Hello Everyone!
So happy to find a forum for these year Mariah boats.
Last week I became the proud owner of a 96 Mariah Shabah 210 open bow. I did not know too much about these boats before I got this one, but for the price, I couldn't pass it up.
Seems like the boat was sitting for awhile. The interior is sun burnt pretty bad in most parts. I tried everything possible to clean it off. I googled every method and tried it, they all worked a bit but never got the yellow tint off of it. The upholstery is still in good condition, soft, not dry with good padding. I do not want to reupholster it as the Mariah design is too expensive to replicate. I tried dupli-color vinyl and fabric white gloss paint on the front open bow upholstery which looked horrible (in terms of color) and it came out great, but almost too white. eh, guess its better than dirty yellowish brown.
It has a 350 5.7L 260hp mercrusier with an alpha One gen 2 and captains call exhaust (learned that term on this forum!!). The previous owner took apart some of the motor and left it like that, he said the engine was knocking. I removed the heads when i got it and found water int he back cylinders. seems like this water was from rain when he left the intake manifold off as the rust colored water cleaned off very easily and so did any rust on the cylinders.
The weirdest thing about this engine is that one of the cylinders, #6, is different than the others. #6 looks like it is a forged piston and the rest look like cast pistons. a slightly different dish design and valve reliefs. It also has serial numbers stamped on it and the others don't. I have opened up a decent amount of engines before and have never seen anything like this. i searched google and couldn't find anything. Anyone ever heard of this before?
My plan is to remove the engine this weekend, flip it upside down and have a look inside to see what is going on in there and what type of damage im looking at. From there I will decide if I should rebuild with new pistons or buy a reman long block with a warrant. maybe upgrade to the 300hp version...thoughts? I would like to see mid to high 50s in this boat. 60 would be amazing but a consistent mid 50s would be sufficient.
The trailer is the matching chariot trailer that is horribly rusted all over. I was lucky I got the boat home. Luckily for me, My father and brother own a steel fabrication shop, so the trailer will be like new very soon. I will have to repaint it though and I;m kinda bummed i will lose the decals that say custom made for mariah boats and the shabah 210 decal next to the fenders.
I need to figure out the radio bezel and wire in a radio. i also have to see where the captains call exhaust switch is and order a matching switch. Is there anything else in the radio bezel that i need to hook up. I haven't found many pictures of my model boats radio bezel, but other pics show a type of safety switch or reset switch of some sort. Something circular and flush but I cant tell what it is.
Well that's about as far as I got with this boat so far. I need to clean the *&#% out of it but I think it will clean up real well. The previous owner did not take care of her. Can't wait to have her ready by the start of the season
I will upload pictures of the boat if I can figure it out on here. lol.
Thanks for a great Forum. nice to meet all of you!
New Mariah Owner! - 1996 Mariah 210 Shabah
Re: New Mariah Owner! - 1996 Mariah 210 Shabah
