1993 Nitro 170 TF Repair/Rebuild

[Wildcat Dude]

Bought several boats last year. First boat I spent way too much money for what it was actually worth. So it was a learning experience. Got a 90 Stratos 266 FS for 700 as guy said it wouldn't run. Then got a 1984 Glasstream without a motor for $750 really good shape EXCEPT whoever redid the lids and carpet (now all warped - another project). SO then this 93 Nitro with a bad Evinrude 90hp motor came along for $900 - One look and I couldn't resist it. So pulled the bad Evinrude off (he said engine was blown - it wasn't - only bad head gaskets it can be fixed). Pulled the Johnson 115 off the 90 Stratos and hooked it to the Nitro, it fired right up on a fresh battery and a little tweaking and it was purring like a kitten.

Since I had never worked with fiberglass before, my mechanic gave me a sweet deal (he does floors and transoms) so for some after hours assisting him I get an education and get my problems fixed. My first problem is when I hooked the motor up, my buddy who was assisting me happen to see a big hole in the hull the previous owner failed to mention But I'm kinda glad he didn't as its still gonna be a great boat when I get it done. Course found couple more bad chipped areas on the hull that'll also need work. So taking it in stride

While he got in it, I remembered the PO said the floor around the drain was soft, sure enough, it really sagged around the drain when the mechanic got in it. Sure am glad I'm not paying mechanic rates So here's a few pics I took today after we worked on it last night after his regular hours.



This is what the floor looked like after we took it out, streak right down the middle .



Floor with the wood cut out and foam removed. Has a really good stringer system in it, good stout areas. We'll be putting in the floor tonight and glass it in.



This hole was about the size of a small football. After grinding out an area of about 2 big footballs, we filled it in with a new piece of wood in the chine area and glassed it in, now some more glassing and gel coat and it'll be as strong as ever.



Got 2 areas like this bad chipped spot, this one is in the aft area next to the bunk boards, so got to slide boat back (gotta lift it anyways onto supports to get the rest of it). About the size of a dollar bill.



Here's what the boat looked like the day I got it home starboard side view



Port side bow area



It had this Evinrude 90hp - bad head gaskets, it'll take a grand to get it right, so thinking of just stripping it for parts and recoup the money I spent for the boat and maybe even pay off the rest of the work I have in it.

Replaced that motor with this 1990 Johnson 115hp



Eventually I'll replace the carpet on the rest of the deck, mostly the back rear area as it's really shoddy work back there, front was fine. Putting in the same color carpet of Gunmetal Gray 20oz I got from http://www.boatcarpetbuys.com and as soon as Jim Myers (who owns boatcarpetbuys, PontoonStuff.com and boatingseats.com) gets the new line of bass boat seats in around mid summer, I'll get new seats. If anyone is interested in a Nitro butt seat, IM me. I gotta have more support (bad legs and back).

Also been reading up on the great restorations, but I'm not physically able to do that kind of stuff on a bass boat, pontoon boat is MUCH easier but I'm definitely going to be doing a LOT of wet sanding of the boat to get that showroom shine again I've seen the other guys have done. Oh got to add a little bit of trailer bling too.

[Wildcat Dude]

Been working off and on with this project. After the upgrade I couldn't seem to find my thread until now. I'll try catching up but wanted to show the new seats I got from www.BassBoatSeats.com as I had traveled to Elkhart IN last Wednesday just as a container of their first sets of seats came in and I picked mine out. I didn't go with a traditional butt seat for the front as I'm handicapped and need to be sitting. The warehouse guys (Ty and Aaron) was also giving me a hand laying carpet but I had been working on removing carpet for 5 days, not an easy thing to do I found out but besides Acetone to loosen the carpet, I found another tool I highly recommend and that's a grinder with those flapper style sanding disks. So Thursday Aug 16 we spent the day removing the last remnants of glue/carpet from the decks and lids. Man talk about DUST everywhere LOL. Washed the boat by the end of the day and Friday the gunmetal gray carpet came in and we proceeded to get that done. I still got 4 lids to install (2 livewell and 2 storage on either side of the livewell) and then we installed the seats. Had to install the backs a little high since my seat storage is one big lid and not underneath each seat like some are. So gonna show pics in sequence somewhat.

aaron_helping.jpg Bill_applying_deck_glue_on_lid.jpg apply_glue_to_lids.jpg front_deck_done.jpg

[cotherman]

Ouch, you never know how much you use an appendage until you get it cut on! Then you're reminded every time.

[racefan]

looks great. Keep up the good work. Jims seats look great in the boat

[Wildcat Dude]

Yep, I didn't realize just how much I depended on that right thumb. Oh and guys got to tell you how great Optronics was. I had ordered the over 80 LED lamps from BPS as a kit back in Feb and got around to installing them around April or May. I realized on the trip back from Indiana that the left lamp didn't work at all last Saturday. So Monday I called and left a message about a warranty when BPS said they only had a 30 day return on those. Couple hours later they called and I told them my troubleshooting steps and verified I got 12volts on the leads. He took my info and said it would take about a week, but yesterday got the replacement lamp FREE (lifetime warranty on LED's) from the UPS guy, they had their closest vendor send me a lamp and I REALLY appreciated that.

Yep, thumb has a tendency to go throbbing at times but so far, I still got good color (I didn't go to the doctor with it yet), I figure it won't hurt no worse than them sticking needles in it to clean away the dead tissue, I figure it'd slough off by itself eventually LOL. But sure making it hard to work on my projects

[Wildcat Dude]

Hoping next week I can get started back on this project. Spent all day at the VA hospital hooked to an IV and insulin drip. Went in for normal 6 month checkup and ended up in ER - they thought I was on a verge of a stroke. Looking forward to finishing this boat up, still need more wiring (putting in a LOT of led lighting). I did get some LED lighting from BlueWater to insert into my rub rails.

[Wildcat Dude]

Oh and I gave up on trying to make a new switch panel from plexiglass, that was a pain, so went with wood panel instead and gave it several coats of paint. This is the backside of it, without the switch.





Front side without the ignition switch, labels and before detail sand/paint. Later on I changed to newer style contura IV caps.


added a stereo so I can listen to golden oldies rock&roll while fishing is slow (or ROCKING)



red wire is just for testing.

[Wildcat Dude]

Oh and here's the new style switch caps I changed to.



and added some BlueWater LED for nav's up front in addition to some new attwood LED Nav fixtures. In fact I added a bunch of LED's everywhere in the boat lockers, livewell and bilge area as well as ambers on the deck for night fishing. Added docking lights too.



switch panel with led micro light lighting it up so I can see the switches at night.

[Wildcat Dude]

put in new gauges, modified the dash panel to add a 12v plugin, added new steering gear and steering wheel




ignore any loose wiring you see as I was still wiring, its all bundled up/wrapped and hidden now.

[Wildcat Dude]

Yep, motor runs, been a year since I fired it up.

20130206_172344.mp4 Video by policek9trainer | Photobucket

[Wildcat Dude]

Full rear view of boat after I finally got it mostly done, at least its ready for fishing even though I'm not happy with my carpet job on the lids. I still need to paint the motor and buff/polish the boat to make it really look good.

[LarryL]

Wildcat Dude,

My lids were also tight due to the thickness of the nap. I put some heat from a heat gun on the edge and the nap shrunk down, Be careful, it works fast. Do a test piece first.

Larry

[IUBass]

Wildcat, I've heard a trick or two about the doors. I redid my carpet as well and I'll admit I'm not looking forward to re doing it. As you said the dagnabit screws are hard to get an angle on sometimes! But regarding your carpet thickness, take a beard trimmer and trim the sides down at variable lengths until they fit just right. Sounds like an odd way of doing it, but way better than taking it apart again! Just get a small guard and go at it!

[Wildcat Dude]

Been a long time since I updated on my boat rebuild. Got 99.5% done now except I'm really disappointed with how TIGHT my lids are on the rear deck. I mean its HORRIBLE how tight they are. I used 20oz carpet and now I'm to the point of saying screw it and remove the carpet and start over. Yeah the carpet looks good, but what good is it if I have to use tools to get my lids open. I've sanded down the edges and even that didn't help enough. I'm thinking now of removing the carpet, remove the lids/rivets, fill the holes, resand and this time KNOW where the holes are once I've aligned the lids properly.

I don't recall reading anyone on this forum saying anything about how hard it was to reattach the lids when its darn near impossible to get nuts/screws started unless they got kids with patience and tiny hands/fingers. Having fat fingers isn't so fun. But I'm glad I got the electrical done and I'm ready to go fishing with just a tad little more work. I'm really thinking of going vinyl flooring. Even though of doing a mix of carpet and vinyl, like vinyl on the lids (weird - I know). I did sand down the carpet on the edges/lips of the lids but its still not good enough, hence my thought of going vinyl.

If you got suggestions (even criticism I'm open to it LOL). I'll have some photos up here as soon as I get them uploaded to photobucket. Its been a long road.

[Wildcat Dude]

Yeah, I've tried the heat gun and shrunk it down, but still not good enough. I now wished I had gone the way of the vinyl flooring that's on some new boats. But my boat is all done except for painting the motor and some touch up's here and there and polishing it out. Funny thing was, BPS gave me a credit card so I went to the Nashville BPS store to get a new 90 4 stroke (didn't want Optimax motors). Low and behold, not a single 4 stroke in the 75 to 115 class. So went to lunch with my former co-workers (retired from city of Smyrna TN) and they asked me what I thought my Nitro was worth. I came back with about 6 grand since I've got all new seats, new carpet, new batteries, new on board 3 bank charger, new LED lights throughout the deck, lockers, livewell, console etc, new Faria Gold gauges, new switch panel (custom made), new bilge blower, new horn, new LED lights on the trailer, new winch, new jack, new steering wheel, new wiring harness, new steering gear, new bilge and auto bilge, new fuel/water separater with new fuel lines, new LED backup lamps on the trailer (really lights up in the dark now) with a 1990 Johnson 115 2 stroke that runs really well with a SS prop, seats have adjustable seat pedestals (power pedestals) and the list goes on. I'd probably settle for less but I'd want to see plenty of cash

So they said, sell it and get a new boat. So I went back and looked at 3 boats in the showroom. Then looked at the Tracker Pro 175TF and liked how it had 2 livewells and an additional 3 pedestal mounting locations, extra one on the bow and 2 inside the main deck area so plenty of flexibility on seating locations. I'd love to get another seat but I've grown to hate the locking pedestals cause being old, with no feeling in the feet, I can't tell when I unlocked it so I can pull up on it. In a way I hate to see all that work I've put into that boat and just turn around and sell it, but no need for 2 bass boats

[ShawnD]

Wow the boat is really looking great, its hard to let go of something you work so hard on, hopefully you get the money you're looking for. good luck!

[Wildcat Dude]

yep, I agree and I still need to paint the lower half of the motor to make it match to the upper half and do wet sanding and buffing to make her shine for the next owner but it should help with getting what I'm wanting for it.