Hope I haven't bought a wrong un

[nickpw]

Hi all

New to the ribbing lark so bear with me - crossing over from sailing to join in the fun - well I hope!

Just made a heart over head purchase of what turns out to be a 1999 Rib Eye accord to the manufacturers after they looked at a picture with a 2007, ( I think!) 80 hp 4stroke Yammy on the back with 400 hrs (it has 7 years of service history - so thats one thing!)

I paid 7k for the whole deal, but it was sold to me by a private seller as a 2005 model. Which i foolishly believed!

The boat looks ok overall. Dodgy gelcoat repairs here and there but can fix those.

The tubes have quit a lot of top colour flaking off to reveal a brownish hessian underneath. I'm presuming its hyperlon so am looking to get it re painted.

Any thoughts on this and is there a definitive test to see if it is hyperlon - manufacturers think it probably is...

It doesn't have a windshield and I want to get one - any suggestions?


And can you say nice things to make me think I've not bought a dud!

Turned 3 pics into short vid clip so you can see the rib and close up of the dodgy tubes

Cheers

Nick

[Xk59D]

hi Nick, welcome to the ribbing world!

the ONLY thing that matters is you are happy with your purchase so keep that in mind.....

the engine is fine in theory and the hours are not an issue if serviced as you describe, obviously get a service yourself and if the timing belt (it may have a chain? hopefully one of the forum yam gurus will know or a google will confirm) wasn't done i would get it done before you use it. best speak to your local yam dealer for info on this one. they can sort out an oil/filter and gearbox change too if you don't fancy it yourself.

the tubes are starting to fail going on your video so you have few choices, you either live with it whilst you budget a retube (5k ish) or ignore/paint them as you suggest.

It is not normal for ribeye to have hypalon, not impossible though so you can tell by doing this- http://www.ribstore.co.uk/cms-assets...r-inflatable-b what you are describing sounds like hypalon though so that link will confirm.

painting tubes instantly devalues a boat but probably no worse than tubes failing anyway. if it were mine i would probably use as is, if the tubes don't leak! and get a feel for it and if no leaks get painting it.

the trailer looks fine, new brakes and bearings will cost less than 150 quid or so worst case. one thing though is the rear swing beam needs moved back closer to the transom for me.

hope that helps....enjoy!

[nickpw]

Thanks Xk59D!

Heres the response I had from Rib Eye "We cannot say for certain what material the boat is made out of looking at photos but we think you are right its hypalon. We think the boat was manufactured in 1999".

Service was at a yammy dealer, they are going to email everything over they have on record so will check that out regarding the timing chain/belt. Thanks for that pointer.

I cant really afford the 5kish and that would bring the outlay up to 12kish which is I expect well over the top for a rib of this age.

I'll try and find out for sure if it is hypalon, get it painted and enjoy it - any idea how long these tubes can last for before they've had it when they start to look like mine?

Theres no proper cover either, so will have to sort that to stop it getting worse i guess.

I wont be telling the missus about this little faux par......

I do like the rib, just kick myself for not taking time out to do proper research and to be honest if I had found this info out I probably wouldn't of bought it - but hey 1st world problems n all that!

[Chris Caton]

as long as the tubes hold air it's only cosmetic, so I'd live with it for now, if you decide to keep the ribeye then it's probably worth re-tubing, think 5k is a bit steep though nice rib

[Xk59D]

Originally Posted by nickpw

Thanks Xk59D!

Heres the response I had from Rib Eye "We cannot say for certain what material the boat is made out of looking at photos but we think you are right its hypalon. We think the boat was manufactured in 1999".

Service was at a yammy dealer, they are going to email everything over they have on record so will check that out regarding the timing chain/belt. Thanks for that pointer.

I cant really afford the 5kish and that would bring the outlay up to 12kish which is I expect well over the top for a rib of this age.

I'll try and find out for sure if it is hypalon, get it painted and enjoy it - any idea how long these tubes can last for before they've had it when they start to look like mine?

Theres no proper cover either, so will have to sort that to stop it getting worse i guess.

I wont be telling the missus about this little faux par......

I do like the rib, just kick myself for not taking time out to do proper research and to be honest if I had found this info out I probably wouldn't of bought it - but hey 1st world problems n all that!

assuming you have no leaks then paint it and get on the water, i wouldn't give it another thought after that point if you can. how long they last is tough to say, sun, grit, tube treatment all play a part but there are hypalon boats around with 20 year old tubes on them, more infact in some cases! typically 10-15 years is what you read though but it is down to the owner and how well they are looked after really.

your sig says a 6m boat, that is why i said 5k ish for a re-tube. if you want a proper price then find your local supplier or paul tilley on here perhaps. it is circa 600-900ish per meter for a retube depending on what you want. Paul recently quoted this for a 3.2m boat-

Originally Posted by paul tilley

we occasionally retube small ribs like this for training purposes if the hulls are given to us and then loose money when we sell them ,retubing is £2400 + vat

[Chris]

Before you go applying paint take the RIB to Stuart and Jasper at Cross House Trailers (they also repair RIBs) . With some well placed Bum patches it is possible to give old tubes a second lease of life.

Welcome - Trailer Repair Southampton - Trailer Servicing Southampton - Trailer Repairs Southampton - Trailer Service Southampton - SBS Trailers

[nickpw]

Thanks all, really appreciate your thoughts - I've come from a 20ft day sailor so bit of a steep learning curve to clump up!

Will look into patches sounds like a sensible suggestion can't get my head round how paint would last on a flexible medium


Main thing is to use it for why I bought it and have fun times with the family instead of worrying about wether or not I've been a gullible numpty :-)

[paintman]

Originally Posted by nickpw

Main thing is to use it for why I bought it and have fun times with the family instead of worrying about wether or not I've been a gullible numpty :-)

Exactly. Have fun

[paulbrown22]

I had significant wear on my tubes when I bought the Ribtec, and rather than instantly retube, had Rodella Ribs in Poole apply some (rather large) M-Tec wear patches a couple of years ago that are still perfect today. As long as the tubes are holding air, I don't see any reason why you couldn't do the same, and I can highly recommend Giovanni at Rodella if you need someone fairly local. My original thread here: http://www.rib.net/forum/f8/max-size...tch-57401.html .

[boristhebold]

If the person selling it to you deliberately told a lie about its age then there may be more issues to contend with, plus if you find you really like ribbing it may not be long before your looking to upgrade perhaps, so if reselling it may effect the value.

It might be worth finding someone who knows about ribs inside and out and give them £50 or something for a couple hours of there time to fully inspect the boat, then based on opinions after that inspection consider keeping or court action.