Project X19 - 2001 Xpress story

[Smallie_Hawgin]

Some may have seen portions of my posts or questions over the last year or so. Thought I would try and share some of my experiences to commiserate :) So the story goes like this:
My son (24) and I love fishing and I have a jet rig (River-Pro) I have owned since 2005. We both always wanted to do the bassboat thing, but price has always been a variable that was not easy to overcome. We both had pretty much settled on something aluminum rather than glass, mostly for the relative hull longevity and not having to worry about gel coats etc. We both loved the all welded varieties and kept coming back to Xpress. Well, after about a year or so of looking, I found a steal on a 2001 X19 in Arkansas (figured by going to the origination state, you might have more opportunity and certainly better prices on bass rigs down south compared to up north!), well, after, seemingly endless exchange of texts, pictures etc and a long drive from MN, I gave the rig a pretty good once over. She had been stored a outside at some point (super faded carpet and obvious leaves). We had read about the soaked foam issue, but it didn't appear to be that bad. According to the seller, it had been in a carport for most of its life (although, I beg to differ). Made the purchase just prior to all the covid crap messing with used boat prices (thank gawd) knowing I/we would have some work ahead of us. Attachment 457716IMG_35561.jpg
Original rig had a undisclosed year model Johnson GT150 that actually ran OK, but had been converted from oil injection to premix (sloppy job BTW). I later found out through digging, it was an 1989. Again, I knew what I was getting into and also knew we wanted to bump up the HP to max for the hull (200) anyway.... Had a dinky hook 5 on the console and an older MG Tour edition 36 volt troller. The starting battery is a 2018 and the two troller batteries (yes, you heard that right two) were wired to the starting battery, to make the 36 volt circuit run! But they were both 2019 vintage. The trailer appeared solid, tires fair to partly, enough to get back to MN anyway:) The deck and hull were in decent shape but the console, cowling and seats were serviceable, but sketchy at best. Attachment 457717 As mentioned, carpet was worn and faded. I kept telling myself, but she's got decent bones. :) The hull had some dents, but nothing a crafty guy and his adult kid couldn't handle. Engine ran fine, but hydraulic Jackplate only went down, not back up. Got the rig home in a snow storm after a pause in Iowa.IMG_35541.jpgIMG_35541.jpg
Step 1 figure out what we had and plan necessary upgrades on a budget: Trolling motor worked, but not as a 36 volt half assed circuit. Changed that right away, found a 24 volt Minkota bow mount Maxxum 84 with the US2 locally... Decent pick up. Sold the Hook 5 and found a used Elite 9 for close to the same $$... Another win, right? Well, software bug made a warranty claim and ended up costing a bit more, but still not new price... Could live with that. Had an HDS 5 I could hook to the bow for now. Got the motor operational for the time being, until I could find something else. Ended up rewiring the relays for the jackplate and walla, it worked! She'd run 54 MPh without too much of a problem and that old POS smoker of an OB (that had milky lower unit oil and I did replace the water pump in). Dash needed some work. Cowling was ripped and is made of some funky vinyl crap that is not easily fixed... So ingenious self though, Eh, I can fabricate something easily enough out of 1/8" sheet plastic and some heat. It works for now, but want to do better this winter. 20200424_195850_HDR.jpg
As I was searching for seats, carpet, trolling trays, gauges etc, I stumbled upon a 99 Yamaha Vmax P200 TLRX in FL, again for a steal... Less than $2K, it did run, trimmed, good compression, low leak-down and had a decent lower unit.
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I got the thing hooked up by scrounging an ignition module, wire harness and a used universal shift control. She started and ran well until it got loaded up, then would bog... Went through a few weeks of diagnosis, replaced coils, plugs, fuel filters, link and sync on the carbs and timing etc, etc... Came to find out, one of reed blocks had actually corroded and rust had formed (maybe even in shipment?).. Replaced those with Carson reeds and stuffers.. Man what a difference!!! Amazing what 200 horses can do! Obviously had to find the right prop as well and learned a lot about them over some time. Currently picked up two, a new Scorpion 23" PT three blade that lifts the hull out like crazy and a used trophy plus 26" that runs like a train on tracks, but not as much bow lift. That all worked OK for the summer of 2020. We knew we had other projects to take care of yet. We fished out of her for Father's day weekend up in northern MN. Made it back fine after catching some decent fish... Ah, but something wasn't quite right with the hubs... Cripes! One of the previous owners had actually put the wrong size bearings and seal on one side! And it had made it back from AR that way!!! WTF!!! Needless to say, replaced the hubs and got the right stuff on there, without major incidents. Whew! Early fall, kiddo had it out on a local water and ran fine then died. After some digging, found water in the #6 cylinder (mixed with fuel), blown head gasket! Gawd, what else? Well, tore it down and indeed had found the gasket had leaked causing the issue. I thought, well, maybe I should check the exhaust manifold for buildup (since it was run in salt water and had the issue with the reed blocks). In hindsight, dumb idea! After trying to remove the 20+ bolts that held it in place, I had busted no less than eight! If you ever want to make yourself cuss worse than a sailor having a root canal, do what I did!!! Not fun at all! But was able to extract, drill and retap the necessary holes to seal it back up. Also had found out the reason why this motor was converted to pre-mix as well. Looked like the number 4 cylinder had an issue at some point...
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Scrounged a used one for a replacement (ole Ebay to the rescue.... again!). Got her running well again this spring, along with all the upgrades.
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Winter of 20-21 ripped out carpet, wiring, seats, installed troller tray, added bow mount (fabricated). Installed EVA foam in cockpit and light weight stuff in storage compartments, added cutoff switch, ran 8 ga wire to new fuse panel and switches, ran new circuits for interior lights, replaced gauges as necessary, new steering wheel, added blinker trim, hotfoot, padding, new 20 oz carpet and yes, new seats. Trailer carpet was wearing a bit and I like to run deck cap on the bunks anyway, slides like a dream when needed. The not quite finished product fishes well, runs well and starts easily! Now, the dash and some minor hull fixes with some prop tweaks to get to 65 MPH. Currently does 60 without too much effort, but the 23" prop pushes the upper end of the RPM range... Pretty happy so far. For under 8K at this point with basically new stuff on board, we have a decent running rig.
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Plenty of other pics found in an online album if you're interested... Has a few idea pics as well..
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ErViwy5Lt7Kcp9Ac9

[Slicefixer]

Coming along very nicely! I did things in reverse, NOW, at the end of the 14 month journey, I'm dealing with the engine.....hehehe

[84rickygreen]

Very nice rig!