FINALLY found an 84' 255 AJ to buy!

270win said:
Well, with owning an older boat especially, it's always something. But typically, once you get past the big things, it's just nit picky stuff. And I'm now convinced that there is no such thing as a good boat mechanic...I hear about them, but when I use them they end up being incompetent.
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My brother builds old cars for fun... not really a boat guy. but he is great with a car, and he is the kind of guy you want on the side of the road in the rain. He does not need a fancy shop or computers or any of that lol so he told me once I got my boat he started doing the research on the powerplant cause he knew I would need him lol
 
DouglasMB said:
My brother builds old cars for fun... not really a boat guy. but he is great with a car, and he is the kind of guy you want on the side of the road in the rain. He does not need a fancy shop or computers or any of that lol so he told me once I got my boat he started doing the research on the powerplant cause he knew I would need him lol
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Well then you are well ahead of the curve. Old hotrod mechanics seem to be the best in the biz!
 
270win said:
Well then you are well ahead of the curve. Old hotrod mechanics seem to be the best in the biz!
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yup... he can magiver anything to get you home then he seems to enjoy tearing things apart to figure out why it broke and how to make it better lol... I don't have that desire... i just want to put the key in and go.
 
270win said:
Anyone wanna guess why I got no calls today either? I called 5 times today with no answer, I just decided to drive over there...the boat is in a million pieces. Excuse after excuse after excuse, I went ape$4!t. They said it will be done in the next two days, they showed me everything they're doing, but they lied about it being the next boat out and all that crap. She said the dealers come first and everything else is second! THAT would have been nice to know 4 weeks ago when I left the boat there. I told her I'd better be AMAZED at the way the boat look when I get it back...I threatened to take it today...it was a bad deal, she was flustered by me being so sick of the run around, I was obviously pissed. UGH! Will this crap ever end?!?!?!?
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Very sorry to hear about your issues. It is hard to find someone who will be honest and do good work. You may have still gone with this shop even if they were honest with you about the time frame- it's the deceit that gets to you. They didn't want to take the chance of being honest with you from the start and losing your business so they lied and once they had your boat you were screwed. Hopefully you'll be back on the water soon and this will all be behind you. Good Luck.
 
Big Island Lifer said:
Very sorry to hear about your issues. It is hard to find someone who will be honest and do good work. You may have still gone with this shop even if they were honest with you about the time frame- it's the deceit that gets to you. They didn't want to take the chance of being honest with you from the start and losing your business so they lied and once they had your boat you were screwed. Hopefully you'll be back on the water soon and this will all be behind you. Good Luck.
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Thanks, I hope so too, the side panels they had finished and waiting for install looked really nice. I don't know another shop with a better reputation, so you're right that I probably would have taken it to them anyway. Communication is a big deal to me and on that level, they stink.
 
I went back to the interior shop today, this time was much better in some ways, but still frustrating.
First and foremost, the work is absolutely beautiful. The boat is really coming together nicely. I'm glad I went by there, because they were going to leave the carpet on the box (base for the back bench) a taupe color and also leave the faded brown carpet...Of course they don't have the brown that would match, this is understandable though as it's not a real popular color today. But they do have a deep charcoal gray that will look good. It will only be around the base of the bench and the base of the cockpit walls. I placed a sample in the boat and it looks good. The color is a perfect match for the original color. They were going to be done today, but my insistence on using the carpet means tomorrow afternoon. So I should be able to get started on finishing this thing and getting her into the water.

Gotta come up with a name too...no rush, just thinking about it.
 
They just called, should be ready later today. And they ordered the correct brown that I really wanted. Now I'm smiling. Lots of pics when I get to pick it up.
 
After many delays, pains, frustrations, anger, dollars and outright disappointments...I got the boat back today. I'm extremely pleased with the results. It's the exact look I was hoping for, all the rotten trim is gone, the boat still has it's classic looks and the seats are really comfortable.

I'll get more pics later today when the temperature drops a bit.
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The interior makes the teak I have yet to finish look horrible. But I'll do the teak in the slip. We're going to do some cleaning in the cabin/bathroom and bilge, and this week I'm going to get the engine and outdrive in and test run the boat at the shop. I'm hoping to splash her next weekend. Just in time for the 4th...cross your fingers!
 
MMcCawley said:
She looks gorgeous, congrats!
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Thanks! She's on the way to it anyway. The admiral loves the interior.

I cleaned the bilge before we got rained out...what a mess. But this is one solid boat! Cleaning the cabin starts tomorrow. I also ordered some folding seat legs from iBoats, they are cut to length and should be here Wednesday. If we don't run into any unseen obstacles she should be ready soon...I know I'm ready! At least we can boat well into October down here so we'll have 3 1/2 months anyway.
 
Congrats! Looks like the wait was worth it.


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I agree, now the rush to the water begins! I'm cleaning the cabin/bathroom this afternoon. I'll detail the cockpit once the engine goes back in, I'd hate to make a mess after cleaning it up again. Besides, if the unthinkable happened, (engine or outdrive issues) it could get pretty nasty in there.
 
Lookin Good!
 
Thanks guys! Last minute engine details being done now but it should be in today.
 
Sweeet! The upholstery guy obviously knows what he is doing :smt038 And it looks like you could sleep on that couch!

-BL
 
The engine is in, no pics, it's 11pm and I'm leaving the shop. Probably get the drive on tomorrow and rig it up.
 
Late nights and classic boats go hand-n-hand.

Been out in the barn converting my surge brakes to electric brakes and putting new lights and wires on the trailer. Yeah, been a few late and frustrating nights...

She's done now and works awesome!! So, there is light at the end of every tunnel.
 
Getaway said:
Late nights and classic boats go hand-n-hand.
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I actually like the late nighters when the end result is positive. Nothing worse than leaving the shop at 11 or 12 with not only failing to meet your goals, but also having a new issue to resolve! Been there done that WAY too many times...

Congrats on the trailer work! As you know that's on my to do list also.
 
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