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New to me malibu vlx
So just picked up a 97 malibu sunsetter vlx... Has the monsoon 320, wakeboard tower, rack, runs pretty good and the interior is completely trashed.... Only paid 5700 for a vdrive with tandem trailer so I'm pretty stoked! My plans are to get it upholstered like the early 2000s wakesetter vlx and build the seating wrap around like them also.... Then I will add perfect pass.... 2k lbs of plumbed ballast and rev 10s for the tower. I will post more pics in a bit... I just got it in Houston and have 15 hour drive home.
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Here's some pics. The tower is removed for storing so I just left it off till I get home. I believe it's the wake hull? Any info on that?
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...71A21B2FA0.jpg http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...726A6EC647.jpg |
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great find. Enjoy it!
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Nice find, and I wouldn't say that interior is "completely trashed'....I've seen way worse than that. It's pretty rough looking, but at least it's all there.
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Thats about the cheapest V drive i have seen. Was it a salt water boat?
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The guy I bought it from bought it 7 years ago from a guy who occasionally used it in salt water... He replaced the exhaust manifolds on it because they were showing rust... The rest of engine looks pretty good except the alternator looks rusted... Just surface tho. I've bought some fishing boats that were used in salt and all the stainless still was ruined buy it on the boat, this one doesn't show anything except the little rust in the motor... But it's also 17 years old so I'm not too concerned about a little rust.
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Good find. Post some more pics!
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Yes, it's the wake hull That is a steal of a deal.
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[URL=http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/jamespjackson95/media/37190FF4-393C-413F-A41B-2D59406B1E61.jpg.html]http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...59406B1E61.jpg[/http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...41D6350C1B.jpgURL]
Here's one in Baton Rouge... Got 10+ hours till I get home http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...A0AC7EBCDB.jpg |
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...41D6350C1B.jpg
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...38904D63CD.jpg 4 blade prop http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...A0A3CA6F78.jpg Boat only needs a little love, a lot of tlc, and a little money to be looking good. It also came with two pretty high dollar amps, but the tower speakers were stolen of the tower...it's an air boom tower if you were wondering. |
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That a steal. A had a 96 dd sunsetter that made a great wake. Does yours have the wedge? Her is a surfing pic from it. Attachment 34866
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Nope doesn't have a wedge. I plan on just installing ballast
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That is a steal. Great find. That's one of those types of deals I hope to find when I'm in the market.
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Anyone do a wrap around seating conversion? Also my big sun pad/ engine cover on interstate is in Louisiana in the middle of interstate 10... Don't know how but wind got up under it and ripped the screws right out of it... Figured it wasn't worth getting since I am building the compartment like the wakesetters (2 side hatches, and one bigger engine cover). With that being said does anyone have pictures of their upholstery 2000-2006 wakesetter vlx or v ride? Also has anyone done a wrap around conversion for seating and have pics? Thanks
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sweet dude. That didnt take long. Just got all new steering setup in the sanger, can turn it with a pinky now. Maybe i'll be looking for a Vdrive when your done with this one.
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Did you fix it yourself? It was pretty easy wasn't it? |
Unless you want a party boat or have rockstar bikini models lounging on your boat LEAVE THE SEATING AS IT IS!!! I have a 96 VLX and the rear bench is superior! I have way more floor space to walk around, put coolers, bags, car seats, wedge surf boards next to the drivers seat. I will admit that the wrap around looks WAY cooler and modern but is not as useful/functional. I can have 4 on the bench, 2 on the observers 1 driving and 2 in front and the boat is not packed. With wrap around seating there are always feet on the seats, 2 people don't fit comfortably in the observers seat.
If you have a small crew wrap around is fine. p.s. My 96 is always garage kept and it makes me sick to see that boat neglected:) I had my sunpad,observers seat bottom, and entire bench redone for around $700 by a lady in michigan. If you are interested hit me up and I can get you her info and I am sure she could make you some seat skins and ship them to you cheaper. |
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http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=799667 His is a little more intense since he cut out the original back seat crossbrace and built a new one, but it'll at least give you an idea of what to do if you decide to go that route. Also will show you how to frame up the rear deck area to build side trunks with separate lids. Personally I'm on the same page as others and I wouldn't do the wraparound in a boat that size. Sure it'll give you more underseat storage, but it will eat up a lot of real estate in what is already a fairly small boat to begin with. Honestly for the size of the boat/capacity, you've got plenty of seating options available already. And that's a good chunk of money that you could be putting into other things like all new interior and stereo upgrades. |
Great find. I would also say leave the seating as is. I have had a '97 VLX since 2007 and thought I would build wrap around seating for it but love the more floor space that comes with the rear bench style seat. If anything I thought about making an extra seat out of a cooler. Dual porpose. As for the rear hatch I took out the electric lift and just added gas shocks to it, it works out pretty good. But I guess you don't have that option anymore since you don't have the rear sun pad.
And the wake on this boat is great. I had a friend with an '05 V ride and the wakes were almost the same when filled with the same weight. They did refine the hull some time around 2000 and his wake was a lot more firm that mine but the '97 wake is still awesome. 2 750's in the rear locker and the fat seat bottom in the ski locker(that runs around 400) and 1-2 people on board and the wake is very nice. With that weight it is at the point where it will start to porpoise up and down in the front but if you add just a little weight in the nose it will take care of that. I would say the wake is very close to the original Xstars. Then if you add more weight to the bow it become bigger and way more rampy. I had the 1000 # triangle in the bow for a couple years then switched to a 440# sac |
Thanks for help guys... I'm sold... Gonna leave the seats how they are and just have them upholstered. I wanna get it done with as little white as possible... Thinking mainly grey with red piping and maybe a little white.
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My interior used to be all white with purple and teal striping, It was ripped and ratted just like yours, and when I did it I also went light grey/dark grey with blue striping.
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Going to a three piece rear deck would be a big improvement though.
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Also I really want this boat to fit into my garage so that I will be able to work on it much more than if I had to store it somewhere... The platform comes off but the tongue of the trailer sticks out much farther than any other trailer I've ever had... I really just need a standard trailer for this boat which should fit it my garage or would atleast allow me to get a foldable tongue. If anyone has a standard tandem trailer for an inboard that they would trade for this one let me know. Mine is also aluminum (I guess that's for salt), has 4 tires that are less than a week old. Just throwing it out if anyone wants to trade trailers.
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So decided to do the upholstery myself. For the first time it actually turned out really good. Really update the boat a lot. I still have to do the sun pad and drivers seat. Can someone with same VLX hull that had a 3 piece sunpad send me the dimensions of the side pieces. Carpet tomorrow. Let me know what y'all think
URL=http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/jamespjackson95/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image.jpg.html]http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...oads/image.jpg[/URL] |
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Looking great! Head to themalibucrew.com for more info!
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Someone's got some skills! Upholstery looks great!
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Wow! Your skins look great! I am having my skins redone as we type. Supposed to be done Friday morning for pick up
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That is a huge improvement. You did a great job on the interior, especially considering it's your first time. Looks good.
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That is impressive, great job!
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Thanks guys. I'm doing the carpet as we speak. Can't wait to see how good it looks when it gets finished.
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Update carpet is nearly finished. The original carpet was tucked under the fiberglass in the bow area and that proved pretty difficult to do so I found some rubber trim like material at lowes to transition from the carpet to he gelcoat walls of the bow and observers seat. Finishing up the seats now.
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...73B82E00DC.jpg http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...EBB93F1001.jpg |
All finished except the drivers seat. It seemed to be a little tight so I will be redoing it.
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...DCA79234EE.jpg |
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dude, your getting there man... not bad for doing it yourself... you ready to sell it yet?
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Yeah a good wetsand and buff and she will be sold
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Pretty sweet for your first time. Not professional quality, but definitely very good work for a first time DIYer. I'd be proud of it if I did it. Corners and bends are hard to wrap perfect. Awesome job!
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Not too shabby. Definitely can tell it was a DIY job, but still way better than dropping a couple grand on having it done professionally. Hit the vinyl with a heat gun and it should help pull out some of those wrinkles and make it look a bit better. But I'd still rock that boat in a heartbeat, and with the money you saved you better be installing a badass stereo next lol
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Yes definitely not perfect by any means. If you remember what it looked like before it's atleast 10x better. I made the back sunpad out of 3/4" marine plywood and cut out a hole for the air filter to allow the sunpad to sit flush then I used some scrap metal to cover the hole on too of the plywood. Then I added foam and upholstered it. We had a great time yesterday. It ran 100% perfect and had plenty of power. I had about 7 people on board and it still was plenty of space. Prolly wouldn't wouldn't want any more tho. So glad I didn't do a wrap around seating because there is so much floor space. I was going to do a 3 piece sunpad but the hinges I got weren't quite the right ones I needed so I backed out. The wake behind the boat was awsome. It was better with no ballast and just 7 people than my supra launch was with 3k lbs!!! It's like the bu's wake just kicked you up in the air. Also we didn't have any ballast bc my tsunami pump broke so we surfed with just people weight and it was easily enough to go rope less for a good while. Boat was really easily to maintain speeds to my suprise.
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^That is awesome, that's what a good hull will do for you. Great wake with minimal effort.
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Boat is now for sale... I think my asking price is pretty fair. I just changed impeller, oil, and filter this week... Ready to go.
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/boa/4569197242.html |
How did you end up selling it for? How much did you actually put in it?
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