Questions regarding 22i riders needing tlc

[dliguori]

So I've had my 22i riders since I bought it new in 01. I've got a bunch of questions as I haven't been on the site in a while and there's a lot of new information.

So my first question is this:
My rub rails and the gray plastic track are pretty beat up and I think the stainless ones look pretty sweet. Can I remove both the rail and the track and replace the whole thing with stainless? I would just buy the hollow stainless rail and attach it but the track is now very weathered and it would still look bad.

Question two:
My boat came with the Phat tower and it also is very beat up (board racks are falling apart) and it is now a matted gray instead of gloss black due to sun exposure. I was thinking about repainting it but then I saw the new towers on tige's website and they look pretty sweet. I also saw this one and think it looks really good too (http://www.clintcoon.com/). So my question is how much do either of these towers cost and will they fit my stock mounting locations on my older 22i?

Question 3:
My swim platform is now warped like so ~ and I've not done any research but can a new platform be purchased from my dealer or is fiberglass all they use now? If so are the fiberglass platforms better than the teak ones? Can I switch to fiberglass without much modifying?

Question 4:
My interior is probably the only thing that NEEDS to replaced as every cushion either has a tear or has been completely discolored due to dirt and mold. I've read that the skins aren't the way to go because they are substandard material without backing and that I'd be better to take it to an upholstery shop. I found the place in Riverside that handles tiges alot and they quoted me 2300-2800. I basically wanted to get a feel for what people are spending on completely replacing all the vinyl on their boats?

Question 5:
This is for the SD locals - The gelcoat needs a good buffing and I'm not very talented at detailing vehicles. Can anyone recomend a good boat detailer? The last guy I used was a car detailer and he basically did a crap job and it was a waste of $300. I don't mind spending more if they can get it looking mint but I don't know who to go to.



I must admit that I've let my boat go quite a bit in the past two years - not doing good cleanings after trips and not really sealing it up as well as I should have in the off season. I've had to store it out doors for the past few years. So now I'm trying to go through and really whip it back into shape.
I've tried to find the answers to the previous questions but I keep getting side tracked so I thought I'd just make a post.
Thanks!
Dan L

[dogbert]

It's going to cost me about $3800 to replace my vinyl. If you are going to replace your tower, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to put it in the same mount location as your current tower. Check out the new Monster Tower. I would think you'd need to drill holes for a new platform. I'd have the old ones filled in...you'll never know they were there.

[spharis]

Don't be scared to polish your own gelcoat. I have found it near impossible to polish the gelcoat through. It is very thick, and the cut you will be using will mat the pad up before you could damage anything.

Like dbert said, you will probably not find a tower to fit the same holes. I like the new M2 tower from Monster and wish I could upgrade.

Vinyl pricing sounds good for a complete replacement. I paid $1500 for about 80% recover.

Rub rail is easy to change. Mine is riveted and has to be drilled out. Stainless from what I understand is NOT the best way to go. On top of being expensive, it has a tendency to snag and is harder to install. I will be replacing with solid black with a black rope insert when I get ready. I saw this on an 2001 SN and thought it looked very nice.

[Jason B]

You can change out just the plastic insert in your rub rail and it will look better. You can also sand the plastic/rubber insert with 800 grit sand paper until it looks nice and smooth and then treat it heavily with Armor All and it will shine like new.

[dliguori]

Thanks for the suggestions fellas! Looks like I'll try something other than stainless replacement for the rub rail. Good to know I'm getting a good price quote for the vinyl! Not sure what I'm going to do about the tower - I suppose it's good enough... but I got pretty excited to see what some of the new towers look like these days.

[dogbert]

Thanks for the suggestions fellas! Looks like I'll try something other than stainless replacement for the rub rail. Good to know I'm getting a good price quote for the vinyl! Not sure what I'm going to do about the tower - I suppose it's good enough... but I got pretty excited to see what some of the new towers look like these days.

Perhaps you can get a local shop to re-do the powder coat on it. It would be cheaper than a new tower. I'd also check into the Monster Tower Wakeboard racks. They are low tech but very stout.

[TeamAllen]

These are the towers Tigé of Corona is putting on their boats now.

You could have the tower replaced while you're having your interior done. They're in Riverside also.

http://www.xplosiontower.com/

[dogbert]

These are the towers Tigé of Corona is putting on their boats now.

You could have the tower replaced while you're having your interior done. They're in Riverside also.

http://www.xplosiontower.com/

Hey, for another 20K he could get a Z1

[dliguori]

Well, I had a guy come high speed buff the boat (I've done so in the past but have no patience for it) and it looks good but now I can see where I used to have all the Tige stickers (It's strange because they've been removed for years and in the past you couldn't see a difference). There also were a few scratches that he couldn't buff out. I wasn't there when he did it so I'm not sure if he used color restorer or if he just used compound - is there anything I can do to have the scratches filled and matched to the black. Will simple color restorer help if compounding the boat didn't? Also, is there anything I can do to get the previously stickered areas to match the rest of the boat. As far as the tower thing goes, I think I'm going to hold off until I see what can be done about the gelcoat. On a side note, my boat is an 01 and the teak swim platform has become pretty warped - does anyone know if that's a warrentied part or am I up a creek? If it's not covered does anyone know how much a replacement would cost?

Anyways, sorry for all the questions and thank you for your reply's guys!

[spharis]

If he had done it right, the ghosting should be gone. He didn't use a heavy enough cut.

[David Baker]

I use this technique for buffing and it works well. Unless a scratch is deep enough to snag your fingernail it shouldn't need to be filled.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/m...21/282492.html

[Jason B]

you can buy gel coat paste to match your boat color from here:

http://www.spectrumcolor.com/catalog.htm

It is very easy to do the gel coat work yourself if it's just a smaller scratch.