newb question.

[eurotrash]

Hello my name is Chris. I'm not new to boating but new to owning my own boat and restoring them. I have a 1980 Chaparral 194 that has been in the family for many years and I recently purchased the boat from my dad. Its in need of a lot of TLC especially in the wiring department. Before I took ownership last april, the boat hadn't seen the water in maybe over 5 years other then rain. It sat under the trees beside his house uncovered. The horn, navigation lights, most of the gauges and a few other items no longer work. I'm looking to replace the lights and and horn to start then continue on from there. I don't think I would trust the wiring to the items either so that needs to be replaced too.


What all advice, ideas, horror stories can be shared to aid me in this venture?

 

[tpenfield]

Re: newb question.

Start off by getting a maintenance manual for the engine that the boat has. Much of the wiring is based on the engine. If you decide to do replacement wiring, try to match color coding of the old wires as best you can. Marine grade wiring holds up better.

Wiring of lights, etc is pretty straight forward, it is the engine and related systems wiring that is more complicated.

I would imagine that wiring is not the only thing that needs attention, based on your description of the boat's recent history.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: newb question.

Hello my name is Chris. I'm not new to boating but new to owning my own boat and restoring them. I have a 1980 Chaparral 194 that has been in the family for many years and I recently purchased the boat from my dad. Its in need of a lot of TLC especially in the wiring department. Before I took ownership last april, the boat hadn't seen the water in maybe over 5 years other then rain. It sat under the trees beside his house uncovered. The horn, navigation lights, most of the gauges and a few other items no longer work. I'm looking to replace the lights and and horn to start then continue on from there. I don't think I would trust the wiring to the items either so that needs to be replaced too.


What all advice, ideas, horror stories can be shared to aid me in this venture?

Welcome to Iboats Chris.

Before you start worrying about wiring, you really need to worry about the structural integrity of the boat. 5 years is a LONG time for a 32 year old boat to sit uncovered in the elements. There is a good chance that your boats deck (you probably call it the floor), stringers, and transom might have issues. If you notice any soft spots in your boats deck, that's a sure sign your boat has problems. IMHO you should be checking for soft spots. Taking core samples of your stringers, floatation foam, and transom.

 

[eurotrash]

Re: newb question.

Oh yeah its definately in need of more then just the wiring but being this the wiring section I didn't want to get into the rest. It has a few soft spots in the floor which I'm just going to patch up this season seeing how little I get time to use it then late summer my dad and I are going to tear into it and redo the floor and stringers. The hull itself is in pretty good shape other the a couple minor gouges and very heavy oxidation. I've already bought the supplies for that and started on it. Just doing little by little since I don't have much spare time due to working so much. The boat ran great all last summer other then some minor motor scares but it turned out to be a lot lower on gas then expected. My dad could have swore it was a 10 gallon tank for some reason. He couldn't have been more wrong. Haha

The boat was given a good exam before going to the lake last year and other then the couple sections of floor and some minor cosmetic issues the boat was in good shape for its age.

And I will get a manual to the motor as well. Thanks for your help.