1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

[MikeyArriva]

Hey folks. I'm putting some posts in a few places here trying to find some help with my boat. I'm in over my head. I bought this boat last year and knew it had a soft spot in the floor and things were fading but i wasn't too concerned. now opening it up this season i noticed the floor has gotten worse around the seats and same with the upholstery.

I was first trying to find some help with the floor. I'm not sure how to get things out of the boat or if i have to take everything out in the first place. Could I just take the two front seats out and cut the floor out there and replace with painted plywood or can i just cover the soft spots with a fiberglass screen and paste? or do i have to pull everything and go to town on it. if so any ideas on what something like thats costs? It's the 19 ft Arriva Ski boat with the wrap around back seats. Those seats are also faded very bad and cracking really bad now too. I had a lady tell me she wanted a grand just to redo the cushions and it would take her a week or two. Is there a way of having this done cheaper? I had no idea things would be so expensive maybe I should have waited till I had more money before buying a boat but just wanted to be on the water and now the girlfriend is in love with it so i need to get er back in shape. Can anyone help with the cheapest but still ok ways to do these repairs. the floor mostly.

And while we're here do any of you know anyone with an Arriva they are parting out? The Captain and nav chairs look to be pretty standard in the 89 19footers. thanks for taking the time to read this. i'm just losing it up here and no idea what to do
I'm also looking for a manual for the 1989 Force 150
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and any help you can give me
take care
Mike

 

[Ciera2450]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Upholstery work is expensive...well, anything "marine" related is expensive. I can tell you now...the guys here that can help you will want pictures of the damaged areas to give you the best way to proceed.

 

[MikeyArriva]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

thank you i will try to figure out how to do that

 

[rickryder]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Hi Mike Welcome to the Dry Dock!

We will be more than happy to help you with your resto.

Like Ciera stated we will need pictures of what you have and the areas in question.

To post pics get a ImageShack or Photo bucket account...upload pics there and they will give you a forum code you can copy and paste into the reply box.

Plenty of people to help ya along

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

this is the right place for help, there is more knowledge here than you would need...all you need is a willingness to learn, and understanding that it will cost money to do right, and the drive to push yourself when thinks get frustrating and bleak! I came here last year with an old worn out boat, and with the help of this community I found that restoring it was not nearly as hard as I thought. As far as a grand for upholstery, that's not a bad price to have it done; however, depending on how creative you plan to be, a simple upholstery job is not that hard to do yourself. I tried my hand at upholstering my own boat and now I like it so much I want to do it for a living lol.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

very cool boat IMHO .. yea it was a bayliner design .. but cool none the less ..

You have wrap around dual seating with 3 colors and cords right ? ..

Back sundeck kinda thing ? over the engine(s)

Personally the only Bayliner build I would keep .. fun boat IMHO ..

More pics and I will show you more pics of how I did the floor ..

YD.

 

[MikeyArriva]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Great! Thanks so much guys. I will go take some pics now and try to leave you as much info as I can. It is so frustrating that i really don't even know where to start. like how the seats even come out without wrecking anything lol. I will figure out photo bucket and post some pics later this afternoon.

 

[MikeyArriva]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

yes it is a pretty damn cool boat. When i saw it i had to have it. just didn't realize what it would take. It is the wrap around seats but an outboard. the seats wrap inside from the transom and then two cushions can be put in the middle to make a sun pad there. Show ya in the pics.

 

[MikeyArriva]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Hi, so to the side of the album I created was this direct link.
The soft spots are really just between the two front seats to the back of the cargo hold and around the corners.
let me know if it works

http://s1156.photobucket.com/albums/p570/MikeyArriva/

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

MA,

In Photobucket, if you hover over the pic a pop up window will appear with 4 links. The bottom one is the IMG tag. If you click on it it will say "Copied". You can then return to iBoats and hold down the Ctrl Key and click the "V" key to paste the image into your post.
Like This!!!

Don't want to rain on your parade, but... the soft spots in your floor, in most cases, are a good indication that you have issues below. My advice, for what its worth is to remove the entire deck/floor, and then core sample the stringers and transom, to ensure their seaworthiness. If they are soft and mushy you will need to replace them as well.

 

[rickryder]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Wood is correct on the soft areas in your deck.... Start pulling seats and pads....Bolts for the pads will be behind them thru the glass on the cap...Reach up behind there and you'll feel them or use a mirror and a light to try and spot them... Then all the capet up.... Then we can start with some deck removal to look for rot...

 

[MikeyArriva]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

i'm sorry but pads behind them through the glass on the cap??? I tried popping the seats up a bit and i tried looking under then through the cargo hold but its closed in. there is no way i could afford ripping everything up and starting over. I can assume anyway.. What would something like that cost??

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

If the stringers are bad and the transom too! this can severely compromise the structural integrity of the boat. Some have used old boats with bad stringers and transoms for several years without incident. Others have had catastrophic failures to the point the boat sank. I cannot tell what the condition of your boat is or exactly what you should do. Only pointing out what soft floors usually indicate. You will have to make the final decision. If you do need a full restoration it could run as high as $2500 with new Transom, Stringers, Deck, and Upholstery, and that's if You do the work. Hiring it out would be at least double if not more.

Again, I can't tell you specifically what needs to be done, only that soft floors are usually just a symtom of further issues with the boat. Not Always but usually. We're here to help with anything that comes up.

 

[Bumperlt12]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

That interior layout is badass. I'm a little jealous.

 

[rickryder]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

If you take your seat cushions off the bottom there is no access to reach up between the hull and the top cap?? Only other way I can see the Mfg. did it was to install the seat back cushions before setting the top cap on....Seems unlikely but anything is possible I guess

And if you can run a sewing machine you could make your own covers a lot cheaper than having someone do it for you...

I made these and I'm no tailor

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Hey Mike,

Welcome to the Iboats drydock...

This is my nickle-95...please don't take any of the following the wrong way, it is only meant as friendly advice from a novice when it comes to boats...

Like has already been mentioned, you need to really decide if this is the boat for you, or if you want to save your pennies and buy a brand new, multi-thousand dollar boat...

I say this because, if you restore your current boat, you will probably spend between 2-5 thousand dollars, doing all or most of the work yourself...in the end you will end up with a boat that you will know inside and out and will probably last another 20-40 years, with proper care and maintenance...

If you buy another used boat, in good condition, for say between 3-6 thousand bucks, and you don't get a proper Marine Appraisal done...you might end up in the same boat...so to speak, with rot issues and big labor and repair bills...then again, you might get fortunate, and find an almost perfect boat, for that kind of money...

Or, you could just take your chances with your current boat, do some Band-aid repairs, and keep it on the water as long as possible...it looks like the previous owner did just that...made some temporary repairs...this would indicate, to my inexperienced eye, a complete restoration is the only proper course of action if you intend to keep this boat...unfortunately, rot starts deep down in the lower-most places of the hull [bottom of the transom/stringers] and works its way up...it is unstoppable, much like rust or cancer...no matter what you patch it up with, it will continue to spread...

I personally don't believe in Band-aid patches, when it comes to boats, because my safety and the safety of any who are with me, are too great a concern, for me to take chances out on the water...

In the end, this is your boat, and your decision, to do what you think is best...

Hopefully, all you have are some minor cosmetic issues and you can get your boat back into almost perfect condition, with the least amount of expenditure, both in time and money...but it looks like upholstery should be the least of your concerns at this time...

As far as finding a Manual for your Force Engine, try a couple of things...

Amazon.com

Iboats.com/Engine forum

If possible, get a Factory type manual, they are much better than aftermarket type manuals, such as "SELOC"...

No matter what you decide, we here on Iboats wil help you out best we can with whatever direction you want to take...

Best regards and best of luck,
GT1M

 

[MikeyArriva]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Hey guys been awhile. I didn't know I could do this on my phone. Just lettin yas know I got the floor done. Around the seats anyway with new plywood then fibreglassed it. Now stronger then ever but did a horrible job cutting the carpet so it doesn't look to good yet. Also have my rotted seat and the nav chair fixed and reupholstered. Will have them back by the weekend. Was just about ready for water but somerthing went wrong when welding my lower end and now prop shaft doesn't sit center I don't know if it can be machined out or something can be grinded so just looking for a used replacement. Ill put up some more pics when I get on comp. Hope everyone is well

 

[Cundulee]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

MA,
Great hearing your progress. I bought the exact same boat in early March and just completed the upholstery. Did it myself and changed the lay out at the same time. Great looking boat but my only issue is that a 150 2 stroke isnt enough power and that is what i'm rated for. Is that what you show too? The boat is slow out of the hole--much slower than the 19ft Larson i took the 150 off of. Cant figure it for anything but weight.
Keep us posted once you have her in the water. Good luck and wear gloves.

 

[MikeyArriva]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Hey I'm sorry it took me so long to get back on. posts don't come to my email for some reason to let me know. I would love to see pictures of your upholstry. I am going to do the back and the bow this fall. She has been buggin me this summer, one problem after another with the engine and some bad gas but I think its causing the most pain because i can't afford the mechanic and trying to figure things out myself. Its been quite the learning experience (I hope)

Anyway Cundulee, I have a 150 Force on the back of mine, and up till recently it was doing great but now i think i'm not running on all cylanders because it barely gets up on plane without someone sitting in the front and i can' only get her to do about 32 mph now when she used to do 45 - 50 . Again though it really used to jump out of the hole , are you using a 19 pitch prop? i had a 17 that was useless and i'd like to try a 21 but can't find an aftermarket one for the old Force. The 19 worked well except when trying to pull up larger skiiers. I'm sure by now you've got your bugs figured out but stay in touch and please show me how you've done your interior i'm really looking for ideas that arent going to cost me 3000. take care and stay afloat
Mike

 

[emoney]

Re: 1989 Arriva/ soft floor, horrible upholstery ahhhhh

Find a "Sewing Machine Repair Store", most towns have one tucked away somewhere, and buy an old (meaning 1950s-1970s)Singer sewing machine. Then, go to a fabric store (JoAnn's Fabrics or even Wal mart) and buy yards and yards of vinyl in the color you like. Take apart your old seats to use as a pattern and sew new ones. I redid my last sailboat's cabin (22 cushions) and spent around $150.00 total.

As far as weight is concerned as it affects speed, you both need to consider that water intrusion causes wet flotation foam with adds a LOT of weight to a boat. If there's any sign of rot, you can rest assured there's wet foam. Easiest way to know is go to any local truck stop and weigh your boat on the trailer on their scales. Then, subtract the original weight found by Google and that's how much "extra" you're carrying.