To paint or not to paint.

A lot of you saw my post about the paint job. After all the suggestions, I think I am going to go with the all white and black stripe, and then add the 'AIR' decals.

I got the final quote on the stringer work, floor work, and paint job. The guy has been doing this type of work for 35 years and his pictures are really impressive. The paint job looks like it just came out of the mold. Wish I could share the pictures, but he doesn't have a digital and he just mailed me 35mm pictures. Do you think these prices sound fair.

$1775 for stringers
$816 for floor and foam
$1250 to paint deck
$1475 to paint hull
$485 for paint
$143 for tools

Tax ends up being about $600, so the total is $6500. It would be like a new boat when done. I plan on keeping the boat for a long time and think these additions would make it a really nice boat. Do you think it is worth it?

that seems about right..thats a lot of labor right there...the materials alone are very expensive.. i know a guy who is in the process of getting his 87 barefoot nautique redone(stringers and a few odd and ends)..hes looking at around 4k just for that...so 3500 for paint..seems about right leo

dont ask if its worth it..you will get a zillion answears, do what your brain and pocketbook feel right doing!..all honestly

Yea, my dad is helping me, but a majority of the money will come from my pocket and working this summer. I love the boat, I just want to make sure it is a worthwhile investment. I am just hoping that if I ever did plan on selling it, the investment would be worth it.

what kind of boat, year, hrs, condition of boat in/out, what you paid for it..what do they sell for now..etc etc etc..whats dad say?

for that much money you could find a new 2001 lol. i really liked the all black with white stripe myself. what year is the boat?

For what you already have in the boat, and what you want to put in it, you won't get your money back. You will have a very nice boat, and if you ever sold you could get a good price.

Fix it because you like the boat and it meets your needs...but investment is the wrong word perhaps.

I agree with eric. While you will end up with a great boat in the end, but you will never get your money back. Take it from someone that had the exact same boat as you....save your money and put toward a newer boat. Do what you can on your own just to make it usuable. I know when I had mine, I had every intention of redoing it, but decided against it. The 2001 is great for what yall use it for, but 2-3 years from now, you will be ready to move up to something newer. $7K is a helluva down payment. Just look at the pic ol boy dug up of both of my boats...wouldn't you rather have one of those in your drive a few years from now after you graduate?
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/425333.html?1174360018




We need to hook back up at Lake B once I get our boat put back together. We need some more schoolage from you.

(Message edited by bmh2208 on March 19, 2007)

(Message edited by bmh2208 on March 19, 2007)

i could make money on mine right now, but i have no intention of ever selling it. i want to have it and a newer nautique one day. then i will strip my 2001 back down to original and just have it as reminder of where i started. that and it would be bad ass to teach my kids (if i ever have any) to ride behind that 2001.

Ryan - 1983 2001 with about 1400 hours. I paid $4500 for it. The conditions of the inside is decent with the exception of a soft spot in the floor and the stringers seem strong around the engine, but I am not so sure about the soft spot.

Brandon - for $7k I will have a new boat. New stringers and new paint job. I also plan on rebuilding the engine (another $1k). The way I see it is that I will have put $7k in the boat, but I will have a new boat. There aren't any other boats in my price range that put out as good of a wake as the 2001. A super sport is still $20k+. I figure with the new stringers and floor the boat would hold a lot of its value. Although I dont plan on selling it anytime soon, that is why I want to redo it. I still have 3 years of engineering before I graduate, and then 5 years in the military. I wont be buying another boat for 8 years!

Leo 8 years is a long time not to like the boat you are in. Its just money, and half is your dads. Plus you will never have to worry about it starting or having any problems with it. If you decide to do it will it be done this summer?

Yea, it will be done this summer. So next semester the Texas A&M wakeboard club will have a fairly nice boat. My dad isn't paying half, but he is going to help out with the engine rebuild and maybe some of the stringer work.

Leo, I don't have any input on the quote for the work, except for one item. Ask him again about the sales tax. Do you really have to pay sales tax on services?

Tell him it's an all cash deal in unmarked $100 bills, and let's just keep the state of Louisiana out of this transaction.

Other than that, do the deal if you plan on keeping and enjoying the boat for several years. Not everything is a purely financial decision.

I am doing stringers in mine and I think that just in materials I will be around a thousand by the time I get it all back together.

As far as an investment I would say it is a bad one but they are great boats and yours will be better than most on the market when you go to sell it.

A lot of people on here say you are going to want to updated down the road and you might but I am fixing mine right because I plan on keeping it for a long time. It makes a wake that is as good as a new one and I don't want to take 10 people with me anyways.

I am in the early stages of my stringer repair but I think that I can make the boat much more wakeboard friendly with my repairs.

Basically you will have $4500 + $6500 + 1000 (maybe more) for a grand total of a $12,000 boat that according to NADA guide is worth about $4500 dollars. Not saying it is a finacial issue, but, you will be in for almost triple of what it is worth right now, never mind in 8 years. Not too wise for someone trying to get started in life to get that much in debt with no way out. You will have a newish boat though. Tough call.

In a way, we're all in the same "boat" as you. Not in the sense of replacing stringers or gelcoat but every dime I spend will never come back in resale. If you're keeping the boat for years and love the way it performs, I say go for it! I only hope the rest of your college team treats the boat as nice as you will.

First of all the NADA guide is not really applicable in this situation. If you do have $12,000 into a 2001 you will most likely not get all of it back. However after putting all that money into the boat it would be in great shape and that will increase its value. 2001s that have been restored are currently selling for around $10,000. If you don't believe me I've listed just a few that are currently for sale.

Leo, if your going to keep the boat for 8 years this may be something worth doing. I mean if the boat needs a new floor and stringers you might as well restore the whole thing. You'll end up with a great reliable boat that will throw an awsome wake and not depreciate at all.

http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1769&sort=&pagenum=2&yrstart=1925&y rend=2008
http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1430&sort=&pagenum=4&yrstart=1925&y rend=2008

I dont think you would have trouble getting 10k out your boat if you do everything to it.

fatsac brings up a great point though. Not everyone is going to respect the boat the way you do and if it is a college wakeboard team I would be pretty scared.

Some people pay to go to school to learn how to do something. Others jump right in and do it. The ones that went to school now have to actually do it to really learn.

Point being call it a learning experience and time well spent with your dad. You will learn so much

Leo, can the wakeboard team do a fundraiser for a "boat upgrade" fund? It might consist of some of the parents chipping in a couple hundred bucks. Set it up where the club won't have any ownership, but they certainly have an interest in having a usable, reliable boat. What about approaching some of your sponsors and letting them know what you're doing? Demonstrate to them how you can get them some PR at your events.

If the club contributed even $2K to the project it would take some of the sting off of you. Have a team prayer meeting and take up a collection.

leo is it worth it? imo no.
i just sold my 95 prostar with autoballast, perfect pass, tower, new engine block, rebuilt tranny, new upholstery and carpet for 10k. and i wouldve taken less too. point being, for what you would plan to invest you could have something a little more modern and turnkey.

youre essentially dumping money into a boat for your school team, those guys will have no respect for your boat. if it were i, i would use the boat as is, maybe new carpet and fix up the upholstery. sell that thing when you get out of college and buy what you like. i promise once you graduate, start making a little money, the first thing to go will be that boat. and as other have stated, the return isnt gonna be very good. whereas leaving it as is your probably gonna fair pretty well when you sell it.

OR wait till this winter, have some of your boys from the team help you restore the boat for a fraction of the cost. fiberglass isnt hard to work with. ive seen some of your posts and i know you are a mechanically inclined person as which leads me to believe youre handy doing other things as well. plus were talking about stringers which arent seen anyway so who cares really what they look like.

all that said, id polish the crap out of the gelcoat, slap some new decals on the sides and ride the crap out of the boat till this fall.

Since I am the president of the club, I am always present at the club riding. I am there each time the boat goes out (3-4 times a week). I make sure everyone treats it well, although some people do stupid things.

This is my boat that I paid for. The only thing the club pays for are small maintenance items. They could help pay for a very small percentage of the project, but not more than $1k.

I understand I wont get back everything I put in it. But I will transform a $4500 boat into one that is worth $10000. I want a boat that performs, and it would give me peace of mind knowing that I dont have to worry about stringers or floor ruining a semester of wakeboarding. The 2001s perform and have every quality that I look for in a boat minus v-drive, internal ballast, and about 1 more foot of interior space.

I was going to do the project myself, but my dad offered to help pay if I got someone else to do it to keep me from getting gelcoat and fiberglass resin in the house.


Rich-I dont know what the deal is on the tax. The guy doing the work is located in TN, so thats another $600 to pick it up and drop it off.

you should not pay sales tax for labor, only for parts and materials. Some guys add sales tax as kind of a buffer. Call him on that and only pay on those line items that apply.

will your club work with you to fund some this?

(Message edited by denverd1 on March 20, 2007)

Rich, depends on the state. In NC, you pay tax on labor and freight. It's BS, I know.

Leo,
What I'm seeing is $2500 for repair work and $4000 in cosmetics. I'd say go for the floor/stringer work...it will pay out in the end. As for the paint, don't waste your money. If I'm not mistaken, the 83 still had the 3 stripes with the graphics relief'd (can't find a pic of your boat). Those early stripes are paint, not gelcoat, and I'm pretty sure you can sand them off w/o damaging the gel underneath if you're careful. Then polish it out and you have a solid color SN2001. Just a thought.

I agree with Ryan, get it mechanically solid dont worry about the cosmetics. Furthermore, you could talk to the school about "selling" the gel-coat as advertising space. They pay for the vinyl materials and you apply them to the boat. You end up with a decent looking boat for free, and the school gets a little advertising.

I am thinking about ditching the paint job and just doing the stringer work and engine rebuild. The paint is low priority right now. The only problem is that the previous owner put bottom coat on the boat. Even if I sand it down, it might look like trash. I like the 3 stripe design, the bottom coat is just trashy looking.

Matt- our school would never be interested in that. If anything, maybe our sponsors would be interested in getting vinyl graphics that help represent them.

There is the boat. You can see the undercoat and the cheap stripe we put to try and hide it.

yea, maybe

you know that $6500 is a lot of boat payments on a newer boat

I hadnt even seen a pic of the boat yet, but now I would def just do the mechanical/functional stuff. Thats a LOT of gas and days off just to "look good" IMHO.

Good luck with it. If you ever need a pull when it's being worked on...holla!

Leo, my dad has a friend that redone his boat a few years back. Looked brand new. Let me know if you want his info.

I think you would be crazy to spend that amount of money on that boat. Like entrust said, 6500 is a lot of money to dump into a boat worth maybe double that?

Look man, the best decision I made in college was buying my 82' SN 2001. Yeah, I went into a little debt. I also went to school for engineering (mechanical). When I was in college we went like 3 or 4 days a week. Now that I'm in the great working world, I hardly have anytime to go. However, as an engineer you'll easily make enough money to pay off that debt quickly. Buy the boat, fix it up, and have a blast, enjoy it while you can. You only live once. If you need a job when you graduate, holla at me.

Also, got to the website www.the2001.com and correctcraftfan.com, they have some really good articles on there about redoing boats.

If he were to go out and buy a brand new boat it would depreciate $6,500 dollars before he graduated from college. Plus he would have to pay interest and insuance on a 40k boat.

If you want to make a smart financial decision sell the boat and stay as far away from hobbies as possible. If you want to have a good wakeboard boat I dont think you will find a cheaper way to do it than by starting with what you have and adding stuff as you get the money.

yeah but he could probably find a sweet boat for $20K and use that $6500 to put down and have realy cheap payments!

Hey guys, I am probably ditching the paint job and just doing the stringers, floor, and engine rebuild. The boat is mainly used for the club, so it would be dumb to spend all the money on looks.

unless you were going to do A LOT of the work yourself, this project will not be worth it in the long run.

12k in an 83 ski nautique ?

We only have about 17k in my 96 VLX.

i.m.o - sell it and put that money toward a newer boat you will be more happy with.

I will do the engine rebuild myself. The stringers and floor will cost a little under $3000.

The boat doesnt look that bad right now. If you are keeping it for 8 years, I would think it would be worth it. Everyone wants their ride to look good. Thats why we spend the money on all the bling. Not because its going to be a great investment. Boats will never be a great investment.

cody - right on.

You can spend 20k on a used boat with a lousy wake. The 2001 puts out an incredible wake, guaranteed. I would say do the stringers/floor and then start working on the rest as time progresses. I'll probably do stringers at some point, just so I know everything is totally solid - not to get a higher resale, but to have a quality boat with an incredible wake (not to mention the great gas consumption, easy maintenance, etc).

Exactly Jerram. I cant afford 20k boat and I already have this one. $3000 isnt that much to insure a solid boat for another 30 years.

In any case, haven't you got a Malibu also?
At least so your profile says.

Long story, the malibu is my dad's. It stays home in Louisiana. The nautique is mine, although my mom helped pay for it. My parents are divorced. I ride the malibu during the summer and the nautique during school. The nautique is also considered our school club boat, but I am always present when it is used.