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Chaparral Sunesta

Wes Harden

Wes Harden

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Location
Lake Havasu City AZ
New boating season, should have spent some time this winter dolling up the boat. It has been stored away from me till now, and we wanted to use it not, detail it.
Got it out and put up the Bimini's,
I got to looking at the upholstery.
Needs some deep cleaning.
Boat is 23 years old, we've owned it for 5, so it has some wear.
What do you all use to clean vinal upholstery?
I tried McGuires hd degreaser diluted 5 to1.
Only got @ 1/2 done B4 sun went down. Looks like a second pass will be needed.

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I've used MacGuires, but always open to suggestions if there's something better
 
it's the debil.......



clear Spray 9 and a nylon scrub brush...... best soap you'll ever use.. if it still has a bit of mildew, use a dilluted bleach mix on a rag, wipe down the areas a few times and let sit.... than come back and re-clean with the spray 9...

obviously you need to keep the bleach solution off any colored fabric, carpet, canvas, etc.. once clean, yes, you can follow up with a vinyl conditioner to help maintain it longer...
 
No mildew problems, just many years of use with soso cleaning.

I am using a stiff nylon brush, and wiping down with micro fibre towel.
Will look into the debil clear sparky 9
 
Just got back in after a 1/2 a day on the lake boat ran flawless. 1st time out in 2 seasons. @12 gl of old gas, 20gl of new. Farely certain we put stabil in at end of 2020 season.

Meet up with @RSAP and bunch of his friends, on the lake. @RSAP has a beautiful 240 Hallet.
 
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Wes Harden said:
https://www.amazon.com/Spray-Nine-26832-Degreaser-Disinfectant/dp/B0014COKYU?th=1 is this the stuff @ryoken
Click to expand...



yup, best clear soap you'll ever find.. i use it for everything, engine degreaser, etc.... wash all my rigs with it, etc... gonna paint a boat/car? first thing you do is scrub it down with that before any bodywork.....


also the marine industry sells a product called Mold-Away... it's watered down bleach... (great for mildew-y engine compartments) but i tend to keep bleach work as a separate process, than a soapy scrub.... they are counter-intuitive in how they work..


i do this daily.. I have to clean every boat of my greasy paw prints nearly every time I'm on them, from head jobs, to exhaust, pumps, yada........ even with moving blankets, tarps, beach towels, etc, it's inevitable on a big job that some cleaning will be needed... yard kids/grunts can't be trusted to do the job right..


just be aware, the more aggressive, and old, the material is, the drier it will be once clean, and receptive to future dirt/mildew...

in the worst of scenarios, say a kid gets blue ballpoint pen on a seat? lacquer thinner, and more aggressively, acetone, can be used.. but it is risky.. it WILL lighten, and pure white, the area.. it's actually eating the top surface.. it often requires a deft touch with a rag to "blend" an area like that...

I'm not up on the latest "vinyl conditioning goat jiz" out these days... ;) some of my anal customers treat their stuff tho once clean...
 
I just have to say kudos to you for having a 23 yo reliable boat that is that well maintained. I've got plenty of friends with fairly new boats with all sorts of gremlins and the cushions are the least of their problems but salt and high seas are a gamechanger. Looks like you had a great day
 
eesh, I'd hate you.. ;)

I bet that package is a nightmare to work on... 5.7/bravo 3 Merc package?
 
Thanks, @1300obo. Yes as long as we can keep it out the sun, for storage, this environment isn't that bad. The boat, trailer pads , seats will be bone dry in couple hours if not less.
I do know the PO had it in salt water, but not many times.
 
Volvo 5.0 efi with SX 300. I

I would like to try and remove some play in the steering, and maybe the throttle too, but throttle might be just me thinking it should tighter. At low no wake speeds it is hard to get it just right.
 
it could prolly use cables at that age... throttle is pretty simple, depending on control setup.. steering, a tad more involved..

you guys have no clue how lucky you are to be running in lakes... ;)
 
I know, I did a bunch of sailing, in the Pacific, mostly around the channel islands in So Cal, one trip from New Port ca to Ensenada Mexico. All the boats had engines. A few had folding props, those were so much fun.
The rigging was wear and tear, minor maintenance to winches and capstans. Lots of electrical.
 
Power Boats thou this the first I've owned. I did have possession of my father in laws, 74 Sleek Craft, for 4 years in the 80s.
That boat needed constant attention, but it had over 1000 hrs before I got it.
We did have many a nice outings with in spite of a few disappointing attempts at a day on the lake.
 
Not any boating yet this summer. Got boat outta storage. Battery is fubar went to look into the steering. Wheel turns 3/4" before cable moves.
Opened
up back of control tower, cleaned up some wiring and remove cd player interface. Rerouted am fm antenna.

found this while inspecting.20250801_134215.jpg20250801_134226.jpg
 
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