Redoing the upholstery in my 06 SX230

[gthh]

@dgfreeze You win the DIY contest this year (if the forum had one-maybe it should?). I am still warming up to the idea of doing the upholstery on my boat and other projects.

Below is a picture of my setup

 

[dgfreeze]

You have a great attention to detail. It is obvious in your French seams, and the way you aligned the material transitions to the corners.

A steamer is your friend for any of the wrinkles.

Good Job!!

Thanks! I will try a steamer this evening. I've been very carefully using a handheld industrial heater (hairdryer on steroids), but if a steamer is better, I'm game!

 

[dgfreeze]

Far & away the best DIY interior project I've ever seen. Amazing work! I can't imagine how many hours that would take, let alone (for me) the frustration level to make it all look as perfect as possible.

Any little hiccups that only you know will remain that way; no one else will ever notice.

Yeah, I won't be pointing any imperfections out to people! lol, they'll be my dirty little secrets... And thanks!

 

[dgfreeze]

@dgfreeze You win the DIY contest this year (if the forum had one-maybe it should?). I am still warming up to the idea of doing the upholstery on my boat and other projects.

Below is a picture of my setup

Thanks, I really did enjoy it for the most part, but there were a few times I was pulling out what hair I have left. (which is very little, thus compounding my frustration lol)
I can't tell from your pic whether or not you've got a walking foot sewing machine, but if it's not, I'd recommend doing some testing with multiple (5+) layers, to see if things shift, or if it works nicely. When I was doing the piping on the captain's chairs, and passing over existing seams, it was going up to 8 layers, which gets pretty bulky. It'll probably be ok, because that does look like a good, beefy machine, but I'd recommend some testing before diving into the deep end.

 

[dgfreeze]

I hope football gets played this year. OSU is getting one of local kids, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and I had the pleasure of watching every single game this kid played. I've seen several Heisman winners play HS Football in person and this kid is easily the best HS player I've ever seen. Just a little taste of what you are getting....

Well, that's good to hear! I don't keep up with commitments, etc in the offseason, but he definitely looks to be college talent already. I'm just hoping we can replace the three first round draft picks we lost this year. lol, I'd say 4, since we did at one time have Burrow also, but that wouldn't be quite honest.

 

[scokill]

Well, that's good to hear! I don't keep up with commitments, etc in the offseason, but he definitely looks to be college talent already. I'm just hoping we can replace the three first round draft picks we lost this year. lol, I'd say 4, since we did at one time have Burrow also, but that wouldn't be quite honest.

You should be stocked at wide receiver for years. I saw Jalen Gill left...he could see the writing on the wall and I don't blame him for going somewhere else to play. I've always liked OSU with no connection, but now I'll be a fan for sure. Our family friend and QB from last year is at Minnesota, so a Gopher fan too. The animation of the catch at 2:50 is mine. I do sports photography.

 

[dgfreeze]

You should be stocked at wide receiver for years. I saw Jalen Gill left...he could see the writing on the wall and I don't blame him for going somewhere else to play. I've always liked OSU with no connection, but now I'll be a fan for sure. Our family friend and QB from last year is at Minnesota, so a Gopher fan too. The animation of the catch at 2:50 is mine. I do sports photography.

Oh, that's cool that some of your work is in there! Yeah, I don't think we will be hurting too bad on offense, but losing three first round defensive players might hurt the defense a little. I am fairly comfortable with the offense, I think. So who's your team? I've always been partial to Texas, because I've got a bunch of relatives a little ways south of Waco (grandparents until they died, and a bunch of aunts/uncles...) If I ever leave Ohio, I'll be headed for the Lone Star State.

 

[scokill]

Oh, that's cool that some of your work is in there! Yeah, I don't think we will be hurting too bad on offense, but losing three first round defensive players might hurt the defense a little. I am fairly comfortable with the offense, I think. So who's your team? I've always been partial to Texas, because I've got a bunch of relatives a little ways south of Waco (grandparents until they died, and a bunch of aunts/uncles...) If I ever leave Ohio, I'll be headed for the Lone Star State.

Horns because I sent over $100K there the past handful of years. I've driven through Waco and south more times to count. I have one at Texas State in San Marcos now, and may have my youngest one there in the Fall too.

To be honest I'm not a big college sports guy. With multiple kids in the same school district for 20 years I've been hooked on HS Sports and kids events. With that chapter of my life over now maybe I can give it more thought!

 

[dgfreeze]

lol, yeah that college crap adds up. I tend to forget things during the summer, then reimmerse myself come fall. It's pretty much the only good thing about winter when you're up this way...

 

[finnrigged]

I know this thread is older but I wanted to say that I absolutely HATE that you posted this. I was soooo ready to pay someone $3500 to redo my seats till I found this post. Now... I just have to do it myself and go through the pains

 

[dgfreeze]

There are pros and cons to tackling a project like this. I had about $1500 in cost, including the sewing machine. Likely $2k now...? Once I add my time to it, I really didn't save much money. Since I enjoy projects, and learning new skills, I don't regret it, but it wasn't some awesome life hack for saving a boat load of money. Was $3500 for just replacement skins? I had in mind skins were a bit less than that, but the pricing in my head might be outdated. What is nice, is that I've got plenty of extra material for repairs that I now have the tools and skills to do myself.

Now, if you proceed, here are a few tips from lessons hard learned by me: do not use a marker of any kind on the back of the vinyl. It WILL bleed through after some time. I've got several places where you can see the marks I made now, and a little piece of me dies every time I see it, much less type it out on the internet for the world see how ignorant I was. So, thank you for that. lol. Also, the sharply curved bow cushions are a pain in the ass. They're the only cushions that still have some wrinkles. I didn't have enough curve calculated into them when I made the new ones, and now there's a little extra material, causing a few wrinkles. Not terrible, but it bugs me that I didn't get that done up better. Make sure to use good vinyl. I am happy enough with what I got, but if I were to start over, I would probably get something a little higher quality and thicker. Thicker makes it more difficult to work with during the stretching part, but I didn't have much problems there, so I felt like there was room to go with that. As I clearly outlined in the first post, GET THE SAILRITE SEWING MACHINE. Night and day difference. For your sake, take my word. Have a clear plan for all colors, vinyl and piping included. The seats are the hardest part, do them last. Do the swim platform first. They're the easiest.

Not sure what else to say. It was a heckuva project, and I enjoyed it for the most part, but I was happy to be done with it by the time I finished up. And believe me, there will be pains. But hopefully not as many as mine. lol

 

[finnrigged]

The extra tips are greatly appreciated! I would have never thought about the bleed through of a light marker either and I was LMAO when I read your "a little piece of me dies" comment. The same thing happens to me every time my toe catches on a raised tile after doing a bathroom floor or when I see my drywall seam efforts with the wrong overhead lighting. I'm buying a second SX230 today as a parts boat so I'm hoping some of the seat cushions are in good shape but the tops all look like trash in the photos. The biggest problem on my current 2007 SX is the foam is so degraded in places that I don't even have a shape to mold properly to. I used the word "skins" out of ignorance to the terminology but meant $3500 to have them recovered. Just got a second quote last night of $4500 including the refoam which is probably what the first will say when they see the foam. I sure would like to find 9ne of these boats with a huge hole in the bottom of it and a cover on top LOL. The vinyl is going to cost more than the boat! I'm a Waverunner garage mechanic and flipper so I've only done the pre-cut PWC seat covers with staples thus far. The sewing machine isn't a big deal on price because I appreciate what your advice is on having the right tool for the job versus the struggle that just kills the project timelines. And full disclosure... After sleeping off the excitement of adding another refurbishing skill to my bag of tricks...the excitement is rapidly being replaced ounce for ounce with the dread-line of how long this might take. If it was Winter here in Texas... That's one thing but thae boat wants a drink of water!

I'll check back in here with pics, horror stories or small successes if I pull trigger ultimately though. Thanks a TON for the insight and tips!

 

[dgfreeze]

I spent about 3 months working on it, 2-3 evenings a week. If it would've been at my house, I'm sure I would've shortened that time fairly significantly, but since it was winter and there was no rush, I just made sure I stayed on schedule. But, to be honest, $3500 isn't a bad price for new vinyl if they're doing all the work. Obviously, that didn't factor in the foam, but still.... I think I was quoted $4500 at one place and $5000 at another, and that was without foam replacement. There is also a guy here on the forum who makes the skins, and you can just do the work of replacing them. Replacing the foam would be up to you, but that's not rocket science. I believe he already has the templates, so I could be wrong, but I don't think you'd even have to send him your old ones. Just pick your colors, swipe your card, grab some bourbon, and watch for the UPS guy. lol

So what part of Texas are you? I've got relatives a little south of Dallas, and then a bunch more a little south of Waco.

 

[finnrigged]

I'm down in Houston but my primary lake for the SX230 will be late Livingston up in Trinity Texas on the very north side. It's about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive from Dallas. I also just bought a 2008 SX230 today that is completely trashed and unusable for the hull but it looks like the two motors are going to be just fine after a little bit of oil changing. I started a new thread on that one in the general area under a title something like is there a way to hotwire an SX230... Because it did not come with keys. The good thing about this one is that about 95% of the seat foam is intact versus that 2007 that I bought two weeks ago. The vinyl on this one I would say 50% is usable but a lot of the pieces that have the color change halfway through the cushion the darker colors are the parts that Will need replacing. I doubt someone will be able to just replace the portion of the panel that is not bad but we will see. About 75% of them might actually be candidates to use the vinyl spray paint on just to get through the season and maybe next. I can't believe how cheap people dump these SX230s down here in Houston for. In the last 3 weeks I've almost bought three of them. One of them was missing a jet pump and a motor but the other motor would fire up. It definitely needed some TLC. That was $5,000 on a titled galvanized stock trailer. My 2007 from last week or so was $3,200 and the one tonight was $3,500 on a really nice 2015 McClain aluminum 24 ft double axle. It was worth the $3,500 for the trailer alone because McClain said they still sell those but they're $6,400 plus TTL. I'll probably sell one of the motors just to pay for the vinyl so I don't have to touch it now and there will be plenty of other parts that I can sell off this one that did not get crushed.