Hello just bought a 97 Speedster - Fixing it up (Upholstrey First)

[jyoungun76]

Hello all, I just wanted to say HI, and throw in my little post...

We just purchased a 97 Speedster, and so far we're super excited!!! Here's the boat...




So far all we have been unhappy with has been the rips and discolorations in the yellow vinly on the bench seat. So I decided to rip the seat out and fix it! I thought I'd share how I did it.



Well, first off I had to lay in the engine bay and pretend to be a contortionist to get those four bolts out. Needless to say having to reach my arm so far up into the boat while standing on my head was rather inconvenient, it kinda reminded me of flash gordon when they had to reach their hands into the tree thing (yep, I'm that old). Oh and by the way fiberglass splinters sting a little bit. I'm gonna have to figure out a better way to do work with that...

After I pulled the bench seat I ran into a pleasant surprise. The seat pads were riveted on! Well this frustrated me a bit and i decided to cut the rivets with a flat pry bar and my trusty hammer. (AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is not the correct way to do this!!! Drill the rivets. You get much better control and there is less chance of damaging the seat. I was standing on my dead for an hour and I was frustrated and I got very lucky I seriously didn't damage anything!!!)

Next I pulled the staples out of the almost 20 year old factory vinly with a small flathead screw driver, and pulled off the rotten vinly. I then took the seat pads out in the sun to dry, they were holding water. Since it's 106 here in Texas it didn't take too long. I next took another screw driver (phillips) and knocked out the remnants of the rivets that were still in the black plastic of the seat base. I figured the best way to fix everything would be to add a little heat!!!

 

[jyoungun76]

OK, I know you're thinking WTF...! But I do have a plan... I want this to be simpler if anyone ever has to do this again. I bought bolts lock washer's and nuts, adn later on remembered I needed regular washer's. I've attached pics of the parts I used along with the parts numbers from Lowe's. All in all It cost me less than $6.



I then used my micro-torch to melt the holes (keep this moving or you will burn the plastic). You want it to melt (go liquid) not burn (it starts to bubble first). Hit both sides of the hole with the torch. If it catches fire blow it out. remember be careful!!! Hot liquid plastic hurts if it gets on your skin and can quickly cause 3rd degree burns.



Next, push the bolt though the hole, don't worry if it takes a little plastic with it. We'll take care of that in the following steps...

 

[jyoungun76]

Now for cleanup... Make sure you pushed the bolt all the way down into the plastic. the point of this is to make the suare top of the bolt (under the cap) seat into the plastic where it will give you a good grip on the material. Flip the seat base over and you should have a nice post sticking out on the other side.



It will look a littel puckered up around the base of the bolt (yup, I just typed that), and that's where this next step comes in. Take your micro torch again and turn it to the lowest setting you can get to stay lit. Heat the base of the bolt and any plastic that pushed up around it. The goal here is to get it to liquify and run around the threads. This will further seat the bolts into the plastic and make it that much harder for the bolts to pull out. Again, be careful, liquit plastic and hot metal hurt!!!



I used a pair of pliers to provide pressure on the bolt cap while I was doing this step. It leps keep the bolt from rising up out of the plastic.



Do this with all four rivet holes, this is what your going for...

 

[jyoungun76]

We went to hancock fabrics here in town, but they didn't have the seadoo yellow in marine vinyl, and I was being cheap so I picked a matching/complementing gray. The hardest part is always cutting the fabric so I'm gonna show you all an old trick that I was taught when I was younger. Get a compass, not the ones that show direction but the ones that you use to draw a circle... I set mine to 2 inches to give myself plenty of spare material to work with.



Trace around the seat base (remember you went to try and keep the pencil end parallel to the part edge).



This should give you a decent outline of the shape of the seat base (if you're patient, or have a steady hand)



Now get a sharp pair of scissors and cut out your pattern.

 

[jyoungun76]

Next get a decent hand stapler (an air stapler would work better but this is what I had), and start stapling one side. Then pull the fabic tight and tack the other side.



Work your way around the seat pan, keeping the fabric as tight as possible. You're trying to not let the fabric have too many wrinkles around the edges.



If it bunches a little (wrinkles) try to have those along the straight edge. That's the one that will be going under your backrest seat cushions so it gets hidden... This is what you're going for.



Now go back to your seat base. I was lucky the fabric on the majority of the seats was in good condition, so I left it alone... I pushed the rivet parts out of the seat bench, making sure the holes were clear...



Drill the holes to be just a little bit bigger than the bolts you use. This will help you put the pads back on easier and give you a little bit of "wiggle room".

 

[jyoungun76]

Now care fully place the seat pad into the bench. It helps to look at the bench from underneath (it lets you see the bolts line up better). Basically you're just lining up the bolts with the holes...



Now it's time to play operation!!! You're trying to get the washer's (regular first, then locking) on the bolts.



Now get that nut on!!! I used a pair of needle nose pliers to help get everything on, and then used a driver bit (and Drill) to tighten everything down. NOTE: If your drill has a slip feature use it!!! the last thing you want is to strip the bolts at this point!!!



Now rinse and repeat two more times... This is what you're going for.



Now throw it in the boat and be amazed at your handiwork!!!!

 

[jyoungun76]

Now, as I said earlier. I really am not a contortionist, so I'm looking for a better way to get these seats mounted back in the boat. I found these on Amazon last night and I think they'll do the trick...

http://www.amazon.com/Amico-Thread-...id=1376012609&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=m6+knob

It's a 5 pack of M6 threaded knobs. They should allow me to get in and out of the engine compartment without having to fuss with a wrench in a tight space!!! What do ya think? I'm gonna add washer's (regular and locking) to make sure they don't just back out.

AND I'M SPENT... time to get some dinner. I'll catch yall on the flipside.

 

[jyoungun76]

Well the knobs arrived last night and I must say they're a lot smaller than I thought they would be, but they actually work perfect. They are a direct replacement for the bolts that are up under the seat and with these knobs I do not have to get under there with the wrench. This is what they look like... I put a regular sized salt shaker and a quarter in the shot to show the size.



Now if I could only figure out how to get the little plastic tabs back in the seat I'd be golden. Any ideas?

 

[USAF_Pride]

I'm wondering if there is a push-pin type connector that can be used instead of bolts/nuts that will allow easy push-on / pull-off seat removal. Similar to the engine latch pins.

 

[jyoungun76]

I've already worked out how to do that. You could go to ace hardware and buy M6 threaded thumbscrews and drill them to accept linchpins. Then you'd only have to cut a 1 inch slot in the fiberglass to accept the screw heads going through the hull. While that's an option a much cleaner install would be to get some M6 threaded rod and some stainless (or brass) spacers and screw them into the seat base with these on the ends to use as pegs...

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=390629188647&index=9&nav=WATCHING&nid=72571001279

Then you could use linchpins to hold them in place... I think it would work great, but the knobs I found were cheaper and worked just as well. Although I might try this later on down the road...

 

[gokeeper]

Looks like you have done really nice work, I was luck and had one engine out and it made it much easier to get in there to get the seat bolts in but I wouldn't want to do it with both engines in.

 

[jyoungun76]

I'm having an issue with my tachometers, both have had the faceplate crack off. The PO rtv'ed one back on and I lost the other while we were at the lake. These are discontinued... If anyone has any extras I'd love to pick them up...! I pulled the broken one out of the boat and plastic welded the faceplate back on using zip ties as the filler... I hope it lasts. If it doesn't I've already bought some epoxy...

 

[jyoungun76]

Hello all it's been a while since I posted anything... I'm having some new tribulations with the boat. It's leaking oil like crazy. Over the winter my entire oil tank drained into the bottom of the boat. I took it to a local shop and they tell me it's leaking from the case hose connectors apparently they're cracked port engine from intake and outtake hose connectors and starboard engine just from oil intake hose connector.

They tell me the parts to fix the boat cost about $20, but since they have to pull the engines it's going to cost me a total of $1100 parts and labor... So $1080 in labor. I'm kinda morally upset by this. I mean that's crazy... What do I do? I'm open to suggestions. The wife's ready to sell it but that bugs me too... I feel like Charlie Brown on the pitchers mound... Ugggghhh.

 

[Clirry]

Hmmm I would remove engines myself and try to fix it myself?

I just found out that i might have to pay 600 bucks for just labor of (new rubber exhaust gasket and upgrade new impeller). I think i can do it myself since those parts are under 300.