Gatefreak417
Cadet
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2017
- Messages
- 10
Greetings, Everyone!
My two boating "sisters" and I are starting the refurbishing of our 2013 Suntracker Party Barge 22DLX. Although mechanically sound (the engine had its 100 hour service last summer and has been run maybe 20 hours since) and structurally in great shape (pontoons, frame, and deck), we'll be tackling the following: (1) replacing the fence panels/rail skins, (2) replacing the carpet, (3) sanding and painting the weathered console, (4) miscellaneous minor electrical projects (e.g., adding a depth finder, improving the stereo, adding LED rope lights around the bottom deck rails), (5) miscellaneous minor trailer repairs (e.g., removing rust on wheels and repainting with Rust-Oleum, adding trailer guides, replacing rusted nuts/bolts/other fittings) and (6) replacing all upholstery (incl. having a new sun pad created...thanks to the SOBs who stole it and the attached changing room assembly when it was in outdoor (and supposedly secured) storage last summer. Our target date to have the boat on the lake again is June 1, 2017. With the exception of the re-upholstery, we'll be doing all of the work ourselves, so I'm looking forward to data mining these forums for tips and tricks from those who have been through projects like this before. I already learned about how to paint the console from another project post on this site today, which is what prompted me to join.
To give some context to this project, here are my sisters and I on the day that we took delivery of the Chappa'ai in July 2014 (I'm on the right...they're the cute ones). This was our "baby" in her perfectly pristine condition.
Here are some photos that show her current condition: (1) the damaged upholstery and nasty carpeting, (2) the damaged port bow fence panel, and (3) the boat today, after we removed the starboard bow fence rail to install new panels.
We'll also be making a color change to the boat during this restoration, from a beige/burgundy blend to a grey (light and charcoal) color scheme.
At this point, the only question that I have is whether any other Suntracker pontoon boaters have ever known a Suntracker dealer from whom you could actually order parts (without having them do the labor) with ease. There are some great online sources where I can get parts that are "close" to OEM, but not always quite the right fit. Having been raised in a household of automotive DIYers, I was really surprised and infuriated when I realized (well AFTER we bought the boat), that Suntracker doesn't make available a parts guide and a way of ordering parts without having to drag the boat back to the dealer each time.
I know that there certainly aren't any online sources of part numbers and part ordering for this boat. I should have asked about parts availability before we purchased, but truthfully, I couldn't envision a boat company that makes it this hard for DIYers to get parts. It's all good, though. Once we're finished with this project, the boat won't have anything on it that identifies it as a Suntracker - it'll be more like our own little "stealth pontoon."
My two boating "sisters" and I are starting the refurbishing of our 2013 Suntracker Party Barge 22DLX. Although mechanically sound (the engine had its 100 hour service last summer and has been run maybe 20 hours since) and structurally in great shape (pontoons, frame, and deck), we'll be tackling the following: (1) replacing the fence panels/rail skins, (2) replacing the carpet, (3) sanding and painting the weathered console, (4) miscellaneous minor electrical projects (e.g., adding a depth finder, improving the stereo, adding LED rope lights around the bottom deck rails), (5) miscellaneous minor trailer repairs (e.g., removing rust on wheels and repainting with Rust-Oleum, adding trailer guides, replacing rusted nuts/bolts/other fittings) and (6) replacing all upholstery (incl. having a new sun pad created...thanks to the SOBs who stole it and the attached changing room assembly when it was in outdoor (and supposedly secured) storage last summer. Our target date to have the boat on the lake again is June 1, 2017. With the exception of the re-upholstery, we'll be doing all of the work ourselves, so I'm looking forward to data mining these forums for tips and tricks from those who have been through projects like this before. I already learned about how to paint the console from another project post on this site today, which is what prompted me to join.
To give some context to this project, here are my sisters and I on the day that we took delivery of the Chappa'ai in July 2014 (I'm on the right...they're the cute ones). This was our "baby" in her perfectly pristine condition.
Here are some photos that show her current condition: (1) the damaged upholstery and nasty carpeting, (2) the damaged port bow fence panel, and (3) the boat today, after we removed the starboard bow fence rail to install new panels.
We'll also be making a color change to the boat during this restoration, from a beige/burgundy blend to a grey (light and charcoal) color scheme.
At this point, the only question that I have is whether any other Suntracker pontoon boaters have ever known a Suntracker dealer from whom you could actually order parts (without having them do the labor) with ease. There are some great online sources where I can get parts that are "close" to OEM, but not always quite the right fit. Having been raised in a household of automotive DIYers, I was really surprised and infuriated when I realized (well AFTER we bought the boat), that Suntracker doesn't make available a parts guide and a way of ordering parts without having to drag the boat back to the dealer each time.
I know that there certainly aren't any online sources of part numbers and part ordering for this boat. I should have asked about parts availability before we purchased, but truthfully, I couldn't envision a boat company that makes it this hard for DIYers to get parts. It's all good, though. Once we're finished with this project, the boat won't have anything on it that identifies it as a Suntracker - it'll be more like our own little "stealth pontoon."