1988 Tracker V-16

I found this on craigslist a few weeks ago, and made a purchase. It has an 40 HP '81 Mariner on the back, and a 40 lb minn kota on the front.



I took it out on the lake, and it seemed to run good. I did get some water in it, but alot of it came from a bad hose in the livewell drain. I ran the bilge for a 30 seconds or so and it was good. When i checked it the after it had been sitting overnight, there was some more water in it, but running the bilge for a few seconds took care of it. So I assume i will fill it with a little water and find the leaky rivets and try and pound on them a little. It also had a bad spot in the floor. I ripped up the floor and of course the current floor was over an older floor that was mush.

Let the fun begin

If you need to look at something similar you can check my 85 v-16 basstracker. It seems to have the exact same layout as yous.

Letting it sit, and getting more water------That could be coming from saturated foam.


I can about garauntee the foam is soaked with the rotten floor/overlay on there.

Plus if you just fill it with water, before removing the foam, it'll just be that much more soaked. It's a shame when folks don't take care of a boat. All it takes is to either keep it inside, or keep it covered.

Pretty boat, looks like it'll be a good'n.

I've gotten all the floors out and the original floor was so bad, I literally had to vacuum it out. It came out in very few large pieces haha. I have put a new drain in the livewell, so while I was digging around underneath it I did notice some wet foam. It didn't seem too saturated, as it was wet probably about a half inch up. So, I will replace the foam under the livewell/front bench area. The foam under the front deck and main floor seems dry so I will probably leave it as is.

The front deck was in decent shape and wasn't rotten, but I will probably be cutting a new piece for it because it is not sealed. I also may add some storage underneath it like the original design. I could use the same piece of wood, but stripping the carpet does not sound like too much fun, so I will probably start with a new piece of 5/8" plywood and put some spar urethane coats on it.

Do you guys typically bevel the cut of your front deck to achieve a better fit along the perimeter of the plywood? The existing deck is beveled.

Here are some more pics

MDFisherman57 said:

If you need to look at something similar you can check my 85 v-16 basstracker. It seems to have the exact same layout as yous.

Click to expand...

MD, did you ever consider adding a rear deck? I think I would like that for fishing , but just trying to figure out the best way.

I was thinking about it but since I have the battery and gas tank back there I didn't see the point. I was looking at it but with like 12 or so more inches I didn't think it was worth it.

By the way I would highly advise u to replace transom.

I have an 86 that I am redoing now. Link is below. Hit me up you need anything.

I've been going back and forth on the transom. Maybe I should go ahead and replace it. It isn't soft, just looks aged. The wood is real gray. But it seems solid. Decisions, decisions.

Anyone know what a 40 hp tiller weighs? 150?

Ur probably close with that weight depending on 4stroke or 2. I would highly advise replacing it because mine was somewhat solid in the center but on the far sides where the wood was it was soft because water gets trapped there. Plus if the boat was used in salt some of the water easily gets behind the transom.

I decided to take the transom out and replace the wood.

Im glad your replacing that wood cause you gad the same thing I did with salt or whatever the white stuff was pitting the transom. Looks Luke just minor pitting so it should be fine. Good move though and its can just get better after that. Keep it up!

Yeah, the transom actually wasn't too bad as far as rotted. But it was so warped and had a big dip in it. i may need to beef up the knee braces or something in the future. Is the gorilla glue method about the best way to laminate a new board for the transom?

It worked for me and it's solid as a rock. U need the clamps because the glue foams up and the clams hold it down tight. Once it dried the two pieces would budge. It worked great and the excess foam that comes out if the crack can just be cut off with a knife. I got the gorilla glue that was waterproof as well.

That or a lot of folks use contact cement - again you need lots of clamps on it.

Does anyone know if sealing the wood before gluing it together will cause any issues? I didn't know if a few coats of urethane would cause the glue to not adhere as well.....And I would still seal it once it is glued together as well obviously.

I think it would make a better seal coating everything after its glued because the spar urethane could peal off the woos if it does that plus its a waste of spar urethane due to the middle would not be exposed to water.