so I bought my first boat......

[Jason_33]

picked up this old champion off craigslist for 500$ bucks.
boat and trailer,no motor though.needs carpet and a good clear
coat buffing.its a 1985 17 1/2...rated for a 150hp.all the controls
are there and its already wired for lowrance and has a trolling motor.
Ive started taking off all the old carpet which is mostly just on the
storaged lids and stuff.its gonna be a fun project that hopefully will
get me on the water.

I guess my question would be about the motor.am I looking at like
3k or so to have and oldy but goody installed.dont have the $ for
one at the moment so thats why I havent called around to check.
just thought Id pick your brains a little on it.

any info is greatly appreciated.Id post picks if i knew how..lol

Jason

[TonyL]

Hey , Congrats ! Sounds like a cool project , and the right price !
Yeahh , I would say you could end up spending that kinda dough , easily , but there are options , like the 150 Merc.which sold on W.B.-classifieds recently. If you were set up for a Merc.you prolly coulda moved in on that deal.Depends on what was on the boat-I believe , the controls are different from Manufacturer to Manuf.Then your still lookin at labor to install.I'd say start puttn the $ away , and when you get in the general price range start callin shops , (sometimes they have good trade ins) , check here , other websites , like BBC.,etc..Good luck !

[Jason_33]

yeah ive been all over BBC for the past few days..
i believe it had a merc on it...the guy took it off and put it
on another boat.time to start stashing some money!

[WishinIwerFishin]

I'd just keep my eye open for boats with good running motors, you should be able to find something int the $2500 range. Take off the motor and sell the boat, if you can get your hads on a cherry picker or rent one outboards aren't hard to install. I did the same thing, baught a 91' Javelin w/o a motor with new carpet, pumps, cd player, trolling motor, and seats for $2300. Then I found a boat with a 91 yamaha 150prov(older guy who owned it only put about 100hrs on it, and you can tell) for $2800, stripped it of everything I needed and installed the motor and controlls in my baot. Then I sold the other hull for $800(It was pretty nice after I cleaned it up), so I'm in to my boat about $4300(I already had my electronics). There's alot of deals out there right now, you just have to hold on to your money until the right one comes by.

[XMAN]

man i got the cash in hand,and ive been checking everywhere, and i cant find nothing--i getting dizzy-----xman

[TonyL]

What you lookin for ?

[XMAN]

i guess everything i look at has a blown motor, new powerhead, or new lower unit and these are newer boats--then knowing this you get scared when a boat has none of the forementioned YET--so i guess im leaning towards something new [RANGER] since now prices are good and 5 year warranties are free on mercs till dec 31st----xman

[BassManDan]

Sonds like an awesome project; love to see some picks after you get her all cherried out, motor or not.

Yeah it is a whole lot easier finding a boat w/motor than just a motor.

You might consider getting in touch with some of the many mechanics around the area, they often have some older motors that with a bit of work would be ready to go, and more often than not, usually on the cheap.

Just an idea,
Dan

[Jason_33]

thanks for the input guys.when I bought the boat it was not with the intention of having it running in a month.Im gonna take my time with the resto and do it right.plus getting in so cheap will leave more room for the things I think are most important in a boat...good TM,graphs,
and lots of tackle.

[Dom]

Congrats! I seen that boat he wanted 800.00 you talked him down to 500.00 Its the best hull designed in my opinon Champs Rock I had a a 21' 91 206 Champ best rough water boat around. I would have picked it up but got this Stratos and it works perfect. Again Congrats!

As for the motor keep checking CL I have seen some deals and if you can hold out stack ur cash and wait till after Dec 1st, you will be able to steal one for next to nothing.

PS Give Lyle Gossett a call never know what he has laying around and if ya find a late model just needing some work Lyles the man he can even install it

[offduty]

Ebay has plenty of used motors

[Dom]

Went the e-bay route before by the time you pay freight and even if you get it trucked in on a deal, its still like 500-600 buck for shipping so look local. I paid like 550.00 to have a 50hp shipped back in the mid 90's

[Dom]

Hey Jason here is some Insperation I picked this boat up for a steal did some work to it ,took it to Lyle he did a major tune up on the motor and compression check,bought a T/M off DeltaDan(thanks buddy) and she screams at 60mph

total invstment under $4000.00



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[N.A.R]

I am replacing my TM and GraphS in Dec. PM me I will give you a great deal to get that rig up and running....

101 MinnKota 36 volt
Lowrance x15 with GPS module
Lowrance X18C with GPS module

600.00 plus shipping a hundred dollars more than you boat...LOL

[Rod Martin]

One thing to think about, Fish to boat the way it is for a while. The guys in a club laughed when I showed up for a night turney on pedro with a blownmotor, I just added a cople of extra batteries and won the turney fishing the TM all night on the Dam.
That was a hoot.



Also you can catch some guy like me.
I travel to Fl. several times a year[driving] if you find something on I40, I 20 or I 10 , someone like me could bring it back cheap.

[barse41]

One thing to think about, Fish to boat the way it is for a while. The guys in a club laughed when I showed up for a night turney on pedro with a blownmotor, I just added a cople of extra batteries and won the turney fishing the TM all night on the Dam.
That was a hoot.

hes right i fished for a year at mcclure out of a aluminum with a blown motorto save up n buy my ranger. just launch at ramps with decent fishing near by.

[Jason_33]

boy talk about some inspiration!
thanks Dom,yeah it was the boat on the Fresno CL.
He even brought it to me.I filled up his tank for that!
that is a super sweet deal NAR.when is that avail?

you guys are great,makes me feel like my snap decision was
a good one...thanks

Jason

[N.A.R]

pm'd

[Dom]

Thanks Jason I dont check Fresno but was taking a load up there so thought I would check it out to see if I could find any good deals I could swing thru and pick up and seen the boat.

From what I seen it will need some clear coat work you could wet sand it then wax and buff but honestly it will only look good for a month or so.

I would reccomend this kit small investment if you plan on keeping the boat for a while and will get you more $$$ when time to sale I would do it first since the boat is already stripped most of the way down pull the old carpet and clean clean everything , get you a real soft brizzle paint brush (dont use a roller) then go for it you will love the results.

http://www.bassboatcarpets.com/proddeta ... earcoatkit

And looked to need Carpet

http://www.bassboatcarpets.com/categories.asp?cat=1

Slap an outboard on it and you'll have one nice boat!

Another thing if your gonna replace the seats use e-bay I got 2 brand new (300.00 ea) buckets for 150.00 shipped for both

[96nitro]

I have an older 89 evinrude 200 v6 200hp minor motor issuse. bought newer 225merc so my 200hp is just sitting. have controll,prop,etc. Looking to get rid of asap. real cheap.

[WishinIwerFishin]

If you have the funds now here's a deal with everything you need to run. Not mine just saw it in the classifieds.

http://www.westernbass.com/forum/ads_item.php?id=13146

[BuckSnort]

If you have the funds now here's a deal with everything you need to run. Not mine just saw it in the classifieds.

http://www.westernbass.com/forum/ads_item.php?id=13146

I have an older 89 evinrude 200 v6 200hp minor motor issuse. bought newer 225merc so my 200hp is just sitting. have controll,prop,etc. Looking to get rid of asap. real cheap.

His boat is only rated for a 150...

[96nitro]

His boat is only rated for a 150...[/quote]
Yea I know, I was just putting it out there!

[Jason_33]

thanks for all the replys and pm's guys....it really helps my thought
process on the boat.

Dom...that is a great site for boat products,thanks for linking that
for me.