Re: Guardado Marine
 

We are looking at a paint job, including repainting all of the white, replacing the rub rail, etc. We are also looking to replace the vinyl in the cockpit, paint all of grab rails, paint all of the engine accessories and brackets, add a cover girl type cabin and possibly switch the current engine hatch back to the traditional split Apache hatches. Of course, all of this stuff is a wish list. How much of it will get done in the first round has yet to be determined. Also, when that first round will occur has yet to be determined. I am just trying to get this boat back to brand new, one step at a time. As always, I will certainly keep you guys posted.

Thank you all for your responses about your experiences with Guardado. I certainly appreciate it.

Re: Guardado Marine
 

They are the best. If you want a repair done the correct way, that's the place to go. He is not shy with his prices! If you have deep pockets, he is the man. If your on a budget, Keep looking.

Re: Guardado Marine
 

Will -

If I'm not mistaken, these are the guys that came to Key West and fixed the Virgin boat. Your cousin Bill and I watched them work and they were pretty amazing. I can tell you it was done right.

Re: Guardado Marine
 

Damn Will. If anyone can understand redoing a boat for the pure passion of it, it's me. Some say, "You will never get that back out of it." I say who cares, it's gonna be perfect.

I do find it interesting that you have gone somewhat old school, as opposed to your previous boats. :cool:

Re: Guardado Marine
 

OC Barry,

I think you are correct as well as I was with Bill's team in Key West. I also think they fixed he planetman boat a few years back in Keywest when it had a collission with the Rio Roses Cigarette.

Will,

What kind of paint ideas do you have??? I was checking his sight and the work is just awesome.

Re: Guardado Marine
 

Will -

For what it's worth, my vote for the paint job would be the original graphics when the boat was RDS Systems / Apache Kid. In my opinion, your boat and Geronimo were the two best looking Apache's out there. PLUS Apache Kid already carried those colors off of Ocean City!

Re: Guardado Marine
 

Could not agree more

Re: Guardado Marine
 

Eddie's done a number of (tricky) small jobs for me, and they've always been first class. I think his biggest triumph was when Forrest Barber and JT brought "Drambuie on Ice" up from a bad crash in the Key West SBI races in 2000. The boat was 46' of delaminated mess and looked like a bad fright wig. Four days later, it was back at Key West and won, then went on to win at St. Pete in the APBA Worlds a week later. A legendary piece of repair work. Great people.

Re: Guardado Marine
 

Thank you all for the info. It is great to hear so many positive things about them! Talking to Eddie on the phone, he sounded like he was straight forward. He put together a rough quote and had it out to me when he said that he would. His e-mails came when he said that they would and he returned phone calls right away. To find that in the marine industry is rare! From my limited interaction with him and from what I have read here, it seems that he is very thorough and that he is the kind that takes care of his customers. Add to that the fact that Tres recommended him and that all of you have nothing but praise for him, it seems that I can't go wrong. Thanks again.

DPT Motorsports & O.C. Barry: We have not designed a paint job yet. Some days I like it all white because it is a classic look and is very clean. Other times I want to do something like a simple stripe or some other very simple, classic design. I also like the idea of going back to the original paint job. It is a wild paint scheme, but it would still be classic because of the history there. Of course, I liked the paint job that was on our Gladiator too. Basically, I have no idea what the paint job is going to be. Right now I am thinking that it may be smart to wait until the Fall to do any work so that these guys are not under the gun to get it done and out the door so quickly. Even though Eddie says that he can get it done before summer and I honestly believe that he can, if we wait until the Fall it would give us all summer to work everything out. I'll keep you posted.

Re: Guardado Marine
 

Eddie is the best. The one pic is in his shop. I ship mine back every year for Eddie to go over and fix the whiskley scratches.