1986 Tracker Seacraft 20 budget rebuild

[Jared]

Hi all, been reading the forum for a bit and finally came across a seacraft to call my own, hopefully it’s alright to post a rebuild of a non potter hull here. It’s a 1 owner 1986 seacraft 20. It has kind of an interesting story.

The previous owner bought it new in 86, used it a handful of times for the first few years and then it sat in a barn for over 20 years and slowly parts were removed and sold. Last fall when hurricane Irma was lined up for what looked like a direct strike here, barn space to store other more important items was at a premium. The boat was drug into the trees with a bobcat and tied off to them to ride out the storm, and there it still sat when I came along.

Anyway, it has a soft deck that needs to be addressed before refitting it, which will result in a new paint job at least from the rub rail in. The goal is to build a respectable looking fishing boat on a budget, not looking for high end finishes or a show stopper but will do my best to make it mine. Here goes.

[Jared]

Changed the tires/wheels, greased the hubs, and towed it (slowly) a few miles back to my house. After a few garbage cans full of junk and leaves taken out, busted out the pressure cleaner to see what it looks like under 30 years of dust and neglect.

[wattaway2]

Looks like a great find good luck it’s her

[Jared]

Pulled up the center of the floor to have a look at the condition of the 70 gallon fuel tank. It’s coming out at some point to check for pitting all around and pressure test, but am going to leave it in for now so I have something to kneel on while I’m working on the floors. The top of the tank is in decent shape, maybe i’ll Get lucky and it’s reusable.

Will be hanging a late 90’s carbed Mercury 150 more than likely, will be cutting a few feet off it and keeping it all the way forward to bring capacity closer to 50 gallons and keep more weight towards the bow.

[drtyTshrt]

I have that boat and a soft spot on the starboard side where the controls come up with through the floor. I will be watching this thread for ideas.

[Jared]

Got the tank out, it has a concerning amount of pitting from sitting in the waterlogged and rotten compartment it lived in. I’ll have to make a new one, going to shorten it length wise from 93” down to 70” and mount it all the way forward. This will bring capacity from 70 gallons down to just under 53.

The fiberglass encapsulated wood under the tank was all rotten, cut it all out. Will be replacing with just fiberglass slats and 5200 bonded strips of starboard on the bottom of the tank for it to sit on. Should help it breathe and not trap moisture against it. At this point going to shift back over to the floors now that I have some access to some foam underneath them that was causing a noticeable high spot.

[Jared]

I notice everyone else has some decent sized pictures, mine always seem to be small and randomly oriented. Is there a trick to improve on that?

[fishingproblem]

Lucky find, you will be stoked to get here underway on your own sweat blood and tears. Call it Irma, Shirma, phhht!

[Jared]

Visit to US composites to pick up the first load of supplies, and so it begins. The ceremonious first piece of wet fiberglass in my makeshift composite shop in the shed is to glass over the holes in the bottom skin of the floor where the console was held down. Most of the floor rot spread out from these holes, although I’m sure water on the deck came in through the top skin mostly.

[Rybones]

Looks like a nice find and I'm betting the price was right. As per the picture you have of the materials in the back seat of the truck it looks like mine right now, I'm currently re-doing my transom. In my searches here and on Hulltruth.com, I came across a fuel tank fabricator, I think this is the one I'll probably go with when I'm ready to do my deck and larger tank (possibly bracket). If I recall correctly, I saved the link because of some posts I read and pictures where I saw of the quality work, to include multiple interior baffles that this outfit did on tank fabrication for a 20 SeaCraft.

https://www.customaluminumfueltanksfl.com/custom-tanks

Also, judging by the vegetation from your pictures it looks like you might be in south west FL area like me. Although I'm down In Naples, these guys are in south Tampa, still close enough for me.

I also noticed it looks like you may need a console, there is someone here on CSC with one redoing a 78 or 79 SF20 with one available, likely cheap.

If you get a chance in the next few days, could you measure the width of the transom notch on your boat and share that with me? Mine is a 1974 with a 20" transom and an original wider opening that I am going to raise 6" and close-in some, just not sure how much I should narrow it by and hoping you measurement will give me a minimum basis.

Good luck with the build, keep us posted with picks when you can!