Had a bit of a bad time in the challenger this weekend - It's a 98 challenger 1800, twin 787's. I think I tried to put it into reverse a little too close to shore, and managed to bend the reverse cable (shift cable?). Instead of stopping and taking a look I tried to put it into forward and managed to snap off the shift lever. No biggie, I'll replace both parts. Or maybe I'll JB weld the handle back on for the season. Or does anyone have any ideas of why it would suddenly seize up? The really bad thing I did this weekend was I came into a rocky area, panicked and killed the thrust forgetting that I wouldn't be able to steer. Hit the rocks - hard. On the stern of the boat I now have multiple gouges and chips right down to the fiberglass (but not through it), as well as a giant 12" gash along the right side. Anyone here have any tips they could share on repairing the glass and the gelcoat? Do I need to fill it in with anything and then add the gelcoat or do I just use multiple layers of gelcoat? The gouges are pretty deep and one is the size of a credit card.
To work around the broken shift cable I took it off the reverse gates and the shift lever and just ran it in forward, I had to shift as if it was still working to get around the neutral safety. Bit tricky setting up skiers but it got us through the weekend.
To work around the broken shift cable I took it off the reverse gates and the shift lever and just ran it in forward, I had to shift as if it was still working to get around the neutral safety. Bit tricky setting up skiers but it got us through the weekend.
