New/Old Rinker owner introduction - 202 Festiva

202Festiva

Hello all,

So my wife and I got married in 1996 and used our wedding gift money to put a down payment on a 1993 202 Festiva Cuddy. We lived in North Idaho at the time and used it for several years. Sold it in 2001 when we moved away from the area. For the last few years I have been casually searching on craigslist in that same area and lo and behold there she was!!! I couldn't believe it. After all these years someone was selling what was left of our beautiful boat. The 4.3 engine had apparently seized and someone took it apart but never got back to fixing it. They took out the interior as well for some reason and lost most of it somewhere. Long story short, my cousin just picked it up for us yesterday in the snow and got it to his house. It's going to be a nice sentimental rebuild. I'd love to put a V8 in since I remember it being a bit underpowered. So here we are again proud owners of our Rinker!

Dream_Inn

Wow! First off, welcome to the forum!  Can't wait to watch progress as you rebuild the ole girl!  The outside looks like just a good buffing and she'd shine nicely!  Looks like a nice size berth for the size boat.

202Festiva

Thanks! It's in Eastern Washington right now so I'll probably bring it down to where we live in Las Vegas so I can work on it. I need to do some measuring to see if a V8 repower is possible.

Cableguy Greg

Welcome aboard. I am looking forward to seeing the restoration process of the boat. It looks like you should be able to fit a small block in there.

LaRea

Very cool!  You know, boat magazines love publishing stories like this ...

raybo3

Welcome to the RBOC. Great story getting your old baby back. Keep us posted on the rehab and best of luck.........

202Festiva

Hello all!

Well I finally got to lay eyes on my Rinker over Labor Day weekend. We hadn't seen it in 16 years. My wife and I flew to Spokane to see it and move it to some inside storage. I was very pleased to see that the gel coat isn't in that bad of shape actually. I'll have make a couple of chip repairs and then I think it will all buff out just fine. I was also overjoyed that the floor is rock solid. It must have been stored inside all this time. So just a motor and interior and away we go. Sure will be a lot cheaper than a new one!

Michael T

@202 Fiestiva....congratulations - a true "labor of love!". I may be joining you in that department. I bought my first new Rinker in 1994. It was a 190 and came optioned with the "big" engine up-grade to a 4.3 LX.....LOL. After a couple of years I up-graded that to a 350 Magnum then  a year later had it built into a 390HP 383 with a new Bravo that I put a drive shower on.

I just got an e.mail late last night from a friend saying that he heard it was for sale. The Admiral said "Go for it". I'm in Aruba right now but if it's still available when I get home maybe we can both post pictures of "labor of love restorations" Ha Ha!

randy56

I hope you buy it MT, it could be the best therapy. 
@202Festiva picture the progress.

Michael T

@randy56, yeah then maybe I can stop living through you guys and someone else can get a chance to post on the forum LOL.

davidbrooks

What an awesome project.  Best part is that it is almost impossible for the admiral to complain about how much time or money you are spending on it.

Santeeboubd

Do you still have the boat?

202Festiva

I sure do. We actually just moved back to North Idaho from Las Vegas and it's finally in my possession again!