Welp, I've now started restoring this old Bullet. I'll update with pics as I go along. Transom, stringers etc are all solid and good.

Plan:

Wet Sand the hull, compound, seal and wax to restore the color.
New Carpet-Either charcoal or gunmetal
New gauges in dash, paint the dash plate high gloss red flake to match boat
New wiring for dash, replace some wiring in the mota
New trolling motor
New electronics
Sandblast trailer and have coated with lineX
Paint fender wells high gloss red flake
New seats, charcoal and red

I know it's expensive but this is what I've got in my boat and trust me, it is so much better than carpet. Hooks don't get caught in it and if you get mud or blood on it you just spray it off.
http://www.basspro.com/MariDeck-by-DeckR...MBNAIL#desc-tab

And dont forget the new Humminbird 360 imaging, I pilot package, and a 1198si for the console and one for up front. And, oh yea, you're gonna need a couple of shallow water anchors.
After you buy all of this, I hope you have enough left over to buy a rod and reel or two.

Kidding aside, that bullet ought to make a fine fishing machine. Have fun with it.

Hey metal I do have a 1200 dollar depth finder but unlike most people I do use mine to catch fish. Lol

And I do have the I pilot trolling motor. What are you trying to say?

I hope so, it's got good potential any ways. I will have to slowwwwwwwly purchase the electronics for it. Already got a Minn Kota Powerdrive to throw on it.

Cant hide money. My boat, electronics, rods and reels, motor, and even the gas in it didn't cost as much as the list I posted. LOL

Well somebody hid it from me. Idot I do think you will like that boat. Bass boats can be deceiving just looking at them. A guy I work with bought a stratos that looked in about the condition your boat is and we hit the gel coat with a buffer and some compound and polished it and then we thoroughly cleaned the carpet and cleaned everything else and put a coat of wax on it and it looked brand new.

Damn! I almost feel guilty for talking the guy down on the one I bought. 17'6" Venture Regatta with a 185 Johnson. Perfect seats, Lowrance and Humminbird screens, foot controlled trolling motor, almost new carpet, 2 live wells, a gallon of oil, half tank of gas (14gal), good batteries, everything works and it runs like a bat out of Hell. He wanted $2500 and I gave him $1900

Well, started a small test area on getting through the oxidation and restoring the shine to the clear coat. This is after one pass with a polishing compound. I still have to go back over it a couple more times, polish and wax. It's gonna look damn good!!

Thats gonna be real nice when done. Congrats on the find.

Looking good!!

It is a pain the arse though I'll be done with all the compounding, sealing and waxing this weekend. Then it will time to scrape the decks, remove all the hatches and start laying new carpet.

On a side note, though it's a pain in the ass, restoring these old boats is pretty fun.

I'm thinking about restoring a pontoon boat next.

Looking good! when restoration is complete, give me a call and I'll school you on catchin some bass.

You got an invite any time your up this way.

IDOT those Black Maxs are some fine motors. They are fairly easy and cheap to work on as well. I also love hearing one idle in the yard on the muffs, makes my sticker peck up.

Some original bullet bucket seats

Dang idot! I thought you were doing a slow restoration. Are you going fishing tomorrow? Lol. Looks really good

I can't help it. Once you get started on something like this you just can't stop! I've still got a LONG ways to go though. Those 10,000 rivets in the carpet trim are gonna be a mother trucker to drill out

Looking good brother. Good luck on the water

When you get that thing finished go "Beat Cholly Mowa". I cant stand that guy.

Trox said he just sucks them out with his mouth.

Started on the bow today. Removed all the old glue, took out the elec hook up panel (Will be painted gloss red) and did some hull work. I went with a new cutting pad today made of wool and WOW what a difference it made.

Boat starting to look good. Keep the updates coming. It's gonna be sexy when you finish her up.

Looking good keep the pics coming. I had that same motor on an Astro and I loved that boat.

A little more work this morning.





Gel coat is popping!

Looking good

That's a good lookin shine you got goin

Looking Good. Those old tissue craft boats will fly!

Looking good Bill! You wanna polish mine next?

Holler at me and I'll be glad to show you the steps. It's a nasty PIA though

OK, so I'm done ripping out old carpet and scrapping up old glue. I did a little compounding on the hull today as well, but I'm gonna finish all that up when I get the carpet installed.


I'm so sick of working on schit right now that the next update you get will be when I install the carpet sometime this weekend. Here she is all old carpet and glue free

What are the steps to polishing and then sealing the gel coat? I have a Carolina Skiff that I would like to clean the hull on. IT has a lot of oxidation on the sides.

1st, you will need a polisher / sander. I picked mine up from Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-variable-speed-polisher-sander-92623.html

Then you will need a "Cutting Pad" and a "Polishing Pad" You will need a cutting compound, probably mid cut grade, a polish and pure karnaba wax.


I take a damp cloth and wipe down the area I'm going to compound. Then I mist that area with water and squirt the cutting compound on to it. Then, at a low speed, "I use 1" using your compounding pad, go over the area very well. Try not to leave it in one spot for more than a few seconds or you could damage the gel coat. I slowly work my way over the area until the cutting compound has dried out. I then wipe it down with a damp cloth and clean the area off. Then I remist it with water and compound it again. Once you have done that, you should see it shine and it should feel smooth to the touch. Apply your polish with a cloth and then wipe it down with a clean cloth. DON'T let the polish dry. Wipe it and then wipe it off with a clean cloth. Then apply your wax with a cloth and let it sit for a few minutes. Then go over it with your polishing pad and your polisher. It should shine like new.

I can't stress how important it is not to spend to much time in one spot when compounding. You will burn slap through your gelcoat and phuck up your finish. So compound slowly and steadily and don't spend more than a few seconds in one spot.

So you live in the wooden barn with a 2 car garage and a bass boat? Welcome back to Alabama.

I really need to do that polishing on my ranger. That looked good!

That wooden barn is my neighbor

There was a guy in Guntersville, that I used to drive by his trailer every day. Trailer was run down and the grass was 10ft high. He did have a 50k bass boat sitting under a shed beside his trailer though

Got his priorities right!

Dang, no more pictures?

As soon as I get the carpet installed, I'll post some more pics up. Pretty much at a stand still till it comes in.

We need more updates on this boat Bill. Quit loafing.

I ain't loafing,I'm broke and tired of fixing schit right now

Welp, I temporarily hooked the controls up today to see if the motor would turn over. She turned over just fine. Next step, is to clean out the fuel tank, throw some gas in it and fire that baby up. What I have left:

- Finish compounding, polishing and waxing.
- Putting the new carpet in.
- Re-wiring elec hook ups
- Mounting trolling motor
- Hooking up the controls
- Cleaning out the fuel tank
- Registering the boat
- Replacing the stator in the motor
- Replace some of the wiring in the motor

I have heard that a couple of pounds or so of bb's will clean out a fuel tank pretty well. Just put them in there with some degreaser and shake for a while.

You gonna keep it for your own use, or sell it so you can start another project?

I'm keeping it for now. Now if I win a few BFL tourneys next year, I'll sell it and get another one.

It's gonna be hard to shake a 24gal steel fuel tank with 2lbs of bb's in it

On a side note, that SOB has about 15gals of old gas in it. Yet another small hurdle

Get a transfer pump or inline electric fuel pump from Harbor Freight and pump it out

Welp, bought a little fuel tank and hooked it up. Damn motor fired right up! Sounded good too! Gotta do a compression check just to be safe, but it sounds mean as hell

If you like to fish shallow water, seriously consider the Power-Pole for the back. They're really nice, especially in windy conditions or if you find a good bream bed or are bed fishing.

And once you get one, you'll want two.

Clem, that will be later down the line. I've got to get new dash instruments, fish finders and probably a new trolling motor 1st. Them damn Power-Poles are pricey!

You don't need no stinkin' dash instruments!

You really only need water pressure and rpm gauges. The fuel and battery voltage gauges are nice to have as well though.

Compression check done and all good. 114-116 with one cylinder hitting at 105. The 105 worried me, but it's within 90% of the highest reading and only has to be within 80%. Going to test again after I run it on the lake and get motor up to temp.


Tomorrow afternoon, going to hook up the trim and check that all out. Also going to pick up a water pump kit and change all of that out just to be on the safe side.

You need to do a leakdown test on it. Much more accurate in gauging the health of your cylinder bores than a compression test.

BTW...the target # is indeed all cylinders within 10%...not 20%. Make sure the motor is warm when doing a compression check. 20% would be pretty alarming to me in an engine.

Figured the trim out and got it working. Purchased a fish finder for the bow, "Lowrance Mark 4"



Was given a nice older 24vlt motorguide trolling motor today as well. It's coming along nicely.


On a side note, the wife brought out the magic eraser today. It cut right through the oxidation on the interior of the boat. This damn thing is going to look brand new when I get done with it

Little more work today. Stripping, polishing and waxing the inside of the boat is pure hell, but it's coming along damn nicely! I'm doing all of this by hand, with a magic eraser. It's time consuming, but it comes out real nice and you don't scuff the finish with a polisher. The wife got out there with me today too and worked her tail off.

Lookin good!!!

Oh, got the trim working on it too!

Whats left:

-Finishing removing the oxidation on the inside and a little more work on the exterior of the hull.

-Cleaning up the gas tank area (Gas tank is removed)

-Installing new pumps for the livewell and bilge.

-Putting in new gauges and some new wiring.

-Hooking up the steering (might spend some extra money and go hydraulic)

-Hook up fish finders and trolling motor

-Put in the new carpet.

-Register the boat and hit the damn water.

I'll restore the trailer sometime this winter (It's going to get sprayed with rhino lining).

Oh and I have to change out the water pump and install a new stator.

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Carpet arrived for my boat today, naturally while I'm away on business

Can't wait to get it thrown in and start on the wiring job.

Should you need it, here's a wiring color code chart (says that it's for Nitro/Tracker, but I believe it is pretty much an "industry standard")

Hammerhead, you da man!

Which division are you fishing?

It'll be the ChooChoo. All five tournaments on the G.

I'm doing choochoo too, but not all guntersville next year. 3 at the G, 2 at pickwick.

Any boat updates?

Welp, getting the carpet thrown in this weekend. Got the deck and one of the lids done already. Looks pretty good. At this rate I'll be done in another 10yrs or so.

I was wondering about how your project was coming along, Good to see your still working on it, If you decide to sell let me know

Have redone two boats rebuilt motors and the whole 9 yards.The thing that was hardest and time cousuming was taking everything out and redoing carpet, now I know why they charge so much to do it.

The carpet is a pain in the arse to do. Especially when you have lids etc. I've got 1 lid left and the main floor to do. After that, everything else should be smooth sailing. Money is making me take it slower than I would like.

About 3 years ago, my house burnt to the ground. My stratos was under carport, me and my daughter were able to get it about 30 yards away from house by pushing and pulling. I had just redone carpet about a month before fire, all the stuff flying in the air burnt spots all in the new carpet, ended up having to do it again, what a bitch. But, at least my boat didn't burn up. Still have it, and fish at Lake Jordan mostly.

Shoulda just crunk it up and drove it out of the garage......duhh

Would have but all the keys were in the house to all the vehicles, and could not get to them.

I'm ready to see some updated pics. Still trying to decide if I got it in me to take on another project.

Nothing fun about doing carpet in a boat. I did it in my last Allison, and will probably re-do it in my current Allison this coming winter.

Makes sense

Couple of extra pics. I got the final lid glued up today and waiting on it to dry along with another.

With all the lids carpeted.

It looks good man

Got the floor carpet cut out today, now I just have to glue it down.




From This

Lookin good Bill! Wanna do my Venture next?

I'll be glad to help you with it.

Face plate painted and Fish Finder mounted. Gonna start working my way back now.

you should do that faceplate in new black starboard. It would look good.


Ill do it for you, mail it to me.

Appreciate the offer TC. It's good like it is though. I'll bring you the trailer and you can re do it.

Will do but the gas may not be worth it. Lol