New Champ Owner and Restoration

I suppose I am doing this a little backwards as I have already posted a few times....but I figured I needed to introduce myself to the forum and share my excitement now that I finally have a little down time from work.

As of this past July I am officially the proud owner of my first bass boat! It is a 1994 Champion 190 DC with a 1998 Mercury 200 EFI. To say I am excited would be an understatement! After lurking around here for a while and learning so much from others threads, I thought creating a thread myself might help someone else down the road or that others might enjoy reading and seeing restoration threads as much as I do. She is in pretty good shape overall so it won't be a true full restoration, but there are numerous things that I would like to fix and upgrade to my liking over time. I will share pics and my experiences with the progress, and hopefully gain some insight and knowledge from y'all along the way as well.

Special thanks to TxChamp and others who make this site what it is. I am new here, but it didn't take me long to realize how vital he was to this forum with the wealth of knowledge he provides. Thanks to him and those who take the time to share their knowledge and experiences, I have learned a ton.

Pics and progress to come soon! In the meantime, here are a few pics of the day I picked the Ol' Gal up!

- Kyle

pics..

Welcome looks to be in real good shape :thumb up2: Congratulation. Best of luck

Congratulations and welcome to the family!!!!!:beers::newyear:

She shines up nice. Gonna be a lot of fun with that rig.

Very nice! Appears to be in great shape.

So for the backstory....

My brother sold his champion a couple years ago. He offered it to me first, but at the time me and my wife had baby #1 on the way, I had just started my masters degree, and my father in law would soon have a life altering stroke. It was probably the smart decision, but I passed on it and kicked myself many times for letting it go. Fast forward.....because of life being so busy with these things I have only been on the water once or twice in two years. The wife's grandparents begin to talk about trying to buy a place closer to us to be around the grandbaby and to help out with their son in law after the stroke. A few months later they own a house on Lake Sam Rayburn less than 2 miles from the boat ramp! I am pumped! It's only about a 45 min trip for us. Her grandparents are great..give us full run of the place...tell me to leave my aluminum boat up there in their garage, and grandfather keep asking when we are going fishing. We go a time or two and and my wheels start churning. I can't have a lake house and NOT have a bass boat. If you've been across Rayburn in a small jon boat with a wife and kid or grandparent, you understand that it's not real enjoyable let on alone safe on most days.

I start looking through classifieds and facebook with no real intention to buy, didn't even think i would ever be able to afford one as a teacher and coach. I see this boat on facebook for weeks, and call him up. I told him I needed to get rid of my boat first and I would get back with him. He asked me about it and said he might be interested. The next day, he calls and said he wants my boat, his friend wants my motor, and his neighbor has the champ, lets make a deal. If it ever seemed like God WANTED me to have a boat......it was this boat.....and it was right now! lol. After praying and talking with my wife, I headed to Toledo Bend the next day with my boat in tow. I prayed the whole way up to God that if he didn't want me to have it, and if it was going to interfere with my relationship with the lord....that he wouldn't allow it. But if this was a blessing that he was choosing me to have and be able to spend time on the water enjoying his creation with my new daughter and family and friends....then thank you Lord and let this serve as a continual reminder of his goodness and how he continues to orchestrate things in my life and bless me.

I get to the lake and discover it has hydraulic steering and a hydraulic jack plate...I didn't know it had either before making the drive! It also has a lifetime gorilla hull from Toledo Fiberglass that was put on just last year and he has receipts for all of it....He laughed and said he was going to have to jack the price back up because I was smiling too big! After a test drive and some small bit of cash on my end...we swapped boats and I drove outta there before they had time to change their mind. I sold my hull to one guy, my motor to another, and I bought the champion from the neighbor. I couldn't have had an easier way to sell and buy a boat in one afternoon, and I couldn't believe I now owned a bass boat.

I know that was long winded and I didn't have to share...but I wanted to say all that to glorify God and share what he has done in my life. Over the last several years we have been through some tough times as many of you have also. When my father in law's stroke occurred..we were still in the pandemic stuff, the snowmaggedon storm had the nation shut down, and my wife had covid at the same time also....so it was weeks before we could see or speak to him in person which was not easy. Then he spent over 6 months in a rehab facility 2 hours away. My boss retired and with a new outside hire that meant I was demoted and lost my position as a coordinator at my alma mater that I had worked so hard for for nearly a decade. (just the nature of coaching). Baby was on the way and I was trying to get a masters degree. Stressful times to say the least! We leaned on God and trusted in him to see us through it.

Let me tell you how good and faithful God is folks! Fast forward to today. I have a beautiful baby girl who has changed our world and brought so much joy to the family. My father in law is home and has recovered enough from the stroke to walk and talk and be pretty physically independent and we are so thankful we still have him. I celebrated graduating with my masters on a high school baseball field after a 3rd round playoff victory with my team. There have since been two major changes in administration at school, and I have now been promoted in the middle of the season to offensive coordinator, and even greater role than I was in before. We went from 2-12 to winning 4 out of the next 7 and almost winning a playoff game. My old coach and great friend is now my boss. Grandparents bought a lake house we all enjoy, and now I have a bass boat after not touching the water for two years.

I initially thought it might be silly to think God cares about me getting a boat...I don't know all the answer but I do know he cares about his children and that he blesses obedience. I would like others to know that God changed my life by saving me from a life of sin years ago. I turned from that life and do my best daily to be obedient and to follow him. Since then...he continues to bless me in every facet of my life everywhere I turn. In health, a child, my job, and even my silly passions...like fishing and a boat. I am blessed beyond measure and I don't deserve it. I didn't start this thread with any intention to share about anything but a boat...but I owe it to God to tell others how he has changed my life and blessed me.

Enough story time. time for the progress

Heres a list of things I see right off the bat that I plan to fix, upgrade, or change.

Trailer - Needs some work to be legal and road worthy first and foremost. Most lights don't work and the trailer does not look original to the boat. Several things I would like to change but these will prolly be on the back burner as she will be parked in the garage just a mile or two from the boat ramp and i wont be doing much towing.

Motor - Ran solid on the test drive but I'd like to have someone go through it and service it for peace of mind

Boat - starting at the bow...

Nav lights - Work but will eventually replace and rewire

Trolling Motor - Def needs a bigger plug and rewire to be adequate and safe. Came with a 36v 110 lb thrust older motorguide. I'd like to upgrade when possible to spotlock. Thinking of downsizing to a 24v 80 pound thrust to save battery weight and space. Thoughts?

Switch Panels/Plates - Ugly, don't match, and not original. I plan to order some ABS plastic and make new plates to cover the holes and clean things up on the bow. Possibly add tilt switch and charging plug for gopro etc.

Front pedestal base - previous owner added another base further back for more room. Nuts were installed on top of the deck and then grinded off. For obvious reasons id like to rip up the carpet and do it right, using proper flat screws and nuts on bottom to save knees and feet from when they get myself or any kids. not safe nor looks good. Previous owner also padded and recarpeted the deck, but left the original slide and lock base up front and just carpeted over it. You can see the indention and it bothers me.

Rod straps - Has on port side, would like to remove bungee and add one to starboard side

rod lockers - Needs new shocks, carpet falling down, wasnt glued well enough. Has lighting but would like to upgrade to led strips and hide them as well as the wiring just hanging everywhere. Needs new trim lock around lids.

Center compartment - Previous owner fabbed up a wooden piece to extend the deck. 3 trolling batteries were moved up here. Id like to re carpet and move to bilge area as original.

Consoles - Marine radio does not work. Gauges do not work. Replace and rewire. Rats nest under console needs cleaning.

Cockpit/seating - Livewell actuator is a push pull knob that is broken. either fix or look at possible redo of the entire livewell system. Carpet needs trimming around consoles. Seats may need remounting in the future as stainless hardware was not used and is rusting. Cooler below seat needs a plug

Rear seat post - The back seat is a fixed post screwed into the deck. I want to remove it and install a pin style base that will allow me to remove the back seat for co anglers or kids etc.

Bilge - Previous owner has the bilge hose ran through the vent port on the rear. Need to dig into that to find out the reason. Wiring in bilge needs a serious makeover. Replace pumps and get livewell up and running. Look at possible redo of all plumbing for peace of mind

Batteries - All new batteries needed. Currently only has one deep cycle battery serving as starting battery. Will also install on board charger, ac port for easy access, and battery disconnect switch.

Overall boat gelcoat is in decent shape...some areas toward the rear have some pretty good scratches/stress cracks/spiderwebbing. I will order protec gelcoat kit and buff her back to a shine. I can't wait to see what she looks like cleaned up.

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Trim Lok ordered from amazon and installed on all Deck lids, livewell, and cooler, as well as missing trim replaced on the console. The original console trim was riveted in and I did not do this because the trim i ordered was much smaller and leaves no room to rivet. So far it has stayed on pretty well but comes off on the corners every once in a while if accidentally hit. Time will tell but i may have to redo the console trim with a larger lip trim.

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Here is the fixed seat. The original base was a slide and lock style. For whatever reason the previous owner removed it, and mounted this over it. I removed the carpet, drilled new holes and mounted a standard pin style base. I may find that I should have went with the newer locking bases but I liked the idea of the smaller hole when the seat is not there and they have always served me well. Now my co angler will have room to stand

Finally got some time for Addi's first boat ride and our Maiden Voyage! Can't wait for all of our trips to the lake and time spent together on the water fishing and playing. That's something I didn't get to experience growing up, and I want her to be able to. Here's to the first of many trips!
We didn't venture too far from the ramp. Just wanted to run the boat and take her on her first ride. She loved it and she LOVES to drive anything with a steering wheel

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Fast forward a few weeks/months...I make another trip to the lake to run the boat and after idling out to the buoys...I throttle up and she wont get on plane. Oh Boy.....the joy of buying used boats again. The motor had bogged down a little coming out of the hole the last time I ran it, but I chalked it up to dirty injectors, old fuel, spark plugs etc. The Tach doesn't appear to be working as its bouncing all over the place, but the motor isn't cutting in and out...just stays bogged down and wont get on plane. We putt back to the ramp and head home. I call the mechanic that I had planned on looking at my motor anyway. He had back surgery and wasn't going to be able to look at it until December. I had plenty to work on until then and with football season cranking up, I knew I wouldn't be fishing anyway. While waiting on him I decide now was a good time to pull the tank and start work on the bilge area. This would also give him fresh fuel and a clean bilge area to work with when he could get to it. Here are pics of the tank removal and cleanup. Some simple green, a pressure washer, scrub brush and some elbow grease made a huge difference. I contemplated repainting the bilge but decided it just wasn't worth the money and hassle as the only stuff that was too dirty you wont see anyway.

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The Bilge area after a good scrub down and hose removal

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Nice job.

I didn't initially plan to redo all the plumbing or pull the tank and rewire etc... It all started with trying to simply replace the push/pull knob to open and close the livewell that was missing. I was having trouble finding replacement parts which led me to looking at flowrite's website for actuators.....one thing led to another and here I am rebuilding the entire livewell system and bilge area. It was a domino effect and one of my downfalls of being a little OCD!

The current livewell system had 1 pump (fill only) with this single valve for open and close only. There was no recirculation or livewell timer. I wanted both and so I ended up adding flowrite's livewell pro timer and a v3 valve system.

Current Valve actuator
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Current Plumbing
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Time to start cutting some fiberglass. Measure 100 times cut once. I used an oscillating multi tool, drill bit, and a dremel tool clean it up to fit.
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Here is the new Flowrite ProTimer and Actuator. Turned out great I think

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Next up....replumbing the bilge. Went with all new tubing from flow rite. I got rid of hose clamps and went with oetiker clamps for a cleaner look. I did this everywhere I could get the pliers in, but left hose clamps in really hard to reach areas for future removal if needed. I also went with their quick disconnects. Probably not as fail-proof as hose clamps...but one of my biggest complaints of traditional boat plumbing is that the livewell fill pump is plumbed directly into the transom. Whenever the housing cracks you are forced to replumb a new pump which requires tearing apart the bilge, buying a $30 tube of 3m 4200, cleaning and scraping old glue, and then waiting on the glue to cure before you can use your boat, and then testing and hoping for no leaks.
The qwik connect system allows you to plumb a thru hull fitting in permanently and hook your pump up to it. Now if I ever need to swap pumps...I simply disconnect and pop a new one in. I will be thanking myself years down the road.

If you look in the original pictures from my first post you will see a bilge hose run out of the vent port. After digging in I found that the original hose was sliced at the fitting and I guess the guy didn't have enough hose to cut it and attach it back. Instead he put a new hose on the bilge pump and ran it through the vent out the back of the boat as seen, and left the old hose in the boat. Getting the bilge hose off the thru hull fitting on the side of the boat was the toughest part of the plumbing project. You have to pull the tank to get to the fitting, and then I discovered there is a nut backing it up. I couldn't get a pair of pliers in there to work well enough, and being chewed up by fiberglass isn't fun either. I eventually broke out the multi tool and just cut the fitting off from the outside and punched it through. Wasn't too bad after this. I put a new fitting in and hand tightened it the best I could and added some 3m 4200. I also used qwik connect fitting here and just snapped it on. No way you are getting a hose clamp and screwdriver up there. Turns out it was a good thing I replaced the bilge hose. It was kinked at almost a 90 degree angle at the fitting. I thought I had a bad bilge pump because it was only dribbling out before. Now I know why

Pics of new plumbing

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The v3 valve also eliminated the need for the drain hose from the livewell because it all goes back through the same 3 way valve. For now, I just cut a small piece of tubing and plugged it. I thought about adding Flowrite's pump out valve on the livewell and running that hose into this thru hull fitting on the transom. What do you guys think? Everything I saw and read on the pump out valve showed it plumbed through side of the boat by the bilge outlet. I assume the main benefit of that is that you can fill your weigh in bag easier....but would it matter if it was plumbed through this old drain fitting? It would be an easier solution and prevent me from having to drill more holes. That being said, I don't even know if I would use/need the pump out feature. What do yall think?

Mechanic calls and said he is ready for my boat! Perfect timing. Over the next few days I get the boat back together and drop it off. He calls me in a few days and said It's a good thing I brought it to him! He found my problem as well as several other things that could have been a big headache in the future that he saved me from. He also checked wiring, replaced a missing washer or two here and there and a few other things I'm sure I didn't list. Here is the list of what was done.

Bad trigger coil - Was only firing on 4 cylinders. No wonder she wouldn't get on plane. Ordered a new trigger assembly from CDI electronics on Amazon and replaced

Oil Injection block off kit - The previous owner had disabled the oil injection but had just removed the necessary parts and hung the rest back on the motor. I'm no mechanic, but he said mercury makes a block off kit specifically for this. He said if that bushing were to have come out....I would no longer have a motor. He installed the plug kit and removed the oil injection pump

VST tank - took apart and cleaned. He said it was pretty dirty
Fuel Filter/Water Separator - Changed and check (did find some water in fuel so its a good thing i drained the tank)
Checked fuel pressure
Checked timing
Changed spark plugs
Changed lower unit oil (dirty but no metal)
Changed water pump impeller
Checked trim oil
Checked and added steering oil
Installed new hub in prop - The hub in my prop was beginning to dry rot and crack. This prolly saved me from being stranded in the future.

Ran Compression Test. Here are the results
#1 120
#2 120
#3 119
#4 118
#5 120
#6 120

Time to go pick her up! Up to this point I have had a new boat for 5 months and have only been able to run it a time or two between working on it and waiting on the mechanic to get to it. I am itching to get out on the water and enjoy it. Me and a buddy head to the river to run the motor before the bad freeze and front that hit earlier in December. She runs great for about 10 minutes up and down the river. I look back and there is water spewing out of my cowling. Murphy's law...here we go again. After taking the cowling off and firing it back up I find the culprit but can't really get to it. Appears to be a small hose to the back of the motor. I get it home and start digging...there is small molded rubber hose from the flush port on the exterior of the motor to the engine. It has a small slit on the seam. Doesn't seem like the best design. I find an oem replacement and now I get to wait again.

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Great write up of your experiences, keep up the good work Coach! :thumb up2: