Question on repairing a 1988 Tracker "Magna Deep V"

[Tony Payne]

My son is looking at buying a used (obviously) 1988 Magna Deep V (17').



According to the seller, all it needs is to have the rear deck replaced, because the wood has rotted.



Anyone have any idea what kind of effort would be involved here?



Also, according to the seller, everyhting else is in good working order. If that is the case, is $2000 a fair price?

 

[JEFF WHITE]

boy are you in for some work!!



1st off get yourself some drill bits,about 10 at least.whatever screws dont come out,you could break the wood off or drill the heads off.then take measurments for the wood,give yourself some play for carpet and such.mark the stringers on each side of the hull,and the old screw holes also.make sure no old ones are sticking up.grind them off flush,try and take them out,whatever works.lay your piece in and use #14 stainless(notice i use stainless) screws to hold the deck down.drill a 3/16"hole as a pilot through the wood,then use a drill screw the screws into the aluminum stringers.be gentile as stainless will break if you force them,use some neversieze on the threads for lubricant.watch the fuel tank runs lengthways under the rear deck.i have a picture of what a 93 magna boat looks like for reference.



any questions?
http://www.geocities.com/jsw1888/foam6.jpg

 

[Greg Meyer]

Jeff,



Good advice... I couldn't get your page to load...you might want to check it out...



Also, be sure and buy the "better" carpet...and use an "outdoor" adhesive...or better yet, one specific to boats... If you are using it on treated wood (I certainly suggest that...even over the use of what would traditionally be marine grade plywood) be sure your adhesive is compatible... I found that one particular marine carpet adhesive was not compatible with lumber yard treated deck plywood so I used an indoor/outdoor capet adhesive...and it has held up weel for one season...time will tell... I got my carpet from BPS and it matched my Tracker perfectly... I hope you can do as well... I didn't replace a deck... I added a casting deck above (12"high 36" deep with another livewell and battery storage) the existing deck on my '93 Magna 19... My Magna is great...If you have a solid hull...no leaks... Jeff (Magna 19) and I will attest to the "great" nature of the Magna series...



It is a whole lot of workj to extensively repair/re-rig a boat...but it is a great way to get exactly what you want and at a great price... I had my motor rebuilt...so I have $10,000 invested in a boat that would sell new for around $20,000...and is as good as new and setup "exactly" the way I want it..

 

[JEFF WHITE]

sorry,i had them on a yahoo site,but i guess it sucks!!



i have a picture in my library,ill see if i can find more in detail.have many of the under deck,including the fuel tank.



give me a few!im working on it!!



tin is the way to go!

 

[Greg Meyer]

Hey that's the hanger for the paddle..yeah...that's "our" boat!

 

[Bruce Freeman]

Anybody want to guess what that foam full of water weighs?

100,200,300 lbs? When we did our TXS17 last year I know it was close to 130 lbs of wet flotation..But if you remove you must replace this also helps the strengh of the boat. Also we did not replace with wood..We did it all in Aluminum. It was a pain but it will never rot.

BF

P.S Heck it won't rust either..

 

[Craig Roberts]

If you are going to use wood, make sure to use Marine grade plywood. There is a difference. Marine plywood is treated longer than regular wolmanized. Whenever we replace decking we always used marine grade. Any lumber yard should have it in stock.



Kathy

 

[Tony Payne]

This is good stuff,



JR, (my son) is supposed to go look at it today and make a decision. According to the seller the motor is in good shape, as is everything else but the back deck.



Will let you know what he does when I find out.

 

[JEFF WHITE]

take a look at the bottom of the hull where the stringers are riveted to the hull.make sure they are all there,and tight.check inbetwen them for straightness of the hull.



also check the bowcap(where the boweye is),make sure under the pad isnt worn through or cracked.



the transom area in the splashrail area is a good place to check the sealant around the seam where the splashrail is joined to the transom.check for gaps that are more than they should be.look at the picture and where the red is is where to look.my sealant gave out and needed a quick fix to keep me going while i was out on the lake.



yep greg,thats a paddle hanger alright.and the magna series boats are built good.they are a big water boat,but they can go back into the small areas to fish also.we have been out 6-8's with it and came back dry,well almost,but we came back.



good luck on it.

 

[JEFF WHITE]

take a look at the bottom of the hull where the stringers are riveted to the hull.make sure they are all there,and tight.check inbetwen them for straightness of the hull.



also check the bowcap(where the boweye is),make sure under the pad isnt worn through or cracked.



the transom area in the splashrail area is a good place to check the sealant around the seam where the splashrail is joined to the transom.check for gaps that are more than they should be.look at the picture and where the red is is where to look.my sealant gave out and needed a quick fix to keep me going while i was out on the lake.



yep greg,thats a paddle hanger alright.and the magna series boats are built good.they are a big water boat,but they can go back into the small areas to fish also.we have been out 6-8's with it and came back dry,well almost,but we came back.



good luck on it.

 

[Tony Payne]

Well, he bought it.



He checked it over pretty good, had the guy start the engine (muffs attached), and he seems genereally happy.



I plan to go see it as soon as possible (he lives about 200 miles away), and help him get started on the deck replacement.



He should also be signing on here soon to start his story.



I will post some pictures as soon as he sends them to me.

 

[Greg Meyer]

Great, we'll all try to help...but I know Jeff will be a great source oif infor for him... Welcome JR...

 

[JEFF WHITE]

what size and type of motor is on it?i think it should be a merc on that year,rude was a few yrs later.



hope to see some pictures of it.



i think the back by the transom was a swept down style,like in the picture below,not straight as the newer one.probally the same color as that one also.



tell him congrads and join us tinmen here!