[Dave in DE]

Looking to replace the mats on my GPr.
Who makes the best/better mats and where do I find them?
New winter project.

 

[T0MMY B0NES]

I am going with hyrdoturf I think. Entire set can be had for my ski around $80.

 

[Dave in DE]

Ya ended up with hydroturf as well. Went with the blue on BLK diamond cut. Cost around $140 for me. PITA to get old off though. Using an item called a decal eraser for the drill. Expensive but works. Makes a dusty dirty mess.

 

[T0MMY B0NES]

I just removed my mats as well, wasn't too bad for me. I'll have a little write up in my build post. I went elbow grease route with flat pry bar to scrape the mats up then used PB Blaster and a 4 inch glass scraper to remove film and glue, worked great for me. I was eyeballing the diamond as well, but with grey on grey. How was the install and how did the eraser wheel work?

 

[Dave in DE]

The eraser works great. I pealed the BLK foam up by hand. Was left with the plastic film with adhesive below from the 2faced tape they were installed with. The eraser pealed it and adhesive right off.
I'm still cleaning things up yet will probably install late this month or early March time frame.
Heres a pic with mats laid in location. Looks good. Wasn't sure I'd like the color but I like now. If you go to there web site you can order color samples from them.

 

[T0MMY B0NES]

I like the color combo, looks sharp with the black behind the blue. How did the pad install on the rear of the ski at the rub rail? When removing my pad I could tell the pad was installed before the rub rail. I do not plan on pulling the rail to "tuck" the pad behind it.

 

[Dave in DE]

My 12yr old daughter picked the color. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it's sharp and fits ski colors as well.
Yes the pad goes behind the top of the rear rail. I removed the corners and rear rail. All three of witch are pop riveted on. And the rear is also glued on with a foam type two-faced tape. The mats come with new rivets to reinstall. But don't come with the BLK caps for the corner piece rivets. Those are still available from Babbitt's and partzilla.
You will either have to remove or cut a bit off the tail end of the mat. Or maybe move it up enough to get it on. I had to remove the whole left side rail anyway to replace so I figured what the hell. Will do it all. I'm pretty much all prepped and may start installing them tomorrow. Just a bit to clean on couple spots and I'm ready. Will see how it goes and post pics as I go.

 

[Dave in DE]

Finally got everything cleaned off and ready for the new mats. I cleaned all the old adhesive off using the sem solve from Napa. Then I washed it with dish soap and rinsed, and finally hand buffed with some 3m perfect it 3000 swirl remover. The perfect it got rid of all the discoloration that was along side the old mat lines. Then I rubbed it down again with the sem solve to remove any possibility of wax/oils.

While removing the old mats I used a couple different sized plastic scrapers I got at an auto parts store. The sem solve loosened the adhesive and then scraped it away. The hard part was getting below the plastic that makes up the 2faced tape adhesive that holds foam mats on. For that I used the eraser in the earlier post and then sem solve to clean up the remaining pieces.

Hopefully mats go on tomorrow.

 

[T0MMY B0NES]

Looking good. Quick question about the rivets used on the bumper rail, just your typical pop rivets? Can a hand rivet tool work fine or is air rivet recommended? Excited to see the pads on.

 

[Dave in DE]

From looks of them I think they could be done by hand. There 5 mm aluminum rivets. I'm going to actually use a round headed stainless 5mm bolt and a nylock but.
Unfortunately I had some unexpected vehicle maintenance to take care of so I didn't get to the mats Thursday and Friday. Hopefully I may get some done on Tuesday/Wednesday. I bought a roller for doing countertops at Lowe's to help apply them as they have a pressure sensitive adhesive. I can narrow it to the center roller if nessesary by replacing the bolt they used for the Axel. But I think it will be fine at the full width.

 

[Dave in DE]

Got the forward foot Wells done. Need to get an extra hand for the back deck. Looking good though. The roller I bought works great didn't have to shorten it and managed to roll everything as it is.
Just went left to right putting plenty of pressure on the edges.

 

[Dave in DE]

Got some help and got the back deck on. I tore the backing into 3 sections. (See pic1) I tore the very bottom off. This allowed us to use the corner grommets to align the mat to the indent in the hull and get a start point. I then pull the mat back. Remove the backing from the logo. Then pealing from the tips of both side points I pealed it across leaving the top center portion. Then did the center part. I left rolling the very rear lip till last. Going back and forth side to side and slowly going over the back to get that rear lip down tight.
I replaced the plastic corner grommets with billet aluminum ones from "adaracing" # 34-459000 $10.75ea

Also I taped the logo in from the front side using painters tape to keep it it place. This is in the instructions.

Still have to put the corners and gunwales on yet.

 

[T0MMY B0NES]

Looks sharp, did you get the gunwale and rails back on?

 

[Dave in DE]

I got the rear and right rear corner on. The left side is going to be a bitch. The new gunwale for the left side has shrunk about an inch to inch and half short. Going to have to heat and stretch as I put each screw in place. I had to order a second new side as I messed up. I started the first screw up front and stuck it in place. Then realized that I was way short and had to remove ruining the side gunwale adhesive when I pealed it off.

 

[Dave in DE]

Tom,
I got the left gunwale on today. You need a heat gun to do it. The new one I ordered had shrunk up about 3/4 inch. I started in the middle and worked my way forward heating it up between bolt holes and stretching enough to get the bolt to align with the hole. All went well just have to take your time. Cold the gunwale is hard and stuff. When I heated it up it became very rubbery. Don't overheat it.
P.S. you'll notice in 3rd pic I used 5mm x 25mm button head stainless screws instead of the rivets to hold the corners on.

 

[T0MMY B0NES]

I used a heat gun to help remove my gunwale/rubrail, by doing so the rail was all out whack. I left it outside on the driveway in the sun and held it down with some blocks. One afternoon in the sun flattened it right out.

Install looks sharp, were these new rails? Who had them, what did they run you? What kind of hardware did you use on the corners, stainless rivets?

I want to paint my rails, I know it won't last forever. The plan was to paint the rails navy and then paint the insert that slide in the middle with a color that pops. My idea was navy and gold on one and navy and red or light blue on the other. The colors are a nod to my favorite sports teams, Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans.

 

[Dave in DE]

The gunwale was new from "Babbittsonline". right about $100. I attached it with all the factory hardware and sticky tape.
For the rear corners instead of the rivets I used stainless 5mm x 25mm button head bolts. You can get them at ace hardware. Used flat washer on both ends with nylock nut.

 

[flryder]

Looking good. Quick question about the rivets used on the bumper rail, just your typical pop rivets? Can a hand rivet tool work fine or is air rivet recommended? Excited to see the pads on.

When I did this on my FX140 I drilled out the rivets and replaced them with ss screws, ss washers, and ss nylock nuts. Worked great.