Customizing 2023 25LSV - Stereo, ACR, Gatorstep

[Slurpee]

Howdy Everyone,

A few years ago I started my "Overhauling 2019 25LSV Stereo" thread and enjoyed the conversation since I do things a bit different.  Last week my new boat arrived at the dealer and I have a few pictures to share while a couple punch list items get taken care of.  As I work on it this month I'll keep a diary here of what I do.

So you can see I have a total stereo delete and a total soft-touch delete.  I'm going to be putting in customized Gatorstep.  And I'll be putting in a new custom stereo.  All the amps and head unit came off my last boat, but all the speakers are going to be new.  And for fun I'm doing something different with the batteries and installing a Blue Sea Battery Link Charger/170A-ACR.

[shawndoggy]

Awesome. This is gonna be a good thread!

[Slurpee]

I spent a few hours at the dealer taping the paper test fit pieces for the flooring today.  That’s pretty boring and a lot of fabrication notes on paper. 

I won’t bore you about that, but I found it interesting that even with stereo delete they cut the speaker holes (or they’re mass produced/molded that way) and put in trim plates and grilles. 

Also, I think I really prefer this storage pocket over the sport dash. Unfortunately, it’s coming out for my head unit. But I like this trim detail for a basic boat. I don’t know if there’s a photo of it in the wild so here y’all go. 

 

And paper test fitting a boat is easy. But loooooong. If you’re used to fabrication it’s no big deal to make the notes and move on. For instance….

[NorCalSurfer]

Right on! I am doing GatorStep on my brand new boat as well. I should have my second round of test fit this week. So far, GatorStep customer service has been A+. 

[Slurpee]

1 hour ago, NorCalSurfer said:

Right on! I am doing GatorStep on my brand new boat as well. I should have my second round of test fit this week. So far, GatorStep customer service has been A+. 

They are good. I got shorted 7 pieces I found out today. 4 were symmetrical to the other side of the boat so I made do easy. The others I got creative with.

 What’s your design look like? Here’s my 10 year old’s design. It’s pretty on point. Although, the rose compass is just a place holder for something similar. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Slurpee

[NorCalSurfer]

I am going with a standard cascade design. I’m doing teak and blue steal which match the vinyl really nicely. There are a few pieces missing from the template and what is factory so I traced the factory pieces. I am also doing interior storage pieces I traced. 

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by NorCalSurfer

[Slurpee]

Howdy Folks, I expect the boat to be in my hands this weekend from getting some gel-coat flaws fixed before delivery.  In the meantime I've been mostly working with Gatorstep on the customization and fittings.

 It's not close to done yet, but here was the first art proof from my cut and paste first inputs to them.  I thought they did quite a nice job.  I hope to have something very close to the final art proof by tomorrow.

[Slayer]

Looking forward to seeing this come together.  

[IXFE]

Hey @Slurpee, looking great!  What's the significance of the logo in the rendering?  Or still a placeholder??

[Slurpee]

16 minutes ago, IXFE said:

Hey @Slurpee, looking great!  What's the significance of the logo in the rendering?  Or still a placeholder??

It’s a rose compass. My son designed the flooring. He loves sailing dinghies and wanted some nautical stuff worked into the floor’s design. 

[Slurpee]

No boat in the the driveway yet. Foul weather is slowing down some of the gel coat repair indirectly. I’m just happy not to be waiting a month for a fiberglass shop to get to it.  I don’t mind repairing everything else myself I saw.  Gel coat chips though I don’t want to learn how to do well.  

My dealer - who’s doing great work - has a detailer fixing a couple dozen scuffs and burrs on the interior gel plus 3 real chunks of missing gel like this one. Looks like a driver got dropped or something and chipped it off. There’s bigger ones by the bilge access panel and engine hatch. All in all though not too bad. A little bit better care or skuff-padding at the factory and it’d have arrived perfect. So while not excellent I’ll give it a decent grade.  

New tip for folks taking delivery. Get some painters tape. I like green. Tag every little burr, scratch and stretched seam. No trouble at all getting Malibu to fix it then. And it’s a great photo record. 

[dalt1]

15 hours ago, Slurpee said:

No boat in the the driveway yet. Foul weather is slowing down some of the gel coat repair indirectly. I’m just happy not to be waiting a month for a fiberglass shop to get to it.  I don’t mind repairing everything else myself I saw.  Gel coat chips though I don’t want to learn how to do well.  

My dealer - who’s doing great work - has a detailer fixing a couple dozen scuffs and burrs on the interior gel plus 3 real chunks of missing gel like this one. Looks like a driver got dropped or something and chipped it off. There’s bigger ones by the bilge access panel and engine hatch. All in all though not too bad. A little bit better care or skuff-padding at the factory and it’d have arrived perfect. So while not excellent I’ll give it a decent grade.  

New tip for folks taking delivery. Get some painters tape. I like green. Tag every little burr, scratch and stretched seam. No trouble at all getting Malibu to fix it then. And it’s a great photo record. 

These drains with nice 2" grates but Malibu only drills a 3/4" hole under them? I opened them up on my LSV. Much more efficient. Sorry for the Highjack but still Fiberglass related and some

thing Malibu should do.

Edited March 19, 2023 by dalt1

[tjklein]

I am excited to see the build. I based my '21 23 LSV stereo build on your last boat. Everything worked out great. I tweaked the amp rack design and adjusted the housings for the twin JLs. 

I do need to figure out a better battery setup so if you have some ideas for that I'd love to see them! Still running the stock batteries, but my dealer (same as yours, but in Lewisville) put in pricey 24 series batteries that have been good. Just not great when the boat is off, of course.

Thought about a new boat this year, but mine doesn't even have 100 hours yet and of course with my current one paid off, price jumps, and an uncertain economy I'm holding off.

Good luck on the build!

[Slurpee]

Thanks @tjklein! Yeah, we wanted to hold off to. But we obviously decided one more time  

I agree about the Full River batteries. The batteries have been on my mind. With the way we use our boat Setup 2 with the switch in 1+2 is just fine. But I want to try the newer Blue Seas Battery Link charger/170A-ACR.  I’ll make use of some appropriately sized bus bars to avoid cramming so many lugs on single posts. It’ll be my first time doing an ACR. I’m wondering about putting in a third battery for starting only somewhere as well. All good things for head scratching when I start crawling around. 

One thing I noticed when I looked in the compartment for my amps is I’m going to have to rebuild the amp board. The square tubing reinforcement is pronounced and in the middle of the wall. On our boats it’s nearly tucked all the way forward. So more food for thought when I start crawling around. 

Gatorstep delivered my last paper test fits Friday so hopefully I get the final art proof soon, and can kick that process off this week. 

[tjklein]

55 minutes ago, Slurpee said:

Thanks @tjklein! Yeah, we wanted to hold off to. But we obviously decided one more time  

I agree about the Full River batteries. The batteries have been on my mind. With the way we use our boat Setup 2 with the switch in 1+2 is just fine. But I want to try the newer Blue Seas Battery Link charger/170A-ACR.  I’ll make use of some appropriately sized bus bars to avoid cramming so many lugs on single posts. It’ll be my first time doing an ACR. I’m wondering about putting in a third battery for starting only somewhere as well. All good things for head scratching when I start crawling around. 

One thing I noticed when I looked in the compartment for my amps is I’m going to have to rebuild the amp board. The square tubing reinforcement is pronounced and in the middle of the wall. On our boats it’s nearly tucked all the way forward. So more food for thought when I start crawling around. 

Gatorstep delivered my last paper test fits Friday so hopefully I get the final art proof soon, and can kick that process off this week. 

I was think the same thing on my batteries. I ran an ACR on my '17 MXZ and it worked well, but added some complexity with everything. (3 batteries total) Really excited to see everything. I last did stereo delete on my '14 23LSV. I ended up doing 3 big batteries, 6 towers, 4 amps, WS XXX2, and all WS interiors. Frankly it was overkill, but at that point in my life I thought I needed it. :-)  Now I'm more about quality over quantity of sound.   And...I just don't have the time like I used to.

Edited March 19, 2023 by tjklein

[Slurpee]

3 hours ago, dalt1 said:

These drains with nice 2" grates but Malibu only drills a 3/4" hole under them? I opened them up on my LSV. Much more efficient. Sorry for the Highjack but still Fiberglass related and some

thing Malibu should do.

Why did I never look at this before!?!  Good tip. Thanks. 

[dalt1]

On 3/19/2023 at 11:17 AM, Slurpee said:

Why did I never look at this before!?!  Good tip. Thanks. 

[dalt1]

You like how close they got to center of the embossed area? Point and shoot without the pointing!!!

 

[Slurpee]

Just now, dalt1 said:

You like how close they got to center of the embossed area? Point and shoot without the pointing!!!

 

LOL.  Hangovers are a pain.

[dalt1]

1 minute ago, Slurpee said:

LOL.  Hangovers are a pain.

Oh right, they are hand built!!! Malibu quality!!

[MLA]

On 3/7/2023 at 8:49 PM, Slurpee said:

I won’t bore you about that, but I found it interesting that even with stereo delete they cut the speaker holes (or they’re mass produced/molded that way) and put in trim plates and grilles. 

While cutting speakers holes in panels on stereo-delete is not new, the covers are. 

[Slurpee]

1 hour ago, MLA said:

While cutting speakers holes in panels on stereo-delete is not new, the covers are. 

They look nice.  I'd have taken raw holes and the $100 in savings or more though. I think I can do some cool wall art with them though. 8)

Edited March 21, 2023 by Slurpee

[amartin]

On 3/19/2023 at 7:22 AM, dalt1 said:

These drains with nice 2" grates but Malibu only drills a 3/4" hole under them? I opened them up on my LSV. Much more efficient. Sorry for the Highjack but still Fiberglass related and some

thing Malibu should do.

I have always wondered if the intent was to slow / regulate the amount of water that gets into the bilge to prevent things from getting wet.  Taking water over the bow could put a pretty good amount of water straight to the engine if there wasn't something there to slow it down. I am probably over thinking this and giving them too much credit!

Very different boat / drain configuration, but the gaps in my floor panels that are supposed to act as drains often get clogged up with the tiniest bit of debris.  I find myself "flossing" between the panels to keep it draining when I am cleaning. I have thought about drilling bigger holes but have never been that motivated.  

[Slurpee]

Wow. Still no boat. (Update! Saturday morning is the big day!) The factory left many interior gel defects and scars. They’re all small happily and only 4 good chips/gouges. The dealer has struggled to get the local shops to finish repairs. Honestly even to start them.  It’s busy this time of year. My dealer is awesome and stepping up to work with me so no complaints there. Just praise. But shame on you Malibu. 

We decided today to pull the boat from the line at the shop and detail and deliver it. I’ll be adding some posts on DIY gel repair to this thread. It’s not ideal, but I like stuff like this.  I’ve already grabbed a kit from Spectrum Color for White and Zephyr.

And I should have a boat finally in a day or two after waiting a month for factory defects to not be fixed. The dealer is hustling, but it wasn’t happening. 

We did sign off on the final Gatorstep design though. 

Edited March 30, 2023 by Slurpee

[Slurpee]

I forgot I added that extended bimini to the order.  Holy cow it's a lot of shade.  Just pics of it on the lift with the board racks and mirror at this point.