89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

[lil buggy]

Iboats is awesome.
i've got alot of inspiration from this site
and wana start out paying homage to those that came before me
great big thanks to all
labor day weekend 2011 started the latest chapter of
what did i get myself into
being an outboard guy all my life i decided it was time to upgrade
so i purchased this new to me cruiser

it had all i ever dreamed of

nice big cabin,
the admiral just loves
and a

goes without saying
had a newly rebuilt
mercruiser 5.7

wooo i'm on my way
well
thats where it went sideways
overheat issues at wot
then clutchdog in alpha one went
suprise
purchased a used leg
nice case
overheat gone
put a few miles on her1 hr
then came overheat again
and worse
then wouldn't start( rebuilt starter)
while knocking the dock
assumed i need a lower shift cable
thats when this bangin started seems that the new (to me)
outdrive
which turned out to be money wasted
ujoint not tightened to the upercase
blam
went
lots of issues
so the admiral and i spent the fall
knocking the dock waiten for a tow around to the ramp
to get her at least looked at
in the mean time sold our

to pay for where we were heading

soo to make a long story short.
got to my mechanic
turns out the timing was tooo far advanced 10 degrees
tuliped valves
scoreing on 1 cyl oil on another
head gasket leaking between both
spark plug wires:facepalm:
all were different
one had about 3 foot (yes)
of elec tape holding it together

teardown eminent
i decided to have the 5.7 remanned correctly by my mechanic(in house)
a mess in the lower,
main bearings argh
wristpins tight
glad to not have just put on heads

all done now
she's runnin cool and re winterized
outdrive, next.
seems i got enough parts to get er done
so that'll help

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

first of all when buying this boat i violated many of my own(learned rules)
never buy a boat wet(silicone and screw removal n repair pics coming soon)
know your power
dont b a dum ***** or it'l cost you


i will outline the good bad and ugly on

on hull cleaning,
what happends when you think its over and dont clean your hull
only to find out that you keep it (and not saw it into little pieces) lol
super secret hull cleaning mixture
a pittsburgh original


so as i am all in this upgrade season and being a fisherman ,
i've got a fishfinder mounting do's and dont's coming

and i figured what the hey i might aswell bring them fishies to me
and purchased a set of these underwater led's
http://www.coastalnightlights.com/orders.html
doube single in blue
not mounted yet
i just got the placement done today
cant wait for the install (i'll post pics)

don't add insult to injury,
when being towed home on a cool foggy eve
DONT UNZIP THE ZIPPERS
they litter the boat with lil chicklets
dropped the camper canvas off 2 weeks ago for new zippers, snaps and new front plasti glass(eising? i know that ain't right)

while diggen around on this great site i happened upon
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=483913
and thanks Budd,
couldn't help but to be inspired by all the awesome work
heck the day the lights went out on iboats
the cc was still shining away
i thought,
gotta drop that sammich and get me some of those,,,
right away!!!!
and even tho the ones i got aren't the ones i needed
i did find a project that i can use them in, so no $ lost there
just a reorder for the waterproof version:facepalm:
and a lil work on pop's sky a torrium(addition) yes i'll post those when finished
them lights are kick*****
cant wait for the reorder now

soo thats where you guys come in
i need some help as to the placement on the cockpit
i got some ideas.

but did you ever notice the closer you look at something the more fault you see with it?
my pics will explain

thats all for now(gotta work in the am)
but i am lookin forward to ALL your advice

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Nice looking cruiser! Sorry to hear about engine & outdrive problems right out of the gate, but sounds like you've gotten it taken care of, so now onwards w/ the rehab work!

Nice see you got the thread started. And w/ pix.... Looks great. Welcome to the madness.....

What's it going to take to get the TEAK-master over Steeler's way for some fab-work?

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

yep, all done.
at least its a
CHARACTER BUILDER lol

thanks for stoppin by JB
off to work now
i'll post when i get home
have a good day

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

sorry gettin sidetracked with photobucket
i'm tryin to get those pics loaded right lol

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

i was at the boat yesterday,
heres my pieces lol
yes its filthy :facepalm:
i was thinken of addin them led's
here around the gunnel, Budd style
not sure bout the back flip up seat or the teak but i'm looking for a solution
sorry for the size difference

[/IMG]
or a second thought was to dado a channel in the three rails
although it will shine in and out,
i'm thinking that the depth should take away the outbound glare
the wiring would be inside support tubes
and on the stern piece it won't shine in the boat at all but would glow on the stern,
i believe i would need to put an added L channel moulding to keep it directed straight down

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so to overview the stern lighting
here's al three rails in one pic

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i also have a lip at the back of the upper seat next to the aft cabin window
which is beggin for the leds as well pics coming soon

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

on to the cockpit area

not sure of the placement on the drivers side but the L seat seems pretty straightforward
here's th shots looking around the L

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and bringin round

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dirty yes
but you can see the box (storage from the rear engine deck)

not sure what im gonna do over here

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certainly add some in the side glovebox

i like the line under the panel
i would have to move that ? map holder?
to maybe under the steering wheel who knows
so to follow aound

[/IMG]

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

[/IMG]

[/IMG]
man it's dirty
yep thats my raw greasy aggrivation last fall
coupled with the engine removal
onward i say

so what are you guys thinkin?
seems i will need some kind of trim to hide most of it but
i am still huntin for the right fit
we'll see what happends

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

not sure if i'm the only one who's seeing it but
what gives with the :facepalm:
i'll get it figured out eventually

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

My first thought is it's going to be a challenge to balance the asymmetry of the boat w/ the LED's pools of light. I can't remember, are you going to be using a dim-able system or not. If so, shorter & closer runs dimmed might make it blend better w/ the asymmetry.

The salon looks HUGE in your signature pix. A few weeks w/ a CC254 gelcoat regiment & she'll be a bright & shiny like a brand new penny!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Their still making changes to the system & webpage layout, code... Whatever keeps it up & running. I've had trouble on some threads getting the pix & vids to load. Others not a problem...Go figure

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Ok, your savior is here,hahahaha. Joking of coarse. I told you I have been thinking about your project. Congrats for FINAAAAAly getting the thread started,lol

Ok, here is what I am thinking, not sure if you like those tall rails around the stern deck but I would remove the rails. Get yourself some teak that is wide enough and long enough to trace the shape of the side gunwales in the stern areas. Remove cleats and install trim boards with a nice little overlap/bullnose that the lights will install under facing down. Purchase some new hide away cleats and install on top of new wood trimmed gunwales.

The teak/mahogany/whatever you decide to use can be shaped exactly to the hull/gunwale shape on the interior, to follow the curvature of the inside hull. I would router the edges of coarse with a nice profile as to look like it was always there. I would stop the wood atleast an inch inside of the outside of the hull so you see a little white border around it looking down on it from the top. This will keep the hull look from the outside the same but give you some nice looking wood to look at while in the boat. .

This could all be built in a couple hours with the right material and tools. Even for the novice. I will help you anyway I can. As far as the forward area goes, I saw a boat on classicmako.com that did this. He had full cushions, a complete l shape back and seat. he had new cushions made to allow a break inbetween the back cushion and the bottom cushion. This allowed leds to be installed under the back cushion. very cool look. I would also think about lighting inside the storage thingy next to the helm.

Plan two on the stern area is to build trim peices like I did and install on the gunwale walls and mount one under the seat that folds down if there is room. Hell, it could tape to the bottom of the seat with a little extra wire wrapped in wire conduit to allow for the swing worse case.

Don't want to burst a bubble, but I would not mount them under your existing railings in the stern. You want the light in the boat and not glaring as to where you can't see what is around you, at rest or underway.

You could always just shorten the rails also, that may be an option, and make the profile of the rails whatever you want.

If you haven't figured it out yet, imo the rails need to be changed. I think it will update the boat some also. Thats all I got right now, but let me know if I pressed any of the right buttons.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Thanks jbcurt,
i appretiate the kind words.
yep the cabin is cavernous for sure
went to 2 boat shows this past winter and was supprised how compact the cruisers cabins got.

not sure what the waterproof version brings but
of the sets that i got the remote has several functions
one is dimable in any of the 15 colors
all together anyway
and theres a neat fade between colors that you can speed up or slow way down 10+sec between change

Budds version of the rf looked more complex than mine does
i can run the 2 strings inline(all the same)
he can run his independent (to the rf box anyway)

i get what your saying about the assematry that the L brings
i guess i could pic the parralell sides and go with that
without the carpet that might just do it
i am afraid with carpet down the only real light that would shine would be the sides
i'm almost sure that black carpet(if i keep it)
would swallow all the color around
and be to dim

not sure if that makes sense or not.

my gut is tellin me to follow the outermost wall all the way around including the L
kinda like a high water line
1 level for the cockpit and a lower one for around the engine bay

also i cant stop thinkin about how the stern would look
all lit up from the back rail
white stern n red or orange letters "docknocker"(almost in stone, haven't ordered from iboats yet)
but i noticed while playen round with the lights at home i discovered that a blu light has a luminescent quality on orange(weird i know)
reminds me of a black light kinda
blue is also the color of the underwaters i got
soo we'll see what happends there for sure, i am intrested tho
can't wait to get it outa hock(lol)
so i can start cleaning and planin the next move
hopefully Budd has deflected that bad weather in a different direction
so i can do something tomorrow.
i gotta get that stern clean for the underwater install

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Here is what I was referring to between cushion lighting. It would actually look cooler on your boat because of the l shape. Or you can just mount them under the overhang of the bottom cushion with a small piece of trim.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Budd,
we'll i'll be
u get those tornado's headed away from me?

really thanks for stoppin in
your opinions are greatly appretiated

i just sent the camper canvas off to be redone
yep, you guessed it built to go around those tall rails

i get what your saying bout them being tall
however the gunwale or gunnels are only upper shin high back there,
and they make a nice leaning post on the sides while in the boat
and about bar heigth from swim platform.

i really havn't thought too much about removing them(i am open to suggestion tho)
but hecks, thats where them rod holders were gona mount

as soon as you posted that lil piece of teak before install my mind was a workin
yep i gotta agree
tracing like you did the back, "bathtub" yep thats what i was thinkin
i got a few funny spots there step to platform, and the speakers
and the back seat? not sure.

i've also been thinken of makin that forward facing part of the L a flip seatback
with maybe a leg support that would come outa that storage space
which would make it easier to look out over the stern
but pipe dreams this year i think lol
i hope to get back to the boat tomorrow to cleanup the lower stern for underwater install yay

nice going on the bottom today
your lights installed soon?

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

yep thats sweet,
like that lots
if i get rid of the L (although not as wide)
it would open it up nicely
and those copartments on the dash/window look great
seems you type faster than i
shorter posts
"check"

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

get what your sayin bout the seperation of back and base
i'll check n see how their made tomorrow
yep that would look cool hidden up and under the seat back

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

If you want to keep the rails, you could put a piece of trim under them to make a T shape, then mount the lights inside the T. Make the T part come down atleast an inch so it will deflect the light inward and stop it from going outboard. You could still install teak around the gunwales and mount the rails and rod holders etc back on top of it. Not sure that would look right, might be to much teak in one area.

Might just want to do a very small trim piece about half inch wide around the perimeter and install lights under it.

My rgb's will be going in when I get home tmrw, off to bed now to get some rest. Talk later, have a good one.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

thanks for the advice
you to

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

just a thought before i go and try to get the stern clean:facepalm:
gotta strip the silicone and screws off
anyone think 5200 shouldn't be used to fill in the screw holes that will be left behind?
that was my plan anyway for now
we'll see how far i get today