Another new old boat.

New to me 1990 Johnson 140 horse. Got it running a couple weeks ago. Runs really good and has good compression across the board. Needs a tilt trim motor but that was mailed today. That and the trailer it's on now cost me $400. A smokin deal I think. Read a lot of bad stuff (some good stuff too) about the VRO system so plan on deleting it and I'll run mixed gas. No built in tank in this boat which surprises me so cans are the way I'll have to go. I don't mind that though. Allows me to spread the load out if I need to. My boat was rated for 140hp when new. Did my research and the new motor weighs in at 360ish lbs. back in 1977 a Johnson 140hp weighed 315ish lbs. Not worried there but am a little concerned about the weight of a kicker hanging out there too. 2 weeks and I should have it ready to go for a good long cruise. That should give me enough time to tweak what I need to before our island trip. Hopefully. I do have a115hp Merc running and a 70 hp Evinrude untried to fall back on if the. VRO ends up being too heavy. Both 1970s motors though. If the new motor works out, it will be the first time in my life I've run something other than a Merc. Other than way, way, back when I first started fishing from a boat. I had a small ancient Evinrude 2hp. Thing ran great but must have been at least 40 years old way back then..
 
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thats a good motor that year of vro is bullet proof. Out of all my boats that was the most reliable motor. I drove my 1989 VRO 60hp for 7 years on my DE with tons of hours and minimal problems.. I always ran mixed gas...
 
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Nice. That's what I like to hear. This motor starts and runs great. Had to clean the connections but it fired right up after that. The tank for the mix oil was all hooked up and half full but I don't want to assume that alls well and cook it. Any way to test if the mix pump is working? No smoke at idle but I think that's normal.
 
The boat looks awesome. I can't wait to see the 140 hooked up on the back. I think you are going to like it a lot. I really don't think you have much to worry about with a kicker hanging off the back. Even if the main is maxed. The kicker is off to the side near where the haul meets the transom. Pretty strong there.
 
Thanks for all the compliments guys. A lot of credit goes to my buddy. My worry about the weight is with everything on it I might be a little heavy in the arse. The transom is sound and should handle the weight OK. I just don't want to be porpoising over chop or have water coming over the transom in a following sea.
 
Late start this morning but thru hulls are in and so is the trim for the splash well. Ready to put the motor on right after lunch.

3 hrs later and:

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Motors on and hooked to the steering. Went pretty smooth. This engine fill up the motor well pretty good. Inches to spare side to side but it's pretty tight to get full tilt out of it. 1/2" more and it wouldn't fit.

Here's a couple side shots with the roof just sitting loosely on the hull. It's not painted because it's going to be off and on a half dozen times before I get the wood(uhmw) fit. Then off for paint before final fitting. Starting to get an idea of how it'll look when I'm done. Not sure what I'll do for the interior of the roof yet, but off to town for carpet in the AM and hope to have the controls hooked up by tomorrow night.

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You are turning that original not so pretty hull into a classic beauty.
Can't wait for the final.
Thanks for documenting and sharing the rebuild.
 
Kept It Up.....Looks great Clint. Very nice to see the old girl come back to life. Lots of work but Fun !!!!! :)
 
I had a ,blue and white 1977 campion with a blue hard top.It was a surprise to see that was the color u painted.It was a great boat.
 
Hey Clint, I had pretty much the same boat, 17.5 Campion, vintage 1979 and did lots of mods to it too. There are some photos here on this forum somewhere but if you are interested PM me and I can dig up some photos at home. I had almost the exact fish box idea as you. Worked great. Fishbox was removable and in SS and hung on an aluminum frame between the stringers. Did the stringer and floor replacement and transom repair too - the dry rot you see is pretty typical for this boat. If you invest so much and want to keep it, do it right and replace the stringers as they will get worse and worse and the patch jobs don't really do much good. I had a 70hp Johnson on it for many years (1979 model) and it was bullet proof and moved the boat almost 30 mph. But a stinker. I replaced with a Yamaha F100 some years back and found that this was an ideal engine for it - bit more power than the 70 but fuel sipper and about the maxium weight I would have tolerated beside the F9.9 kicker. I actually moved both batteries to starboard side under the dash (right under the steering wheel) and both 25L fuel tanks under the bow to make up for the 4strokes in the back. This nicely distributed the weight and with the hydrofoil fins on the F100 the boat ran on a perfect pitch. Moving the fuel tanks up front also gave lots of storage under the motor well - lots of room for tackle boxes and bait coolers etc.

I built a fibreglass hardtop for it - about 5' tall from the floor. This allowed me to built a storage box under the sleeper seat boxes for again additional gear storage such as boat safety gear and more fishing stuff. It also made the seating height a lot more comfortable. So, there you have some ideas :)..... Great work so far!
 
I'll pm you my email address. I'd love to see some pics. Here's a couple pics of where I'm at now. Controls are installed and new trim motor too. Carpets cut to fit but not glued down and got some I seats. Decided on two instead of four after I built the bases. They're pretty low as the roof isn't very tall. I'm not sure I like them. Probably going to build some out of stainless. Look close at the window frame and you can see the new UHMW strips. Roofs at the shop being painted right now. It's going to be the same color blue as the hull. Need some tires for the trailer and to transfer over my fishfinder, radio and install some downrigger plugs. I'd like to take it for a trial run next weekend. Oh yeah, wiring too. Keeping it pretty basic so shouldn't be too bad. But I do hate wiring.

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And here's a picture of the roof on the new frame with the travel cover on. Notice the bow rail and bow light or on.

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Today mounted my down riggers and hung my kicker bracket and kicker motor. Was going to try and build a solid kicker mount but time won't allow it right now. Fish finder and marine radio tomorrow. Oh yeah, added a couple strips of no slip tape to make it easier to climb in and out. Still not sure about the seat boxs but never got around to making something else. I might wrap some carpet around one and see if I like it any better.

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Close now.

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Turned out pretty good. The roof is the same blue as the hull but the camera makes it look brighter. Pick up my tires on the way home tomorrow afternoon. Thursday I'm going to check out a guys Homda trolling motor. If it's not what I want, I'll spend the rest of the day plumbing in and wiring up the merc that I have. And covering the seat boxes in carpet. If all goes well, I'll be test piloting it Saturday.
 
I don't see a door in the seat boxes? they make for some great storage
might think about it before wrapping in carpet, but the carpet will look great on there
 
For sure. Usually mid September but this year things might be earlier. Or later? Ended up using the seat boxes but had to cut another 2" off of them to gain the headroom I needed. The whole top of the box tilts forward and you access the storage that way. Made some stainless hinges for them today but forgot them at the shop. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get them done in time for our trip but I'd like to make a 6 rod rocket launcher or maybe a mini arch and some corner stern rails.
 
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