Bought my first boat!

[Kaybol]

Hey guys, new here!

So I just bought my first 1996 Fours Winns Horizon 190 boat and will need advise and will have questions for you guys. The engine/stern drive look all good and it seems that it was used only on freshwater since I can't see any salt deposits anywhere. Now as for the interior it will need some work done to have it up to my standards. All the seats are torn or the stitches came loose and will have to redo all of them including the sunbed. Now as for my first question, does anyone know anybody that does boat upholstery for decent price in NJ (preferably Union county)? The battery is missing so my second question is what kind of batter does it need? I will take pictures of before and after the repairs and will post. Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[Bigdave196]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Congrats on the purchase...welcome to Iboats.

ALWAYS USE A DEEP CYCLE MARINE BATTERY. They come in many different sizes so you need to take your boat with you to any Auto parts store and get the one that fits into your battery box. remember DEEP CYCLE/Maine application. They are designed for this particular use. The price is about $20-$30 more but its cheap insurance and money well spent.

I am not from your area but I can make a huge reccomendation. If you are planning to store the boat outdoors, get either an awning or some form of structure to protect the boat. Sun fades the gelcoat(paintjob) and destroys the interior faster then you could wear it out.

I would also reccomend looking into a full cover or having a cover made to protect your interior that snaps into place over each exposed area like on newer boats.

Interior upholstery is not a cheap thing but it makes a world of difference on looks and comfort. Lighter colors (tan/white's) tend to not get as hot as say darker colors (blues/reds). So keep that in mind. Best advice is to keep the origional colors and designs unless using a simpler look is more budget worthy.

Take the boat to a local reputable shop and have them do a complete over look on the boat,(BEFORE YOU PUT IT IN THE WATER-you dont want to learn about an issue the worst way). This is money very well spent. Also ask about certain maintenance questions to become more familliar about your boat, like tune up intervals, oil changes, and ask for a manuel to purchase so you can become better accquanted with your boat. They can be a lot of fun if maintained or your worst nightmare if neglected when they brek due to simple maintenance being over looked.

Have your gimble bearing, u-joints and water pumps looked at. These are located in the outdrive if your boat is equiped with an I/O and not an Outboard motor. Inboard/Outboard motors have the engine in the back of the boat and the Outdrive out the rear ov the boat.

I hope this helps.
Good Luck

 

[dkorzun21]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Congrats on your new boat. Post some pics and let us know what you do with the seats because mine are starting to peal from the back

 

[Kaybol]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Thanks a lot for the input, will take all of that into consideration. The boat is white and blue so will keep the same colors.

 

[madurodave]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Congrats!

 

[Kaybol]

Re: Bought my first boat!

These are some pics of the boat as it is right now. As you can see, the seats are torn up. I'm looking for someone that can repair them. I called one place and the guy told me that it would cost me $2600. He's gotta be out of his mind.

 

[JDP]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Redoing upholstery id fairly simple if either you or your wife can sew. I redid mine using a cheapy sewing machine from Walmart with the biggest needle I could find. The easiest way is to undo the stitching from the original seats or whatever and trace the pattern onto a new piece of material. Then measure how far the original seam was from the edge of the material and sew it the same. May not come out perfect but it will more than likely look better what you currently have.

 

[NoKlu]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Take the boat to an upholstery shop for the estimate as over the phone wont be accurate. It looks from the pics like they just need to be sewn back together for the most part. If it was mine I'd try to find a used sewing machine and give it a whirl myself. It seems like most places charge way too much to do the easy boat interiors. Youtube is full of instructional videos on the subject. Some guys are doing it with a regular machine and just go slow and have a bunch of needles on hand.

 

[Kaybol]

Re: Bought my first boat!

What kind of thread is used for stitching?

 

[Kaybol]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Any idea where I could purchase the marine vinyl (what kind/type) for the seats and the carpet (kind) for the floor?

 

[NoKlu]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Better stuff than the factory used? Any sewing shop will be able to set you up with the right stuff if you let them know what you are doing.

 

[south texas]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Better stuff than the factory used? Any sewing shop will be able to set you up with the right stuff if you let them know what you are doing.

You're right on NoKlu. I recovered some seats on my last boat. The people at the fabric store were very helpful. I had never done it before, so they gave a few helpful hints. Cost about $30 bucks for the marine vinyl and another 20 or 30 for misc. I do recommend buying a heat gun too. It will help make the vinyl soften up and stretch easier.

 

[Kaybol]

Re: Bought my first boat!

What do you guys think about this carpet? Marine Carpet

 

[sewerrat]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Congrats . .I too just bought a 1996 Four Winns 190 as my first boat 2 weeks ago. I opted for the fish n ski model and couldn't be happier.
Get it in the water now and worry about the interior during the non-boating season. There are only so many nice days a year in our climates (I'm in WI) so you gotta take advantage of em.

From the pics it looks just like seams need to be sewn. I had my 16yo daughter do ours with fishing line and it looks great and appears to be holding up well.

 

[freelancer]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Congrats . .I too just bought a 1996 Four Winns 190 as my first boat 2 weeks ago. I opted for the fish n ski model and couldn't be happier.
Get it in the water now and worry about the interior during the non-boating season. There are only so many nice days a year in our climates (I'm in WI) so you gotta take advantage of em.

From the pics it looks just like seams need to be sewn. I had my 16yo daughter do ours with fishing line and it looks great and appears to be holding up well.

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Have to agree with Sewerrat, get what?s left of the season in, August is some of the best boating weather in Jersey. Won?t be long before some other issue surfaces on your new used boat...always does, sorry. If you can live with the seats for now, get to enjoying you boat.[/FONT]​

 

[Kaybol]

Re: Bought my first boat!

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Have to agree with Sewerrat, get what?s left of the season in, August is some of the best boating weather in Jersey. Won?t be long before some other issue surfaces on your new used boat...always does, sorry. If you can live with the seats for now, get to enjoying you boat.[/FONT]​

I understand that and am prepared for other issues if they arise. However the only reasonable seats are the driver and passenger. The sundeck and the rear seats are pretty much shot and need to be redone to be used.

 

[freelancer]

Re: Bought my first boat!

I understand that and am prepared for other issues if they arise. However the only reasonable seats are the driver and passenger. The sundeck and the rear seats are pretty much shot and need to be redone to be used.

OK, got to keep the 1st mate and crew happy to keep them interested. I love being on the water as much as any other serious boater; however, it seems at times family and friends may not be as enthusiastic as you may be. For the money your about to invest in this form of entertainment...get the seats done.

 

[SG Goobacks]

Re: Bought my first boat!

Had our SeaRay done about 3 years ago, took it to a highly recommended auto upholstery shop and they gave me a bid of 1200.00, Took it over to a boat manufacture here in town and they wanted 5k to do it. I went back to the auto shop and they did a excellent job. Very happy with the quality and time frame it was done in. They did the bow cushions/back rest, both dashes, both gunwales, captains seat, fold down co pilot seat, back seats, sun pad, engine cover, carpet on floor and up the sides of the gunwales, all in white, blue and yellow with blue piping on all. Here's a shot looking towards the stern.

 

[Kaybol]

Re: Bought my first boat!

So yesterday I started to poke around the interior as to what else will I have to replace and stumbled upon this. I've lifted the tank hatch and all this sludge/dirt is sitting on top of the tank. Anybody know what it is and why it's collecting there?

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Bought my first boat!

OOh, definately clean it up a check for pits. The bottom is probably worse. Smell gas? Out it comes.