Long overdue cleaning
 

This could also be named "how i spent my long weekend"... and the weekend after .. and the weekend after ..:yes_grin:

Well, it's not quite a "project" of sorts, but is it something I couldn't really overlook this year. I have been cleaning the boat vinyl every season, but this year seemed to be especially bad. So I figured for me to clean this thing properly, I had to get down and remove my seats to clean it more thoroughly.

It also gave me a chance to figure out the locking seat mechanism to see how that works. I folded down both seats for the very first time since buying the boat in 2006. So that was also part of my cleaning project.

Removing the back to back seats was pretty easy, four 9/16 bolts hold the frame down. Rock and roll .. lets start cleaning!

Magic Erasers and 303 Protectant !!! :wink_thumbup::wink_thumbup:


Port seat out and mid way through cleaning

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Yes, there was mould under the cup holder, so I had to pop that out so I could clean underneath the lip AND clean the inside of it out out.

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Another half way shot ..

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This is about where the seat backs are located ..

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Decided to remove that lower support piece and see if there was any grime behind it .. why did I even doubt that there wouldn't be ?

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Now for the pretty pics ..

Any visible vinyl in this photo has been cleaned (notice the lower support on dashboard and the colour of the water)...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/9...905de220_b.jpg

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Here is how I celebrated with doing all that cleaning ..

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:rolling_laugh::rolling_laugh:

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

I'll bring my boat over next weekend. I'll even buy you an ice cream cone. :)

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

As to update from my previous post, the seats have been completely vacuumed and cleaned and protected with 303 Protectant. What a shine!


Now for part 2 of my cleaning project...

These were taken with my cell phone, so the images might not be as crisp.

Starboard side kick panel .. and my thumpin stock speaker ! :rolleyes:

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Yummy ...

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Here you can really see what he Magic Eraser does to mould ..

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5536/9...d7c977ed_b.jpg


Unfortunately I don't have any "after' pictures as I was trying to work in a rain storm with my tarps up and I was getting high off the fuel smell from the ski locker area. So I had to abandon the project for the day so I could get into some fresh air and try again when its not raining.

I hope to be up there this weekend, so I can get the drivers seat reinstalled and the starboard side cleaned up and protected.

Next .. replace the tarps..

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Stop on by .. first bay on your right after the channel leaving Lock 42!

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Since you got the hang of cleaning up the Diablo's so good..........You can do mine!:yes_grin:
I'll get ya a Banana Split , and a soda!

Looks great Ryan:wink_thumbup:

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Oh sure, make me sound like a cheapskate.... :p

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

If you're offering an international cleaning service I can offer you a cream tea :wink_thumbup:

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/v.../cream-tea.jpg

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Heck Ill bring Ben.....and......... Jerry in person to make the ice cream at your house if youll clean my boat that well.

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Hmmm, lots of offer for ice cream .. but where is the beer !? :rolleyes: Thanks everyone for the comments, the wife got a good laugh at the responses.

I hope to have it cleaned up and protected again for this weekend. But with mould I highly doubt I will be able to curb the mould problem and I will have to deal with it each year.

I will say one thing, the 303 protectant on the seats makes for a helleva shine! I know what you guys mean when you say " I swear by the stuff ". But is it really Armor-All in a different bottle and different price ??

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Agreed.
Don't put it on the steering wheel:rolling_laugh:

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

cleanliness......next to godliness. your lucky though.... all my panels had to come out and get totally recovered. i bought the marine vinyl , wood and other misc. material and it still cost me $400.00 doing it myself. there wont be a next time. And those magic erasers are awesome. They are a staple on my boat now. even though my wife thinks im nuts for doing so...she isnt the one cleaning it. :yes_grin:

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Yeppers. So far I have cleaned almost every part of the boat so far. But I also haven't let her drive it yet.. HAH!

I did have some odd discolouration when I looked at the bow panels. It may have had something to do with the Sunlight dish soap scrubbing I had to do the bow cover to remove the mould. Unless that is the 303 Protectant getting into the vinyl fibers. I'll find out Saturday afternoon to see what changed.

Currently I have a camping tarp draped over the boat to keep the water out.. :(

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Laundry detergent has worked well for me when it comes to cleaning vinyl and stains. I recently found out mustard stains vinyl...

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Alright, time to update this thread with some more photos...

Stinky carpet .. out you come! :yes_grin:

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It was a majority out anyways .. (looking towards bow)

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Found this slimy foam gas tank cushion tucked in the hole I actually thought it may have been a piece of cloth or dryer sheet. I just kept pulling and out it came without too much hesitation.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2836/9...42350412_b.jpg


I know I asked another member to post up a " How-To " for removing the carpet, honestly there isn't too much to it. A couple of staples and some old glue and out it comes. Bring a screwdriver to pop the staples. Pretty straight forward really. Just make sure you bring a stiff broom to sweep up the dried up glue bits in the ski locker. Then pour some water down into the ski locker to flush the drain hole out. I had to snake the drain from the bilge side with a small piece of wire to get the gunk to move. Not much of a smell now! :wink_thumbup:

My next plan is to look into the spray in bed-liner stuff and spray down the ski locker as much as I can. Just to make it look pretty again.

Starboard kick panel, getting some sun.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3731/9...e482a1c9_b.jpg

Had to go back and get rid of the crap under the fire extinguisher mount ..
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2890/9...1a146a3b_b.jpg


Next ... I have to remount the "Mariah Premium Sound System" plates back onto the dashboard (forgot to bring up my needle nose pliers).

Re: Long overdue cleaning
 

Soooooooo,

I found out that remounting the "Mariah" and "Mariah Premium Sound System" aluminum plates is really a 2 person job (without removing the whole dash). Thanks to my mom for being around and helping on the upper side of re-mounting it.. LOL.

This past weekend I started playing around with the stereo wiring in my boat. I have 7+ year old electrical tape that is now very gooey. It was a mess and needed to come off to be redone. I haven't decided if I wanted to go with a simple rewire and heat shrink OR connect up the wiring into a spade terminal (with plastic covering) and use it that way.

Any thoughts on which method to use for rewiring ?


Here is a pic of the speakers I will put in place of the stock ones (seen on left). I bought these several years ago and never ended up swapping them into the boat. I thought about maybe using them for rear speakers, but "marine" speakers would be better for rears as they would see more spray than under the dash.


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/9...ee3333c6_b.jpg


Yes, I still have the 20 year old Craig tape deck in the boat, I'am currently taking a look at what is available to swap out the tape deck (making a new cut-out hole would have to be done as well). I have no plans to install an amp into the boat. Just something w/ some a bit more power.

:)