the beginning had me begging you to back it in the garage. hahaaha

You by chance make a video of the installation of the marine mat ?

I have a 92 Champion 184, and the upgrade I highly suggest is changing out those cleats to spring-loaded ones. I've had 3 rods broken on my boat by those. When you set a rod over the side, they slide under those, and when you go to pick them up, they break. Save your rods and replace the cleats

I rebuilt a ChampioN 203 2000 yr model back to original in 2020. I have owned and been in many brands of bass boats, but the Champ 203 is the best ride. In the rebuild I bought a 250 SS Suzuki. Best motor I have ever had. Just did my 500 hr check up with ZERO problems with the motor. Here in E. Texas there are plenty of service centers for Suzuki's but you will never need one. And with the Scorpion 27 pitch prop it will top end in the mid 70's and great hole shot. Also has the best warranty out there. I also went 100% Garmin. Force, Ultra 10 & 12. Total cost 47,000 not bad for a 100-thousand-dollar boat in todays market.

Great video, I love the marine mat. It's great to bring new life to an older boat.

Very nice! I love my 89 184 ChamPion. I also agree about carpeting in boats. Love the flooring will have to look into this.

Very cool. I know a love of people who still love their Champion boats.

Liked the video. I live in MI. also. Had 3 184 super v's in the 80's crazy rough water boats for there size. Back then we didn't run as much crap as we do now, could make the storage work. Boat was rocky at rest just learned to have good sea legs. My last champion was a 203, crazy crazy rough water ride. Loved my champions. Running Saginaw bay and st.clair glad I was in them boats. Since the late 70's I've owned alot of bass boats of different brands and rode in alot also.

Great idea using your phone like that. I have a 99 191 Champ that I primarily use on Lake Michigan and it does just fine for a bass boat. I still need some critical electronics upgrades but it’s a solid plate form to start with.

Should’ve bought a 20 or 21 foot champion . You should’ve framed that deck out of Angled aluminum or atleast sealed those 2x4s and plywood . Eventually that wood is gonna soak up water making that boat front heavy

👏👏👏 awesome video Ben and I have a great appreciation you redoing the boat over and the storage came out great,I’m really happy and proud of you brother ❤👊

Great video, very helpful I’m getting my first boat in the spring. It’s a family members 2000 Alumicraft 16.5 semi v. it’s been garage kept since new. Gonna need a bunch of upgrades though. Think I’m gonna run it electric only(no Great Lakes for me) first year then get a 4 stroke the following year. Looks like you really got that setup how you want it, thanks for the tour

nice rig! I am very happy with my upgraded 99 ranger. when I was looking it was Ranger or Champion. Its nice to have no payments and be able to fix things on your own with a standard tool kit

Great boats. I love my 95 186 champion

Gratz Ben! It looks great! Lovin the Beast Coast and XCite baits in the storage bin!

Great video! I think your boat is awesome and your upgrades are great. I think you made the perfect decision for this time in your life.

Great job on your boat build 😁👍 No snow here yet thankfully.

Nicely thought out upgrades. That's going to be a great boat to fish out of, nice job!

i have a soft spot for these boats!! ive owned 2 184's, great boats. speed and comfortable!! good choice man.

Great video Ben and thanks for sharing and walking through your new used set up! I did something similar but did go the new route and purchased a new 18 foot V hull fish and ski aluminum boat. My issue is I wanted the lifetime warranty and a light boat that an SUV with 5000 lb towing could handle. It came with a 5 inch Lowrance hook unit that I only use for basic 2D sonar and speed of the boat. What I did was rig all my aftermarket electronics myself and took my time on weekends and after work back at end of May and most of June 2022. I put the same Garmin Force Trolling motor and LVS34 Livescope and being my boat has room for 2 12 volts I am also running a 24 volt 80 lb set up and it is awesome! I can troll with my trolling motor by using the remote or the touch screens of my 9" echomap units. I have two 9" units at the front and one 9" at the helm and everything is linked together. Could you let me know what app you are using to link your cell phone to the units? I would really like that feature as well. Hopefully uou continue the upgrade with maybe doing something like I did with one or two more garmin units all linked together once you get room for another battery. Lol

Love the video, great upgrades. Can you clarify about the eva foam and what company where they make ypu a template?

Great boat with some great upgrades. I'll be doing the eva decks sooner than later. Best of luck with it.

Great content! Tons of great info as far as finding the right boat for the stage of life you are in! I subscribed and look forward to more videos!

Congrats on making a practical,smart decision on the used Champ.Its perfect in my eyes.Your going to smash plenty of giants out of her 🐷 Bank,kayak,aluminum all get the job done ! Much respect Ben

🎉Nice walk through Benjamin! Compact like my Cat. Now get out there and catch em 🎣

Love my Skeeter the only thing I would have other than a Skeeter would be a Champ or a BassCat

Dude that ol girl turned out AWESOME

Hey Ben, what recessed foot pedal tray is that? Looks super nice.

Nice rig Ben, can't wait to see the smallie smackdown coming next season!

I would have made you a great deal on my 2000 187dc !

I have a champion 187 2003 like new 175 Yamaha 440 hrs

One last question is your cell using the Garmin Active Captain to link to your Echomap with your way points? Or is it another app? Thanks as always Ben and I was able to get to almost 6 mph when trolling for Muskie with The Force! Use the Force Ben! Haha. Had to say it!

Guy in the tournament series I fish on St Clair runs and old Champ. Repower it and they are just as good as any current boat. Dont do Suzuki!! They are so hard to find dealers that'll work on them. Stick with Yami or Merc. You want an engine that no matter where you are in Michigan you can find a dealer to sell parts or work on them.

sick champion!!! be careful runnning an agm cranking battery with those older mercs.. technically you aren't supposed to run an agm with a motor that has a stator charging system. tightlines!

Ugh, snow 😞

Get rid of that oil reservoir let that XRI eat some pre mixed gas worry free.

You can get into some really nasty stuff on LSC on that Champ. Had my 181 out in some stuff I definitely should not have.

Thanks for the vid! Champions are top notch boats and can handle rough water. Looks like you found a pretty nice one! Really nice updates you did there. And you didn’t need a loan (maybe some credit cards lol). Just curious, whats top speed on calm water?