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.

[ShawnD]

Keep it up,

[Wildcat Dude]

Well he's almost done tutoring me and I've learned one thing - I HATE working on my back grinding, but I also hate bending over too. Course I guess a concrete floor is better than a gravel driveway and being in the elements. We've got the holes in the hull patched ready for more sanding tonight and finish it in the mornining. Floor is done and I'm laying carpet. BIG difference between the 20oz Gunmetal Gray carpet I got from boatcarpetbuys.com and that stuff somebody else put on. The carpet that's on there now is rough to the touch, like its indoor/outdoor carpet but thick (feels thick anyways).

I take it home tomorrow to finish the decks/lids. I really like that 20oz Gunmetal Gray as its much softer and looks so much better and I think it'll really work well with the lids.



Hul almost done now



Front section of floor ready for carpet



The original floor didn't appear to have any resin applied to the bottom of it to seal it up - was this normal? We did resin this one top, bottom and around the hole before I layed the carpet down. Tomorrow I'll start pulling up the rest of the carpet and clean up. Thinking though of doing my wet sanding before putting in the new carpet though, since I figure that'll be a little nasty and I can buff before laying in the new carpet on the lids/deck.

[ShawnD]

Looking good, try not too Zoom in so much , I'm having a hard time figuring whats what hahaha.
I'll go post my own rebuild too.

[Wildcat Dude]

Oh I'm not zooming at all, that's just normal size

[ShawnD]

Yeah I figured, your just close, take a large portrait of the surrounding area. Its all about show casing. ;)

[Wildcat Dude]

Well we're done using the shop, so the rest is totally up to me now.



Floor fixed



You can see the difference in the carpet from the floor to the front deck. That little piece in the upper area next to the deck is the original carpet and my new 20oz gray more closely matches it. Going to start working the rear deck area next and redo it. Read on here where somebody sprayed acetone to loosen the carpet glue, course I'm not sure yet what they used to put that rough carpet on with. That little square piece up towards the front pulled right up with no effort.



Hull is fixed/patched. Couldn't get the camera so show the little difference in color between the patch job and the rest of the hull its so slight, so I'm pleased with it. Ready to go fishing now before I start ripping the rear deck apart.

[ShawnD]

Great!

[javelin90]

It looks like a great repair. Is it normal not to apply resin to bottom of wood, no...
I looked at an new 09 bass boat and want say the name but they are sold at the pro shop. I was rebuilding a javelin bass boat and when deconstructing the floor they did not coat underside of the wood to protect it. So i looked at the new 09 boat 20 footer. The saleman's was nice and allowed me to poke and look around the boat. He was busy so i popped out the floor drain and as you would guess they did not coat the bottom side of the floor with resin. Another $200 bucks at most and could have coated it all to ensure years of trouble free issues..
So alot depends on the boat builder and yes more cost can equak better quality or more money equals alot more profit and carppy craftsmanship.

[Wildcat Dude]

Glad you answered that, I was just surprised to not see the floor underneath with no resin. I mean any thought to it and everything tells you to waterproof it or it'll rot. I might have to pull up the floor in the front deck because of a hole somebody in the past drilled a hole through the carpet/wood to run cables to a fishfinder. Guess they didn't want to run it through the front panel in the bow, it would have been a whole lot easier in my opinion and much neater.

[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

[Wildcat Dude]

More pics of carpet job and seats

waiting_for_glue_to_dry_on_top_of_the_lids.jpg ty_finishing_rear_deck_area.jpg ty_spraying_adhesive_rear_deck.jpg

[Wildcat Dude]

NOW the seats

bbs-logo.png main_seats_installed.jpg seats_installed.jpg

[Wildcat Dude]

The center seat I needed had to the be the smaller type so its on backorder to be sent out sometime this week. I went with traditional type fishing chairs. I also did the trailer bling too this spring after seeing someone else's job. Although I spent far less than they did. I got a pair of those white LED with chrome trim for $38 on ebay and they work great.

[Wildcat Dude]

and nice when they are lit up in the dark

[Wildcat Dude]

Also worked on the dash area, dash and switch panel - making a new switch panel going from Nitro's 3 switches with horn button to a 7 switch panel and ignition switch install using the same footprint.

Old switch panel

and new panel although not done yet

[Wildcat Dude]

so still got trolling motor to install, finish the wiring harness, led lights inside gunnels, storage boxes, new lid locks/lifts, finish fuel connections, courtesy lights, dock lights, auto float bilge pump and stereo and I'll be good to go in maybe a month or so (probably 2 for sure) LOL. Although I did have a little bitty accident. I accidently got my thumb caught in the grinders flap disc sanding wheel and it took a chunk of meat out just under the nail, so I'll end up with a permanent groove in my thumb once most of the meat grows back.

[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