New ride for spring

Its that time of year again when you can find boats fairly cheap. Just got this one and I'm stoked on it.

95 Sunsetter



This is a few hours later after installing the tower.




So, now that that's done what should I do next. I already got a board rack from Bullet. This is my first Malibu. How much weight do I need to get a fatty wake? (I'm 6'4")

Nice ride. I would put some tower speakers up there right after you install the board racks.

I'm seriously considering replacing the logo's. Any recommendations?

It might look really clean with out any logos on it. Or maybe a small chrome Malibu logo at the back on the blue.

Yea I'm a fan of the clean no sticker look too. As for weight get a couple big sacks on the sides of the engine and another one in the bow maybe another in the back. I am plenty big 6'4" 230-ish. I have ridden this hull in v-drive formation with just 750 in the ski locker and it will be plenty to get you going. Congrats on the boat man it looks awesome.

Yah, I went to the dealership the other day and the chrome ones are around $60. Malibu only has a few decals available, I liked some of the older tribal ones but they only have the wakesetter or i ride ones now. Everything else only had the chrome Malibu at the back corner.

Oh, did I mention I got it for $9,500?

This is the first year you can add a wedge to the Sunsetter LX. I boarded behind a '97 and we used the wedge with 500lbs in the front locker and a 750 in the rear.

Congrats on the boat, great crossover boat.

..thats sweet...I dont think you can go wrong with that price...nice deal!

Rob

Here is a link to my 89 Sunsetter. I think there might be some ideas you might like.

http://www.wakesiderides.com/rides/index.php?page=out&id=2245

9,500 ?

That's ridiculous. Boat looks real clean. I am thinking about getting the chrome logos for the back of mine as well.

Looks like you have the same trailer I have as well except mine is for a v-drive. Get that baby painted black and cut down the PVC guides a little bit.

Most people don't believe that my boat is 12 years old.

Black trailer......That might look cool. I hadn't thought of that I had thought of keeping it blue, but black might be nice.

had to paint mine, red had become pink.

Which Acme prop should I go with and where is the cheapest place to get them now. I tried boarditup but they're $100 more than last time. Up to about $430.

What is it with the 6'4" guys and Sunsetters? I had a Sunsetter DD that I sold last year and just picked up a Sunsetter VLX about three weeks ago. I am 6'4" too. I ran between 750 to 1250 lbs in my DD and it made a nice wake, but it was an older hull than what you have there. I will probably run between 1000 and 2000 lbs in the new one, depending on who is riding with me. The boat looks great, I am thinking of going sans decals too. Will probably just do a domed malibu on the gunnels near the stern where the new Malibu's have the chromed lettering now.

(Message edited by srh00z on March 21, 2008)

I say go for a wrap. I've never shopped for one, and not even sure what kind of designs are out there, or how much they cost, but what I've seen look pretty cool. It may make the boat look much younger.

Since you buy and sell every year, let me know when you plan on getting rid of it. I'll take it off your hands next year! Excellent purchase!

Rob-
deltaprop.com has the best prices I could find anywhere. Most of their 3 blade acme props are going for $351.20 with free shipping. If you use the code DP5PN08 at checkout you get a 5% discount for a total of $333.64

I usually try to find one about February/March and make some money on it while I'm at it. Check my profile pic. I've made a little on my last three. I have no idea how much wraps cost, but decals seem expensive as it is. Someday I'll get a V-drive and keep it forever.

I'm also a fan of no decals at all. As far as weight, we used to have 97 Sunsetter with a 500 lbs sac on either side of the engine, one behind the engine, and one in the bow. It threw a nice wake but was a little slow getting out of the hole. Nice purchase!

I had that same year/model malibu until we bought our '06 VLX. Best setup I found was 2 x 550's along side the engine, not all the way to the rear but all the way to where the front of the back seat sat. Fill those two all the way up. Then I put another in the walk way by the driver, the end of the bag was somewhere between the front of the seat and the dash, filled as much as I could.

With a driver and spotter that was a pretty nice wake. IT got better with more people or ballast but it was pretty nice if you don't mind walking all over sacks.

UPDATE:
OK, Tower bolted on down tight. Board rack installed. Trailer painted. Teak sanded and oiled. Wheels scrubbed with a wire brush and polished. Tires armoralled. Decals removed. Carpet vacuumed.

I was a little nervous about pulling the decals, they kind of grew on me, but wow. Looks way better now.

What do you think?

Looks good man, much better.

Very, very nice. It looks 5 years newer. Did you do some polishing on the gel also?

Looks good without the decals. I will probably take mine off this weekend, I wish my gelcoat was in as good a shape as yours and I also like that color better. Mine is a dark green and it is growing on me, but not my first choice.

I just took my decals and pin-stripes off mine excel and it looks great as well. Nice ride!

Nice work looks great!

Nice I love boats without decals How long did it take you ?

LOOKS GREAT! There are days I miss our sunsetter, it treated us right almost all of the time.

Only took about 15 minutes to get the decals off of it. The pictures actually look better than it does up close. You can still see a little bit of a shadow. I was surprised how easily they came off though. The decals on my old MC 205 were way harder to get off. Its a little too naked for me. I need to pick up some sort of decal for the very back corners. It' my first malibu and I want to show the pride.

it looks killer man. what process did you use to paint the trailer?

Thanks for the compliments. I used tape and Rustoleum gloss black paint. I actually need to take it down to the lake today for the first trial run. Water should be in the 40's-50's I'm gonna give it a try with my little spring shortie. Also I need to paint the inner supports of the trailer. So far only the exterior edges have been painted.

cool- thanks. getting mine back from the brake shop tomorrow...wanted to paint it while the boat was off...now i just need a few days with no rain, but hey- it is oregon.

looks like a whole new boat.

I was on the fence about taking my decals off but your pics have me convinced to do that and put the billet malibu logo near the back.

Black trailer looks a lot better huh ? you can see the pink on the inside of mine that i still need to get when I get the boat off. Makes me mad you painted yours in a week and it took me 2 years to do something about mine. lol

Clint,
Have you priced out the billet Malibu logos? I haven't gotten that far and I have some other projects I want to do first.

I asked a dealer about them a while back and if I remember right they are about 35-40 dollars.

Amazing what a little elbow grease, and paint does. Nice!

how did you do the trailer paint?

Took it out to the lake yesterday, we didn't have a third and we had our 9 month old son in the boat, not to mention the water temperature so my wife wouldn't let me get in to take a ride. Other than that it was beautiful.

The boat was a little hard to start, the guy I bought it from had it on the delta, so around sea level. I'm at 4500 feet here in Utah so I'll need to rejet it. Other than that the boat was nearly perfect, the only annoying thing was the warning buzzer that seems to stay on when the key is on but not running. I'll also throw in some new plugs today.

The chrome logos were $45 or so from the dealer here. I'm gonna order a pair today.

As for all the work I've been doing I have the advantage of being in grad school right now so I have a lot of spare time right now. I start my real job May 1st so any projects get harder after that.

Lastly, we only had two adults and two little ones in the boat so the wake was really small. I'm thinking 1000lbs in sandbags hidden throughout the boat should help.

nice, much better looking without the decals

Rob ~~ Did you get the temp of the water while your were out there? Somewhere online is saying 50 deg. already, we were planning on the first trip out this weekend but it looks like the weather don't want us to.

P.S. What's up with the KSL add?

A week ago I rode and the water was 48 I bet it is colder now. That water changes temp quick due to its depth.

Josh, I didn't get a chance to get in, nor did I have a temp gauge. The water didn't seem bad to the touch, I've been in colder.

Anyway, I need some help with the boat. It's really rough starting. When we picked it up in Cali it started right up. I'm thinking its the elevation. Does anyone know what kind of jetting or other adjustment I need to make to get this ready for Utah elevation?

I prefer to do things myself when possible, but I guess if I have to I can take it to a shop to adjust it.

looks great, not sure if someone said it or not but since you need to change out the cf #'s to utah #'s go with a nice drip molded.
http://www.domednumbers.com/index_html.html

Just a quick update, I was worried that something was really wrong with the boat as it was hard to start, you had to give it a lot of gas to get it started, then it wouldn't idle, especially when cold. I called the local dealer to find out if I needed some high altitude adjustment, they let me know that I probably just needed to rebuild the carb. Kit was $150. I looked around online and found it for $65. Then I took the carb off and cleaned it up. Amazing. No kit needed. Now it starts up immediately and idles smooth. It's great what a little carb cleaner and time can do.

I also replaced my impeller while I was at it and made a homemade fake-a-lake in about 5 minutes from an old toilet plunger I had downstairs and a little pvc pipe I had in the garage. So...

Potential costs
Carb Kit $150
tuneup $200
Fake-a-lake- $45
Impeller $45

Actual costs
carb cleaner $3
impeller $45

Thats the value of doing it yourself. I don't know how people afford boats when they pay other people to do all the work.

Rob - Awesome job man. The boat looks great and you've done everything the smart way. Doing it yourself and bringing it to life. Enjoy your summer!

"the only annoying thing was the warning buzzer that seems to stay on when the key is on but not running."

I had the same issue with my '95 Echelon. never could figure out how to turn that darn thing off.
boat looks great!

Rob ~~ When your ready to test out the wake let me know and we can throw a few sacks in it. Good work!

fat sacks for sure your going to need them but boats looking great for a malabu lol

Maybe a Malibu person could tell me but the guy at board it up recommended an ACME 911 prop. I would love to sack this thing out but I'll need a good prop to do it.

Josh, I'll take you up on that offer, I just bought a Ronix Covin that I'm waiting to be delivered. I have an old fat seat in my shed but no pump lying around. My last few boats I've plumbed in a ballast system, I can do it for under a hundred buck pretty easy. The truth is I'm probably not going to be able to hold on to this boat very long and I'm not sure I want to do it. In the past I always used a simmer reversible pump, plumbed through the floor. If I do another I want to do it with aerator pumps and one way valves.

Just bought 500lbs of sandbags, now hidden behind the back seat and in the skilocker, I think I'll add about another 1000. I also bought a simer pump and all the pvc fittings I need to plumb the ballast system. Lastly I ordered the stainless steel Malibu decals for the back corners. Who knows I may end up springing for the prop and my wife may let me keep it.

I got my wife to go to marine products yesterday and try on bindings. Hopefully it will work out. If not I have it up for sale for $16,500......If anyone feels a need to take it off my hands. If not, I'll keep enjoying it.

Boat looks good Rob

Congrats!

I ran the acme 911 in a response lx and loved it. hole shot was amazing, and it held at wakeboarding speeds perfectly! it did lose a little on the top end, it would be runnin WOT at about 41, and we cruised back and forth from riding and the house at about 37 with no problems. that was the best prop for the RLX if your gonna be boarding. I also had a skylon fatboy on both sides of the engine (580 piece) one in the back in front of the rear seat/behind engine when we needed the backseat and we took out the back seat we we didn't need it and pushed it all the way back. also had another 580 in the bow, and always ran the wedge down when riding. wake was the best I've seen for a response lx for sure! yea sacs were everywhere but just gotta deal if you wanna wake. Not real sure on this but does your sunsetter have the rear seat that pulls up and sits higher? if you go to themalibucrew and look, someone there made a box for under the rear seat for a fatsac. its real clean. congrats on the boat! given anythought to what kind of tower speakers your going to run?

Also how did you remove the decals? heat gun? is the fading really bad? did it get better if you polish and wax it?

Yah, my back seat will go up. I thought about building a box back there. That would be really nice. Probably not running tower speakers as I don't have the cash to drop on a system nice enough for the rider to hear and I don't want to blast out everyone in the boat just for the rider...Epic probably had the right idea.
I don't have the wedge on this boat, but I wish I did. On the other hand there is a lot of space to hide stuff in.

Decals came off with just a razor blade, no heat gun necessary, boat was stored on a covered lift for its whole life so that mad it easier.

great job, nice find

I got to see this project today in person and it looks better than the pictures! Rob thanks for the invite and the pull today.

Check out ebay man. You can get some tower speakers for cheap! The best deals I've seen... you can get the liquid audio doubles (4speakers) for a couple hundred through an auction. or kickers new kmt6 set up..a lot of them on there are just for one box (2speakers) but there is one guy who's doin a "buy it now" with two boxes (4speakers) for the price of one. they plenty loud and definitely do the trick...and for 240 you can't beat that! you can also get an amp for a little over 100!

It's a beautiful thing what a little elbow grease will do. This reminds me of my first boat I got it and of course went crazy detailing and engine work had a blast doing it. The next year I bought a brand new V drive. Anyway kudos man it looks great!

I definitely recommend letting Josh ride with anyone. He was really nice, even gave me a rope and handle as a present when he left!

The water was really nice but very cold but thanks to Joshes drysuit it wasn't bad at all. We saw a lot of potential with that wake. Lastly, the covin was a new experience. Its wierd going back to a continuous from a three stage. I really need to adjust my cut. If I go in with too much speed I go far but not high. It was really smooth though and felt solid. I think once we get the wake up to size and I get used to it I'll really like it.

In the mean time I'm still torn between trying to make my first ballast system using aerator pumps (I actually bought a Tsunami 1200 on ebay for $30) or just making it with the simer pump like I've done in the past. My fear is the pumps not priming.

Friggin sweet man!! Good job on that, it looks great!

Cody
XTP

Nate, I checked Deltaprop and they're up to $413 like everybody else. Acme must have some serious price controls. you can't find those things for cheap anywhere.

Looks like I've decided to try the aerator pump route on the ballast. A Tsumnami 1200 to fill and a 500 to empty. I'll also add at least another 500 in sandbags.

hey rob,
had a chance to take that out on the water yet? sorry if you've already discussed all this i didn't read through the whole post..if not I'd like to see some pics of the wake when you get it all squared away..

I went out on Monday with Josh. Wake was pretty clean once we moved the weight around. We had a sack in the walk way and two smaller sacks in the back. It was nice and clean. We were on Utah lake which is only about 12 feet deep so the wake wasn't as big as I'd like, but with more weight it'll get there.

Rob, I was going to buy some sacks, what did you run on monday? Sweet steal on the boat.

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quote:

I definitely recommend letting Josh ride with anyone. He was really nice, even gave me a rope and handle as a present when he left!

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It's not the first time I have left free gifts that I try anything to get back. I just worry about getting out of the boat and hitting it with a towel. I guess I need to grab my gear before taking care of the boat .

Rob, if you use the Delta prop discount code DP5PN08 the price comes to $350.76

Thanks Nate. That's awesome.

Just a little update:

Finally got the chrome decals and put them on the back, I think they look nice. Cost about $100 for the pair, got the hubs painted also and a little more polishing.
Had a mix up with simer, they sent the pump and it turned out to be the wrong one, by the way BE atlas doesn't sell just the pump anymore, you have to buy the kit with the scooper for $101 shipped. So, now I have the system plumbed and wired, just waiting for my pump to show up and I'll have the ballast system. 500 lbs of sand and 1200 lbs of water, with lots more room for more sand.

Next is the prop, I started my new job last Tuesday so it'll be nice to have a paycheck or two under my belt before I buy the prop.

Who wants to go ride in Grand Junction, CO

--Oh yeah, still for sale $16,500--

rob how much and where did you get that chrome malibu decal from.. i got a 93 euro f3 skier i think it would look dope on mine cuz they look damn good on yours

Trey, Got the decals from taylors boats in murray utah, cost just over $100 for the pair. Thanks for the compliment.

Rob, boats lookin good.

Nate, I didn't buy it yet but I tried the code and it actually dropped it to $330! would save $82 thats awesome. Now I just gotta get some people to ride with here in colorado.