OK, so like the oversized dork that I am,
when I decided to get back into fishing, I had to start from the ground up.
I wanted to fish for catfish, but alas. This is a bass heavy area. I wanted a center console, but instead settled for a THRASHED 1991 bass tracker.

I have a theory about learning from experience. Well, this was a 5 month experience. Let me bullet point what I did, photos to follow.

* Gutted the boat to the bare aluminum, all decks, everything.
* rewired completely, using solder and heat shrink tubing.
* Put in new batteries and a battery isolator (see bilge).
* added to the deck with and additional battery just for trolling and anchor winch.
* Put plug in battery chargers/conditioners on all batteries.
* Added an Alpine deck and a couple of speakers.
* all new marine ply 3/4 inch decks.
* all new carpet.
* new faria gauges.
* custom made aluminum dash with all new switches.
* custom aluminum fish finder mount.
* new blade style fuse box.
* converted motor from automatic mix to premix.
* replaced reed plates.
* rebuilt carbs.
* painted engine shroud. Just for fun put Johnny Rude graphics on there, as you know OMC makes both Johnson and Evinrude.
* Replaced seals and water pump.
* Added tons of bee ready rod holder for drifting.
* Added an anchor winch.
* Added a remote control Minn Kota trolling motor.

And about 1000 other things I can't remember....

Was it worth it? No?
Would I do it again? Yes.

See, the difference is that I now know every inch of this boat, and its history of reliability has been solid. When I had a problem. I knew right where to look.

Am I nuts? Yes, of course. I rebuilt a cheap tin boat with hundreds of hours of labor, just to get the experience........
But you can't put a price on experience.

So what is a Mudhoney, anyway? Well it was sort of a 60's weirdo movie, that eventually become the worlds greatest Seattle punk bank. It made me laugh, so there it is.

I am from Oregon. I guess that makes me the dreaded northerner. Sorry folks, I do love it here, and I have been here since the early 90's.

I would be glad to help you with just about anything. Can't help where I was raised!

Here are the photos, of the bat boat.

Good work!!!

Add a pair of $3000 fish finders and you are set to go! BOAT, a hole in the water in which to throw money!

hahahah. I did add a hi res down imaging Hummingbird with a lakemaster chip.

I almost named the boat sinkhole like this "$INKHOLE"

oh, just a few notes,
This is an evinrude 40 hp that will run about 30 with a tail wind. Plenty fast enough for me. But for buyers of used boats, I want to make it clear that I did a compression test and both cylinders were 120 dead on. Right at the guys house.

This think was put together with wire nuts and bubble gum. But I got it for cheap and saw enough potential.

I will NEVER get my money out of it. I do want a bigger boat, just like all of us. But I am so happy to have invested the effort into learning this skill.

Oh, also, as a warning. It is cheap to replace the bilge pump with an automatic bilge pump, which I did. I also replace the aerator pump.

If you can do your own labor. And with a little research, you can.....
The parts are cheap in comparison to a ruined day on the lake.

Nice work Coop... I like it.

Very nice work hope you enjoy it.

Nice!

Looks like your ready to fill er wit fish!

I have caught a lot of blues since december 23 when I first put it in Lake Lewisville. First day I got an 18 pounder. I am hooked. Pun intended.

Good job on that rig!!! Likey.

Looks good. I am in the process of rebuilding an older boat right now.

If you are a dork I would like to be one too. I would love to be able to do all that. Great job. I don't think I would have gone with carpet for a catfish boat, but you can probably put in a liner later. I have a 3 year old Lund with carpet that is already raggedy, but I will have to pay someone to do a decent job of putting a liner in. Not being critical at all. I'm just jealous!

Wow Coop!!..very impressive...looks like some good work there.

OH, I hate the carpet, just steam cleaned it today..... I want a center console with no carpet.... Wife loves the carpet, of course......! I was just trying to make it semi original and had no other idea of floor treatments. What is a liner?

I want to get a report on how that anchor winch works. If you have a decent box anchor it can weigh 50#s with the mud. The real issue is a box anchor will. ot break lose until you are on top of it. So the winch will need to be strong enough to pull the boat against the wind.

Anchor is awesome under 10 mph wind. ok after that.
A bigger one would be better. For the most part it does its job on LL.
I use a drift anchor on the back to keep the boat straight.

FYI, it is not a high end solution. I have seen it drift slightly, but the boat is VERY light. Makes a huge difference.

Thats a great looking boat man

I completely re-did my 1983 Bass Tracker, you will be happy with yours, I have had mine 30 years this past month. It will readily go 25-27 mph and you are right 30 on a cold day with a good tailwind.

What are you working on? Always interested in projects.

This is no reflection on musical taste.
It is just for giggles.

OK, so Mudhoney kind of was the band that was involved with inventing grunge.
I live in Tejas. So in the northwest this was the norm........

This should make you giggle. Typical club grunge.

I loved the name Mudhoney, cuz our lakes our muddy, and I just worked hard on this project.

And now, just for added silliness. Here is Mudhoney, the actual band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SRxWz3CDvg

I wonder if this is waterproof?

Check this out on AMZN:

Superwinch 1220210 LT2000 Utility 12 VDC winch, 2000lb/907kg, 6ft/1.8m hand-held remote control
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015U6VLQ/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_ap_am_us?ie=UTF8

What about taking out the carpet and putting in x-line, the stuff for truck beds. Non-slip and easy to clean!

You built your own boat though! That's an amazing feat in my book. I'm with on the value of education thing.

I like it. I catfish in a Bass Tracker as well. Pretty happy with mine. I put a rubber floor liner in the bottom of mine from tractor supply. It is as thick as a truck rubber mat and you can trim it to fit. It will at least keep the bottom clean.

Example of Rhino Liner..The dealer that has this boat states that the cost was $325.

.

Ken, how does that Rhino liner do in the summer sun?

Nice boat

Ken in Krum what dealer has this boat with liner in it and how can I get a phone number

That looks like it woukd result in tosted buns.

Yeah I bet that thing would be a scorcher in the summer

Looks good. I think that liner is what my boat needs..

That's worth checking in to.
When I first started rebuilding the boat, I had no idea about how much slime is on a 20 pound blue cat. hahahaha. I learned quick.

The other thing that is bad about all smaller boat designs, is that there is no live well large enough for a trophy fish. CPR, that is fine and all. But I would love to have a real big live well.

For that matter, a lot of really nice larger boats do not have adequate live wells.

I like it.

That is a good idea, and convenient, too.

you can get line x in different tints i believe. i have seen red,tan and black.

The dealer is in Lewisville, I saw it on the Boat Trader..Not sure if they applied the Rhino liner..

Boat Trader DFW Boats

Not sure....I have the Rhino Liner in my pickup, but it is not shiney like the one pictured..

Looks great!!! I have a 2011 tracker and what you did looks better than coming from factory.

I like the boat just the way you did it I bet you could sell it and make money... You need to buy ANOYHER boat and do the same thing, and another, and another! I am tired of seeing all these wore out boats for sale on craigslist! good job! I would take the sticker on the cowling off though it looks kind of corny

Hahahaha, I have done way more corny things then that sticker!, but yes it is corny.
I did have a lot of fun working on the boat.

I think if I do this again, I would pick a really good brand of boat, in real bad cosmetic shape. Make sure the hull is very good, the engine checks out... etc.
That way when it is all done, you could get pretty good resale.

But then again, it would be nice to find EXACTLY the kind of boat I want that needs cosmetic work and keep it.

Wire is cheap, carpet is fairly cheap, marine ply is expensive, but not horrible.
Gauges are reasonably priced.

Labor is a rip off! Since I have more time than money, like a lot of us, I can figure it out.

Did some work on the boat today.
The original seats looked ok, but were badly cracked inside, from people stepping on them.

I found some super cheap seats at Academy today, 20 bucks each. Ghetto fabulous.
I will get some nicer ones as my budget permits.

What I decided to do is to take some heavy aluminum, bend it, and close the gap between the seats. Then I could add a step that will open as a box.

I am going to put some Plano box racks in there. Try to be more organized.
There used to be like cup holder, etc, in the middle. No more.

So I bent the metal, riveted, and carpeted tonight. (just from scraps).
Tomorrow I will figure out what I want to make the lid out of.

Hmm, also notice the room behind the seats. That just screams of some kind of storage for pliars, scissors, lip grips. On a boat this small you need to find all the space you can.

Here is a pic so far....