2005 AR230HO Refurbishing Build Thread with Questions

[UnorthodoxCreations]

Those plastic plugs are for the interior compartments, like the bilge and ski locker. I’ve got the same setup, and like you, didn’t like the wrench. Attached is my redneck solution. Works great. Lol. Boat buckles are awesome. I hated the originals. View attachment 153585

I like redneck if it's functional. I'm going to check Lowe's tomorrow for any better options but otherwise I'll just copy this.

 

[dgfreeze]

Previous owner had really messed it up already, using a vise grip or channel lock on it instead of a wrench, so it was all chewed up. If you do find something nicer, post it up.

 

[JOAN ROJAS]

I got this for my boat, works fine and can use hand to tightened or release.

Amazon.com : SEAWORTHY INNOVATIONS Boat Garboard Drain Plug - 1/2" NPT Thread - Marine Grade Bronze : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : SEAWORTHY INNOVATIONS Boat Garboard Drain Plug - 1/2" NPT Thread - Marine Grade Bronze : Sports & Outdoors

smile.amazon.com

Previous owner had really messed it up already, using a vise grip or channel lock on it instead of a wrench, so it was all chewed up. If you do find something nicer, post it up.

 

[feziwig]

I got this and it stays right on the back of the trailer. Works mint.

Amazon.com: Elite Engineering USA Beach'N Boat - Llave de desagüe para enchufe NPT de ½ pulgada, color negro: Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com: Elite Engineering USA Beach'N Boat - Llave de desagüe para enchufe NPT de ½ pulgada, color negro: Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

I went with this drain plug. I like the magnet wrench idea but didn't trust it to stay and didn't want to spend that much. Lowes didn't have anything so I bought this off Amazon.


Added a wake surf rack. Only took one time out without a track to decide I didn't want to be stepping around and over the board. I also have second board coming this week.



I drilled, tapped and put bolts in both the surf rack and the wakeboard rack so I never have to worry about them rotating down.


Tried out my cover.

 

[Jason Hall]

Congrats Image 360! Boat looks great and I have exact same boat (bought new). Have fun and keep sharing as we all have boat issues and great to learn.

 

[MLo3]

Your cover looks like it fits much better than mine. Curious where you got it?

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

Your cover looks like it fits much better than mine. Curious where you got it?

Cover came from Leaders RPM - Located in Kalamazoo, MI - Powersports and Marine Dealership with Parts, Service and Financing. They had the cheapest price on an in stock cover at the time I ordered.

After my last trip out I decided to replace my scupper valve to insure I wasn't getting any water in there. I'm not sure if it was cracked before I started working on it, it seemed like it was, but it sure broke easy when I went to remove. I used this wrench and I did remove the port side waterbox. Still a bit of a paint but I got it. I wound up cutting about an inch off the end of the wrench as it gave a lot more room to swing the wrench back and forth.



I got my new fuel sender from Centroid. I installed it but the gauge was still not working. Centroid sent me a great checklist of things to check but in the process I accidentally touch 2 wires together that I should and I think if my gauge wasn't bad before, it is now. Have a new gauge that should be here tomorrow and I'll try again.





I wasn't finding a replacement compass that seemed like a good fit so I decided to route a plate that uses the factory screws and holes, and allows me to mount my phone there on a wireless charger. I wasn't sure I would really like that location but I wanted to mount the phone somewhere, without putting extra holes in the dash. So far I'm liking it better than I thought. It doesn't seem as obnoxious or in your face as I thought I might. I still might change things up in the future. I'd like to update the stereo to something Bluetooth and probably remove the cockpit remote and mount the phone there.




I used this 12v to 5v converter I had and connected that to the wires that originally went to the compass light. That means I have to turn my lights on for the wireless charger to work. I can change that to something that has 12v all the time or with the key on in the future.


In an effort to prevent water getting in the boat and make sure I'm getting top speed I decided to order cleanout plug rebuild kits. One of my ports wasn't too bad but the other one was pretty tough to get in and out. I bought off brand ones off ebay, not realizing they were off brand until after I ordered but I went with them because I could get them quickly. I spent 45 minutes rebuilding just the worst fitting plug before I finally got it working. I don't know what was going wrong with something so simple but it just didn't seem to want to lock in place. I finally got it work and decided to leave the other one alone since we wanted to use the boat the next day with some friends. It only took about 5 minutes on the water for that rebuilt plug to keep coming loose. Fortunately I had my original parts on the boat so I put the old pieces back on and we were fine for the day. Last night I decided to try the rebuilds again before returning them. I don't know what could be different but I rebuilt them both, they both locked right in place and seem perfect. Were taking the boat to the beach for the weekend so I'll give them a try. If they don't work again, I'll put the old pieces back together and return these for OEM.


We took the boat out last weekend with some friends. I was really hoping to get to try some surfing again. I had my Fat Sac and a new board but the weather was not cooperating. Temps were great but it was windy with whitecaps almost all day so while I could tell the surf potential was there, it was impossible to try and maintain consistent speed. I also really couldn't try any high speed runs because waves were too big and I always had young kids on board.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

Long time no update, it's been an up and mostly down summer. We took the boat to my in laws house on the southern Chesapeake Bay.





First thing I did was install this fuel gauge. It was a cheap one off Amazon but it matches the factory gauges pretty well and worked with the new sending unit. Not sure my old sending unit was bad(probably was) but I'm not going to try it.


Boat ran ok but was still slow for reasons I couldn't figure out. I really want to do some wakesurfing and was able to but the water conditions made it pretty tough it was windy all weekend so it was tough to maintain a consistent boat speed or go ropeless for long periods of time.


We left the boat there for the rest of July as I knew I wouldn't have time to use it until the end of July. I planned on going back for a weekend at the end of July and then the whole first week of August but I wound up not being able to go that weekend in July because work was too busy. Ever since I rebuild the cleanout plugs I had problems with them popping so I ordered Cobra Locks and I ordered a 750 ski locker Fat Sac for my return trip in August. I also ordered a new depth finder as that had never worked since I bought the boat.

When I arrived for my week in August I installed the Cobra Locks which was easy and simple. They worked flawless with no problems. I installed the new depth finder which also was pretty easy. It mounted like the factory sender so I screwed that on, cut the old wire at the rear of the boat and taped the new wire to it. After cutting all the factory zip ties, I pull the new wire to the dash with the old and wired it up. Water conditions were not great again but we did some cruising and attempted surfing. On the second day the starboard engine died and wouldn't restart. We were close to shore and limped it in on one engine. I thought it was the cleanout port sensor so I adjusted that and all seemed good but water was rough so I did a quick test run and returned to shore for the day.

On the third day there we attempted to go out and but I was having trouble getting both engines to run. After diagnosing it seemed the oil filters were covered in oil. I thought the engines were overfilled a little and I had ordered an extractor to take some out but forgot to bring it to the beach with me. We wound up taking about 3/4 quart out of each engine with a turkey baster and leaving the filters off. Boat seemed good and had picked up RPM it didn't have before confirming the engines were full and likely the cause for my lack of speed. We tried to go out again to surf and I could tell something wasn't right. There was smoke out of the starboard side and I could smell fuel. The slower I went the worse it was. Seemed like the dreaded wet ECU and stuck injector which would take the boat out of commission for the rest of the week. While on vacation a house came on the market that my wife and I were interested in. We setup a showing for the Monday we returned home. Well the same say the boat was down for the count I got a message that we needed to make an offer on the house by Fri. I wasn't willing to do that without seeing it in purpose as wherever we move should be our forever home. So I made the 5 hour trip home, checked out the house(wasn't for us) and grabbed my extractor, laptop for YDS and some oil and other tools just in case. Drove 5 hours back to the beach arriving about midnight. The next morning I pulled the boat and was able to confirm with YDS software that injector 2 was sticking open on the starboard engine. It was good to confirm the probably but put a real damper on the rest of vacation. I pulled the ECU and sent if off to Regulator Rectifiers, CDI Units, Rev Boxes, and High Output Stators for diagnosis and repair.

You can see there was water in that box. I sent the ECU off on 8/7 with no real idea when I would get it back. I did get a couple nice pics of the boat before pulling it.




This past Saturday we were on vacation with my parents and I saw another charge on my credit card for the ECU so that was good news. You pay an initial charge for diagnosis and then if the ECU can be repaired you get charged more so another charge should mean the ECU was repaired. We got home Monday night and the ECU was in the mailbox so that was great news. I thought it would be another couple days for shipping. Total cost was $435 with shipping both ways. You can see in the bottom left where the ECU must have been cut open and repaired.


We are getting remnants of hurricane Ida the next couple days but I'll get this put in the weekend. I want to open the other electronic box and make sure there is no water in that one then I need to tape them up or something and make sure they can't get wet again. I suspect they got wet over time from when water rushes over the back from sudden stops. Weighting the boat down for surfing probably doesn't help. I'm also going to do oil changes, probably complete drains, on each engine to make sure there is no gas in the oil from the starboard engine and make sure both engines are at the right levels. Then after all of that, I hope to get back to the river a couple times before it gets cold in PA.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

Tonight I opened up the port side ECU box, partly to make sure there was no water in there and partly to refresh my memory on how to put the other back together since it's been nearly a month. Well there was definitely water in there so I'm glad I drained it before that side had a problem. Letting it dry out overnight. Tomorrow I'll reassemble both sides, test with YDS and then I just need to change the oil in the engines.

 

[Beachbummer]

being that CorrosionX is safe for use in live circuits, between drying only or drying and spraying with something to hold off rust...if it was mine I would consider it, but it might be controversial. I wonder what others think.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

I closed up both ECU boxes and tested each ECU with YDS. All good, no more sticking injector on starboard engine. I will be putting a bead of silicone across the top seam on each box.


Then I drained all of the oil out of each engine. I used the extractor to get what I could out of each engine then drained them from the bottom plug.


I spilled very little from each engine. The lid of a gallon of Bondo worked great for catching oil from the filter and then the drain plug. I got 5.5 quarts from the starboard engine and 5 from the port so it seems there probably wasn't too much gas in the starboard engine. Also confirms there was way too much in both engines because I had already pulled close to a quart out of each engine on vacation. I'm thinking I'll see the proper RPMs when I get these refilled to the proper level. I need to get new filters and crush washers if I can for the drain plug, then I can fill each engine and be ready for the water.

Starboard

Port

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

Took the boat out today for the first time since my ECU problems and all was good. Boat ran great. With oil at the correct levels it picked up RPM and about 5mph. spent about 4 hours cruising around and wakesurfing.

Hope to get out one more time before it gets cold but we'll see. Then the interior gets taken out so I can redo it over the winter.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

 

[BigT51]

Took the boat out today for the first time since my ECU problems and all was good. Boat ran great. With oil at the correct levels it picked up RPM and about 5mph. spent about 4 hours cruising around and wakesurfing.View attachment 163195View attachment 163196View attachment 163197View attachment 163198

Hope to get out one more time before it gets cold but we'll see. Then the interior gets taken out so I can redo it over the winter.

That looks like Conowingo, how was the water? The flooding going down? Much debris? We want to get out this weekend.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

That looks like Conowingo, how was the water? The flooding going down? Much debris? We want to get out this weekend.

Flooding was down, I had been watching the levels since Ida came through. One ramp was totally blocked by debris but the other was clear and once you were out on the water I didn't notice much debris. Tons of lanternflys on the ground and in the water, especially towards the north end. I'm hoping to get back this weekend but not sure yet.

 

[GermanAR230]

Great post and pictures. Personally hate to read as I'm more of a picture guy. So far gotten a tip or two for my AR230. Stay safe in the H2O.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

My winter project showed up this week, all new seat skins.


I laid out all the skins today to make sure everything was there and correct.





I then started taking out all the cushions. I got everything out except for the captains chairs which I didn't attempt yet and the outside cushions on the swim deck which I couldn't get to the last nuts on.





I couldn't get the last nut on these pieces. I'm guessing I need to pull the clean out tray to access them but it was getting cold so I called it quits for the night.


Overall I'm happy with the removal process. I thought it would take much longer. Hopefully next weekend I'll have time to get last cushions out and pull the seats. Not sure how fast I'll move with the install process since I have all winter. Honestly it was kind of nice not having to worry about the interior this summer as I learned the boat but this is going to be the final piece turning my bargain boat into a great looking piece.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

I am finally starting my upholstery project on my boat. To refresh, all skins were bought from The Upholstery Guy via @easyliving609. I designed the color scheme I wanted. I chose something similar to stock but a little different. I bought this staple gun and I'm using these staples to assemble everything. I estimated I'll need 3,000 staples. We'll see how close I am as I go. The skins did not come with something called Hidem. This is a little hard to describe but it goes on the bottom of all your removable pieces like seat bottoms. You staple in the middle of the Hidem then flaps hide your staples. I bought this and it's a perfect match to the Too White color that most of my interior is. I bought 25 yards but I'm not sure if that will be enough. I'm sure this won't be a perfect job but it will be a big improvement on the current state and remain budget minded. I welcome any suggestions if folks out there know better than I do. This isn't my first time doing upholstery but everything in the past has been much smaller and simpler(go karts, mini bikes, etc).

I have a small, quiet compressor from Lowes that I use for house projects. I brought all the pieces into my basement so I can work where it's warm. I layed out all the pieces to make sure I don't accidentally put the wrong skin on the wrong seat. It should be hard to due since they are all custom sized but I didn't want to take any chances.


When you remove your factory skins you'll notice there is plastic between the seats and foam. My reading finds that this helps keep water from soaking into the foam and keeps the skins from grinding at the foam and wearing it down. I bought this 1 mil plastic drop cloth from Lowes for about $5. It seems like a great match to what was originally there. You could go a little thicker if you wanted and I don't think there would be any negative effects. I think they sell a .5 mil but I wouldn't go that thin.

I started with the bow filler as it seemed like one of the easier pieces. I used a medium sized flat head screw driver to remove all the staples. I didn't want to destroy the factory skins so I could look at them for reference if needed.

I then wrap them foam in plastic drop cloth and then the new seat skin. I tried to pull all 4 sides snug and put in a couple staples to secure. Then you can work your way around the edges.

Keep the staples pretty close to the edge so the Hidem will hide them. I could have done better at that on this piece. After stapling all the way around you'll go back and staple the Hidem over top. Start and stop your Hidem under the plastic blocks that screw into the bottom.


All done. I have some wrinkles from shipping and sitting around that I need to get out with a steamer or heat gun but overall I'm happy with this piece. It's a great starter pieces.

On to more difficult pieces...

 

[TX_Mercenary]

I am finally starting my upholstery project on my boat. To refresh, all skins were bought from The Upholstery Guy via @easyliving609. I designed the color scheme I wanted. I chose something similar to stock but a little different. I bought this staple gun and I'm using these staples to assemble everything. I estimated I'll need 3,000 staples. We'll see how close I am as I go. The skins did not come with something called Hidem. This is a little hard to describe but it goes on the bottom of all your removable pieces like seat bottoms. You staple in the middle of the Hidem then flaps hide your staples. I bought this and it's a perfect match to the Too White color that most of my interior is. I bought 25 yards but I'm not sure if that will be enough. I'm sure this won't be a perfect job but it will be a big improvement on the current state and remain budget minded. I welcome any suggestions if folks out there know better than I do. This isn't my first time doing upholstery but everything in the past has been much smaller and simpler(go karts, mini bikes, etc).

I have a small, quiet compressor from Lowes that I use for house projects. I brought all the pieces into my basement so I can work where it's warm. I layed out all the pieces to make sure I don't accidentally put the wrong skin on the wrong seat. It should be hard to due since they are all custom sized but I didn't want to take any chances.
View attachment 172300

When you remove your factory skins you'll notice there is plastic between the seats and foam. My reading finds that this helps keep water from soaking into the foam and keeps the skins from grinding at the foam and wearing it down. I bought this 1 mil plastic drop cloth from Lowes for about $5. It seems like a great match to what was originally there. You could go a little thicker if you wanted and I don't think there would be any negative effects. I think they sell a .5 mil but I wouldn't go that thin.

I started with the bow filler as it seemed like one of the easier pieces. I used a medium sized flat head screw driver to remove all the staples. I didn't want to destroy the factory skins so I could look at them for reference if needed.
View attachment 172301
I then wrap them foam in plastic drop cloth and then the new seat skin. I tried to pull all 4 sides snug and put in a couple staples to secure. Then you can work your way around the edges.
View attachment 172302
Keep the staples pretty close to the edge so the Hidem will hide them. I could have done better at that on this piece. After stapling all the way around you'll go back and staple the Hidem over top. Start and stop your Hidem under the plastic blocks that screw into the bottom.
View attachment 172303

All done. I have some wrinkles from shipping and sitting around that I need to get out with a steamer or heat gun but overall I'm happy with this piece. It's a great starter pieces.
View attachment 172304
On to more difficult pieces...

if i were gonna redo my seats and cushion, i've thought about using purple mattress foam lol