New boat needs interior done, any tips??

[nplorson]

I am new to this whole iboats thing and owning a boat. This is my first boat that I got for free, and it runs great. It is a 1983 Bayliner Capri Bowrider with a Yamaha 85 O/B. It starts up awsome and runs great. The interior is really rough and I am working on replaceing it. I have started to make my own panels and dash, but need to know if I am using the right materials. I am using some 1/2" plywood for the backing, closed cell foam (2" for where you sit and 1" for the side panels), and used Garila glue to hold the 2 together. I am looking at useing the marina vynal from Joann Fabrics to wrap them. Has any one ever used it? Is it any good? I am also wondering how to prperly secure the vynal to the panels and how to better watter proof the exposed wood on the back of them. Has any one done their own interior like this or am I on the wrong path?

 

[QC]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

Hey nplorson, welcome aboard!

I am going to move this over to the Restoration section. You'll get more info there.

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

Thank you. I was a little sketchy on the glue. I am redoing the entire interior, everything is going to be new, and the back to back seats have been removed and there are swivel fishing seats insted. I will look for the 3M glue. Have you heard of any luck with contact cement?

 

[JaSla74]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

I'm working on what you're doing now (see my thread). 3M 90 worked out great for holding the foam in place & an electric knife for trimming it. We used 3/8 in areas that had to bend. I'd invest in an electric staple gun as they're not that much more expensive than the manual ones. Also be sure that you're using SS staples. Use piping on the edges of your panels & that'll help keep moisture out. I used SS screws to hold the panels in place & used snap caps to cover the heads.

Good luck. It can be very tedious & requires quite a bit of patience. I lost my cool last night trying to mount a panel that has a bend. My main problem was that I used too thick of a foam in the bow. I wish I had done 3" seats & 1" backs, but I ended up using 3" in all of my bow. Had to trim & cut A LOT.

 

[mthieme]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

My technique is to lay the vinyl down, then foam, then the backer. Kneel on it to compress the foam some. Then start stapling the vinyl to the backer using SS staples of course.

 

[Edko]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

We used the marine vinyl from Joann and it looks great, easy to work with. We did the side panels, back seat and engine cover (sun deck) in it. the foam at joann also works well.

Keep in mind if you use plywood. I recommend not using treated stuff. Instead use the regular stuff and resin and/or glass it. If you wanna spend bucks, use marine ply (we didn't).

Of course if you use fiberglass or other hazardous mats, wear good protective gear. Don't get that crap in your lungs.

Always use non corrosive fasteners, as mentioned.

We stapled the vinyl/batting with 5/16 staples but that's up to you.

Of course you can check for similar seating to yours online, iboats store has alot. We preferred to do the work ourselves as it turned out a great family project, and vinyling isn't as hard as you think.

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

We used the marine vinyl from Joann and it looks great, easy to work with. We did the side panels, back seat and engine cover (sun deck) in it. the foam at joann also works well.

I will probably resin coat it. I work at a composite company so I have access to all the propper PPE and area to do the work easy. The foam that you are talking about from Joann, how thick is it and is it a closed cell or just regular batting?

 

[Edko]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

Joann has a wide variety of foam widths. It is high density foam. Here's a link, but keep in mind they have large sheets and a variety of widths, not just the packaged stuff. http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat3406&PRODID=prd23481 . If you are going to use this store, sign up online for their coupons at joann.com, you will save $. My wife did wrap thin batting around the foam and plywood so the wood didn't have a chance to perforate the vinyl.

 

[204 Escape]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

How about some 3M 77 spray adhesieve ?? It can be purchased at Home Depot, or Lowes.

We use it in the construction business all of the time, seems to hold up well.

Just a thought.

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

So to all you who are (if any) wondering if I ever got my boat done, here are the pics of it so far. The only thing that I left to do is the tow tower and the speakers. But this will give you an idea of where it is headed. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think, I always think what I do doesnt look that good.

Ok, so after so time trying to figure out how to get them to load, I have had no luck. I have to make them smaller. I will get them posted tomorrow.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

Are from the state of washington and if so how close to portland are you?

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

Here, I got it, but more to come.

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

And this is the last of them. Tell me what you all think, I would really like some input and pointers if you got em'.

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

I live in Washington about a hour south of the Canadian Boarder or a hour north of Seattle.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

I live in Washington about a hour south of the Canadian Boarder or a hour north of Seattle.

If you were near the portland area i know of upholster that does very good work for very reasonalbe prircing...May i ask where you picked up that carbon fiber stuff...Or is it carbon fiber???

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

It was some scrap from work that was trashed. It took a bit to make it look that good, piecing it all together. But I like the end result. It looks good, and will be really durable.

 

[platinumcouch93]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

OK ... I am brand new to this site ... so thanks in advance for any advice guys!

I have a 1986 Bayliner Capri. Interior is shot. Going to reupholster the seats and side panels. How the heck do you re-attach the side panels to the sides of the boat? I had to basically rip the panels out because they were screwed into the fiberglass ... but the screws were underneath the vinyl and foam with no access without tearing through the vinyl and foam. Any suggestions from someone who may have done this before?

 

[lowkee]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

nplorson, did you do any sewing for any of that vinyl work or is that all fold-and-staple work? Because as much as fold-and-staple is normally called a 'Bubba job', that is some seriously nice looking vinyl! I may forego the sewing machine (and save $300) and just use your method! Can you describe in detail how you went about doing the jump seats in the back?

I really like that vinyl job and the visible screws add a great touch. I love that look.

Lowkee

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

OK ... I am brand new to this site ... so thanks in advance for any advice guys!

I have a 1986 Bayliner Capri. Interior is shot. Going to reupholster the seats and side panels. How the heck do you re-attach the side panels to the sides of the boat? I had to basically rip the panels out because they were screwed into the fiberglass ... but the screws were underneath the vinyl and foam with no access without tearing through the vinyl and foam. Any suggestions from someone who may have done this before?

Welcome!!!!

So i did my first interior on my first boat for the first time. I used some cupped washers from the hard ware store and some deck screws to attache my panels. They worked great. They are stainless steel so they dont rust, the cup in the washers allows for the head of the screw to seet into it, and they are way cheeper then getting the capped washers that are tipically used in older boat interior.

When you do your panels, use a little thinner wood then you think you should. I used 1/2" thinking that was to thin, but in the end I wish I had used 1/4" on everthing but the main side panels in the aft of the boat. When you chose you matting to use, make sure that anywhere a butt is going to be is soft. I used some closed cell foam that felt soft untill I got the vynal wrapped on it, then it stiffened up a lot. When you get the matting on your backer board, if it is stiffer, make sure to round all edges so that the vynal rolls and flows a little better.

When you attach the panels back into the boat, you will find that you have to go through you backer board first, well that is a no brainer, but then it taked a minute to get into the fiberglass on the boat. Once you get into the fiberglass and have it "threaded" i guess we will call it, back the screw out of both untill they touch each other and the screw it back in. This is what I did and it allowd the panels to be tight in place, but did not put to much strain on the vynal where the cupped washer was.

And to seal things up when installing any panels where they are going to come into contact with water more then the rest, I used some marine sylacon(sp) to seal between the backer board and the vynal, and used a trowl (sp) to smooth it out so that there was not to much build up. I also used a little at the top of the panels that were going vertical to keep water from being able to get behind them.

I hope that this helps some, and like I said, I have only done this once, but I read a lot before I did it and did a test panel to see how things would turn out. Good luck and hope this helps.

 

[nplorson]

Re: New boat needs interior done, any tips??

nplorson, did you do any sewing for any of that vinyl work or is that all fold-and-staple work? Because as much as fold-and-staple is normally called a 'Bubba job', that is some seriously nice looking vinyl! I may forego the sewing machine (and save $300) and just use your method! Can you describe in detail how you went about doing the jump seats in the back?

I really like that vinyl job and the visible screws add a great touch. I love that look.

Lowkee

First off thank you very much. I never think what I do looks to good so reading someone else that likes it make me feel a lot better about it.

On the corners, they are not sewn together, they are folded. It took a little practice, but I found the best wat to do it is to try to get the lap of the seam to meet up at the edge of the panel. It make it look almost sewn together, but with less work. The one thing I did not do that I wanted to was put a little glue in them to hold them in place a little better.

When I was stapling them vynal all down, I used a ton of staples. I also used an electric staple gun, less of a pain in the hand to do. When stapling them vynal down I did a x shape with 2 staples to keep from ripping through the vynal from the pull. They are a little raised when you do this, but a little malet will knock them down flat and secure them a little better.

I too like the bare screw look. I looked into getting the typical capped washers that were used before, but then found these cupped washers. They were not only way cheeper, but they were stainless steel and a litter more fancy to me.

The seats in the back are a little weird. I traced the butt seat and the back rest from the old ones that were in them. The only thing I didnt like was that it did not give much room to sit and made you feel like you were falling off the seat. So to fix this, and this was done after the pics were taken, I pulled the bottoms out about 3" or so and made it so that they could not slide back any. This gave more room for your butt. The back rest were about 3" thick once I got them all done, and I am working on making new ones. I am going to use some really thing berch wood for the backing, some regular sheet stuffing, and then glue the vynal to it all so that it is a little thiner. Once this is all done, I will then screw them all down. I will try to get some pics posted that are in higher res with the jump seats all done.

Hope that help or answers you question.