1999 Cobalt 232 restoration

[baktasht]

Bought a 1999 Cobalt 232 a few weeks ago and it had been sitting for a few years. Previous to that it was stored in a wet slip. There was tons of calcium buildup on the outdrive, and there was lots of water staining and mineral buildup on the hull.

* Buffied the hull / gelcoat with heavy compound. Still need to go over it with a lighter compound and then either wax or ceramic coat it.

* The vinyl on the rear deck was in really bad shape. I removed it and had a local upholstery guy redo it. It used to look like this:






Now it looks like this:

[baktasht]

The first round of buffing with the heavy cutting compound took some work. There was years of oxidation and water staining all over the boat. But it's getting better:

[baktasht]

We had a Sea Ray Weekender 225 before this, and we loved the extended swim platform. For two main reasons. 1) it gave us lots more space in the rear area when anchored, and 2) it covered up the outdrive so that nobody ran into it when boarding the boat. So I called up Swim Platforms a few weeks ago and ordered one up for our new-to-us Cobalt 232. It finally came in today. The team at SwimPlatforms was very helpful, a pleasure to talk to and deal with, and they made the ordering process very easy with great advice and tips. Turnaround time from order placement to delivery was about 2 weeks. They built a custom wood crate and packed it very well to make the trip from Arizona to Texas for delivery. Here's a photo of it from when it arrived earlier after it arrived.




Here are photos of the Swim Platforms extended swim platform installed. Apologies for the dirty mess, I still have a lot of buffing and cleaning to do once I finish some of the other things. The swim platform fits like a glove, very snug and follows the lines of the boat. I was worried about the gelcoat color matching so I called the Swimplatforms.com guys before ordering to ask some questions. They said they actually use gelcoat to match the exact color of my boat from the year/model/manufacturer, and I have to say that it matches very well. The quality of the swim platform is WAY BETTER than I expected. It's very thick and heavy duty where it needs to be. Installation took around 4 hours start to finish with two people. Make sure to have plenty of 3M 5200 on hand, and some good drill bits. The swim platform included all of the hardware needed for installation and also a bunch of plastic reinforcement blocks that I used on the inside of the transom.

I'm very happy with the end result, added almost 3ft to our rear platform area to hang out on, and makes the boat look complete.

[baktasht]

I was worried about all of the staining on the gelcoat from being stored in the water in a wet-slip for years. But HOLY CRAP, I got a tip from a local boat mechanic I have used for many years to use a gel product, and I can say its better than any hull cleaner I have ever used in the past.

The gel cleaner:
https://amzn.to/337pMHT

Make sure to get some acid resistant chemical gloves:
https://amzn.to/329o5IT

The end result was a perfectly clean hull with all of the stains removed. Make sure to drape some plastic over your trailer so that the paint is protected. I used the Vvivid chemical grade drop plastic:
https://amzn.to/2JH9NJ2

For the hard to reach areas that you can't get to with a sponge to wipe the "gel" on with a sponge, I used the liquid version of the solution in a chemical grade spray bottle:
https://amzn.to/2C5uk5Q
acid resistant bottle:
https://amzn.to/2N5UoUK

I'll post some photos of the hull in the next few days.

[baktasht]

I got rid of the old yellowed cup holders and installed some brand new brushed stainless steel ones. It's surprising how much of a difference these little things make. Made the interior look newer with just the cup holder swap. There was a total of 6 (4 in the back area and 2 in the bow area).




In our last boat (Sea Ray Weekender 225), I was really happy with the Polk DB651 speakers that we upgraded to. For this Cobalt I was going to go with the same ones, but noticed there is a Polk DB652 now. I ordered up 4x and got them installed. They are a huge improvement over the old Sony's that were installed. There are no speakers in the bow area on this Cobalt, only 4x in the back area. After getting the 4 replaced I decided I want to add 2 to the bow area as well, so I ordered another pair and I'll be cutting holes and running wiring to the bow area once they come in:




Got the cover all cleaned up. It looks almost new. A couple more stains I need to scrub out of it.

[baktasht]

We had Seadek on the last boat, figured I would give MarineMat a shot this time. Today i drew the templates onylar, will be shipping out to them to see what they come up with.

[baktasht]

Before I install the new radio I decided to refinish the mounting bezel. I sanded it down to metal and then also drilled a couple extra holes for additional USB and cigarette lighter ports. I used the Rust-Oleum hammered finish spray paint. I've used it in the past with great results. I think with the theme I'm going for it.

[AsLan7]

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Baktasht, that is one amazing transformation. You remind me of another member on the board (T550) who is also a miracle worker with his Cobalt and is faster than a speeding bullet during the process.

Thank you for the documentation as well with the photos and links. Great stuff!

BTW, are those your kids helping with the clean up?
I see a Texas license plate so I’m guessing that’s your home port?

We are so glad you found us! Welcome aboard mate.

.

[baktasht]

.
Baktasht, that is one amazing transformation. You remind me of another member on the board (T550) who is also a miracle worker with his Cobalt and is faster than a speeding bullet during the process.

Thank you for the documentation as well with the photos and links. Great stuff!

BTW, are those your kids helping with the clean up?
I see a Texas license plate so I’m guessing that’s your home port?

We are so glad you found us! Welcome aboard mate.

.

Thanks for the warm welcome. Another member on another forum pointed me here. Looks like a great group of folks here at CobaltChat. Yup, those are my two little boys helping. They love getting involved in all the manly projects I'm in Round Rock, right outside of Austin.

[AsLan7]

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Nice! Another TX resident, Driller, will chime in shortly. In fact we have quite a few Midwest members. Yes. a great group of folks here. Enjoy the forum banter, reading and member pics....and thanks again for adding to them.

.

[Big Block Power]

Welcome from Wisconsin. That 232 even looks like T5555555000000.
I used lysol gel toilet cleaner on my drive and it cleaned it right up. We like to spend others money so let's get a drive shower on that baby. It will help keep it clean but it helps keep it cool. Best add on other than the platform you can do. Then let's get some leds in that baby. Thanks fur the great post and products used. What color marine mat are you doing?

[thunder550]

I love this! Keep up the good work! Love the mid/late 90s boats.

[baktasht]

My new Perko 2-battery switch came in. Along with another pair of Polk DB652 speakers. Will be installing this along with two new Duracell Marine AGM batteries next week for a total of 6x 6.5" speakers. I'm not huge on loud audio so I think that should be enough, we'll see.

[baktasht]

BTW, if you guys are ever looking for high quality marine AGM batteries the last 6 or so I have bought from Sams Club and they've been by far the best performing ones at the best price. I have been purchasing the Duracell Marine AGM Group31 batteries for the last few times. Can't be the Sam's Club price at $179 each.
https://www.samsclub.com/p/duracell-agm ... roduct_1_1

[akorcovelos]

Welcome from Illinois. Love the dash panel, I’ll be doing something similar, but I’ll probably hydro-dip them. Keep the pics coming!