Finally Finished - A labor of love

[delta229]

I spent a long time looking for what I wanted in a dual purpose boat. Mostly to use in fresh water lakes but enough of a boat to use crabbing and shrimping in the Puget Sound. I decided to find a hull and restore one to meet my needs. I started with a 1985 Center Console Invader with no motor. A full strip down, redesign and rebuild. It's been a year and I launched it last weekend. It ran like a dream and fished like a pro. Complete rebuild included new deck, carpet, console rework, new wiring, new graphics and lots of labor. Powered it with a Suzuki EFI 140HP 2 stroke. Here is a before and after.

Before 1

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Before 2

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After 1

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[goodtimesfishing]

Well done. Post some more pics. Would love to see the inside. I have wanted to do that myself. I have watched some restores on iboats and it always makes me want to do.....you know what you have when you do it yourself!! What do you figure it cost to replace the whole deck? and how far did you go?? stringers? foam?

good job!

[delta229]

The stringers were fine. The boat deck had been painted with bedliner paint and then someone attempted to grind it off. The floor was gouged real bad so I cut it out. Gave me a chance to move the console forward and I lifted it as well. Also had a chance to inspect the tank. Outside of the engine, I spent about 2500.00 on parts and supplies. The labor, I did. I do have to have a couple of cushions made.

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[sickbayer]

Very nice job, there is a heck of a lot of satisfaction when you do what you did. Good times on the water mate!

[Mike Carey]

nice fishing machine.

[goodtimesfishing]

I have put tons of thought into a project just like that one and I am sure I will take it on when the time is right. That is just about the exact design of a boat I would do. Great looking and functioning set-up.

[Augwen]

Nice JOB!!! When is/was the maiden voyage?

[delta229]

The maiden Voyage was done this past Saturday morning. We selected a local freshwater lake. The boat performed perfectly. Up on plane quickly, very fast. Very comfortable to fish from. We kept her bow from in the trees and the water below our knees! Limits of trout were caught by all.
I look forward to putting her in use in the Puget Sound, crabbing, shrimping and exploring.