Tracker Sportsman 16

Ok I just picked up this boat today and I can't wait to start working on it. It is exactly what I was looking for and thats why I drove 4 hours round trip to pick it up. Its a 1997 Tracker Sportsman 16. With a early 90's(I think) 9.9 Mercury motor that runs awesome. The boat is wide it has a 5'7 beam and is 5'10 rail to rail by transom. The boat besides the some paint chipping is in extremly good condition. It looks like it never bumped a rock or stump ever. Im the third owner and the best part is that its bare bones, no rotten floor or old carpet to pull out. A good washing and Im ready to think about paint. Thats one of the things I wanted to get opinions from you guys about. I have heard of a few different ways to go about sanding and prepping and painting but I wanna see what you guys think is the best method. I want the color to be the common dark green but I plan on getting some stencils and using Khaki to make the realgrass look. I plan on hunting out of the boat but primarily will be fishing out of it. Ok thats enough writing Ill post some pics. Tomorrow when I clean it up ill take some better pics.
Thanks
Travis

Personally, since the paint is in good shape, you just want to knock off any loose or chipping paint. You could run a grinder with a wire cup brush over the paint which will easily get those areas that need attention.

Second, you need to lightly sand over the adhered paint (I've used 150 grit, all the way to 400 grit). This will take away any grime on the paint, and will give the surface a roughed up appearance, which will give you a base for a primer.

I say primer next because most likely, you're going to have a mix of bare aluminum and painted areas. You need to buy a "self etching primer" for any bare aluminum surface which will prep the metal for you. Wipe the boat down with Mineral Spirits, and then spray the primer on any bare aluminum, and let sit for 30 minutes.

Lastly, you'll have your painted areas that are roughed up from sandpaper, and primed spots which used to be bare aluminum. You're ready to paint the boat with your final top coat. You could go expensive, with true marine paint or use rustoleum/krylon camo paint.

Your choice of paint comes down to budget. Marine paint will survive better than a good 'ol spray can job from Rustoleum or Krylon, but will cost much more. Take a look at page 8 in my link, which will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect with a "Rustoleum Camo paint job".

Hope this helps.

Ok thanks for the info. I was hoping I could just rough up the good paint because there are only a few spots that are bare metal. I am going to give it a good cleaning today and hopefully go pick up sandpaper and self etching primer. If the sun comes out Ill take some pics looking down from my porch and side views.
Thanks
Travis
P.S. Can the moderator move this thread to jon boat conversions. I don't know how it ended up in the boat house?

Ok so it wasn't nice and sunny like I was hoping for so instead of cleaning the boat I cleaned the garage. Figured if im gonna be painting I want the area to be as dust free as possible. I am brainstorming like crazy about the mods im gonna do and I think i want to deck the boat with angle aluminum. I like the look and sturdiness of it and i have plenty of structure on the boat to attach the angle to. I do not have a rivet gun and im wondering if I can just use screws? Is there anything wrong with using screws? I planned on using stainless steel obviously but is there a special screw to use? Also figued out the motor is an 88 and now I need to find an owners manual and a replacement prop. If you guys could give me some info on finding those I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks
Travis



Tracker Sportsman 1648
1988 Mercury 9.9
Homemade aluminum trailer

You can use screws, but you can get a pair of rivet pliers to put the rivets in. I think the only problem with screws is that over the lifetime of the boat they can get loose and then they can strip out or wallow out the hole they are put in.

Google Mercury Outboard Manual and you will get sites for manuals.

Ok beautiful day so took the boat out of the garage and cleaned it up real good. Also took some pics but for some reason they won't upload. The upload screen just keeps saying upload in progress but never goes through. The pics aren't bigger than 1mb so I don't know if Im not allowed to attach pics or if 1mb is too big. Anyway, I have decided that im gonna go with screws and rivets. I figure instead of clamping and riveting clamping and riveting im gonna secure pieces of structure with a screw to hold it in place while I rivet then if I want I can pull the screw out and pop a rivet in its place. I wan't to make the deck out of angle and tube aluminum. From looking around I think ill use 1/8" 2x2 angle and tubing. Only thing im thinking about is the support for the front seat. Which will be constructed out of the angle and tubing. I just worry about my 300lb uncle leaning back on the seat. I guess when I get that far and start constructing I will decide if it is going to be strong enough. I am getting a little ahead of myself since I plan on painting the boat first but I get excited when I can start to see the progress in my head. Ok if someone wants to tell me what my problem posting pics is then I can put a few new ones up.
Thanks
Travis

Attn: Moderator
Could you please move my post to Jon and V boat conversions and tell me why I can't post pics please.
Thanks very much
Travis

I have the same boat mine is a 96 witha 40hp johnson and a homemade side console.I' extending the front deck back to almost the middle seat.