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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Re: 1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS How bad were my stringers and foam? Well, it took me less than an hour to go from this: To this: My implement of destruction of choice is the floor scraper lying in the bow. I had not cut out the structure in the...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Re: 1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS I have completed the first stage of measurements for the stringers. As a result, I have made this drawing that will make it possible to rebuild them with new lumber. Next measurements will be the widths, which will give me...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Re: 1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS For lack of any better guide, I scraped off the deck and hull to expose the line of PB connecting deck to hull. I chose to cut along the deck-side edge of this PB seam. Where I could I used a circular saw set to a depth...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Re: 1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS Here is what I was talking about when I mentioned the floor of the cap being PB'ed to the deck. Whoever did this wasn't even neat about it. Excess stuff pressed out when the two pieces were pressed together. This is the view...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Re: 1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS Flotation Foam When I took it apart, I was surprised at how little flotation foam was in this boat. And instead of being injected, it's actually just long strips of foam sort of "taped" in place with fiberglass strips, up...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Re: 1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS Final pics of how I'm suspending the cap. 4 - 15,000-lb rated ratchet straps connected to the cleats. These are the large yellow straps hooking over the trusses. The cleats are screwed into the fiberglass gunwales with heavy...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Re: 1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS My other project, picture taken a long while back: 1988 Formula 406 small-block, 420 HP, 530 ft-lb. Just finished a complete rebuild and lowering of the suspension, and exhaust upgrade. Full strip-down and paint job is...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Re: 1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS Even with it in rough condition, I've had many bass boaters come up to me and ask, "Is that an original Champion?" And they always emphasize "original." When I tell them the year, I usually get some remarks about how awesome...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS Once it got the cap up high enough to see inside pretty well, I was surprised at how good it looks inside. Not long after I got the boat, I had replaced the bow eye. In the process of pulling it out of the water after sinking, my...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS I'm pretty certain (hopeful?) that I don't have any rot in the transom. From all the probing and searching I've done, I haven't found any signs. Of course, once I've got the cap clean off, I'll be able to tell more. Anyway, I did...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS When I started to lift on the cap, the point at the bow came loose right away. I put some stress on it and looked to see where it seemed to be connected. When I put new carpet in it two seasons back, I saw that there was no seam...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS I followed the procedures that I found on other threads here. Took the rub strip loose and drilled out the rivets. I used a body panel spoon to work between the cap and hull, to break loose the foam in there. In this picture, the...
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    1979 Champion Bass Boat - Tear Down and Restoration -- with PICS

    Back in October 2010, my bass boat sank. Like a stone. After I got it used, I had patched a hole in the hull. It gave me three great seasons. Oh, it had a little leak, but I had installed an automatic bilge pump, and it more than kept up with the leak. Well, my son-in-law and I were fishing up...
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    Affect of Moving Main Seat Position?

    I am presently removing the cap from my 1979 Champion Super-V bass boat (iBoats reference here), to repair some hull damage, replace any rot, and replace foam that is probably water-logged. So I see this as an opportunity. About the only thing I have not liked about this boat is the small rear...
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    Intake and carbs for 1981 E150TRLCIA

    We got a used boat with a 1981 Evinrude, 150 V6, model E150TRLCIA. The motor is missing intake manifold and carbs. I can find lots of carbs and intakes on EBay and other sources. What OTHER YEARS' carbs and intake will fit this 1981 motor? Thanks.
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    Any Info we can get - 1963 Elgin boat

    My daughter and her hubby buy lots of cars, boat, motorcycles, etc.-- either for themselves or to re-sell. They have come up with a "free boat" that they want to restore, and have asked me, of all people, to help them research it. So of course, my first thought was to turn to the iBoats...
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    Gel coat vs Epoxy

    I'm restoring my '79 Champion bass boat. I'm pulling off the cap, replacing all rot, and rebuilding old fiberglass damage. The whole thing needs to be refinished, not only the hull but also old holes in the cap from previous trolling motors and accessories. Freshwater-only bass boat. Only sits...
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    Bass Boat - Repair or Replace?

    Background-- 1979 Champion Super-V Bass Boat, 16'10" 1978 Mercury V-150 150 HP V6 Bought used 3 years ago Symptoms-- Should be faster than it is. Top speed with best match 4-blade Piranha prop is about 46 mph. (Top speed has gradually dropped despite motor improvements. To me, this indicates...
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    Replacement Tilt/Trim pump?

    I have a '79 Mercury V-150 V6. Dual cylinder tilt system, round-motor Prestolite pump mounted inside the boat. Both pump and motor are going out. I'm finding it next to impossible to find a complete replacement that doesn't cost half what the boat is worth. Most of what I can find is "motor and...
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    How fast should trim work? - '79 150

    I have a '79 Mercury 150 horse V6. It has the Presolite(?) round-motor tilt/trim pump. Just for a basic idea of how it is working, how fast should the tilt/trim system work? Or, about how long should it take for the motor to move from one extreme of its travel to the other? Fully up to fully...
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