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Malibu Built in three days????


JustinHarrelson

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I've seen this quoted on a few forums. Where on earth did that quote come from? That doesn't even sound like enough time for all of the gel/glass to cure...

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Nope.  Not possible.  Each color and layer have to be sprayed and you can't do the next one until the previous one is dry.  I believe, start to finish, it take somewhere between 11-14 days.

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I was told about 6 days.  That seems about right as my last one got to me a little over 2 weeks from the spray date.  I live in CA, so the transport took 4-5 days.

We'll see with my new 23LSV order.  It sprayed this Monday 1/22.  Im anticipating it getting to the dealership the week of Feb 5th. 

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Whoops.  Sorry.  Got my numbers mixed up.  11-14 was the number of boats a day, not build time, back in the prime days.  I've heard the memory is the first....uh...first something

Edited by JeffK
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how long it takes varies.  However, to correct something above, once a mold goes in the spray booth...of which there are 8 as I recall, it doesn't come out until done.  In other words, it's not coming out, drying, back in for another color, etc.  I can see them running at max capacity right now and extra shifts.  Could be quite quick.

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I'd have to go back and check my notes, but what I remember from my multiple trips to Merced and my one trip to Loudon is that there are ~16 stations that each boat goes through and each boat is at a station for ~47 minutes. I believe the production line starts at 7:00am, has a break mid-morning, about an hour for lunch, and ends between 3:00-4:00pm. Some areas of the plant have multiple parallel stations (spraying gel and fiberglass), but others only have one (installing engine; installing tower). Sometimes boats jump ahead in line due to options selected or not selected, and some stations can handle multiple boats per cycle (I'm sure the guys getting the boats out of the mold can get more than one out every cycle). What I remember is that my boat was in gel on Thursday, fiberglass on Friday, and when I arrived on Monday it was ready to come out of the mold so I got to help with that. Later that week there was a problem with the wiring harness so it got pulled from the line to troubleshoot, but made it back in to get it's water test and finishing (decals, wax, etc) by Friday. After that it got stuck in shipping for a week or so until there was a full truck (3-4 boats) headed to California.

I'm sure if nothing else was in production that Malibu could build a boat in 2-3 days, but running the line the way they do increases production without significantly slowing down build time.

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From the tour this summer I got the impression that it takes about a week 5-7 days when they are moving at full capacity.  Don't quote me on that, but I couldn't see gelcoat, glassing, interior, wiring, engine, and testing taking less than 4 days.  All my axis took about a week or longer to build.

 

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16 minutes ago, mikeo said:

I'd have to go back and check my notes, but what I remember from my multiple trips to Merced and my one trip to Loudon is that there are ~16 stations that each boat goes through and each boat is at a station for ~47 minutes. I believe the production line starts at 7:00am, has a break mid-morning, about an hour for lunch, and ends between 3:00-4:00pm. Some areas of the plant have multiple parallel stations (spraying gel and fiberglass), but others only have one (installing engine; installing tower). Sometimes boats jump ahead in line due to options selected or not selected, and some stations can handle multiple boats per cycle (I'm sure the guys getting the boats out of the mold can get more than one out every cycle). What I remember is that my boat was in gel on Thursday, fiberglass on Friday, and when I arrived on Monday it was ready to come out of the mold so I got to help with that. Later that week there was a problem with the wiring harness so it got pulled from the line to troubleshoot, but made it back in to get it's water test and finishing (decals, wax, etc) by Friday. After that it got stuck in shipping for a week or so until there was a full truck (3-4 boats) headed to California.

I'm sure if nothing else was in production that Malibu could build a boat in 2-3 days, but running the line the way they do increases production without significantly slowing down build time.

Fiberglass, or, more fiberglass work is done after gel is applied?  I guess I thought gel would be near last. I have seen short video's of a boats build process, but it would be cool to see it in entirety, but sped way up.

Steve B.

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50 minutes ago, Steve B. said:

Fiberglass, or, more fiberglass work is done after gel is applied?  I guess I thought gel would be near last. I have seen short video's of a boats build process, but it would be cool to see it in entirety, but sped way up.

Steve B.

Building a boat hull is like building a cake backwards. The gelcoat (color) is sprayed in the mold, then the fiberglass is laid behind it. The fiberglass is multiple layers of "chop" and sheets, with the final layer being sheet material to give a flat (not smooth) interior surface. There are metal frame parts and the FiBECs system put in place during the fiberglass process so they become integral to the boat. Once the whole thing is done and has cured then there are lifting loops that are attached to a crane, the hull and mold lifted off the ground, and guys with mallets strategically hit the mold until the boat "pops" out. After that the hull goes to a fiberglass cutting area (not part of the factory tour because of the mess and fiberglass dust/trimmings are not something you want to be exposed to).

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5 hours ago, NWBU said:

Not a sped up version but this clip shows the hull build process, starting about 4 minutes in.

 

This is like the best video of all time !  The spokeswoman gave a perfect tour of the process. That was really informative and well produced. 

Steve B.

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This video and then the in person tour left a huge impression on me.  Our experience with Axis and Malibu hull design, fiberglass layup, and Fibec system gave me lots of confidence when ordering our Malibu this year.  I have owned other brands, and there are preferences about design and features,(to each their own) but I believe Malibu has the best engineered boats.

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