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96 185 Pulse restoration.

S

SunTime

Active member
Well a guy shouldn't have to restore a 96 but this boat had been sadly neglected/abused to say the least. I bought this off e-bay for $836.99. It was only 1/2 hour from my house so I was able to see what I was getting without just relying on pictures.
I picked this up yesterday as a winter project but my son-in-law was eager to start tearing into it with me, and who am I to refuse free labor!


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Love working on these CM's. Easy acess to the lock nuts on the deck railing! Windshield and railing were in perfect shape so that's two things I won't have to replace.

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The worst of the upholsrty...
Also if you look good you can see laying on top of the rear seat section is the anchor light. Take note, next time you break off your anchor light at the base, find a ol 12V plug, tape the wires together and then add a female receptable straight to the battery.. Guess that anchor light replacement was just to much coin.. :shakehead:

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You'd think if you were going to take this much time to build a tow pole rather then buy something from Checkmate made for the boat to tow with you'd take a extra minute to seal the holes you drilled in the floor befroe screwing in lag screws and maybe try and make the thing you welded on half a day - look half azzed decent at minimum... :brickwall:

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Just a little chaulk or resin would have prevented the only rot in the floor I can find.. Wth the 32 gallon gas tank out it's decision time to how much floor to replace.

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And of course only half the plywood dowls holding the seat bases on held in place so I'm debating on how I'll approach this.

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Next thing up is to break out the power washer! :cheers:
 
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Thats a good price for that boat, I love my Pulse. Looks like a fun project, keep us posted.
 
Suntime, you might want to check those foam boxes in the back for water. When I replaced the floor in my 96 Pulse both boxes held water. I had soft spots around both captain seats as well. Good luck with the resto. Btw what kind of boat is next to the pulse?
 
cmpulse170 said:
Suntime, you might want to check those foam boxes in the back for water. When I replaced the floor in my 96 Pulse both boxes held water. I had soft spots around both captain seats as well. Good luck with the resto. Btw what kind of boat is next to the pulse?
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cmpulse170,
The floor areound the base feels solid but on each base I have 3 bolts where that locking plywood dowl thing they use spins. . Am I correct in asssuming that means it's either soft on the under side or do they break loose that easy when removing? We'll pull the deck itself off this weekend as I'm landlocked all weekend anyway. I'll check those boxes then I can see where I stand with the transom as well I'd guess. You would'nt have any pics of your 96 once you had the floor out would you?

The boat next to it is a 04 Sunsation 288. We bought it new in late 04. Awesome boat that I doubt I'll ever part with, but I won't tow the kids and the grandkids with it, thus the Pulse project...
 
SunTime said:
cmpulse170,
The floor areound the base feels solid but on each base I have 3 bolts where that locking plywood dowl thing they use spins. . Am I correct in asssuming that means it's either soft on the under side or do they break loose that easy when removing? We'll pull the deck itself off this weekend as I'm landlocked all weekend anyway. I'll check those boxes then I can see where I stand with the transom as well I'd guess. You would'nt have any pics of your 96 once you had the floor out would you?

The boat next to it is a 04 Sunsation 288. We bought it new in late 04. Awesome boat that I doubt I'll ever part with, but I won't tow the kids and the grandkids with it, thus the Pulse project...
Click to expand...

My seats were held down the same way, once the seats become loose water finds it's way in the holes and the rot starts from inside out. Here's the resto of my Pulse170 from start to finish w/ pictures: http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13110
 
BTW all, will Checkmate sell a new interior for a 96 model? Have they changed much from the newer model? Who would I need to talk with to order the interior and get pricing? (I'm sure I woun't need it till spring) It'd probably be just as cost effective as having somebody redo the interior wouldn't it?

cmpulse170 thanks for the link!
 
SunTime said:
BTW all, will Checkmate sell a new interior for a 96 model? Have they changed much from the newer model? Who would I need to talk with to order the interior and get pricing? (I'm sure I woun't need it till spring) It'd probably be just as cost effective as having somebody redo the interior wouldn't it?

cmpulse170 thanks for the link!
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You're Welcome!!!! Call Mike @ Checkmate. 419-562-3881
 
A friendly FYI.. :) When new is'nt feisable or is'nt going to suit ones tastes or needs, We can make new interiors & custom interiors. We would need the boat to pattern & fit it to tho.. ;) Jamie / Lakeside
 
Lakeside Restorations said:
A friendly FYI.. :) When new is'nt feisable or is'nt going to suit ones tastes or needs, We can make new interiors & custom interiors. We would need the boat to pattern & fit it to tho.. ;) Jamie / Lakeside
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Thanks for the offer Jamie but your just to far for me to roll that way. :eyecrazy:

Took the power washer to it yesterday to get the last of the carpet remenants and glue off the floor. CM did a good job resin coating the blasa/plywood and the floor feels solid as all get out but what is that black spots? Even drilled a pilot hole to see if it was soft.
Also am I correct in assuming the Pulse needs a 20" shaft outboard? How much setback does it like?

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cmpulse170,
I wanted to say thanks again for the link to your restoration. Very detailed and definetly is going to be a instruction sheet with pic's to go off of.
I do have a question for ya, did you just not want the hassle of pulling off the deck to make the job slightly easier or ????
Reason I ask is I know the floor will need to come up and I want to start from scratch with the carpet, wiring etc. from the bow back to the transom. Being able to flip the deck over would make securing and looming all the wiring much easier and much more tidy then factory. The deck needs wet sanded and buffed out as well so my thought was take it off and make the whole process a little easier..
If you had to do it again would you pull the deck off?
 
SunTime said:
cmpulse170,
I wanted to say thanks again for the link to your restoration. Very detailed and definetly is going to be a instruction sheet with pic's to go off of.
I do have a question for ya, did you just not want the hassle of pulling off the deck to make the job slightly easier or ????
Reason I ask is I know the floor will need to come up and I want to start from scratch with the carpet, wiring etc. from the bow back to the transom. Being able to flip the deck over would make securing and looming all the wiring much easier and much more tidy then factory. The deck needs wet sanded and buffed out as well so my thought was take it off and make the whole process a little easier..
If you had to do it again would you pull the deck off?
Click to expand...

The reason I didn't pull the deck was my transom was solid. What I should've done was pull the trailer out from underneath and put the mate on some type of cradle to roll around. That would've made it easier to get in and out of. If my boat wasn't rigged I would've pulled the deck, making it much easier to work on the floor. I look forward to following you're resto.
 
SunTime said:
......CM did a good job resin coating the blasa/plywood and the floor feels solid as all get out but what is that black spots? Even drilled a pilot hole to see if it was soft.
Click to expand...



Any black spots you see are wood rot........................
 
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