Fishing Frenzy

Did you recently purchase an older Pontoon Boat that could use a little help? I will show you how we turned our Project Pontoon Boat into a beautiful boat that our whole family can be proud of.

The entire project was not too expensive as we put no more than $2,000.00 into a boat that we were able to purchase locally for $3,500.00. The Pontoon Boat was chosen because it had a strong 1991 Outboard Two-Stroke motor and solid floorboards that did not need replaced. The Project Boat is a 1991 Lowe 18' Pontoon Boat and left a lot to be desired from an aesthetic standpoint. When it was all said and done, we were left with an amazing boat that people always have a hard time believing is over 20 Years Old.

The easiest item to address on your Pontoon Boat is cleaning the aluminum Pontoons and aluminum railings. The Bimini Top frame is often aluminum as well and should not be left un-cleaned during you're polishing. I usually use a product called Nu Shine and it does a wonderful job eating off all the oxidation that years of abuse can leave behind. I could go on for a long time discussing the various ways to remove aluminum oxidation, but using a product like Nu Shine is probably one of the easiest ways and will allow you to clean up the aluminum on your Pontoon Boat without all the scrubbing and back breaking labor.

So your boat is 20 years old has a bunch of unidentifiable black streaks that you cannot get off. We had this issue also with our Project Pontoon Boat and wouldn't you know, we found a product called Black Streak Remover that did exactly what it said. Spray it on, let it sit for a short while and wipe it off. I didn't have to scrub a thing and it really brought our Outboard Motor back to its original glory. Our motor was white but had this horrible yellow tint to it and after using this on it, well, it was white again. Simply amazing and you should try it on your Pontoon Boat as well.

I still cant believe I thought this was a good idea, but I must say the difference it made was well worth the effort. We replaced all the old wood-grain looking aluminum railing panels that had old fading and chipping decals, with new smooth white panels. The color options are endless but I liked the simplicity of white the best. Wow, pictures do not even do this part of the project justice. The difference was huge! I would not recommend that you try this unless you are extremely handy and love to torture yourself though. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started, but I was able to finish the panels in one weekend and follow up with painting the panels the next weekend. The total for replacing the Panels came in at around $150.00 for the Aluminum Trim Coil Rolls and at most another $60.00 for Clear Coat and some paint. I simply purchased Aluminum Trim Coil and cut it to size with metal shears. After the panels are installed, apply the Pontoon Boat Graphics or Decals of you're choosing and you will now have a modern looking Pontoon Boat.

To hear about Pontoon Bimini Tops, Pontoon Boat Seats, Pontoon Boat Carpet and Pontoon Floorboards, swing over to Part 2 of this article.