Updating larger cruisers

[NorCal Boater]

I love what you've done. I have been updating an '89 340 DA and yep, the interior surfaces are pink. We've toned the pink down with some other fabric colors. the one thing about the pink is that is light. The '87 and older boats had the wood laminate and it made the cabins look smaller. Have you ever replaced the overhead material. I would love to do that and install some updated lighting but I'm a bit intimidatedby the task.

Here is some photbucket pics of what we've don so far. It's not as nice as yours yet but it's a start. http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj76/NorCalBoater/

 

[JV II]

Is this your occupation? What a great job! I think have a custom rehabed boat at a fraction of the cost of new is what I'd want for my next boat.

 

[Pete]

Ver nice job done geriksen!
//Peter, Sweden

 

[Half Off]

Thanks for posting your projects. It gives us ideas and motivation to do some ourselves. Keep them coming.

 

[brimanst]

Your work is quite impressive. Do you care to share your sources for cabinet and trim hardware. I would also like to put in more of a brushed nickel look and feel in my boat.

briman

 

[geriksen]

I love what you've done. I have been updating an '89 340 DA and yep, the interior surfaces are pink. We've toned the pink down with some other fabric colors. the one thing about the pink is that is light. The '87 and older boats had the wood laminate and it made the cabins look smaller. Have you ever replaced the overhead material. I would love to do that and install some updated lighting but I'm a bit intimidatedby the task.

Here is some photbucket pics of what we've don so far. It's not as nice as yours yet but it's a start. http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj76/NorCalBoater/

Nice work! The 340 is a great boat and perfect for what I am talking about.
One of the best things you can do to those is to paint the dash.
I had a '89 460 that had the already had the dash painted and new panels made. Then I updated it some more. Here are two pics. Not too shabby for 1989.

 

[douglee25]

That is one thing I can not stand about the late 80's, early 90's Sea Ray.... the dash!! Puke green, blue, maroon!! Yuck!

Doug

 

[geriksen]

Is this your occupation? What a great job! I think have a custom rehabed boat at a fraction of the cost of new is what I'd want for my next boat.

Yes, Mike I have been in the boat repair business for 25 yrs. Eleven years of that at a SEa Ray delaership. I have had my own yard and brokerage for 10yrs now. We sell about 100 boats a year and average 100k per month in service. I have seen an awful lot of boats.

That is why I sound so darn opinionated sometimes. ;-)

I am in the business but I am a boater and boat owner too. I am in a unique position to see and understand both sides.

Your 290 makes a great boat to get the feel of things and see if you really like boating/cruising. When it is time to move up, a good used Sea Ray is a very viable option and can save you a ton of money. Especially as they get bigger.

 

[geriksen]

That is one thing I can not stand about the late 80's, early 90's Sea Ray.... the dash!! Puke green, blue, maroon!! Yuck!

Doug

Yup, this one was brown.. barf! Painting or gelcoating it to match the boat updates the cockpit by ten years.

 

[douglee25]

Yup, this one was brown.. barf! Painting or gelcoating it to match the boat updates the cockpit by ten years.

Totally agree!

Doug

 

[geriksen]

Your work is quite impressive. Do you care to share your sources for cabinet and trim hardware. I would also like to put in more of a brushed nickel look and feel in my boat.

briman

We have been getting the cabinet hardware here.
http://www.hafele.com/us/

I have tons of leftover gold knobs, wall plates, handles, and platic gold trim it you want any!


We just removed almost forty gold knobs from my 580.

 

[geriksen]

I've seen veneers applied in a cabinet shop with a vaccum bag process. How do you get the veneer to adhere to the old laminate?

Beautiful work.

They used some kind of contact cement. Each section got two coats of it before installation. That long piece in the bow area pictures went under the v-berth and made several sharp curves. I was amazed that they got it on straight and did it with one piece.

If you decide to do one I will find out what they used. Several test pieces were done before the best process was decided upon. It has been over a year now and that boat has been through many extreme teperature swings and it still looks perfect.

 

[douglee25]

What does that veneer run you a 4'x8' sheet? Do you just use contact cement to adhere it to the cabinetry? Make patterns first, then trace onto the veneer, and finally cut?

Doug

 

[geriksen]

What does that veneer run you a 4'x8' sheet? Do you just use contact cement to adhere it to the cabinetry? Make patterns first, then trace onto the veneer, and finally cut?

Doug

Duraback coated ran about $95.00 a sheet. Non-duraback is about $45.00
We tried both and used the duraback.

 

[geriksen]

Here is part of what we did to the inside of the 89' 460. The little TV came out of the overhead cabinet and the home theater system went in it's place. A 12" Polk audio sub went where the original cheepie stereo was and a 32" Sony TV went on the wall.
No wires or brackets visible anywhere.

The first pic is before.

 

[Carver370]

You do exactly what I have been wanting to do for years now. I think what you are doing is perfect and I would love to see some more of your projects as they progress. I too love the lines of the late 90s early 2000s Sea Rays and that will be my next purchase!

 

[geriksen]

Here is the Audio/Video system as it goes in the 580
Similar concept, just bigger.
This cabinet held a 19' TV. We removed that and used it for the Audio Gear. The APC unit on the bottom includes a battery backup. The TV's are connected to it also. When I switch from shore to generator power everything just keeps on running. It also protects everything from dock surges or generator malfunctions.
Also I can close the cabinet doors and the goodies are somewhat hidden.

 

[delliott00]

Seeing how much his 460 was "freshened" by a few updates, I did a light remodel on my old Donzi cruiser cockpit a few years ago. It can be done cheaply too.

The best thing you can do to improve the looks is to change out any old yellowed plastic cupholders and latches to stainless steel. Then either clean or get new carpets. And replace the badging.

I then added an additional seat cushion on the side to make the aft bench into a L shape. I built my own cockpit table, stained it, put a donzi logo on it, and covered it in clear lacquer.

I took off and polished all the brightwork, sanded the windshield frame, and replaced all the screws with new SS ones. I also took the dash panel off and cleaned it up.

IIRC, the costs were about:

Table, wood, mount, stain: $125
New Donzi logos: $30
Carpets, custom made from Matworks.com: $300
New SS Hardware: <$100
Vinyl for DIY seating: $50 from Rochfordsupply.com
Custom Hand Towels with Donzi Logo: $40 for 6 off ebay.

It actually turned into a great boat. I got TONS of compliments. When I finally did sell it to get the 320DA, I put it on ebay. It sold to the first local guy who looked at it, so I pulled the listing as it hadn't hit reserve. I then had multiple people emailing me offers for MORE than my buy now price. I actually miss that boat a lot. It was fast and got great mileage, so we went EVERYWHERE in it.

I have some after pics.... Let me dig them out.

-Dave
'07 Sea Hunt 220
'04 Sea Ray 280DA

 

[geriksen]

Here is the TV installation in progress on the 580.
We completely removed the starboard forward cabinet in the salon and built a custom enclosure for a 42" Plasma TV. The viewing location is not ideal so we put it on a hinge. It will electrically motorize out so you can adjust the viewing angle.
It is installed and working now but we don't have the actuator on it yet.
Great efforts were made to have it look factory installed and I think it does.

You can see the progression in these pics. The blurry ones were taken with an iphone, sorry..

 

[Jacob]

Rejuvinating a Galley Floor - 48 Sedan Bridge

The galley floor on our 1999 48DB was an ugly mahogany like muddy stained wood floor which never did go with the cherry interior. We were going to replace it with granite or new wood but first decided to grind it down to see what was underneath. It was 3/4 inch solid oak. We test stained a section with a cherry stain and then did the whole floor, covering with 6 coats of outdoor polyurathane.

Here is the result: