Crestliner Sportfish Upgrades

Dad and I bought a new (to us) boat last year. We ended up finding a 1997 Crestliner Sportfish 1750 that was really well cared for. We had it out on the water last summer/fall and really like how the boat rides. This winter, we began coming up with ideas on how we could improve the interior layout of the boat to better serve our fishing needs. As seems to be the norm, our list grew and we have quite the job in front of us. I am working off the new Crestliner Fishhawk 1750 Full Windshield for a lot of my ideas. I figured I would post our progress on here in hopes that the community could give some helpful feedback along the way. I will do my best to keep this updated as we make progress. Our list so far….

1) Convert front deck into more usable space. Sportfish have the “conversion seats” that we just don’t think we will utilize. We are going to be converting the front deck into a rod locker as well as improve some of the storage areas.

2) Add flip bench seat/rear casting deck.

3) Replace steering cable.

4) Install Minn Kota Terrova.

5) Install Marine Radio and antenna.

6) Add additional storage/improve current storage.

7) Rewire.

We have begun disassembling the front deck already and are on our way…

That was my Dad’s boat. I mounted about everything on it, so it’s easy to recognize. I’m glad it’s treating you well. I look forward to seeing the modifications.

I thought it might have been a members boat on here. The boat is in ridiculously good condition. We are super excited to get it out on the water again!

Use bigger and stronger fasteners than you think you’ll need. Use materials that don’t rust. Use marine grade plywood. Good luck. If you need boat mod ideas check out the boat mod forum here on IDO. My custom boat is on there and you may get some ideas from others as well.

I suppose the boat mod forum would have been a better place for this post. Thanks for the tips. Marine grade plywood will be used for sure.

Menards quite often has marine ply on sale about this time of year.
That was my source.

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Use bigger and stronger fasteners than you think you’ll need. Use materials that don’t rust. Use marine grade plywood. Good luck. If you need boat mod ideas check out the boat mod forum here on IDO. My custom boat is on there and you may get some ideas from others as well.

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Where’s this “boat mod” forum? Sounds fun-Thanks!

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Use bigger and stronger fasteners than you think you’ll need. Use materials that don’t rust. Use marine grade plywood. Good luck. If you need boat mod ideas check out the boat mod forum here on IDO. My custom boat is on there and you may get some ideas from others as well.

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Where’s this “boat mod” forum? Sounds fun-Thanks!

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Click groups, next to forums.

Continued working on the boat this evening. We now have the back deck plywood off, trolling motor mounted, and the side panels off.

As I mentioned previously, we will be replacing the steering. It turns out we will have to jack the motor up to get the proper clearance we need to fit the new steering cable. Does anyone know how this can be done on this particular motor (1996 Johnson 90HP)? I have heard that sometimes there are threads for bolts on top of the motor, but I am not seeing anything.

I am also looking for ideas for the side panels. The side panels that came with the boat seem like they waste a lot of space. Picture two kind of shows this. I will try to get a better picture of the side panel on vs. off on a future post.

Thanks for everyone who has been adding to this post. I appreciate the help.

On a side note, I am very excited to try out the Terrova with iPilot.

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As I mentioned previously, we will be replacing the steering. It turns out we will have to jack the motor up to get the proper clearance we need to fit the new steering cable. Does anyone know how this can be done on this particular motor (1996 Johnson 90HP)? I have heard that sometimes there are threads for bolts on top of the motor, but I am not seeing anything.

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I’m not sure if this applies to your motor but, some motors use an eye ring which screws to the end of the crankshaft where the nut for the flywheel goes. Then you just use a chain hoist to lift, using the eye ring you just installed.

About the side panels and wasted space. What ever you do, DO NOT REMOVE ANY SAFETY FLOTATION FOAM!! It is there for a reason. Not saying that is your intent, just a friendly reminder.

When I did my boat, I used the old plywood as a template to cut and drill the holes for the attachment points like rivets and screws. Then positioned the new panel and inserted screwdrivers and ice picks in every hole before doing the final attachment. Worked real sweet.

Looks like fun. I did like eyecatcher said also, just be sure if you have to bevel the edge make sure you bevel it the right side so you don’t end up with it ‘flipped’ the wrong way. . . . not that I did that or anything

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the delay on getting updates. We had some delays due to travel, but we are back at it now. Thanks to everyone so far who has given us advice, it is really appreciated!

We got the new UFlex steering cable installed. This system is rotary and is supposed to really improve the boat control. From what I can tell, it feels way better. We will find out for sure once we get it on the water. We didn’t end up having to jack up the motor. Instead, we enlarged the current hole to allow the steering rod to fit properly into the motor.

We also cleaned/tied up all the wiring and ran a new 8 GA wire for the Terrova. What a task that was. It is looking much better now.

We took the back deck panels off, stripped, sanded and re-carpeted them.

We are now working on the rod locker. We got the box built today and it looks like it will work out really well.

We will also likely be doing some more custom work on the Port side of the boat. You can see in the pictures, we currently have the “side panel” on the Starboard side of the boat. We have decided to leave this panel off the Port side of the boat. These panels aren’t really designed very well from space point of view.

Instead we are going to add a storage box that will give us a lot of extra space for random gear we carry. I have placed a cardboard box in the picture as a basis for what I hope to add as a storage box. Any recommendations for building that storage box?

After we get the rod locker and the additional storage box built, installed and carpeted, we will only have the fold down bench seat left. Slowly but surely, we are getting there!

Looking good Joe! Looking forward to seeing the finished project!

Continued to work on the front deck and rod locker. Got the panels cut and the rod locker support beams built and installed. Here is a picture of the front deck with all panels in place…just a rough fit, but it gives an idea of how it will look once it is complete. I really like the way the deck sits with the rod locker. Feels so much more roomy up there.

On the homestretch now. Pretty much everything is completed, minus the fold down bench seat. Rod locker has been built. Side storage compartment built and installed. All panels that were removed were re-carpeted and have now been re-installed. The amount of additional fishing space is hard to show in the photos, but it is crazy how much bigger it feels with the additional raised deck. Getting the itch to get it out on the water!

-Joe

Looks great! the bow turned out very nice. Thanks for showing the progress, fun to see.

PM sent requesting additional info and pics on the upgrades- Thanks!

I know this is a old post. I have tried to send nowthenjoe a message and for some reason it will not go through. I have a 2007 Crestliner 1800 mirage I am looking to do the same addition to. I’m starting with port storage and wondering how you was able to connect the top of storage to the gunnel side. My first thought was to drill 1/4 holes through side of boat to attach aluminum angle and just seal them as they will be well above water line. The more I think about it the more I don’t want to drill through the side of my boat

Wrk2Fish – I don’t recall exactly how we attached the storage. It is up at the lake right now, but I’ll try to take some pictures the next time I take the boat out and get them posted here.

Thank you. I bought this boat new and have been putting off adding any kind of storage for far too long. With the price of new boats I just can’t justify buying a new one. This boat handles well just need to make it more fishing friendly. Every time I search upgrading the interior of this boat I find pictures of your build and it looks like it turned out great

I haven’t been able to get any pictures yet, but I think we just used the L bracket that was there from the factory to hold factory side in place (fastened to the floor) and maybe another L bracket to attach it to the rear. Between the floor and the rear deck, there should be more than enough places to fasten it. I’ll still try to get some photos next time I am out for reference.