheap as you can find one but you will know the history behind the motor.

[paulheels]

Ok so I got some stuff done on the boat today. Been having to TT and engine problems so it has been slow going on body work.

Put on a new control board for bilge, lights and aerator. Used one from BP, looks alot better than the last one and was pretty easy to install.

Did alot of wet sanding and buffing (got a Dewalt variable speed 7"/9" buffer for $50, a real steal). Looks alot better than I thought it would. Still have alot of work to do, got some deep scratches that will not come out. Got some places on the back deck where the clear coat is pitted and peeling. Not sure what I am going to do with that, probably just sand and buff as best as I can. Sorry for not having andy pics, needed to get it to the mechanincs house so he can get to work.

I will try to get some pics up this week. Plan on putting in a new front deck and mid deck this fall.

Paul

[99procraft2]

You run this boat in Robinson? I may have seen u before.

[paulheels]

Yeah I do. Here lately I have been limping around Robinson. You fish there much? its not hard to miss, its pretty small bass boat.

Paul

[paulheels]

So where I cleaned the oxidation on the boat, it is coming back. Whats the deal with this? does that boat saver stuff stop it?

thanks
Paul

[paulheels]

Here are some updated photos of the boat. They begin right after the first three of this thread. I have not kept detailed pics since I was working on it here and there. Thanks for the help people have given. I also want to thank people for posting pics of their restorations, because that is where I got alot of my inspiration. I am not completely finished, almost there though. Since my seasonal job ran out I have not had anything to do for a couple weeks, so I got some catching up done. Enjoy and please give feedback and some suggestions.






This is after repainting the steering wheel. Then engine in this pic is not there anymore, got a 60 Johnson you will see later.


This is after carpeting the whole back deck. One of the previous owners did not know hot to spray clear coat. You can see the mess I had on some previous pics. I found it cheaper and easier to just carpet it. After seeing some other pics and boats I see that now most have the deck all carpeted anyway/






Ok this is after a few hours of wetr sanding and buffing. Noit quite where I want it yet, after a few more buffs she will be right!


This is the left side of the boat. This is what the previous pics ture looked like (the right side). I plan on finishing the whole boat later this year, I have some buddies who want to see the difference and they want some work done on their boats.


New carpet on the front deck. I just went ahead and carpeted over all the front deck to eliminate a bunch of bad clear coat.





The seats are temporary for now, so I just put velcro on them. It did not stick well with just the velcro so I add some gorilla glue on the sticky side of the velcro.




Repainted the cowling. got decals for the front and back, haven't got any for the sides yet.


The lower unit is going to be a metallic blue. Hopefully gonna finish this during the weekend.




Painted the steering wheel with textured gray. The dasho was miserable, so I took some tin and riveted it in, also painted it textured gray. What you can see in some other pics is I also painted the control box in textured gray.

Please give me some feedback, positive or negative! I hope this helps or inspires some ideas with other people as many of yall's pics did with me. I will hopefully be done in another week or so. the first of Nov I am replacing the middle deck completley and adding some storage under the floor.

Thanks again!!!

Paul