89 champion swapping to a Bridgeport ? Any suggestions ?

[Spolly07]

Well here we go,
me and my brother been looking to re power my late fathers old champion bass boat, currently the boat has a 200 blackmax, we found a deal on a Bridgeport 2.4 EFI, guy had it rebuilt in the 90’s and it’s been sitting in a heated barn since. I bore scoped it and all looks good, motor was rebuilt in Ft.lauderdale by 4-play marine, then shipped upto Michigan.

initially we planned to to swap the powerhead, however the guy has additional motors for sale only one standard rotation and two counter rotation, we plan to pick one of those up with around 80 hours on it in addition to the fresh rebuilt powerhead, MY question is once I go over the other engines would buying a counter clock turning lower end be a big deal, I’ve searched in here and it seems indifferent. But curious.

secondly we will need to build a fuel system, the complete motor will come with a Bosch fuel pump, we thought about putting a dumped cell in I’ve read where the CG doesn’t like that but curious what others do since most EFI pumps don’t like to pull, and I don’t want to lose prime.

we live in Michigan and fish inland lakes, in a summer we might put 30 hours on the motor, and don’t plan to run the piss out of it,

we don’t mind working on it, gives us something to mess with, but looking for some honest advice on the Bridgeport motors. And advice to us on doing the swap? We better off just rebuilding the 200 on it?

thanks

[David - WI]

We better off just rebuilding the 200 on it?

For fishing? For sure.

[rgsauger]

Welcome to scream and fly!! Is your 200 tired or blown up? Have you checked on bassboatcentral for specific champion setup tips?

either way, it’ll be fun!

[tlwjkw]

looks like its been tweaked on?.. has 56lb fuel stuff.. # of tha ecu?.. (digital or analog) do you know anything else 'bout tha motor? what year is tha 200?.. champs are pretty good, solid hulls but are pretty heavy ta start then add all tha fishin' junk jus makes it worse.. BP's don't like weight.... ya may not see a difference worth puttin' up with tha finckyness (sp?) SOME BP"s can be........... one other thing that MIGHT come up is tha BP is normally run ona one piece, (no poppet) offshore type adapter so ya might need ta do some tweakin' on tha coolin' junk................ jmo

[bullet123]

Champion boats are heavy. Not the place for a Bridgeport. A 2.5 200 would be better suited for you

[bullet123]

As far as counter rotating motors, as far as I know, all powerheads turn the same direction. The difference is the lower unit.

[ChrisCarsonMarine]

As far as counter rotating motors, as far as I know, all powerheads turn the same direction. The difference is the lower unit.

Lots of racing powerheads are set up to run counter clockwise...different flywheel,starter,and the trigger is usually fixed,Chris

[Jim Speros]

A wide variety of opinions shared.
I for one would go the bridge port route if it came complete. The left hand lower unit will work fine but can limit your prop selection. The fuel system will need a puke tank and low pressure pump in the boat.
With that said understand service parts may be difficult to locate. Many parts are NLA for older engines. And as always you are spinning the wheel on a rebuilt.

[rock]

I have owned several Champions and while great boats they are not light. Rebuild the 200 and sell the BP to pay for 200 rebuild. JMO

Rock

[donmac]

I only reversed omc's can't remember a merc maybe sst140 motor?

your going to need more than a powerhead to put that BP on a max mid! I'd go for a complete with an offshore mid if he has one!

[tlwjkw]

tha one in tha pic is a C rotator powerhead.. don't know if he's meanin' C or CC "powerhead" or gear case?.. most hot rod CC rotatin' power heads run on speedy's anyway................... we've run BP's on champs (in tha early 90's) before and just weren't worth tha effort when in "fishin' trim"................. jmo.

[Spolly07]

Welcome to scream and fly!! Is your 200 tired or blown up? Have you checked on bassboatcentral for specific champion setup tips?

either way, it’ll be fun!

Current motor is tired, gets a little warm over 5G, and down about 6mph from 6 years ago. and rather rebuild before it lets loose. The BP’s we’re to be for fun, sound good and a few rips across the lake.

[Spolly07]

looks like its been tweaked on?.. has 56lb fuel stuff.. # of tha ecu?.. (digital or analog) do you know anything else 'bout tha motor? what year is tha 200?.. champs are pretty good, solid hulls but are pretty heavy ta start then add all tha fishin' junk jus makes it worse.. BP's don't like weight.... ya may not see a difference worth puttin' up with tha finckyness (sp?) SOME BP"s can be........... one other thing that MIGHT come up is tha BP is normally run ona one piece, (no poppet) offshore type adapter so ya might need ta do some tweakin' on tha coolin' junk................ jmo

when you 56# you mean injector wise?

our current 200 is a 89.

I will get the ignition details shortly brother is picking up the powerhead currently.

here is some pics, along with rebuild receipt, bottom motor Attachment 517063

[Spolly07]

As far as counter rotating motors, as far as I know, all powerheads turn the same direction. The difference is the lower unit.

from what I’ve read that seems to be the case, I guess I was wondering is their any concern for parts on counter rotating lowers ?

[Spolly07]

A wide variety of opinions shared.
I for one would go the bridge port route if it came complete. The left hand lower unit will work fine but can limit your prop selection. The fuel system will need a puke tank and low pressure pump in the boat.
With that said understand service parts may be difficult to locate. Many parts are NLA for older engines. And as always you are spinning the wheel on a rebuilt.

I believe we are planning to buy the complete along with the rebuilt powerhead as a spare,

fuel system is gonna be completely redone, thinking fuel cell with bottom sump.