BCB recently indicated exterior-grade carpet glue is recommended for this. Needs to be reasonably clean & dry and allow glue at least 48 hours during warm temps or longer if cooler to cure before getting it wet again. I had this problem too a while back. Got the glue at Lowes ($5). So far so good.
My used P3 was missing the entire license plate bracket which apparently got torn off when the seller delivered it to me. As a temporary fix, I strapped the plate around the trailer frame with heavy duty cable ties. Its now nearly a year later and its still doing fine, plus it doesnt hang as low as it would with the bracket so its less prone to damage.
Unless you run your boat in a swimming pool, youll probably get tired of cleaning out the pitot tube pretty quickly as it will get clogged almost every trip. Plus, almost all speedos read too high by 10-20%. When I bought my P3, The first and only time I cleaned out the pitot, I easily pegged the 80 mph speedo! So mine isnt useful for set-up adjustments either.
Sorry to hear about your mis-fortune. Seems as though these days you cant leave anything of any value locked in a vehicle. A good friend had his truck broken into in a similar fashion in the middle of the afternoon in the parking lot at BassPro in Springfield a couple of years ago. BTW – A new fender has definitely turned out to be less expensive than a repair. Quite reasonable in fact… if it werent for the high cost of shipping. Ive got half a mind to use this as reason to drive down and get a tour of the factoryLast edited by BoBo on October 24th, 2007, 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Unless you are a big guy and need the extra room to get into the seat, Id argue that its not worth doing. I have the tilt and hardly use it. There will be a bit more play in the steering too.
I have tan carpeting which has to be cleaned regularly to keep it looking nice. Out of necessity, I have been experimenting with quicker alternatives to the full hosing down approach. I now just use a bucket of warm water/vinegar mix and a good old fashioned white small nap terry cloth towel. Plus, this doesnt require that I pull the boat out of the garage. I first spray any heavily soiled areas with a good capret cleaner – the Woolite brand with oxyclean seems to work well. Rubbing the carpet with the wetted towel seems to work best when working mostly in one direction with the nap of the carpet. I buy the 3-packs of the small white terry towels for about 2 bucks in the automotive cleaning aisle at Wally World and use a new one each time. With a clean white towel, you can easily tell when youre no longer removing dirt from the carpet. The used towel then gets delegated for cleaning the trailer and wheels, before discarding.
I love my P3…it is definitely a one of a kind in the 19+ foot class. Took a little while getting used to it, but the big-water ride is great and it really jumps up and planes out in a hurry. One of the nuances of it is that it is a “nose-up” boat, which means that you have to trim it back down when slowing down to avoid backwashing over the back deck. I believe the primary change in going to the P4 was the downsizing and moving of the gas tanks to underseat locations, with the option of adding the small “saddle” tanks for those that still wanted a full 50+ gallon capacity (the P3 has twin 26-gallon tanks). I think with todays more fuel-efficient motors and with the price of gas these days, perhaps that type of gas capacity is a bit overkill for most guys, and with those big gas tanks, the P3 loses some potential storage room over the newer P4. Hull is also a bit different on the P4, in accordance with different weight distribution of the gas tanks. But the P3 really has plenty of storage, especially if you get the deck insert. JMHO. Sorry to hear of your loss, Brian…Last edited by BoBo on November 7th, 2007, 2:42 am, edited 3 times in total.
ditto to what mocatt said…the P3 is awesome, but the 2.5L motor doesnt have enough torque to push it out of the hole with a 25P blade. BTW, let me know if you decide to buy the boat and what to unload the prop… Im looking for another 25 Trophy plus for my P3 as mine got dinged up this fall.
Wish I was going…maybe next time when Im retired and have more free time Should be one of the better bowl games this year…man, there so many bowls that I hardly pay any attention to the first dozen or so any more GO MIZZZOU
I have a Deans and use it mostly for overnight covering when staying at a motel. It packs up into a compact size which allows me to store it easily in the boat, so its always close at hand. I dont trailer long distances very often, but if I did I think the heavier Aurora might be preferable.
RE: hydraulic steering…it is expensive, maybe close to $1,000 w/ installation. Cable steering is just fine, except the cables do tend to get corroded inside over time and the steering can get tight. Might be something to check for on that 99 model. Good luck!
Hey TexlaCat, Welcome to the BCB family and congrats on getting your Puma!
I have smartcraft gages, but no gps on my 2002 P3 and a stock 200 Opti. I can easily peg the 80 mph speedo.
Congrats on a great purchase. Looking forward to seeing the pix.
You need to calibrate your speedo. There a factor in there that you can tune it up with. Might help Phil, I figured as much. Ive been wanting to get a buddy with a GPS to run along side of. But then theres that plugging problem and the lakes I fish very often have a lot of that woody crap that quickly ends up in the pitot…Its good to know that I will be able to route a GPS speed connection to the smartcraft…I was planning to buy a lowrance gps/sonar this spring.
© 2026 Bass Cat Boats
