[ShabahZ280]

borz170, sounds like you've got quite a project for yourself. I would suggest becoming a contributor on the site, as we've got wiring diagrams and all sorts of helpful things that would be really beneficial to you! Especially if you wanted to restore it to showroom condition with OEM parts & supplies. Click the Donate button for more info.

I would suggest trying to get in touch with Doug (moondance100), he had his gelcoat and hull repainted and it looks brand new.

I think we ought to pull together some members and go in on it together to create a custom restoration, "Mariah Owners Club style". Or we could just part it all out in the name of the club, before this boat becomes more trashed...

[mikeyt]

Originally Posted by borz170

I recently purchased a 1999 18' Mariah that had sunk in Salt water. The boat I bought needs a lot of work, but not as much as this one. My engine runs, and the outdrive is still in good shape. I will be replacing the billows, gimble, u-joints, water pump, but over all it's ok. Motor must have been pickled right away because it runs great. The wiring and interior is another story. Yesterday I stripped the main wiring harness. I was undecided on wether I was going to replace ends on the wires and try to make it work, but I have decided to replace every bit of wiring in the boat. I have been looking on ebay, but so far, I haven't been able to find the whole deal. I have gages and switches, a new fuel pump, alternator, battery thanks to a friend with extra parts. I will also have to rebuild the interrior. The hull is scratched and has a lot of barnacle buttons on it. I am in the process of sanding the whole area below the water line. I will probably end up painting the hull from the water line down. Hopefully I can match the paint with the gelcoat above the rub rail. I will try to post some pics and some news as this project progresses. Thoughts? Has anybody been in my shoes and may have some pointers?

gawd...i dont envy that job at all. As for the wiring harness you will probably have to make up your own. I would suggest carefully removing the exisiting one after you have labelled each of the wires as to where they go and take a few digital photos of the underdash area etc while you are at it. Then you will have to buy the wiring & connectors to duplicate it. Without actually checking i'm pretty sure we have a wiring diagram in our collection of goodies available to paying members so you might want to click on the "Donate" button above to get the details.
Finding genuine Mariah parts for the interior will be very difficult as they were all made in-house and what ever shows up on E-Bay can be expensive. Gauges & switches etc can be found at third party vendors though.

[WetWilly]

It is sad, but it is still a Mariah and could be a good deal for someone with the right resources and time.

Except for the missing outdrive, the rest of the damage seems to be from just exposure probably while sitting on the trailer without a cover. If it's been in salt water, it doesn't show it very much considering the combo is 12 years old. Nice thing is, the hulls white and could buff up quite nicely leaving you with a lot of hull graphic options.

Correct me if im wrong, but doesn't the first two letters in the registration numbers indicate this was from Alabama so this little Mariah moved around a little and the Coastguard plaque seems to suggest this is a 180 or 183 Shabah.

Yes, could make someone a good project,
WetWilly

[mikeyt]

Originally Posted by Straad

are you kidding, thats great, bet you can get it super cheap and part it out on ebay and make 10x your money
hell look what just the decals go for

There wasn't many parts on that boat that looked salvagable. Even the seats would require cushion foam replacement as well as recovering & that's not cheap. Just about everything inside looked like it was suffering from rot and i've never seen what looks like a 'rusty' steering wheel before.

I asked them if they would consider parting it out but they said they would prefer to sell it whole.

[mikeyt]

Originally Posted by WetWilly

It is sad, but it is still a Mariah and could be a good deal for someone with the right resources and time.

Except for the missing outdrive, the rest of the damage seems to be from just exposure probably while sitting on the trailer without a cover. If it's been in salt water, it doesn't show it very much considering the combo is 12 years old. Nice thing is, the hulls white and could buff up quite nicely leaving you with a lot of hull graphic options.

Correct me if im wrong, but doesn't the first two letters in the registration numbers indicate this was from Alabama so this little Mariah moved around a little and the Coastguard plaque seems to suggest this is a 180 or 183 Shabah.

Yes, could make someone a good project,
WetWilly

The salvor did say it would come with an "Alabama" title that would take a week or so to transfer so that's likely where it's from. The hull pics weren't clear enough to see if there was any damage underneath and i'm assuming they didn't show a pic of the engine bay due to the condition of what was left. That is a nasty looking project though and it is a 180 Shabah.

[Z 202]

Originally Posted by WetWilly

Correct me if im wrong, but doesn't the first two letters in the registration numbers indicate this was from Alabama so this little Mariah moved around a little...

Looks like it was moving around during Katrina...

[borz170]

I bought the boat for $800. I figured I could at least get $500 out of the engine and $600 out of the drive unit. Hopefully it won't come to that. I don't plan on putting the boat back into original condition, as that would prpbably cost more than the finished value. However I do plan to take as much time as needed to build the interrior to my own specifications so it at least looks like a nice respectable craft. I figure with a new trailer under her, I'll have no more than $3500 into it. Thoughts?

[z275st]

After I bought my boat that had set out (covered with its tarps) for 2yrs. I had it polished, new graphics, small amount of gel-coat work, and very minor work to bring it back to new look. It cost $3500+ so I would think this would cost much more than $3500, even doing your own work. Just my opinion.

[180diablo]

Wow... yeah that really hurt to look at. At least the windshield looks to be in almost tip-top shape however! Hull seems to look good, interior.. well.

If I had the time, lotsa cash, lotsa free time, lotsa know how and D.I.Y'er kinda knowledge... I would love to have a project boat.

I think they need a boat show similar to that "Trucks" show on Spike TV where they take an old heaper and get it going to show room condition again.

" Overhaulin' " ... but for boats!

[ShabahZ280]

Oh they do have a boat repair show, "Ship Shape TV", but it's always doing some insane project on some 53' Monterey boat that no one around here could afford. The show is heavily sponsored, and the projects always seem to revolve consistently around the sponsors.

Believe it or not, I actually emailed them regarding a project I've been doing on mine explaining about Mariah going out of business and trying to replace this part, asking for any help or potential leads, and of course, no reply. I've also noticed since then, the contact button has disappeared from their website...