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Old     (olmoomba)      Join Date: Apr 2010       05-26-2011, 12:52 PM Reply   
New platform on a 07? Or is that an 08, OR did you get a throw back graphic?
Old     (timmyb)      Join Date: Apr 2007       05-26-2011, 1:02 PM Reply   
That's an '07. Not mine, it belongs to my buddy. I will try and get some pictures this weekend of the surf wave with the new platform and post them up.
Old     (txaggie929)      Join Date: May 2011       05-26-2011, 1:06 PM Reply   
Did he cut and modify his original paltform or get a whole new setup?
Old     (timmyb)      Join Date: Apr 2007       05-26-2011, 1:35 PM Reply   
That's a whole new setup. No idea on what that would cost but I think a dealer might be able to get one for you.
Old     (LanceM)      Join Date: Jun 2014       06-09-2014, 1:45 PM Reply   
Im now the proud owner of a used 2009 Epic Wakeboat. Ive been reading threads and basically learning from you guys, the experts, on what mods I needed to do to make the boat more... Enjoyable

Everyone that has contributed to this thread has been a huge help in giving me the knowledge and courage to attempt some of these mods.

First some boat pics of when I got her!



Pulling her out of dry storage


Boat + Tow vehicle!


First and most important mod was to replace aged carpeted plywood with solid wood with new carpet.


Next was to get pads and covers for the PVC pipe... First time we took her out, wife ran into PVC, but into her defense, it was VERY windy and coming from an inboard/outboard, inboards are easier to dead steer.


The Kicker speakers in the transom (subs) had the paint falling off due to corrosion. I took them off, stripped the grills, primed and painted to almost factory color... Looks alot better now!


Added an on-board charger... I was concerned when the volts read 12.3 instead of 13.x so I installed the charger thinking I was going to get a bad battery or 2, and the actually tested just fine. Still monitoring it though.


Added new trailer hardware... Also added new chains to replace sticky metal cables.


Next up was my first BIG project... Adding cleats... Almost all my mods have been well documented here, but this one... I was... On my own... So I came up with a plan... Create an aluminum back-plate that I could also use as a template for the holes. This way I could not screw up the actual holes I was going to drill in the boat since I was going to use the back-plate to drill the actual boat holes.
Back-plate fitting


Taping it down before drilling. Notice I drilled directly above the speaker, this is so I could tighten the nuts down properly. Needed deep socket and extension to reach them, but the ratchet did the job perfectly.


Holes drilled!


Finished






Added traction to fender, as I noticed I was also getting swirl marks on the fender from sand/gravel on my shoes.


Added the drain for the ice chest and sealed bilge port. This was easier than I thought but seems so practical.







More to come... FAE has been measured like 3 times... 3D lettering... Boats are fun to work on!
Old     (usostyle)      Join Date: Apr 2006       06-09-2014, 4:43 PM Reply   
Nice work Lance & welcome to the Epic family! The mods you have made are a definite must, nice work. You are on the right track making FAE your next mod, it's night and day with that thing on there, especially the noise reduction. Since you're enjoying customizing and modifying your Epic, below are a few other mods that we've done that you may want to consider.

-Dynamat the carbon fiber, panel and other areas near the subwoofer- basically the Starboard side of the boat. don't know about yours, but mine had a lot of rattles straight from the factory. Dynamat killed them. Be sure to put it on the bottom of the cup holders, wierd i know, but it works. sounds great now, no rattles.
-Rear Cup holders along rails (2) on each side near rear deck- that will give u spots to put your beverages instead of your swim deck (your 1st pick) :-)
cup holder next to glove box
-Trash hole chute for trash- send me a message if want details on where we put it and what we used as a port chute. throw your damn emptys and trash in the trash and not in the cooler or leave empty in the cup holders (pet peeve of mine, problem solved) :-)
-Wind dam- i can send you details on this as well
-net pockets on underside of bimini- helps with shirts, sunscreen, etc. stole the idea from the zcargo racks
-surf board pockets on top side of bimini- we added 2 pockets that fit (2) thick surf boards in each. we added a stability strap to bimini that basically clips around tow eye/light on the tower to provide additional support/strength.
-longer heater hoses. basically removed the heater hose cylinders and then got 10' of raw hose and hooked straight up to heater core and used the stock ends from the hose that was in the cylinder hoses.
-Rear hatch straps- i can send you pics, pretty basic but super helpful to be able to pull hatches open. also put snaps on them to snap down during long roadies. the hatches have been known to fly open if hatch is full and you hit a bump just right
-net pockets on inside of rear deck lids- storage for fins, shirts, etc.
-(3) of these sunglasses visor clips (double sided) to clip onto windshield- best $15 you will spend so peeps sunglasses etc. aren't taking up your valuable cup holders (another pet peeve of mine :-)) they stay clamped on the windshield just fine even when removing and putting boat cover on. Here are the ones we have. http://www.amazon.com/Type-S-Double-.../dp/B000K36BCI

One thing that we haven't done yet, but looking to do is adding additional padding along top of back seat. their is no padding between the plastic and vinyl and we've banged knees, shins etc. on it way too many times. Let me know if that is a project you take on and I would love to pick your brain about it.

Anyways, welcome to the Epic fam. Feel free to contact me with any questions and please share any additional mods you make that haven't been posted on this thread, I'd love to see and learn!

Last edited by usostyle; 06-09-2014 at 4:45 PM.
Old     (LanceM)      Join Date: Jun 2014       06-10-2014, 8:14 AM Reply   
Thanks Ice, I owe you a lot, since you are one of the major contributors to just about all Epic threads! Glad you still monitor the old threads.

The FAE is and was my first purchase, but they constantly need measurements. It has taken a while to get to the point where they have now charged me $100 as some sort of deposit for them to start building. On this front, it seems they now offer 2 models for our boat, a solid single piece or a multiple piece with the rubber tubing that connects to the boat. I basically told him in our last email, chose whichever one you want and works best for the boat. Will take pix and post it if it is the new model. I even offered to take my boat to him, since he is about 1.5 hours away, so he could get it right. We shall see if he wants the boat or not.

Dynamat – I do plan on doing this at some point. Esp. behind the main sub. Where can I get the tar paper or the Dynamat at? I do have a question for you though, how do you get the cupholders out? Are they siliconed in? I was also missing one of the two right near the driver’s seat. I bought a black plastic one and now know why it’s missing. It doesn’t fit, there is some ducting below the “right or aft” cupholder that prevents it from seating itself. I’m curious if you had the same issue or know of the ducting that I’m speaking about?

Rear Cup Holders – Ice, you love cutting holes in your boat lol. I do want to add these but Im not in much of a hurry. What size hole saw did you use for them? I will not try to add the one next to the dash, I saw your work doing that one, way to risky for me! Again you are a much braver guy than me cutting holes lol!

Trash Hole – I would like to add this, please send me what you have.

Wind Dam – Im not to sold on this yet. My reasons, I came from a nice Sea Ray that had this piece and I found I never actually opened the door and locked it in. Had that boat for 5 years and can only recall once that I did it, and it was pouring rain and I was trying to keep dry. Besides the project value of it (I love projects), do you really use this?

Net Pockets – Yes… I want to do this 100%, and and all pockets, everywhere, yes I want them! lol

Surf Board pockets – Yes, again, 100%

Heater Hoses – I live in San Antonio, and I laughed when I saw the boat had a heater. Never in my life have I had a boat with an actual heater, and with hoses. I don’t know if I will ever use it, and have given some thought to removing it completely due to the space the hoses all take up. So I’m not ready to expand it yet hehe…

Sunglass clips – On order!

The padding issue… For my clarification, this is the solid back of the rear cushions that if you place your knee on the top of, thinking its padded, will quickly remind you that it is not padded? Yes I know of this backing and yes, it has managed to “teach” me that it is not soft. I really have no ideas on how to fix this, and I’m not a vinyl guy, but if you have ideas, I would love to try them!

Here is the 3D lettering that came in, honestly, it looks amazing. The previous owner must have placed the solid white ones on himself and did the best job he could have, but they were not level. Hope you like.

Old     (Iceberg)      Join Date: Dec 2011       06-10-2014, 6:56 PM Reply   
Since we are reviving this thread...

I recently re-upholstered the interior for about $500 with Navigator vinyl. All cutting and sewing by me and it was a PITA to pull all the staples, especially the rusty ones from a previous repair! I went with darker colours, but I recommend staying with light or white!

The ugly underside!











Surf System from last year. To do it again I would make a NSS style.





The beauty of the system is the FLAT area right up to the boat. I am sure some of you know what I am talking about, many boats have a concave transition that catches the boards.


Cold on the outside and warm where it counts!
Old     (brichter14)      Join Date: Jul 2010       06-11-2014, 5:29 AM Reply   
Thats really cool man great job!
Old     (LanceM)      Join Date: Jun 2014       06-11-2014, 6:10 AM Reply   
I wish I was a vinyl person... That looks really nice!
Old     (usostyle)      Join Date: Apr 2006       06-14-2014, 8:30 PM Reply   
Nice work Frank, that looks great man! I would love to pick your brain about why nss type vs. the gate type? Your gate type looks like it really engthens the wave, i like the look of the wave. Did it lose much of the wave's push?

Lance-
Answers below.

Dynamat – I got mine from a local car audio shop. My cup holders were not sliconed in, they just sat in the holes, free floating, no silicon, double backing tape etc. I seem to remember there are some cabling/wires that run right next to/under those cup holders. I think I just moved them to the side of those two holders down by the drivers feet?

Rear Cup Holders – :-). The cup holders were 4" hole at the top. The 4" is the measurement of the inside of the cup holder lip,, so I used a 4" blade. One FYI- we drilled the holes with the saw in reverse (counter-clockwise). Drilling the other way, the blade was too aggressive and wanted to jump and 'grab' the gelcoat. reverse gave us an even, 'non-grabby' saw that we could control the cut much better. Don't know if it was just the specific blade and saw we were using, but reverse worked much better.

Trash Hole – I used the same 4" saw and drilled the hole, in saw in reverse (see pics). I used a car stereo speaker box plastic air port hole. I recommend the 4" port so you can stuff most beverage cans/bottles etc. through it. Obviously measure everything before you drill. Drill the hole and then slide the port right in. If measurements are accurate, it should fit nice and tight. On the backside of the port, inside of the storage bin, we use a white kitchen trash bag that have the built in drawstrings. Draw them down to about the port size. we then put an elastic band around the outside of the bag and slide both onto the port. make sure the elastic band will fit snug/tight on the port and you're good to go. Then when you are done after a day on the water, you just remove the trash bag, replace it with a new one and you're ready for the next outing. Please excuse the nasty stain on the 2nd pic.

Wind Dam – We live in Idaho...YES, we use it ALL THE TIME...probably not a big need for it in Texas :-)

Net Pockets – I had a local upholstery shop put them in, I have absolutely NO upholstery skills. I just showed them what I wanted and they made it happen.

Surf Board pockets – I had a local upholstery shop put them in, I have absolutely NO upholstery skills. I just showed them what I wanted and they made it happen.

Heater Hoses – Yeah, again, we live in Idaho and use it ALL THE TIME, so much so that we had a local seamstress make us some big water resistant blankets that have elastic heater hose insert holes at the bottom to insert the heater hose into and feet pockets to tuck our feet into. A must for my wife and kiddos.

Sunglass clips – BEST $10-$15 accessories you can by for your boat...

The padding issue… yes, that is exactly where I am talking about. My only thought was to unstable the upholstery, pull it back, put in some type of padding along that plastic part then pull the upholstery back over it and staple? Frank Berg may be able to shed some light on this since he recently re-upholstered? I wonder if there is enough extra existing upholstery to put some padding in and pull back over and staple?

I'm digging the 3D lettering looks great!
Attached Images
  
Old     (Apexer)      Join Date: Jun 2014       06-22-2014, 10:55 PM Reply   
Hey guys. nice to see some epics on here. plus been a large help doing some of the mods to mine. I look forward to doing more as well.

I have had a couple issues with mine, but its all mostly ironed out now.

I do have a question. anyone having erratic issues with Merc Tow control. Mine is all over the map and sometimes the speedo doesn't work. been trying to trouble shoot that one. most of the time I just have to switch it to RPM mode and run it.

oh heres a pic of my beast.

oh and for the soapy squirt gun for lubing the wakeboard bindings up. I got lazy and didn't want to pump the bottle so I mounted a Windshield washer resivor and pump out of a 92 chevy 1500 fits prefect under the RH side beside the bennett pump. this way always have pressure.

heres a pic of my rig
Attached Images
 
Old     (usostyle)      Join Date: Apr 2006       06-23-2014, 11:46 AM Reply   
Dean- yes we had issues with our smarttow when we purchased our boat new in '09. After some troubleshooting by the dealer & merc, they replaced the pod that sits in the dash & that seemed to fix it. We haven't had an issue since. Good luck!
Old     (fuzzball147)      Join Date: Apr 2010       07-01-2014, 8:42 AM Reply   
I have an 08 as well! Could you please do a step by step and materials for your cooler drain? My only big issue with my boat is the water I can't ever seem to get out of the cooler! Thanks so much for the help!
Old     (chillinoj)      Join Date: May 2009       07-01-2014, 11:08 AM Reply   
Wow such great ideas, I can't wait to get an EPIC of my own. It took one ride and I was hooked. Lance, congrats on the boat and awesome you're going to take such good care of it. Just curious what did you end up getting it for? I was following that one pretty closely on onlyinboards and wondered if there was wiggle room there.
Old     (usostyle)      Join Date: Apr 2006       07-01-2014, 10:44 PM Reply   
Brian- For the cooler drain, I had the dealer install it. Obviously make sure your dealer knows how and is comfortable installing them. The best drain plug to use is the same drain plug that direct drives have at the bottom of the engine compartment. It's a huge time saver and no more trying to figure out how to get the cooler water out after each outing. Good luck...
Old     (Apexer)      Join Date: Jun 2014       07-12-2014, 4:26 PM Reply   
Finally GPS is fixed up. it was the puck that was on the dash. I ended up finding a bran new one for 300 bucks cause I thought 600 was a little steep from the merc dealer here. replaced it did a calibrating and works awesome. Loving the system now. Do you guys have a P/N for the cooler drain and the tie down cleats?
Old     (LanceM)      Join Date: Jun 2014       05-27-2015, 6:07 AM Reply   
Time to "wake" this thread up!!! Brian... Sorry for the late reply.. I paid asking price, but got a wakesurf board and rope thrown in...

Had a slight accident at a shallow ramp that ended up costing me about $1500 in repairs to the prop/shaft, lesson learned...

Oil change, spark plugs, testing, 2 sensor replaced cost me another $1000...

Had a wiring issue with the bilge pump at the back of the boat... Before I had issues, I replaced both battery's, but due to getting slightly confused and Epic using a black positive wire... I have replaced the bilge pump with a new one (and a red wire) and now I'm working perfect... The black wire (that was meant to be connected to the positive terminal) was connected back to the ground side of the battery.. So when the pump was switched on, it would work, but when it would auto kick on, it would pop the fuse... This took weeks for me to figure out sadly... lesson learned!

Weather is just RAIN RAIN RAIN in Central Texas right now.. No complaints, but haven't been able to get the boat out once yet since getting her back from the stealership... That being said, the lakes are FULL or filling up nicely around San Antonio/Austin....

Thinking its time to add some cup holders... 4" ones.... So Im going to go back and re-read the entire thread again....

Still loving my Epic...
Old     (LanceM)      Join Date: Jun 2014       05-27-2015, 6:09 AM Reply   
Dean.. Glad you got the GPS working!!!

Here is the info for the cooler plug I used...

Perko 0266DP0PLB Garboard Drain Plug 3/4

http://www.jmsonline.net/perko-garbo...-isaAvS78P8HAQ

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