1963 Richline - Restoration

[hezekiah]

Hey fellow tinnies:
I have been restoring a 14' 1963 Richline Challenger, and I wanted to share my progress up to this point.

I bought the boat in January of 2016 for $300. I replaced all of the rotted wood in the benches and the transom. Converted the middle bench to a battery compartment - holding 2 DC batteries under hinged doors. Circuit switch, bus bar, all new wiring, nav lights, interior LED lights, and rod holders.

Here are pics of the progress:

https://i.imgsafe.org/1219874.jpg

https://i.imgsafe.org/21c3994.jpg

https://i.imgsafe.org/27ccace.jpg

https://i.imgsafe.org/234338a.jpg

https://i.imgsafe.org/19a1036.jpg

https://i.imgsafe.org/25db67b.jpg

https://i.imgsafe.org/259086a.jpg

https://i.imgsafe.org/2c6bf72.jpg

Next I am going to take on the outside, try to make her look purdy.

Here is a video of a rough ride on the lake last time I had her out:

https://youtu.be/3p9to-gKQMo

I love the old boat...much respect for her after this lol.

 

[OutrageGIS]

Nice tin! If you haven't been there yet there is a yahoo groups page about richline boats, you have to request to be a member but the admin is super cool and friendly. They have a lot of the original literature from the 50's and 60's as well as a lot of photos of other peoples richlines.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Richline_53/photos/photostream

 

[medicman619]

Looks great man! I thought my boat was a Challenger as well, but it turned out to be a Model 15. The two original ads for them are in my build link. The rear end of your boat look exactly like mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hezekiah]

Nice tin! If you haven't been there yet there is a yahoo groups page about richline boats, you have to request to be a member but the admin is super cool and friendly. They have a lot of the original literature from the 50's and 60's as well as a lot of photos of other peoples richlines.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Richline_53/photos/photostream

Yeah, Mr. Schneider - I just joined his group in the last week - trying to find the original drain plug, lol - he came up in the searches. Thanks for the info though, good looking out.

 

[hezekiah]

Looks great man! I thought my boat was a Challenger as well, but it turned out to be a Model 15. The two original ads for them are in my build link. The rear end of your boat look exactly like mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh man...I have read through your build so many times. You did a great job. I definitely want to put the work into making the outside of my boat look as good as yours next.

I actually have a couple of questions for you:

After you cleaned the outside up, how does it deal with oxidation? That's the biggest problem I seem to have on my hull, is oxidation - and from what I've read...you're never going to get rid of it.

In your forum you say you have the original drain plug...what type of plug is it? I bought a brass plug from a hardware store. It doesn't fit quite right, but I wrap some plastic around it before I screw it in and it seems to do the job.

How fast did it go with your 15 hp on it? How fast does it go with your 30 now? I have a 30 HP as well...pushes me 26-30 MPH...fully loaded...depending on conditions.

I checked out the Model 15 ad on your forum. I will have to measure the beam of my boat again when I get home, but I'm pretty sure it's a 60" beam. If I remember correctly, all of the dimensions of my boat match up exactly to the challenger. I will definitely double check it now that I have another model to compare it to.

Thanks for the reply - keep up the great work on the boat.

 

[medicman619]

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I don't get on here much anymore. My 30hp is absolutely amazing for this boat. PLENTY of power and speed. Don't have a way to clock it, but I'd guess about 30mph fully loaded. I attached a few pics of my drain plug as well. There is a black rubber washer on it help seal out the water. After painting the boat and applying the steel flex, the outside of the boat is holding up VERY well. On the inside where my feet are kicking around in the back, the paint has chipped off, but can easily be redone. Did you figure out what model boat you have??

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk