Replacing your vinyl

[dogbert]

I thought I'd share my experience replacing my vinyl on my boat. The pictures here are with my vinyl already removed and I plan to take some pictures of re-installing the cushions when I get them back from my vinyl guy.

To remove the center bow seatback, I had to remove my bow speakers to reach 4 nuts and washers that held the thing on. The remaining seatbacks were fastened with deck screws directly into the fiberglass from between the seams on the seatbacks. I was able to get most of them with a screwdriver, but a few had rusted heads and disintegrated when I tried to unscrew them. I used a flat pry bar to separate the seatback from the side of the boat. I found the screws and used a hammer to tap against the screws, which promptly snapped. I then trimmed the leftover screw with a heavy duty wire cutter.

So, here's what it looks like with everything out:

[illiniboarder88]

Looks like yours was almost identical to mine. I did back out some of the screws with a pair of vicegrips. Unrortunately, I have the added challenge of no bow speakers

[dogbert]

Looks like yours was almost identical to mine. I did back out some of the screws with a pair of vicegrips. Unrortunately, I have the added challenge of no bow speakers

Time to get some! Get some of those WetSounds. The sound spectacular.

[TeamAllen]

Looks GREAT Dog! Good time time to clean all the nooks and crannies out.

Can't wait to see the finished product! How long @ the upholstery shop?

[spharis]

I like your boat.

[dogbert]

Looks GREAT Dog! Good time time to clean all the nooks and crannies out.

It's amazing how dirty it looked before I did clean it.

[dogbert]

I like your boat.

Thanks, man. Hey, when you redid your boat, did you also redo the carpet? How easy is that to do yourself?

[samw]

Dogbert
That looks great. Your boat looks almost like mine. I have a 01 2100 V. Now I know how it should look if I ever need to do this. Wow there is a lot of holes behid the seats.

Great job. Can't wait to se it with the new skins.

[spharis]

No carpet, mine is a mofo as I have carpeted support boards as well.

I have a bad spot. I am making templates to send to a snap in carpet maker to get overlays done. Seems like a better solution than replacing right now.

Yours on the other hand doesn't look like it would be that bad. Razz took photos and documented his replacement. You have a much easier job b/c you are all fiberglass.

[chpthril]

Looking good, cant wait to see it finished

[dogbert]

Yours on the other hand doesn't look like it would be that bad. Razz took photos and documented his replacement. You have a much easier job b/c you are all fiberglass.

I just need to replace what's in the cockpit. The spots around the fuel tank cover are pretty threadbare...I'll take some close-ups so you can see what's going on.

Other than that, it is in pretty good shape. Thanks for the tip.

[spharis]

I did find Olefin carpet in 20oz on ebay by the yard x 8ft. That seemed to be the best deal so far. I have not been able to find it from local stores like Razz did.

[dogbert]

Ok, so I got my vinyl back and I'll step through the installation.

Before I forget, a handy tool to have when removing the seat backs is a flat bar:



You'll need to carefully work the seat back away from the side of the boat to get it in there, but if you place it up against the screws that you can't back out, you can gently tap them with a hammer against the Wonder Bar and they will break.

So, the first thing I put back was the bow center seat back.



I had to slide mine in using the channels that were cut out by the factory.



Next, you'll need to remove the speakers in the bow so you can reach back behind to attach the washers and nuts. There are 4 of them. You'll need a 7/16" wrench to do that.



Next I attached the side seatback cushions in the bow. My Black & Decker drill bit kit came with a handy screw driver socket that had a sleeve that you could put over the screw. It works great for this application.



It helps having an extra set of hands and my wife volunteered. She positioned the cushion where we needed it. I started with the seat back against the driver's console and worked my way forward. I'd advise doing that because the bow is round and if you do the ends first, it won't be flush against the side of the boat. You'll need to spread the cushion in between that seam and be ready to apply some serious pressure. I used #7 Deckmate 1.5" long deck screws and they worked just fine.







And that's all there is to it.

[dogbert]

Next, I attached the side panel by the throttle. You'll want to do this first because you'll need someone to reach in behind the fiberglass to attache the washers and nuts. My arms were too big, so my wife helped.








Next we attached the remaining seatback cushions. Just a reminder, there are lag screws that go into the back of the two rear side seat backs from the V-Drive compartments. I found that if I first attached them with a deck screw or two, it made getting the seat backs on a bit easier.

Finally, we attached the observer's seatback.

So, here's the final product.












I get my VisionAir chair on Monday.

[xpjim1]

Great job. Boat looks sweer