1988 MirroCraft "Deep Fisherman II" (New pics 6/9/13)

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thewalleyehunter

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Hey there, I'm Dave and I'm starting to work on my 1988 MirroCraft "Deep Fisherman II". Plans are to put a new floor in, front and rear casting decks, new marine carpet, addition storage, bowmount trolling motor, new gps/fishfinder, radio and perhaps a bigger livewell. I aso plan on giving the trailer an overhaul as well. I have a fishing trip planned for early June of this year, so I'm hoping to have it done by then (or at least in working order). I'm looking forward to working on this and I'm sure that I will get lots of ideas and help from the forum.

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Looks like a nice boat. I just modified my 16 v to resemble yours, with the walk-through center bench. I am in process of putting in a flat floor, and maybe a casting deck in mine as well. Inspire me, please! =D> :mrgreen:
 
Welcome to the site, some people on this board are partial to Mirrorcraft's. That boat looks awesome for its age. Mine is from 1986, although it is way different than the original configuration. Make sure you get a pen and paper out and browse the mods section........and you have to check out A little snookered.
 
bigwave said:
Welcome to the site, some people on this board are partial to Mirrorcraft's. That boat looks awesome for its age. Mine is from 1986, although it is way different than the original configuration. Make sure you get a pen and paper out and browse the mods section........and you have to check out A little snookered.

Wow, that's one nice fishing rig! I bought mine from an older man who was retired and took very good care of it. Mirrocrafts are built in my neck of the woods, so that's one of the reasons I wanted one. Gonna head out to the garage after a birthday party today and start stripping it down. 8)
 
jasper60103 said:
Nice looking rig. Personally, if I had an itch to rebuild something.
I would have found one in bad shape. JMO. Good luck.

I agree........but I already had the boat, then found this site and then got the ideas.........so technically it's tinboats fault. :wink: :)
 
Spent some time yesterday stripping out the benches and old floor. Everything was in pretty decent shape, even the foam was dry and in decent shape. The floor was the one thing that was bad. It was waterlogged, heavy and flexed like a wet noodle! The original setup had one wooden stringer down the middle and the sides just rested on the ribs, which gave the floor a spongy feel........replacing the floor is what actually led me to find tinboats. 8)

I am tossing aroung the idea of using an old aluminum ladder for floor support. Using a level across the gunwales and measuring down is the method I used for getting the floor level. The ladder fits snugly under the benches as well, giving some additional support to the benches. The ladder slightly raises the floor up giving me some extra floor width in the rear and in the front. I used some wood blocks for now, but will change them to aluminum later. Some pros so far, is better floor support, some extra floor space gained and weight savings(the ladder weighs less than the wood it's replacing), and the con would be the higher center of gravity, but it isn't too drastic of a change.

So at this point everything's just mocked up and in place, is there anything that looks off or you think might not work well?
 

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gonna head out to the garage later to work on making a template for the floor and front casting deck. Not sure if I want to keep the split bench or build some lockers on the sides......
 
I built my casting deck out of wood, but now I'm in process of rebuilding out of aluminum. Pop riveting everything. Aluminum rivets as well. So much lighter and no mold in the long run. Looking forward to upgrades. Us tin boaters like pics.
 
Well didn't get much garage time, but got a rough template made. I'm thinking about making a rod locker down one side and storage on the other.
 

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So today I decided to re-think my approach to my build......or remodel you could call it. Now my plans are to just redo the floor and use the old wooden support. I will be adding some additional support to prevent sagging like it used to. I will be adding locker/storage in between the split bench and the rear bench on both sides, adding front/rear casting decks, a front piece to mount a trolling motor, and storage in the rear. Also adding a new ff/gps, radio and switch panel.

Just used random pieces of aluminum and wood to give an idea of what I'm going for.......I will be cutting and using the ladder though.
 

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I like where your going with the mock up......I wish I would have had that bow cap like yours....I would have a whole different layout. You will like saving the cut benches.....it will make your life so much easier and your really not loosing that much deck space. This hull is much wider than it appears.
 
Finally got some free time to get out and do some work on the boat. Started by getting the new floor cut. I will seal it later since I am working on the front right now. I Picked up a rivet tool, which has been handy so far. Got the bow piece moved up and riveted in place, and used a piece of the old floor as a stencil for the trolling motor platform. I used some of the ladder I had, but I don't really like it, so I will probably change it out for some new aluminum supports instead. I threw an old hatch door on top just to get an idea of how it will fit. I also riveted an aluminum angle piece to the bow piece for attaching the floor for the storage area. I have a piece of cardboard in there now for a visual until I cut the actual piece.
 

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Finally have some free time tomorrow to get some work done. About 99% sure of the layout now.........I have been sitting in the boat for a few days going over everything in my head and have it all worked out. ......I hope......will post pics afterwards.
 
Well I got a little more work done yesterday.....wasted a lot of time chatting with the guys at the marina and then some more time checking out the river.... :oops: So, I was finally able to pull the boat out into the sunlight thanks to the nice weather we had and get the floor supports done. I kept and used the wood center support that was previously in the boat when I got it. I wanted to eliminate the small amout of flex that there was, so I added some aluminum to strengthen it. What I did was....I notched out the wood to fit the aluminum angle pieces I used, then I used rivets to attach the framing to the ribs......doing it this way should help hold everything in place. I haven't fastened it down yet (floor to the supports), but just with the floor laying on top, it's sturdy as can be.
 

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