Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

(190 through 360)
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

Big Block Power wrote: Mon Mar 29, 2021 12:00 pm Boy from my flip phone they all l really good and clean! Keep up the good work. This is awesome!
My money is on 303.
Had some good feedback from other folks on more products to test. Here's the current list. Have them all on order, should be able to get to the nitty gritty next weekend hopefully when everything arrives.:

* 303 fabric guard
* starbrite water proofer
* Trinova marine protectant
* Bayes High performance fabric protectant (indoor/outdoor)
* Nikwax TX-direct
* Scotchgard water & sun
* 303 Aerospace
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

Up to 9 products I'm testing now. Here's the current list:
* 303 fabric guard
* starbrite water proofer
* Trinova marine protectant
* Bayes High performance fabric protectant (indoor/outdoor)
* Nikwax TX-direct
* Scotchgard water & sun
* 303 Aerospace
* Dr Beasleys LeatherLock
* Dr Beasleys LeatherLock Pro
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

Got all 9 products applied a few days ago. They're all cured as of yesterday after 48 hours of sitting. Testing will start this afternoon
Screen Shot 2021-04-05 at 9.02.34 AM.png
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

While all of the test applications are drying I cleaned up my wife's 650 and applied a good coat of the Star Brite waterproofer to it. Check out the results.

User avatar
AsLan7
Fleet Admiral
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 10965
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2017 10:58 am
Location: Erie PA
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by AsLan7 »

baktasht wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 9:03 am Got all 9 products applied a few days ago. They're all cured as of yesterday after 48 hours of sitting. Testing will start this afternoon

Screen Shot 2021-04-05 at 9.02.34 AM.png
.
Awesome bts!....subscribed. :D
2002 Cobalt 262
&
2005 Cobalt 263
496 MagHO
(sold )
Erie, PA
Currently boatless (for now)
will fly for food

(CChat moderator)
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

Video testing 9 different coatings on EVA foam (aka seadek, aqua marine deck, gatorstep, marinemat, etc...) is finally up. Its a long one, but worth the watch. I'm going to do two more followup videos as well, one to test durability of the coatings once left out in the sun for a couple weeks, and another to test the relevant coatings on canvas and vinyl.

If you want to skip to the final results watch the last 8 minutes. But I would encourage you to skim through the rest of the video, as the results are somewhat different for each coating and each stain test. Let me know if you have any questions,

Here it is:

rrfisher
Commander
Commander
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:52 pm
Location: Austin
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by rrfisher »

baktasht wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:25 pm Been trying to figure put a place to add a handle to make getting up the extended swim platform easier. We finally settled on a side mount. Should help for us lazy adults. Ended up using this handle off of Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qqT9QB Bought a second one too, might add it to the other side maybe, still thinking about that.

PXL_20210304_235718489.jpg

PXL_20210304_235714566.jpg

PXL_20210304_235706525.jpg

PXL_20210304_234716596.jpg

PXL_20210304_234325541.jpg

PXL_20210304_234322255.jpg
Did they have the hand holds as an option when you got your swim platform?
Hand Holds.jpg
I ordered mine with these, but I've never seen a platform with them so I hope it avoids adding something else for the less athletic soles on board.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
2001 206 5.0 Gi
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

rrfisher wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 2:57 pm
baktasht wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:25 pm Been trying to figure put a place to add a handle to make getting up the extended swim platform easier. We finally settled on a side mount. Should help for us lazy adults. Ended up using this handle off of Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qqT9QB Bought a second one too, might add it to the other side maybe, still thinking about that.

PXL_20210304_235718489.jpg

PXL_20210304_235714566.jpg

PXL_20210304_235706525.jpg

PXL_20210304_234716596.jpg

PXL_20210304_234325541.jpg

PXL_20210304_234322255.jpg
Did they have the hand holds as an option when you got your swim platform?
Hand Holds.jpg

I ordered mine with these, but I've never seen a platform with them so I hope it avoids adding something else for the less athletic soles on board.
Those look well placed. Post some photos when you get yours. Curious to see how you like them.
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

Replaced the old dated courtesy lights with new flush mount LED units w/ chrome trim. I went with amber to avoid attracting bugs at night as much as possible. They're about twice as bright as the originals, and the light color is actually fairly close too.
af31ba3f-fa77-4b6c-91ce-f857bd7d924a.png
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

I replaced those ugly white oval courtesy lights finally. Went with some amber flush mount LED fixtures. The same Amazon seller also has other color LEDs as well. Links are all in the video description. Here is the video incase any of y'all are thinking about doing the same.


baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

Just did alternator upgrade on the 8.2L. Went from the factory amp to a 105amp marine alternator. Charging about 3x as fast as before. Great upgrade for any of you V8 guys. I used this same alternator on my old 7.4L Mercruiser as well.

You can order this exact alternator here: https://amzn.to/3cfXdPQ​

Install on 8.2L (502). Video here:



Install on 7.4L (454). Video here:
​​​​​​​
User avatar
bruceb58
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Posts: 1071
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2020 11:10 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by bruceb58 »

Out of curiosity, did you notice your batteries weren't charging completely? Did you upgrade the wire size from the alternator to the battery? I see a lot of people who upgrade alternators and they leave the 10AWG wire and they get so much voltage drop between the alternator and the battery, they don't get full output especially if you have the sense terminal of the alternator sensing the charge voltage at the alternator and not at the battery itself...something to think about.
2017 R5 350HP Mercruiser Bravo III
Northridge, CA
Big Bear Lake, CA
South Lake Tahoe, CA
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

If you have Faria gauges in your boat, upgrade that oldschool speedometer to a matching GPS Speedometer. I just did mine, and I had no idea how easy this was. I wish I knew sooner and had done it on my last 3 boats. Here's the step by step if you want to tackle yours:

baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

bruceb58 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 11:06 am Out of curiosity, did you notice your batteries weren't charging completely? Did you upgrade the wire size from the alternator to the battery? I see a lot of people who upgrade alternators and they leave the 10AWG wire and they get so much voltage drop between the alternator and the battery, they don't get full output especially if you have the sense terminal of the alternator sensing the charge voltage at the alternator and not at the battery itself...something to think about.
On my current 8.2 GSI, and also on my old 7.4 MPI the charge wire was 8 AWG, which should be plenty for this size alternator. But if you have a 10AWG charge wire then it's definitely a good idea to upgrade to a 8 or 4 AWG. I have 3x Group31 AGM batteries, so they are capable of taking a lot of amperage for charging. When we anchor and run the stereo for many hours the 2x house batteries get pretty drained and need to be charged up. With the factory alternator it would take a good 1.5-2 hours of driving around to get them back up to near full. With the new 105amp alternator it takes around 30 minutes.
baktasht
Captain
Captain
Posts: 426
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Here it goes again - 1999 Cobalt 292 Refresh

Post by baktasht »

Got the high flow intake finalized and ran it a handful of times on the lake. Power gains are more noticeable on this 8.2L than they were on my old 7.4L. Very happy with the results:

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest