1999 Cobalt 232 restoration

[akorcovelos]

Now that wood looks so yuck. Any ideas on what to do with the wood?

I'm pulling mine and having them hydro dipped wood grain.

Order up some new decals for the outdrive when you clean it too, makes a huge difference if you trailer it.

[baktasht]

Now that wood looks so yuck. Any ideas on what to do with the wood?

I'm pulling mine and having them hydro dipped wood grain.

Order up some new decals for the outdrive when you clean it too, makes a huge difference if you trailer it.

Not a bad idea. I'm going to try and wrap them in burlwood vinyl wrap to see if it holds. I've done lots of vinyl wrapping on cars and car parts in the past with good results. If that doesn't hold well i may try your route.

[baktasht]

Nice. Use some toilet bowl cleaner on the top of that drive to clean her up. Lysol gel worked great for mine.

Good idea. I scrubbed with CLR and other chemicals, got probably 85% of the buildup off. What you see in the photos is what remains. I'll try that next weekend.

[baktasht]

Got the boat on the water finally last week and again over the weekend. It did very well for our first time taking it out. A few thoughts and things to fix:

* With the radio, amplifier, and speakers there's a bit of feedback. I ordered up a few isolator line magnets and two RCA ground loop isolators. Hopefully that takes care of the feedback.

* There's a little bit of a water drip on both left and right manifolds. I tried to isolate the source but it's hard to tell. Somewhere under the manifolds. I ordered all new blue drain plugs and gaskets to install and I'll be removing and reseating all the water hoses as well. If that doesn't stop the dripping I'll pull the manifolds/risers and clean/re-gasket.

* Idle is very smooth, power delivery/transition is smooth

* I don't know if it is the hull design, the bravo3, or what, but this thing just gets and stays on plane no matter how slowly you get into the throttle. Even tinkering with speeds I couldn't really get that annoying bow lift that all of our other boats have had. Super smooth through choppy water (even though it's lighter and shorter than our last boat).

* The motorized stern light made by Innovative Lighting / Power Light, comes up and goes down just fine, but the light doesn't come on. I pulled the bulb and checked the terminals and there's no voltage at the terminals on top. I'm not familiar with how power is delivered to the socket on these things, ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED...


I know, life jackets The boys got them on as soon as we got away from the dock.

[Big Block Power]

Very cool. Glad you got it. Yes the Cobalt hull and b3 mage a huge diff. And not much trim is needed when under way. Also b3 is a rocket in reverse.
Also the feedback issue not sure exactly what you are calling feedback, but make sure radio grd and amp grds go right to the battery or you will get noise.
If you have power to the light wires and not up top then it's open between the 2 points. May have to take it apart or sell it to me.
Congrats and keep the pictures coming.

[Ytmsn]

Congrats bak! Glad you got her on the water!

[skno]

The works toilet cleaner made the chalky on my outdrive literally rinse off, don't use anything abrasive. It's the lunatic acid that eats it just rinse thoroughly

[Big Block Power]

It's been awhile since I have used it. I might have used a soft like toilet brush brissles to Clean it.

[baktasht]

I forgot to post photos of the radio setup. It's not completely done yet, but here's where I'm at so far.

Installed a new JVC headunit. I'm using an external amp to power the speakers, so I opted for a mid-level headunit that does what i need. Along with new 12V outlets on the outside and the middle one is a dual fast charge USB plug along with voltage readout. All on the refinished mounting plate and with new stainless hardware. I also installed a JVC remote in the swim deck area:







I also installed a second battery along with a two battery Perko switch. I haven't had time to get new AGM batteries yet, so these are two good marine batteries I had in the garage. They're doing okay for now.




I'm still not sure how I feel about the re-upholstered rear deck. What do you guys think? Keep it as is or have it re-done again?

[akorcovelos]

I think it looks great, spend that money on other stuff.

[baktasht]

I think it looks great, spend that money on other stuff.

Good advice. Because there is definitely more I want to address.

Bought two sets of new-to-me Bravo3 prop sets today. The current ones on the outdrive are 28P. Got two sets of 26P. Hoping that should help get the wide open throttle RPM a little higher and in the right range. Current WOT RPM is at 4300. I also need to replace a couple of plastic fittings that are dripping.

[baktasht]

Anyone want the original Cobalt steering wheel? Free to whoever wants it, just pay for shipping:

[akorcovelos]

hmm, a bunch of your pics aren't working for me.

Your boat has 28p B3 props on it now? That's way over propped, my 252 came with 26p. You'll see definite benefit from going down, but even 26p may be a bit large for a 23' boat.

[baktasht]

hmm, a bunch of your pics aren't working for me.

Your boat has 28p B3 props on it now? That's way over propped, my 252 came with 26p. You'll see definite benefit from going down, but even 26p may be a bit large for a 23' boat.

Yup, the 28P props were on there when I bought the boat. From what the previous owner told me, they were original and were never changed. Even with the 28P props it still has plenty of power down low. I'm very curious to see how it will do with the 26P set.

[Big Block Power]

hmm, a bunch of your pics aren't working for me.

Your boat has 28p B3 props on it now? That's way over propped, my 252 came with 26p. You'll see definite benefit from going down, but even 26p may be a bit large for a 23' boat.

Yup, the 28P props were on there when I bought the boat. From what the previous owner told me, they were original and were never changed. Even with the 28P props it still has plenty of power down low. I'm very curious to see how it will do with the 26P set.

You will gain more yet. So you might be right where you need to be with those. Only way to tell is hammer down. So let's get her in the water and report back.