Wow, you guys are just amazing at what you know and can do. Hell I wish one of you lived close, I would just drop my new 2011 off and let you tweak it out.

All-
If you are interested in the grab handles like I posted before, I will be getting mine done this week and can have the upholstry shop make extras. Let me know if you are interested and then I will get a price for you guys. You will need to staple or mount them on your own, but I can have them cut to length and sewn. I am going to do mine just like the previous pics I posted of that Sanger. The material that I have though is the OEM gray vinyl that we all have in our boats with those little round 'dots' on in. I know Joe wants some, so thought I would send out the offer since I am having mine made. I have plenty of vinyl. Let me know if you are interested.

Nic-
I bet that thing screams! Very interesting about the sub experiment.

Scott-
I also dynamatted the faux-carbon and the bottoms of the cup holders on the port side of my boat with my extra dynamat that I had left over from the starboard side. On the port side though, I didn't take the boat apart, I just removed the 6.5's speakers, cup holders and then just cut pieces of dynamat to the contours of the carbon and slapped in on the backside of the carbon via the speaker holes, cup holder holes and the storage bin. I figured no one will ever see it. It did help out doing the port side of the boat though. A guy could do the same method on the starboard side if you are a little hesitant about taking your boat apart. I would suggest doing it like Joe suggested, but you could probably get away with doing it the other way.

One thing that I found really helps is put dynamat on the bottom of the stainless cup holders (on both sides of the boat. Obviously cut it to fit the bottom of the holders and punch a hole to accommodate the drain hole in the bottom of the holders, but it adds weight to the cup holders and they won't rattle around when the bass hits. The whole dynamat thing my sound hard or cumbersome, but it really isn't. If you do not buy the tar-paper that Joe suggested, I would buy the dynamat 'door kit' to start. That should be enough to do the critical areas of both the starboard and port sides.

Ohhhhhh I forgot to tell you guys about that I completely spaced it! I haven't had a chance to take it out yet, but the guys at the shop took it out to give it a test run and they came back in shock of the size of the wake with those tabs down. They were absolutely blown away. The only downside is that they can be dangerous. I know if you have both port and starboard down the boat will submarine at 5mph. Weather or not it will submarine with port or starboard down and the center tab down I'm not sure about. I'm gonna have to do some testing soon and figure it out. I think for safety reasons I'm gonna have them wire it so when one tab goes down on either side, the opposite side is restricted from going down until the other is all the way up. Also when the boat is shut off the motors cycle until the tabs are in the full upright position. I am super stoked to get out in it soon.

Yeah Twitch, why did you put those on anyway, does it make the surf wake that much bigger than our stock boats?

I havent seen it in person but the guys that took it out said it was enormous

That's what I'm counting twitch. I figure with all the weight these boats can carry, all it needs is a little more lean. How long are your tabs? I might look into getting shorter ones for mine. I like the safety wiring idea though.

Ice, Thanks again for making those for me. I really appreciate it.

Scott, Most of this stuff were doing can be done at home with basic hand tools, and a little time. I'd be happy to walk you through any of the installs. But to be honest, I think you'll be happy with your boat as is. It just so happens, you ran across a couple guys who can't leave well enough alone.


I've been scouring the land for some used lead. I want to put a few hundred pounds in the nose. I can't believe how stingy everyone has gotten. I did a search for lead 6 years ago and people were happy to get rid of it. Now that scrap prices went up, they act like its gold. After 2 weeks of stopping here and there, I only have about 50#. The search continues.

Oh yeah,

Ice, Thats a good ides to put the dynamat on the cup holders. I took mine out and wrapped some electrical tape around the very top to make them fit snug. I like the extra weight though. I probably will take the pass side apart at some point. I just wanted to enjoy the boat in one piece for a little while.

Ok, so after scrapping my current sub setup and disconnecting the kicker in teh boat I have settled on the following.....

3 Image Dynamics 12" IDQv3 subs. 1 for the box under the driver's feet, and 2 for the rear compartment/s.

What do you guys think would be best?
- 1 sub in each compartment
- 2 subs in a single compartment

are you talking about 2 12's in the transom?

No it would be 2 12's in the rear compartment or compartments if I put one in each. They would be in sealed boxes and would probably take up 1/4 of the compartment if I make them right.

Joe,

yeah I know, lol you guys ever get to get out on the water? NUTZ man, but cool and hell. I am sitting here just wishing I could sit in mine let alone mess with it. 3 weeks and counting .....

THE COUNTDOWN STARTITH !!!

Scott, I get out just as much as I can. Although my projects did run over a bit, I planned to be done by April 1st. Got it done be the 3rd week April.

I'm glad I'm not you, I don't know if I could handle a 3 week wait. I'd never get any sleep.

If you want to ride on an Epic, come on up next weekend. We can make it happen.

Joe,

I too was trying to source some lead without a whole lot of luck.

I ended up at home depot. $5-6/55lb bag of sand or gravel. I have just under 385lbs in the nose right now. It's good with the rear tanks at around 1/4-1/2. Any more in the rear and it seems to wash out. Once we get comfortable with the boat as is (coming from a weighted glastron!) I can see running more in the rear but it will require more in the nose. 7 55lb bags of sand fit in the nose in the bags but to get more in, I think we'll just open the bags and pour the sand in under the seats. It would fit way more than ever needed that way and I'd just vacuum it out at the end of the season.

Joe, I wish I could make that happen. I am so geeked to get this thing. 3 week no sleep is going to SUCK AZZ !! =) Only good thing is we haven't had great weather here yet. Seen 80 once, so good and bad with that. When I do get it water will be cold. Wish you were only a few hours cuz I would take you up on it in a second. Central Indiana to I think you are in Minnesota or Wisconsin, either way....long trek...

Oh they sent me a pic of the boat, from their files....but I will post tomorrow at work since they sent it to my email at work... you guys can tell me what you think...

Ian, please, please don't pour sand in your boat. It's never going to vacuum out like you think. It's going to be everywhere. If your set on the sand, I would take 2 contractors bags (doubled up) and set them under the seats, and pour the sand in there. Then pray that they don't break open.

I'm looking for lead for this season, but I think I'm set on getting some trim tabs like twitch for next year. Speaking of which, I'd love to see a full write-up from Twitch. Including brand, size, location of the pump, switches, and pic's of the install, and wake. I know it's a tall order, but I'm not the only one interested in this.

Scott, I hear ya. The ex inlaws live in northern Indy. I think your about 6hrs from Milw. I can make it happen if you can make the trip.

6 hours thats it huh..... maybe one of these days, but with little league and all that crap this month is sick packed. Would LOVE to take you up on it tho...

Twitch-
Ditto- "I'm looking for lead for this season, but I think I'm set on getting some trim tabs like twitch for next year. Speaking of which, I'd love to see a full write-up from Twitch. Including brand, size, location of the pump, switches, and pic's of the install, and wake. I know it's a tall order, but I'm not the only one interested in this."

Twitch,
I sent you a PM about your old Sony remotes. I need the extension cables that go with them since I moved my remote to the side of the transom. I can't seem to find them sold anywhere.

Any of you Epic owners interested in my Wet Sounds XS-XXX woofer? I would sell it for $350. It's brand new and comes with a full factory warranty. Let me know.

Where can I get those glove box springs? I have an '07 and have a Star Gazer upgrade for my PP planned. My speedo hasn't worked since I bought the boat last July, and no speedo = no speed control witch got me good at surfing though due to ease of driving without PP. I assume its the paddle wheel thats hooped and don't think its worth it to fix it. The gps will be more reliable. Also need to get a bimini, our son will be a year old in august and will definitely need some shade. A fae will also be added this year as well.

Also its exciting to see these boats getting more popular up here (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan). I've bugged a couple of dealers up here that they need to sell these boats, and before you know it, I see an ad on Kijiji for Epics and they are gonna be at the boat show. I went to the show and Gary was there with the guys that are starting the dealership. Super nice guy, had lots good info for me, even remembered who the guy was who I bought my boat off of when I told him where I bought it. The father and son team starting the dealership were real nice as well, offered me a demo ride on a new one this summer. I noticed no action on the Epic owners website, are you guys going to go back to there anytime?

Yeah, it is very cool that we have owners here. I think we need to work on Gary to get their site better, and maybe even put a forum for us on there. Thoughts? I can talk to Gary about it.

I just went through looking for them myself... West Marine... they had an 8" one, not listed on website, for $10.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...3257&langId=-1

I finally got a chance to snap some pics.

lightbar - I'm super happy with it. ebay aerial for $150. The wiring was sloppy and needed some tlc but nothing technical - just some careful tucking and bending. I was able to remove the tower clamps and bolt it direct to the existing plate which was really nice. I used the oem 'acc' switch.

wind damn - i have brief description a few posts ago...

random pic - i just dig it!

fae - being fab'd right now and should be on in a week or so.

Looks sweet Ian. What do you mean about your FAE being fabricated? Are you having one made up? Post pics when you get it installed!

Frosty, that's the one. I used 2 part epoxy to attach it to the lid, and screwed it into the fiberglass. Took about 10min, and I works like a charm.

Fred, I started a thread like this one on the owners site, but I never updated it. It didn't seem like anyone else was on there. I keep thinking I'll go back and update it, but I just haven't had the time.

Hey Ian, what color is your boat? I would love to see a side shot, don't see too many with white towers, so I would love to see the snapshot of the whole side views of the boat. I have picked Black with Brushed tower, I am also doing a custom wrap on mine when it gets here. 2-3 weeks still.....uggggggg

Ian-
I really like that light bar, clean look & not intrusive, tucks up under the tower nicely. Do the lights throw good light? Wind dam looks great too.

Frosty-
If you have a supra/mpomba dealer in your area, it's the same spring that supra/mpomba used on the '06 & previous glove boxes. The dealer may have one in stock.

Dale, Larry Mann at FAE is making one up. They just didn't have any in stock but he said with the increasing interest he is going to try keep a couple around and ready to ship out.

Scott, boat is red with the clean and classic graphic. I really like the simplicity of the clean and classic graphic but I am a minimalist. You could do the clean and classic in flat black (or even charcoal) on the gloss black boat and it would be super nice!

Ice, lights throw a good amount of light yeah. Still haven't been out on the water late enough with them to see their effect out there but they sure light up my back yard and the interior of the boat. Unsure of riding with them at dark but surfing would be a non issue. In any case, we won't have to rush back to the dock as the sun sets.

for some reason the pic didn't post

Scot, It's probably to big. You have to scale it down.

no luck...

http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t...c.jpg&newest=1

Ian, That wind dam looks pretty sweet. I'm kind of jealous. It actually has me wondering why I mounted the channel in my boat.

I'm wondering, how does it stay in place? I can see the tabs, but what stops it from falling forward?

Here you go ian.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...eld_9/epic.jpg

joe, Ya man, it is pretty nice that when it's not there, nothing is. It is in at a pretty good slope (follows the slope of the seat backs) and it just leans against the bottom of the window at the top and the tabs lean against the body in the middle. Doesn't budge!

thanks aj

Ian,

I am in the process of getting a wind dam made and am leaning towards your design now as I wouldn't have to mount channels. However, it looks like it would tip forward when you slow down and would rattle around quite a bit as there really isn't anything holding it in place. Does it rattle around?
Thanks!

I am actually the first signer on that owners site. It wouldnt' let me post anything at the time and I have never been back....lol

Nic,

doesn't rattle, fall forward, or anything.

i originally planned on bending the upper 1.5" of the panel back to meet the angle of the windshield. i was then going to have two small velcro circles to hold it in place up top with two more, one on each 'tab' in the middle. needless to say, no velcro was necessary. the angle is great enough that it stays perfectly in place. weight may help with that as well, it is 1/2" plexi so it is pretty heavy.

Ian, do you have a layout of this wind dam? I love the idea of not having channels. I just don't want to try to reinvent the wheel. Hoping you have, or would put something on cardboard for us and send it out?

Being in Canada, shipping a template to the US would be cost prohibitive for the 15 minutes it takes to pull the measurements off the boat. As far as radius goes for the lower corners though, I traced a beer can.

I cut the straight cuts with a festool track saw. dewalt makes one as well or just clamp on a guide and use a circular saw. Jig saw for the radius corners and tabs then a random orbit sander to clean it all up. Quick pass with a torch to melt the edges back to clear and 'voila'.

Let me know if you've got any other questions.

Wow sounds simple...thanks! and it just sits in there and doesnt move or shake huh...cool can't wait to give it a shot. 1/2" huh that may be the key.

Got my driver's compartment box carpeted and the sub/speakers mounted this evening.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...V/IMG00674.jpg

Thanks Frosty, just ordered one. Here's a few pics of the transhield cover. Worked great for outside winter storage. Can't wait to get er wet! http:///Users/fredanderson/Pictures/...3/P1020826.JPGhttp:///Users/fredanderson/Pictures/...3/P1020823.JPGhttp:///Users/fredanderson/Pictures/...3/P1020822.JPG

Oops. How do I post pics?

Fred, click on "manage attachments" in the advanced reply section.

scott,

ya, just be sure to use 1/2" as I'm sure the weight has a lot to do with keeping it in it's place.

Here we are. Thanks Tuneman. Hey anyone have a secret to cleaning off water stains? My boat's windshield is bad on the driver side. It was like that when I bought it, I just figured it would come off easy with Invisible Glass. That didn't work, along with windex and amour all glass cleaners.

50/50 water and vinegar worked for me for water spots. Give that a try for your water stains.

Mario-

I used to use 50/50 water/vinegar on the whole boat, but I recently switched to babes for the hull. I tried babes on the windows, but nothing beats vinegar.

Is anyone here keeping their boat in the water?

Any ill effects in regard to the gelcoat? blistering?

I ask because of the notice that says warranty will not cover gelcoat issues as a result of leaving the boat in the water. Completely ludicrous if you ask me and I have every intention of leaving my watercraft in the water. The same dirty, muddy water that my glastron sat in for 2 summers with no issues.

Longest I have kept mine in the water was a 6 days. No issues, which you would expect haha. This season I bought a lift to keep it up out of the water. Not so much to avoid blistering, but to keep it clean. I agree that its strange that a boat can't sit in the water......There are several marinas near me in which a huge number of people leave their boats floating all season.

Might be a dumb question, but are Epics drive by wire? I'm ordering a star gazer upgrade for my perfect pass and it asks if your boat is DBW.

Throttle and shift are by wire. But there still is a steering cable.

I'm sure they're only concerned with the throttle though.

I would call PP and find out. They have awesome customer service.

With any luck my boat will finally be on the water this weekend!! Can't wait. Its going to get a bath on saturday and then get dumped in. Supposed to have a nice weekend for it as well.

Nic-

Turn it up while u r on the water Saturday...I'll see if i can hear it @ my house :-)......

haha will do ICE! I hooked up my subs last night though and to my horror the wet sounds amp for the subs wasn't working. argggghhhh!! It sure puts out a lot of treble and highs though haha

Ian, every boat manufacturer says the same thing concerning leaving your boat in the water. It's just a common thing with gelcoat to have osmosis going on. Gelcoat is actually porus. If you never had blisters on your last boat, I would suspect that you won't get them on this boat.

*Mechanical engines include any engine that uses a PerfectPass Servo Motor & cable.

** Drive by Wire engines are only found on late model boats from MasterCraft, Nautiques, Malibu, MB, etc. These boats do not have a servo motor and the existing Master Module under dash will be clearly marked DBW.

This is off of the Perfect Pass website. Mine is not DBW.

Fred, They're talking about the throttle cable. The Epic's with the Merc's are DBW.

It's easy enough to tell. With the boat off, move the throttle back and forth. Can you see anything moving near you intake? If so, it's not DBW.

What type of gas is everyone running? The boat is going on the lake tomorrow and needs a fill. I had been just putting in gas right on the lake from the local marina. It costs 4.50 a gallon though. Now that I have a gas buggy I can fill it up in town and cart it to the dock.

I also figured out my subwoofer amp issue. My distribution block that splits my 1/0 gauge power wire into 4 4gauge outputs is fused between each output. I replaced the fuse on the output for the sub amp and it started working. If I put the old fuse back in the amp turned on but would only output an almost inaudible amount of volume. Strangest thing ever.

I always run premium in my boats, but I am always dragging it from home to the lake so it's easy to fill up at the station and get some beer and ice too!!! =)

All Epic Volvo Penta engines are a "hybrid" drive system. (if I mistaken let me know)

For the purpose of PPass it is mechanical.

I have been through every system of the V Penta engine so unless there is a certified tech here, I will be more than happy to answer any questions you have about that 8.1 Volvo Penta in our Epics.

I use Reg 87 with no issues in my Penta engine.

87 octane works just fine.

Nic, that fuse thing is wierd. I've never heard of that. Usually it's all or nothing.

Sounds like I'll fill up my buggy with 87 then.

Yeah Joe, that is why it didn't even cross my mind to check the fuse. I figured it can't be a blown fuse if it still powers up.

The boat is rockin loud now though wow! Loud and tight. The subs are some of the best I've heard.

Hey guys, I know it is still early (hell my boat isn't here yet) but I would love some water pics of you guys out USING these PIMP boats...... throw em up.

Joe, Ice, Nic, Fred come on.....you got the boat now lets see the skills BEHIND the boat....=)

haha i have about 0 skills as I have only wakeboarded 3 times in my life. This will be the year I learn. I can ride and carve no problem as I am quite a good snowboarder, but I have only landed a wake to wake jump once and it wasn't pretty.

It's been 50 and raining for what seems like a month now. It's sposed to finally warm up this weekend but I can't get out. I do have some pic's from last fall though. I'll post them this evening.

Looking good guys like those mods! The following link has some shots of guys riding behind an EPIC in New Zealand at a comp that we towed.

2010 WakeStyles

Yeah mine is definitely mechanical. Ordered the Stargazer upgrade and FAE today. Can't wait. I won't get on the water till last weekend in May though.

I've heard ethanol gasoline is bad for boats. Where I usually fill up with 87, it says "may contain ethanol" for regular and mid grade, but premium is ethanol free. Gas is stupid expensive up here, so I've always just put in regular. No issues yet, knock on wood. Not sure how much they mean by "may contain" anyway.

I also plan on getting a lot more pics this year. Will post as they come.

Scotty-

After I FINALLY landing a wake-to-wake a few years back, I thought that naturally the next step was to try sometype of grab with a little twist or something (don't really know exactly what I was trying to do?) Anyways, I landed it...ON MY HEAD! About knocked myself out...dazed...ears ringing for like 30 minutes...not good.

22MPH + 255lbs.+ eating $h!T head first= Surfing's best friend!

That was early summer of '07, haven't strapped on my wakeboard since :-)

Here's a pic, not really showcasing my 'limited' skillz, but I like the shot

ICE

Yeah that pic is very cool. Love the sunlight. Almost like you are holding the sun. Cool. I too took a massive header last year which really slowed me down. This year I am rocking a new board, new bindings, NEW BOAT!! and best of all new HELMET. =) So my hope is all those things combined (helmet esp) will alloy me to try some things and not knock myself stupid. I would much rather lose brain cells with a Coors Light in hand than to knock them out. As soon as I get the boat I will take pics and post, and also take some of my first run behind her! I seriously can't wait. I think my first run is going to come with Gary Smith, the owner of Epic, when I pick up the boat. He also said he may be able to get a few really great riders to show us a few things. Don't know if that means pro's or not but we will see. Cool pic, guess all of us EPIC owners have deep wallets but not deep skills....go figure...HA.

Here's last fall. We did surf for a little while, but we didn't get any good pic's.

And yes, I did eat it on that last one!

For those of you with the channeling installed for your wind dams. Do you find yourself kicking the channeling often or wishing it wasn't there?

I haven't kicked it at all. Mine is black, so it blends in nicely with the window frame and heater vents. My buddy came over just this morning and said how nice it turned out.

So to answer your question, no. I actually like it the way it is.

Nic-
We haven't kicked it yet, but we have only been out once with it since installing the channeling, it hasn't been a problem yet.

Below are some pics of the drain plug in the bottom of the cooler...SO MUCH NICER than having to pump or hand bail the water out. My dealer mechanic installed it right next to the V. He installed it towards the back of the cooler, a guy could probably install closer to the front or right in the middle if they wanted to. Just uplug on your after coming up the ramp and by the time you are home, all your water is gone...SO MUCH BETTER!

Drain looks good. That's one I'll do for sure. Thanks for posting pics.

Wow weren't you freaking out to put a hole in the bottom of that boat? Not sure I can have the balls to do that. What does that do to the factory warranty?

Ice, That looks good. I have the parts for mine, just haven't had the time for the install.

Scott, I talked to Jason at Epic. He said it would NOT void the warranty.

Nice Joe. You going to do it yourself? Is it true you should run the drill in the opposite direction when cutting a hole in the hull? avoid chipping?

I am hopeful my damn boat will be here soon. Been almost 3 weeks now. I can't hardly stand myself.

my youngest, this is his 2nd season. and the 2nd one was from Jan

I dunno about that drain location, then again I can't remember if your cooler has a drain to the bilge like mine does. I mounted mine in the flat portion of hull in between the scupper and paddle wheel. My bilge pump is there also instead of in the rear like yooz guys!

yeah you do have a drain that enters the bilge. I would pull that and let the water drain into the engine compartment bilge and then let it drain from there. either way you have to pull a plug. I remember when driving the '09, we would cruise for like a minute at 9mph, get the bow up and water would drain aft, put the plug back in and the bilge would take care of the rest. If you really need a plug, put in the flat section of hull right in front of the tranny and under that rear pass seat cushion. My .02.

Scott, yeah I am doing it myself. And yes it is very important to run the drill backwards for about 3/16". You have to make sure to go easy through the gel coat.

Fred, I hear what your saying about draining the cooler to the back. But I really don't want to keep mixing the engine bilge water with the cooler water. In fact, once I drill the cooler, I'm going to put some silicone in the hole that goes back. My buddy is making my a V shaped drain hole. That way I can mount it in the center and get all the water out.

Have any of you done the 20 hour service yet? I'm assuming some have, but quite a few of us on here got our boats end of season last year. I was just wondering if I should have them replace the impeller when I have the service done.

I'm having it done this weekend. I went out last night and noticed that the trim gauge stopped working the whole time we were on the water. You could still adjust it but the gauge was stuck on zero. It was like this for about two hours until I put the boat back on the trailer and all of the sudden the gauge worked again????? Any ideas on what was shorted out in the water?

Nic,

I did 20 hr service with winterization last fall. Just take it in to a local certified mercury shop and they'll take care of you.

I didn't do the impeller but of course it wouldn't hurt.

Just broke 40 hrs the last day out. would be happy to break 50 by this time next week...keep it up weather!

Sweet thanks Ian. I think I will get my impeller done as long as I have it in there. I had a buddy last year whose impeller shredded and really created a pain in the ass. Granted, he had an open loop cooling system so it created a bigger headache, but I wouldn't want the same to happen.

I recently calibrated my perfect pass over the weekend and I have since had several instances where I get no speed reading at all, both when trying to use perfect pass and when just cruising. Anyone had this happen before?

We finally had some nice weather on a day that I wasn't completely booked up. We got out and messed with the surf wake a bit. So far, the best we found was, front and left full, another 600# (well maybe 500#, the bag wasn't full) in the left rear storage, 11.7mph, and 1/2 trim tab. We had 2 guys, and my girl in the boat. The wake was big, with plenty of push. Next time out I'm going to try more weight up front, rear locker full, and maybe a little in the right. Also, I'm hoping more front weight will equal less tab.

The tab is sweet for tweaking the wake. But you sacrifice wake height for a longer pocket.

I still can't believe how fast this thing gets out of the hole with all this weight. It really is impressive.

Joe,
Do you have the smart tow set to 11.7 when surfing?

I think this is sorta funny. The EPIC owners are some of the most active on this site. This thread is soooo long now.

11.7 on the smart tow.

That's another thing that rocks. It holds speed better then my Perfect Pass ever did. And at the time, I thought it did a pretty good job.

I especially like the launch settings. You get the same pull every time.

Thanks Joe,
I'm still at work and saw I missed your call. Assume you were calling about the smart tow. Greg told me to turn the boat on and off via the push button on the throttle instead of the key. That way the GPS brain does not lose power and have to re-aquire the satellite signal.

Nic, That's true. He told me the same last season. I needed a pic of your trailer suspension. If you could, hold the camera right between your wheels. I need to look at where the 2 springs meet at the equalizer. That's If your trailer is at home.

My trailer is at my parents house. I will be heading there saturday morning to take the boat out. Is that too late or would you still like me to snap one?