Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
May 04, 2025, 09:34:18 am

Author Topic: small rip on rear deck  (Read 3381 times)

lesman01

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 626
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • AOL Instant Messenger - lesajc
    • View Profile
small rip on rear deck
« on: October 24, 2004, 17:42:51 pm »
Has anyone ever repaired a rip in the vinyl upholstery? I have a tiny rip, about 1/8 inches, on the rear deck. It's not very noticable, but it'll only get worse.

Pete,  yes, we'll have to hook up. This forum sucks because now all i want to do is keep pouring money into upgrades. PP, ballast, fat sacs, board racks, etc...I'd love to see your setup. Mine's as stock as you an get, plus a tower.

Ive' already winterized and now will give it a good what's over before sealing it up for the winter. Pete, I went ahead and let Atlanta Marine winterize it this year. They drained it, changed the oil and tranny fluid, flulshed it with bio-antifreeze so it;s water ready., and fogged the cylinders. I thought long and hard about getting with you to help me out, but at the end of the day, I just did not want to dick with it this year. Our 11 month old monopolizes most of my free time during the weekends.

It was pricy at $289 for all that. They said they're increasing the price next year for v-drives, since it;s such a pain to get to everything.

Anyway, anyone patched a hole in the uphollstery?

Lesman

2000 Epic S22, Monster Tower, Monster Bimini, Acme 525 Prop, Tow Vehicle: 2003 4Runner

toyotafreak

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 1515
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Classic and clean
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2004, 19:53:32 pm »
There's a thread about this on wakeworld. Basically, car, restaurant and other industries have vinyl repair dudes, so don't get stuck (like I have) in the "where's a good boat vinyl dude?" trap.

Supposedly, you can get car vinyl dudes to come to your boat. I've got probly a dozen vinyl defect requiring attention - he could probably do these in an hour or two for like a hundred or so.
Derek Boyer
derek.boyer@att.net

2000 Epic S22
Powered by Lexus, Fueled by Chevron, Lubricated by Mobil 1 ... DNA by Toyota

cyclone

  • Administrator
  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 2577
  • Karma: +4/-0
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2004, 20:05:48 pm »
I'm about to get about 30% of my boat redone. 600 hours.  :-\
Pete

'01 Epic SX

shawn

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 163
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2004, 20:32:18 pm »
i've got 700 hours and now the dark grey on the engine cover is starting to turn pink and the dark grey on the drivers seat cushopn has turned real hard and starting to split.  what's up with that?

phenom_1819

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 691
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Once an Epic owner ...always an Epic enthusiast
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2004, 17:58:25 pm »
Sounds like your cushions are probably getting moldy.   I hope that's not the case, but the pink is a tell-tale sign.  And if your driver seat is getting hard, it's probably because the foam inside is rotten and is starting to break down...

As far as the vinyl repairs go, do not try the do-it youself kits.  They look like crap, and you'll end up getting somebody in there to fix it again.

I had a vinyl repair done and it has held-up very well...But cost me $120 or so.  It was about 1/2" long.  
Cal
Yakima, WA
Previous owner of 2001 Toyota Epic X22

festivus

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 515
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • you know you want one
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2004, 17:59:20 pm »
doesn't sound good.  How are you guys storing your boats?  Covers?  Indoors?  Do they sit in the sun for long periods of time??
1982 Bayliner 175 Cuddy 125 Foh-rce ob
1982 Reliant K- light sky blue
1988 Ford Taurus- deep gold

phenom_1819

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 691
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Once an Epic owner ...always an Epic enthusiast
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2004, 18:11:27 pm »
Winter: indoors in heated garage.  If you don't have access to a heated garage (even if your boat is outdoors), invest in one of those round de-humidifiers.  If you have access to electricity, it will keep the boat very dry.  Here is a link to the product:  http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&classNum=380&subdeptNum=379&storeNum=12&productId=21504

Summer: I store on a boat lift with the cover on.  If boat is wet and I want to dry it out, I still put the cover on, but don't strap it down. Rather, I lift the rear hatch and tie the cover in place, letting air flow throughout.

When storing, be sure to pull out cushions and position them so that air can flow around all sides after EACH USE.  I basically just stand all my cusions on end.  It only takes a couple minutes, but will keep the vinyl dry and mold-free.
I saw a couple boats sitting in the rain last week with the cover off.  It made me want to cry...until I realized they were both Bayliners.

j/k.

Cal
Yakima, WA
Previous owner of 2001 Toyota Epic X22

toyotafreak

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 1515
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Classic and clean
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #7 on: October 25, 2004, 19:56:39 pm »
Cal's right, except they're called Bayslammers. Good catch on the mold, too - missed that. Guess what I did this weekend? Cleaned stinky boat.

You know those pole deals you can get for the boat cover, where the pole goes down through the covered cockpit area and then you lift the cover up on it and tie her down (makes a tent)? Well, two Saturday nights ago, we got a crazy rain and I didn't have the pole in and hadn't replaced the huge cheap blue tarp. Well, the rain goes off the roof, onto the boat and fills the sagging mess until water reaches the pole hole, then proceeds to fill the friggin boat with water. So that was Saturday.

THEN I went on travel while it rained several more days. Drain plug was out and dripping, so I open the thing up and the bildge is full up to the engine mounts. Kinda stupid, but I turned on the battery and let the bidlge pump have a go - FIVE MINUTES LATER, the bilge is empty. Every horizontal piece of carpet is wet. Every cushion is wet. Opened the engine hatch to find every surface of all orientations covered with condensation. ECU's dry, though.

Took all cushions OUT. Took EVERTHING out of every cubby. Took all floor panels and removable bulkheads OUT. Wet/dry vacuumed everything and left the boat open during the day Saturday and Sunday. At night, I put a Patton fan in the bow shooting outward, then put the boat cover on to keep dew out. As Cal says, I had the trunk open and used a foam sheet to sort of ensure that air went in through the trunk and around both sides of the engine before feeding forward and out through the fan. Ran that sucker all Saturday night and last night.

Left all the cushions/floorboards/bulkheads on the garage floor all weekend. Coming out into the garage, our noses were hit with "stinky boat" smell. Ended up putting them back in the boat (open/stood up of course) last night before rigging the fan for silent running.

Shehaut, man. If you let these things get wet, they are just such a pain. Better than the alternative though.

Our friend's got a Hurricane deck boat, and within the first six months, he had let his boat get so bad that there was permament visible mold discoloration in every storage compartment. Come to find out, his bilge drain was blocked by the pounds of fiberglass shavings found in most production boats.

People think that boats are supposed to get wet, but dude...if you let them stay wet, they will deteriorate QUICKLY.

One thing I really dislike about our boats is how the carpet is layed. They took the stringer/line and glued that into the hull. Then they carpeted everything before finally laying down the hull top down on top of the carpet/liner/stringer/hull. In doing so, they've killed our ability to change carpet easily.

Anyway, because of this construction method, the ice chest sits directly on carpet. In the v-drives, it's under where the observer would sit in a d-drive. There's no way to remove it or get at it except from the very sides. Guess what thrives in a dark, moist fibrous environment? Not much we can do - if it grows, it grows. Bleach kills it, but it'd have to be REALLY serious for me to bring bleach into my S22.

I'd have liked it much better if they'd left the carpet out of the sandwich - at least in the main areas. This way, you bond the hull top to the liner and then glass the joint. Even staying with the aluminum floor panels is cool, cuz your snap-in carpet goes on top it all. Get home from the lake, pop the carpet out. When your carpet gets matted down, you replace it. It would also be amazing if the cubby carpet was removeable too. If you kept the vertical carpet an inch or two off the deck, it'd never really get wet and wouldn't need to come out.

A guy coould spend a LOT of time/duckets trying to engineer a boat into being low maintenance. Toyota did a lot of good in that department but wasn't perfect.
Derek Boyer
derek.boyer@att.net

2000 Epic S22
Powered by Lexus, Fueled by Chevron, Lubricated by Mobil 1 ... DNA by Toyota

phenom_1819

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 691
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Once an Epic owner ...always an Epic enthusiast
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2004, 21:18:09 pm »
Ditto.  And the crappy thing is my carpet is on it's last.  I figure it's got one more season and will NEED to be replaced.  Previous owner used the boat mostly on Lake Elsinore, I think (the small, round, green-water-colored, algae-blooming lake about 45 minutes from L.A.).

Anyway, every time I try and clean the carpets, all that happens is the crap from that lake rises to the surface of the carpet, making it look dirtier than it looked before cleaning.

Now, I've cleaned it so many times the pile is gone.  I am a HUGE FAN of snap-in carpets.  One of the few advantages Centuions have on our Toyotas.  That, and  Perfect Pass.
Cal
Yakima, WA
Previous owner of 2001 Toyota Epic X22

Lakeside

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 250
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Lake St. Croix - Solon Springs, Wisconsin
    • View Profile
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2004, 12:39:10 pm »
Do any of you store your boats outside, in a carport or in a barn?  

I can use these options for the winter, but the local marina scared me into storing with them when they dropped the "if you store it in any of those places, squirrels can get at the upholstery" comment.  Then, they went on to say that their storage is critter proof.  Have any of you had any trouble with critters getting into your boat?  

The problem with the marina is that it's pricey.  There are a few farms nearby that store boats in barns for next to nothing and some neighbors are storing their boat at one this winter.  If they have a good experience, I might try it next winter.  Some farms are turning boat storage into a big business by taking upwards of 100 boats each winter.

By the way, we don't let any food on our boat since it might contribute to varmint trouble.  This also helps keep our boat clean because we've got 6 and 4 year old kids.  We all know how half of what they eat on ends up ground into the carpet anyway.


cyclone

  • Administrator
  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 2577
  • Karma: +4/-0
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2004, 14:26:17 pm »
I have stored mine outside for 4.5 years. It doesn't get very cold where I live (ATL), and I take the boat out all the time, so it may not be an apples to apples comparison to your situation. I have never had varmint problems, and there is probably food somewhere on my boat right now. I have the stock cover, and I just retreated it with 303 waterproofing stuff. I think that the main thing is keeping it dry inside.

My interior needs work, but just from a lot of hard use, not storage issues. I am thinking about getting a  custom waterline cover that will cover the swim platform and the graphics.
Pete

'01 Epic SX

toyotafreak

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 1515
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Classic and clean
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #11 on: October 30, 2004, 16:48:33 pm »
If you do, Pete, go back and talk to them dudes Cal tipped us onto.

Hey, just so you know, it's the time of year for me to get a new tarp to go over the cover. Unfortunately, Home Depot has slim pickins and a sign that says, "Due to the recent hurricanes, we have nationwide shortages of certain items."

Outside storage just sucks. It's gonna be the end of my S22. The worst part about that is that by the time ours are ragged....the line ends. If mine were to sink today or burn down or whatever, I'm not sure I could find one as clean as what we picked up last June. Kinda sad.
Derek Boyer
derek.boyer@att.net

2000 Epic S22
Powered by Lexus, Fueled by Chevron, Lubricated by Mobil 1 ... DNA by Toyota

festivus

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 515
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • you know you want one
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2004, 17:28:05 pm »
I store mine in an unheated barn.  It is more of a storage shed than a barn, as there are no animals in it.  It gets very cold (Denver) but stays nice and dry.  I have never had any problems with critters.  My upholstry is in pretty good condition.  I put the factory cover on it and cinch it down after it's all dried out.  I haven't seen any evidence of animanl tampering, except maybe from my kids dinking around in the barn.  
1982 Bayliner 175 Cuddy 125 Foh-rce ob
1982 Reliant K- light sky blue
1988 Ford Taurus- deep gold

highflyn

  • Epic God
  • ****
  • Posts: 110
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Hittin the slopes of Mt Bachlor
    • View Profile
    • Email
RE: Storing epic outside
« Reply #13 on: November 01, 2004, 18:09:18 pm »
Just purchased an SX last June, so I have not stored THIS one during a winter. Last winter I had a 99 21ft searay. I stored it outside. After winterization and a good cleaning I purchased a small fan/heater that had a very low heat setting. I took out all the cousions and used the heater to prop open the engine cover. I then put the boat cover on w/ one of thoes poles in the middle so rain would not puddle on it. I checked the boat about once a week and never found a wet spot. The heater fan added about $20 to the monthly electric bill. Did I mention I live in Seattle, Washington
2001 SX following the 03 Tundra

phenom_1819

  • Toyota should pay me
  • *****
  • Posts: 691
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Once an Epic owner ...always an Epic enthusiast
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re:small rip on rear deck
« Reply #14 on: November 01, 2004, 19:30:31 pm »
"DId I mention I live in Seattle, Washington."  

I love it.  There have been so many Seattleites getting turned onto this site lately... welcome to the site.  I'm from Seattle too (though I just moved to Yakima a month ago).  I keep my boat in Meydenbauer Bay and (unfortunately) board on Lake Washington.

Anyway, about your heater, I wanted to advise against those.  Here's why... there are too many moving parts and too high a risk for fire.  My family lost our 43-foot yacht because of those heaters.

Our boat was in a marina, the boat next door had one of those heaters. The heater shorted, catching the boat on fire, and causing a chain reaction in the marina.  More than a dozen boats went down in all, nearly two dozen had fire damage. A pic of our boat is here (it is the sportfisherman in between the two roofs...the boat used to be over 18' tall):
<http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/fire/images/gallery/marine/seattleYachtClub/syc6.jpg>

Anyway, this is why I recommend the de-humidifiers instead.  They work much better than you would think.

-Cal
Cal
Yakima, WA
Previous owner of 2001 Toyota Epic X22