How to clean inside of 1987 170 Horizon

brentm77 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 12, 2015 11:25 am

I am new to owning a boat. I purchased a very old 170 Horizon last fall and now that the mechanical stuff is in great shape, I need to clean it our real well. Can I hose down carpet and seats on the inside? Will the water just make its way to the bottom of the boat where I can just use the bilge pump to pump it out? Or will having the plug at the back of the boat out allow it to drain?

I know this is a total newbie question, but I need to start somewhere. Any good tips on cleaning the inside?

pet575 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 12, 2015 11:48 am

Pull the plug and you'll be good. If boat is stored out of the water, leave the plug out until you are going to launch it. Only reason not to do this is if you are keeping it somewhere that mice would be able to get themselves into the plug hole.

Decision · **Posted:** Fri Jun 12, 2015 12:26 pm

With the drain plug out, make sure the bow of your boat is high enough that the water does in deed run to the back of your boat and out the drain plug. Not great for your (or anybody's boat) to have a bunch of water pool forward in your boat, instead of draining out the back.

brentm77 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 12, 2015 3:21 pm

Thanks for the replies. It is what I was expecting, but didn't want to be wrong.

LouC · **Posted:** Fri Jun 12, 2015 3:41 pm

If this boat had carpet over a plywood deck I would not hose it down because the plywood will get soaked and take forever to dry out. That's what causes the decks of these boats to rot. I'd use upholstery cleaner for the seats and carpet cleaner on the deck. Try to keep the deck dry.

Vintage Beauty · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2015 8:36 am

LouC wrote:

If this boat had carpet over a plywood deck I would not hose it down because the plywood will get soaked and take forever to dry out. That's what causes the decks of these boats to rot. I'd use upholstery cleaner for the seats and carpet cleaner on the deck. Try to keep the deck dry.

I deep clean my carpet with a scrub brush and soapy water. Small section at a time. Immediately suck water out with a good shop vac. Follow-up with a clean water rinse and shop vac treatment again. Then dry out with a fan and some strategically placed damp rid buckets.
I hate my carpet, but do not have the time or funds to do anything about it at this point. I have damp rid in the boat at all times, and run a small fan on a timer all summer long to keep the boat dry between outings.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2015 8:52 am

When I re-did the deck in my '88 I specifically did NOT want carpet, all it does is hold moisture and causes rot. I had the new deck gel coated in a non skid gel coat and it has held up well and allows the deck to fully dry out. That is the true bane of older boats with wood cores, moisture trapping carpet and un sealed holes in the deck to mount seats.

brentm77 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2015 11:48 am

Do you have photo's of the new deck? I am curious what it looks like. Is it wood with a clear gel coat? I wonder if a rino-lining would be possible.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2015 7:51 pm

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ds48pon6ov5tz ... 1.jpg?dl=0

GottWhat · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2015 8:07 pm

^^^^

Looks really nice Lou!

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:02 pm

Thanks this was done back in 2006-2007 because my old deck looked like this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e316zo94sig9y ... r.jpg?dl=0

GottWhat · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2015 11:41 pm

That is a hell of a transformation. I can see why you didn't want carpet again!

brentm77 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:17 am

That is so nice looking. Did you put the gel coat on yourself? I really want to do this on my old 1987 Horizon 170.

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:04 pm

I removed the old deck and installed the new one myself. I had a 'glass shop fiberglass it in and gelcoat it for me.
However if your present deck is in good shape, you could remove the carpet (the hard part is getting rid of the horrible glue used to old down the carpet) and gelcoat it yourself, or use a marine deck paint with anti skid in it. If you don't want to go through all that trouble, a good thing to do that will help it last longer is to remove the screws used to hold down the seat mounts and use sealer in the holes, that keeps the moisture out and if you're in a dry climate, that may be all you need to do. Here's it's damp most of the year, and carpet keeps the deck from ever drying out.

brentm77 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 17, 2015 3:54 pm

That is helpful information. Thank you for taking the time to share it.

www.iFourWinns.com

How to clean inside of 1987 170 Horizon

Who is online