1988 Harris Pontoon Rebuild --- Pontoonstuff.com
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 4:32 am
So I recently won the drawing for the Pontoonstuff.com all out rebuild giveaway.
Being that I have never won anything even close to something like this I am beside myself.
Today I talked with James the President on Pontoon Stuff and forum member here and now I am even more excited.
My plan is to document everything as best as I can. Explain my situation etc. Tell my story and the story of this amazing opportunity I have been given. I plan on using pictures and hopefully some videos as I go through a major rebuild on my boat.
So first off about me and my boat. I'm the father of 5. Ranging from almost 21 to twin 10 year olds. I have 4 girls and one boy (right in the middle) These kids are the reason I bought the pontoon. Obviously, having 5 kids costs a bit. So a new boat was out of the question. Plus I am kind of a tinkerer. I like figuring out stuff and making it my own. I'm no expert though. But I generally research (like on this forum) and figure stuff out.
As for the boat. We went on a trip to KY Lake a few months ago. We used to go there a lot with my grandfather when I was a kid. He passed away last year and it had been years ago since we had been there. But he instilled in me a love of fishing and just being on the water and in the outdoors. So at just shy of a year we found ourselves going back to a place he loved. Dad and I plotted it all out but it was a quick trip. We had 4 days including travel time. It takes 6-7 hours to drive so basically like two days there. So we rented a cabin and left my camper at home. Drove down and had a blast. For one day we rented a pontoon boat. ... You know what is next. I was sold. I now wanted one bad. I started searching craigslist etc. Several weeks later I happened on one in the FB marketplace and messaged the guy. Most in my price range were trashed. Total rebuilds or at least the seats. But this one looked usable. Sure it was old but I knew I could get a couple years out of it. The catch. The motor lower end was bad and off the motor. So I took of work and the wife and I went to look and bought it. I found a lower end and put it together and I had a running boat. I did tinker with it for a while. Then took it to KY Lake again. It worked great. We loved it. I will go over some of my mods I did pre trip later.
Fast forward to yesterday. I got chosen to do this rebuild. I have been planning a rebuild since the day I bought it. Playing with Pontoon stuffs deck builder etc. Figuring a couple years from now I would do a rebuild. But that has been fast forwarded a bit.
So I figured I would start this thread and whenever we decide to start the rebuild I will update it as I go. I'm hoping for tons of pictures and videos. Gonna make my kids help me out on that front.
So here are some pictures of the boat when I found it online and the day I picked it up.
Being that I have never won anything even close to something like this I am beside myself.
Today I talked with James the President on Pontoon Stuff and forum member here and now I am even more excited.
My plan is to document everything as best as I can. Explain my situation etc. Tell my story and the story of this amazing opportunity I have been given. I plan on using pictures and hopefully some videos as I go through a major rebuild on my boat.
So first off about me and my boat. I'm the father of 5. Ranging from almost 21 to twin 10 year olds. I have 4 girls and one boy (right in the middle) These kids are the reason I bought the pontoon. Obviously, having 5 kids costs a bit. So a new boat was out of the question. Plus I am kind of a tinkerer. I like figuring out stuff and making it my own. I'm no expert though. But I generally research (like on this forum) and figure stuff out.
As for the boat. We went on a trip to KY Lake a few months ago. We used to go there a lot with my grandfather when I was a kid. He passed away last year and it had been years ago since we had been there. But he instilled in me a love of fishing and just being on the water and in the outdoors. So at just shy of a year we found ourselves going back to a place he loved. Dad and I plotted it all out but it was a quick trip. We had 4 days including travel time. It takes 6-7 hours to drive so basically like two days there. So we rented a cabin and left my camper at home. Drove down and had a blast. For one day we rented a pontoon boat. ... You know what is next. I was sold. I now wanted one bad. I started searching craigslist etc. Several weeks later I happened on one in the FB marketplace and messaged the guy. Most in my price range were trashed. Total rebuilds or at least the seats. But this one looked usable. Sure it was old but I knew I could get a couple years out of it. The catch. The motor lower end was bad and off the motor. So I took of work and the wife and I went to look and bought it. I found a lower end and put it together and I had a running boat. I did tinker with it for a while. Then took it to KY Lake again. It worked great. We loved it. I will go over some of my mods I did pre trip later.
Fast forward to yesterday. I got chosen to do this rebuild. I have been planning a rebuild since the day I bought it. Playing with Pontoon stuffs deck builder etc. Figuring a couple years from now I would do a rebuild. But that has been fast forwarded a bit.
So I figured I would start this thread and whenever we decide to start the rebuild I will update it as I go. I'm hoping for tons of pictures and videos. Gonna make my kids help me out on that front.
So here are some pictures of the boat when I found it online and the day I picked it up.