joker9r

Hello all, I am in the middle of revamping my 88 272 and was hoping for some inputs from you while I am getting supplies together. It will be getting custom paint the end of the summer. I'm putting on a new swim platform right now and my sun pad is at my apholstry guy right now along with those rectangular pieces that mount on the inside wall of the cockpit area. I'm new to boat customizing so any input would be great.

First: What I call the hand rails... Leave them or take them off... I'm deffinately removing the ones around the sun pad but I'm not sure if I should remove the ones on the bow.

Second: The sun pad..... One piece or go back to the original which has multiple strips. Also since the rest of the cockpit vinyl has the red, grey, white, and black color scheme how do you think it would look going to only grey and red.

Third: Those pain in the butt rectangular pieces.... Leave them off and fill the mount holes or re-vinyl all red. The color scheme of the new paint job will incorporate the original colors of the boat but red will be the primary color for the interior accents, like the dash panels.

joker9r

masi242

Your boat looks very clean, congrats I would keep the individual strips if any thing happens you can just replace the section you need. I like the railing around the sunpad it will give you something to hold onto thats just me.

I will assume this has twin 350`s and alphas, boat looks great.

88242LS

Redo it all org, like masi said you can re do wach section if a boo boo happens

handfulz28

+2 on the keep individual pieces on the sunpad. Even if you do it all one color, which I don't recommend. Look at the picture you posted: you can see how the hull side graphics lead into the sunpad.

I can see removing the grab bar around the sunpad because the rear section can be a pain when you want to sit there. If you never plan on throwing an anchor off the bow, or doing anything up there, you might get away with not having them. Otherwise, they're useful and not having them would detract from the value IMHO.

Consider how much red you want in your cockpit. There's a reason Formula broke up the colors as they did. Look at some pictures of bright colored single tone cockpits; it's usually overkill.

As for the dash pieces, and this is really just my deep personal opinion, I have yet to see a truly good looking black dash with colored panels. Consider silver/gray dash panels with red bezels.

sabercatt

thats such a good lookin boat I hate to see you do much of anything to it. Redo your dash for a bit of an update and go boating.

wantsa311

I redid my sunpad all white but kept the individual pieces. Much cooler to touch on sunny days, the original black stripe was a killer. I replaced the little rectangular pieces with a single piece on each side that was the same size as all the little ones put together. Did them all white too, really updated the look of the boat.

joker9r

Thanks for the inputs!

I have deffinately decided to replace each individual panel on the sun pad....

As for the rails around the bow.. This is my first Formula so I really dont know a whole lot about them. Last summer was my first summer with the boat and I was always scared to tie anything off to those rails, for the exception of bumpers. How strurdy are the rails? I actually think the rails add a bit of Formula class too the boat but I thought they were useless other than looks.
Very good points for the interior which brings me to the black dash...... The graphics of the propsed "new" paint job will carry from the tip of the bow over the hatches and then over the dash.... which the base color of the dash will be off white, the color that is on the boat now. I personnally cant stand the black dash.... hard to keep looking good and gets so smokin hot!!!!!

I know most of you prob disagree with a custom repaint.... I know these Thunderbirds have a great following so would a "custom"/"designer" paint job hurt. I know with all paint any paint jobs especially custom, it always depends on the owner or buyer as to it being a plus or minus but is redesigning the nastalgic paint job "sac religious."

Thanks again for the inputs

Cold Sweat

Unless the boat is really faded, I'd leave it alone. Leave it a classic, she looks great to me. If you remove the rails, they will be missed. If nothing else, they're nice to hold onto while doing a quick detail before going to the lake. Run it and enjoy because like everyone else, you'll be going bigger. We're never satisfied. Do some dash upgrades and keep it simple, you'll have a hard time getting your money back when it's time to move up if that matters. Just my opinion...

jfm

I am going to jump in as an outsider, baja outlaw owner. I like it the way it is. It is a clean looking boat and as stated I would do some interior upgrades. Nice looking!!