My Journey with a 2000 Champion 191 rebuild

[OkieBud]

thanks for sharing

[1bluemcm]

It is a pretty boat. Hate you had to go through all that. I'm anxious to see the rest of your "reservations" filled. How many of your little termite buddies did you run across?

Thanks Reg. I found just a few. But can you imagine, from just tearing up that little bit in the TM batt compartment I found all this wet, rotten wood not where you'd expect it, termite damage and live critters? It didn't take long for me to think, I really have no idea how extensive the damage could be.....

[rojoguio]

I FEEL your Pain! My 171 was completely eaten by termites. Still working on it and hope to get back on it soon. Doing another bass boat right now. Here is the link to mine, a bit smaller boat but I'm sure much of the cap glassed on the same way. I had very little glass over the stringers, the floor was completely gone, transverse bracing nothing but a honeycomb left. Most of the glass work was only 1 layer of chop over the wood. Nothing stopped the water so it went right into the wood. The termites like the foam too. I had huge nests in the foam of the boat.
http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=934664

[1bluemcm]

Wow, that's crazy. I thought I was the only one with a termite problem in a bass boat! You may have had it worse than I did. I didn't find any huge nests. I think they had done their thing and then swarmed and left the boat for greener pastures.

[Okiefish70]

Really nice boat, I have the exact same one but in red. Mine was a one owner when i got it and that fella took imaculate care of it, always garage kept and all of the maintenance was kept up like clockwork. The only issue I had was the trailer had rusted out so bad that I had to do quite a bit of welding and reworking the steel from the back all the way up to almost the front including all cross members, but once done i had a reliable strong trailer again that ended up looking good as new, and I primed and then repainted with bedliner coating that made it look like these modern trailers ive seen under nitros and rangers. Now I am trying to come up with replacement windshields for it, and have not had a whole lot of luck so far (they are quite pricey) and my original equipment flasher unit on the dash is skitzing out but I am really pleased with the champion name for my first boat, and ive been told they are great boats which that is what im finding out.

[1bluemcm]

Really nice boat, I have the exact same one but in red. Mine was a one owner when i got it and that fella took imaculate care of it, always garage kept and all of the maintenance was kept up like clockwork. The only issue I had was the trailer had rusted out so bad that I had to do quite a bit of welding and reworking the steel from the back all the way up to almost the front including all cross members, but once done i had a reliable strong trailer again that ended up looking good as new, and I primed and then repainted with bedliner coating that made it look like these modern trailers ive seen under nitros and rangers. Now I am trying to come up with replacement windshields for it, and have not had a whole lot of luck so far (they are quite pricey) and my original equipment flasher unit on the dash is skitzing out but I am really pleased with the champion name for my first boat, and ive been told they are great boats which that is what im finding out.

Nice to have found a well kept one!! Problems with those steel trailers are a matter of when, not if, but it sounds like you took care of it well.

I have the original windshields from my 191 if you are interested. They are not cracked or chipped, but they are a tad discolored and have a few small areas of what I would cause crazing, like tiny internal cracks in just localized areas of the plexi, it's hard to explain. Let me know if interested, they can go for a reasonable price. If someone wanted to have them vinyl wrapped or dipped, they'd work absolutely great for that, and they'd be ok as-is, they just don't look new. PM me if interested, I'll send some pics.

[mohawkman]

You are very talented. I would have thrown in the towel as soon as i saw those termites and fumigated it and sold it after a waxing !

[Ttomholmes]

Wow! Lot of determination and hard work! Can't wait to see finished product. I have the same 191 in white, believe I am third owner but 2nd was wheeler dealer. Always wondered how these models held up because they sit so low in the rear as compared to other models. I am about to go bilge diving to replace flow rite actuator and valve... So that it easy compared to what you done. Hope I can take old and new cable and pull through without having to pull tank.

[dan805]

Great post. Thank you for sharing. I think. I have the same boat and now scared to go look deeper. I am the 2nd owner, but the 1st guy left it outside. I was thinking about putting a new merc on it. I knew I would need to dive a bit to make sure it’s worth doing, but now I’m thinking twice. So thx for posting.

[rojoguio]

I re-read your post and the detail of your restoration documentation is fantastic. Keep Truckin'!

[getfished]

I remember when you got this boat and it sounded like you were heartbroken after finding these issues. I'm not situated to take on something like this and I'm not sure I have the sticktoitiveness either that a project like this requires. What a fantastic structural , cosmetic, and functional makeover you have completed. Congrats on bringing this boat back to renewed life. I hope it gives you many, many years of enjoyment and when you send her to a new home I hope you are picky where she goes to live. Nice job !

[STLBassBuster]

I remember your posts when you started the initial project. If I look at purchasing any older champ's I now have more area's to inspect for potential issues. I have owned two 193's but those were a bit newer, 2004 & 2005. The rigging you did is something you would see on a half a million dollar + Cigarette powerboat! I don't think I would ever sell it and would just re-power when it comes time.

[bossbowman]

[1bluemcm]

Thanks all!!

Encouraging words!! I wouldn't feel bad at all about repowering this boat at this point. I saw a post on FB the other day, showed a "window sticker" for a new 20ft Ranger - $112k. $112k!!!! Can you imagine???

There is no doubt that technically speaking, relative to what the "value guides" will tell you, I have more into this that it is reported to be worth and there are times when I start regretting things....but that sticker shock shocked me back into feeling really good about where I am with an essentially like-new 191!

I'll have more updates coming soon, had some home projects that have kept my free time occupied in the last couple of weeks.

[ToledoBendChamp]

I would like to see a full picture of your dash. I really like the look of those gauges. Curious what the round aluminum center piece is?

[Champ187elite]

Cant wait to see more!

[BigFudge]

Man thats beautiful. I can't wait to see the rest of what you've got planned to post. I just purchased a two owner 1996 Champion 191. A part of me wishes I had the time to do a full cap off resto like you have but I'm new to boats and the lack of knowledge is intimidating. The pure knowledge gained and the ability to reinforce/modify would be priceless! I wouldn't even know where to start to find a shop capable of doing it here in Cali lol.

[BOW4UM]

WOW never learned more about a boat as I have reading thru this!!! LOVE!!!

[Bassguy2]

Incredible determination! But as you said it will basically be a brand new 191! What's better than that?

[mohawkman]

what i learned... is that you 'really' don't EVER want to get your boat swamped for any period of time. i couldn't believe all those 'cells' of seperate rectangular sections of wood beams and foam sections......... if you ever leave your boat outside in a torrential rain with the plug in and your auto bildge off ( which i have done ).... all that water is going to make its way into all those foam sections

that's what i took away form seeing the skeleton!