1985 19-BR wood rot

[Frankh]

Also, after looking closer at the title and serial #, She's actually a 1984!

[Lockey14s]

Nice work Frank, keep fighting the good fight and you will bring that beauty back to its glory. Its hard not to get overwhelmed when you look at the big picture, but once you start knocking little stuff off the list it keeps you motivated. keep us updated!

[Macarokks]

There is sooo much teak trim on these things. I keep on finding more that needs to be cleaned/oiled but it's almost all done except for the dash.

I've struck out in finding an in budget upholsterer. The one shop that would give me an actual number and could do it this year, quoted "Starting at $8500, assuming all the foam and wood could be reused". So what I've been doing is disassembling the seat cushions and re-gluing the cushion to new marine ply. I've added much larger vents in the ply compared to the 1" existing vent. Hopefully this lets the foam dry out quicker. The plywood is fully epoxied, and should be good to go if I ever re-upholster the whole thing. All plywood that was installed vertically is in fine shape. All the seat bases are showing some to lots of rot.

I did re-wrap the rear cup holder with some new vinyl. It looks a bit better than the worn carpet that was original, but I'm not liking the pleats. I may try to add a stitched seam in some day. Deleted the old speaker for now.

The last pic is what I hope all the upholstery looks like soon. It took about 3 hours to clean this folding seat. For whatever reason the folding seats stayed much drier than the others, and do not need to be rebuilt. You can tell the foam is on the older side, but it's more than serviceable.

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I love it. The two tone blue is one of my favorite color combinations. My brother has the twin of your boat.

You were talking about the soft mat. I’m adding pictures of Jack’s boat. He put faux teak soft mat down in his blue 84. Looks great.

I see KS registration. Where in KS are you from ? COZ Interiors can get you done and it wouldn’t be $8500. I’m biased because he did mine, but his work is simply the best.

On the stringers, these boats have fiberglass stringers with wood reinforcement. The strength is in the glass not the wood. I did a floorboard replacement on my 79 so I feel your pain!

Would love to see you at the Loren J. Feldner Cobalt Classic this year on Table Rock. 20 boats registered so far!

[AsLan7]

That's sharp....especially against the darker blue.

[Frankh]

That floor does look great.

I will look up COZ interiors, thanks for the referral.

On a less positive note, mechanic has confirmed that the oil has water in it after a test run. I’m now on the look out for a rebuilt long block. That, or I may need to cut my losses.

[Macarokks]

That floor does look great.

I will look up COZ interiors, thanks for the referral.

On a less positive note, mechanic has confirmed that the oil has water in it after a test run. I’m now on the look out for a rebuilt long block. That, or I may need to cut my losses.

Sorry to hear about water in the oil.

I don’t know of this “cut my losses” you speak of. Have never understood why that happens Cobalt world. In the Donzi world, they’d see an opportunity to upgrade and add 100HP.

Then again, I’m biased. Own/have owned multiple classic Cobalt’s and I have over $20k in the restoration on my ‘79. I say that at the risk of sounding douchy, simply to say, I can’t stand to see Cobalts parted out or going to salvage. If it was me, I’d be building a 383 for it, or hunting down an EFI motor.
Hell, there’s a Baja near me that has trashed interior but has a running 454/Bravo 1 for $4500. I’d be slapping that big block in it!

I know few obsess over them the way I do, but IMHO, the boat is too beautiful to trash over a powertrain.

[Frankh]

That’s a fair POV. I would not trash this or part it out. If I were to walk away, I’d put it back together and find a good home for it somewhere in the country with someone that has the time and motor skills to do something cool with it.

I’m leaning towards dropping in a rebuilt motor, we’ll see what the estimate comes in at.

[Macarokks]

That’s a fair POV. I would not trash this or part it out. If I were to walk away, I’d put it back together and find a good home for it somewhere in the country with someone that has the time and motor skills to do something cool with it.

I’m leaning towards dropping in a rebuilt motor, we’ll see what the estimate comes in at.

Who’s your mechanic? I’m familiar with a few of the Kansas shops.

I ask - because some mechanics don’t want to mess with the repair of an engine so they quote a whole new engine.

A friend had a boat he has since sold. The long and short of it is this;

Seller found water in the oil. The Marina/mechanic gave them a pretty large estimate for repair. Called it a catastrophic failure and needed a full replacement.

The buyer tore it down and repaired the engine himself. Happened to have some of the parts needed to get it running. But at the end of the day, it was $600-900 in parts.

Yes there was labor involved, but the Marina quote was 3-4X that much.

Say all that to say, don’t be afraid to get multiple opinions.

[Frankh]

I’m at Arnie’s in Lawrence

[Macarokks]

I’m at Arnie’s in Lawrence

If you don’t like what you hear, Holler at Barry’s Westside in Colwich (basically Wichita). He works on a ton of Cboalts and owns a classic Cobalt himself. Knows them inside and out. Great operation.