# my boat restoration project in pics



## boneboy96 (Sep 14, 2009)

I bought this Challenger bass boat from a fellow member here 2 weeks ago and I wanted to take pics as I did the restoration.  The floor was spongy and soggy when I bought it, this I knew already and was fine with the thoughts of rebuilding the floor...although I've never done this kind of job before so I was going in blind.   I stripped out the old carpet and wood, tried to work with what little I had left in the way of a keel stringer and the side stringers going the width of the boat.  Well, there wasn't much there so I rebuilt and reenforced what I could out of pressure treated 1X6 and 2X6.  I then covered the framework with 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood.  Eventually I got a nice sunny day where I could lay down the adhesive for indoor outdoor rubber backed carpeting.  I bought marine carpeting at JOA's in Buford, they had scraps and remnents and a whole lot of other neat stuff in the back at a clearance price with no return policy!   I also bought an LED set of trailer lights to replace the old lights with...they don't blow out when you submerge them in water and they look awesome lit up!  I stripped out the old wiring harness and replaced that as well.  I did it up right.  The inside of the fender wells on the trailer had carpeted wood to look good and protect the boat should you come in kinda sideways when trailering up.  The back of the trailer had wood step ups at one time so I made new ones...all the work so far came out of 1 sheet of 4X8 plywood and I had enough left over to raise my new winch and strap up 3/4 inch so I'd have better handle clearance when the tongue jack was in the vertical position.   There's a drain hole in the floor which I put back in, but I didn't bother with the 3rd seat post mounting plate...if you can't find a seat with 5 choices, 6 ain't gonna help!   Lastly I now have a new boat cover and a new spare wheel and tire mounted to the trailer tongue.   So there you have it...took me 8 days of making trips to Home Depot, to boating places and Bass Pro, and of course the beer distributors.      All in all, I think I did a fairly decent job for my 1st time.


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## rjcruiser (Sep 14, 2009)

Nice work.  The only thing missing is a pic of the entire boat


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## boneboy96 (Sep 14, 2009)

rjcruiser said:


> Nice work.  The only thing missing is a pic of the entire boat



I can do that!


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## Trizey (Sep 14, 2009)

Did you check out the rest while you were in there?  The entire hull and transom could be the same way.


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## rjcruiser (Sep 14, 2009)

boneboy96 said:


> I can do that!



Looks Good!  I bet you're hoping for a couple of more warm weeks in September


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## boneboy96 (Sep 14, 2009)

I'll take it anyway I can get it...warm, cold, wet. it's all good!


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## boneboy96 (Sep 14, 2009)

Trizey said:


> Did you check out the rest while you were in there?  The entire hull and transom could be the same way.



I'm sure there's still some rot down in there but the glass is pretty thick and I've supported the floor across the width of the hull so barring a catastrophic transom failure, I'm confident it'll be fine.   Has to be a 200%  improvement in the structural integrity from when I first purchased it.     That floor doesn't give at all now...it's very solid.  I used decking screws and 2 tubes of liquid nails to join the flooring to the framing I overlapped on top of the fiberglass edging around the flooring.  It's not coming back up...


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## SELFBOW (Sep 14, 2009)

Looks good. I redid one years ago where I extended the deck back and made storage in other words I created my own flippin deck...


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## win270wsm (Sep 14, 2009)

great work! now, how much to do mine????


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## Miguel Cervantes (Sep 14, 2009)

Great job Boneboy. Now I know why you haven't been doing your job on here lately...


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## Arrow3 (Sep 14, 2009)

Thats one nice looking boat right there!!! You must have bought it from a fine fellow!! 

You have done a great job Bob!!


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## boneboy96 (Sep 14, 2009)

thanks Brandon...yeah that fella wasn't such a bad guy afterall!     Now to get busy on the carbs!   And I'm not talking beer here...


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## boneboy96 (Sep 14, 2009)

win270wsm said:


> great work! now, how much to do mine????



You wouldn't want to deprive yourself of the satisfaction of doing it yourself!      Surprisingly, the cost of materials wasn't bad at all...less than $100 total for wood, carpet, adhesive, screws, bolts, etc.  Biggest expense was $90 + tax for the spare wheel/tire and about $45 for beer for the week.


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## LJay (Sep 14, 2009)

Fine looking job!!! We'll have to try it out sometime.


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## Hoss (Sep 14, 2009)

Good looking job.  Now get out and enjoy it.

Hoss


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## Gut_Pile (Sep 14, 2009)

Nice!!!! You did a great job!


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## wvdawg (Sep 15, 2009)

Very fine job Boneboy!  Got it lookin good!


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## Ta-ton-ka chips (Sep 15, 2009)

Arrow3 said:


> Thats one nice looking boat right there!!! You must have bought it from a fine fellow!!
> 
> You have done a great job Bob!!





boneboy96 said:


> thanks Brandon...yeah that fella wasn't such a bad guy afterall!     Now to get busy on the carbs!   And I'm not talking beer here...



Great job!

Terrible thing that a member on here would take advantage of you and sell a boat with a rotten floor.


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## boneboy96 (Sep 18, 2009)

well come hail or high water, it's going to get wet this weekend!


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## boneboy96 (Sep 20, 2009)

boneboy96 said:


> well come hail or high water, it's going to get wet this weekend!



And I wasn't kidding!


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## rjcruiser (Sep 21, 2009)

boneboy96 said:


> And I wasn't kidding!



Well...at least you've got something to ride around in now to pull people off of the roof tops


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## boneboy96 (Sep 21, 2009)

yeah, no kidding.   And the latest weather report calls for more of the same for this week!   I'm gonna chain the boat and trailer down to that big Tulip tree so it doesn't float away!


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## boneboy96 (Sep 27, 2009)

Well I got the motor running today and it runs strong and solid.   Can't wait to get it out on the lake!


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## wvdawg (Sep 27, 2009)

Looks like you are about ready to launch!  Have fun with it!


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## boneboy96 (Sep 28, 2009)

wvdawg said:


> Looks like you are about ready to launch!  Have fun with it!



Yuppers, she's ready to hit the water...just as soon as I can find the drain plug!


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## doublelungdriller (Sep 28, 2009)

nice job


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## MossyOak (Sep 29, 2009)

*Good Job Bob*

So when we going fishin?
But lets be sure we stay close to the boat ramp just incase


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