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All if those boats have a rope door. And the part number for the rope door is the same part for every year and model boat I mentioned.

You need to find your boat and reference what exactly it is. Maybe the previous owner swapped engine compartment doors. They are interchangeable. Who knows... But when you lose the Rope door and you can't find another and easy fixes to put in engine compartment without a rope door in its place.

I guess they must have swapped mine as it just has a sunpad on the engine compartment cover.
 
If you look back at my first post of boats that had the rope door...you will see the 1997 Challenger 1800 was NOT on my list. Thats because the Challenger 1800 (Models 5600 & 5601) does NOT have a rope door.

But the non 1800 model of 1997 Challenger (Models 5603 & 5606) DOES come with a rope door on the engine compartment.

Im new to these boats and get the models mixed up, there is so many different iterations of the Challenger!
 
After long hard battle, I have finally acquired the mold for an Aftermarket version of the elusive Rope Door. You can attach Hydro-turf to this without any issues using the contact Cement. It only comes in white, but will do black for added $50 cost to cover dye.

List price will be $220 with FREE US shipping.
-Comes with Stainless Hinges, Stainless LOCKING Slam Lock and a cable tether like on the cooler door.

This goes by Seadoo part number: 269700030

This will fit the following boats:
1996 Challenger, 5896
1997 Challenger, 5603/5606
1997 Speedster, 5602/5608
1998 Challenger, 5612
2000 Challenger, 5672

It may also fit a 2000 Sportster LE, 5693. Looks same but its Seadoo part number: 204070716. Not 100% sure on it though.
How do I go about buying one of your rope box doors? Paul Gissel pgissel@cox.net
 
After long hard battle, I have finally acquired the mold for an Aftermarket version of the elusive Rope Door. You can attach Hydro-turf to this without any issues using the contact Cement. It only comes in white, but will do black for added $50 cost to cover dye.

List price will be $220 with FREE US shipping.
-Comes with Stainless Hinges, Stainless LOCKING Slam Lock and a cable tether like on the cooler door.

This goes by Seadoo part number: 269700030

This will fit the following boats:
1996 Challenger, 5896
1997 Challenger, 5603/5606
1997 Speedster, 5602/5608
1998 Challenger, 5612
2000 Challenger, 5672

It may also fit a 2000 Sportster LE, 5693. Looks same but its Seadoo part number: 204070716. Not 100% sure on it though.

Are you still selling these?
 
Hey - does anyone have a rope door for a 1997 speedster? Either the remade ones talked about at the beginning or a salvaged one? Thanks!
 
I purchased an aftermarket rope door from rgardner928 and here is the detailed install and some thoughts on it.

It wasnt an exact fit and took a trip to home depot and some work to get it done. Probably about 2 hours to install completely. Now that it's in it looks great, closes well, and I'm happy with it. The material looks like it's HDPE (pretty much industrial cutting board material) which makes it easy to work with. It does however have a little bit of flex to it and it is not as rigid as fiberglass. Also on the bow side of the door it doesnt match the contour of the boat and you can easily fit a finger under it, so it is not water tight. Not a big deal for me since I keep it covered when I store it.

Install:
The hinges arent an exact match to the OEM holes. In my case, I used a step bit to open the holes a little wider to give some wiggle room. 1 hole on each hinge lined up and the second hole needed to be drilled. I started by aligning the hinge holes with the rear/stern and tried the fit. The lock didnt line up with the catch on the boat. I switched it up and aligned the hinge holes with the front/bow OEM holes and it lined up the latch better so I went ahead and drilled the second hole for each hinge and tightened all the bolts down.

The initial install had the door really tight to the hinge side, and a big gap on the lock side. The gap was wider toward the bow and the latch didnt engage very well. I bought some more stainless steel washers and added 3 washers to each side of the bow hinge in order to close the gap. This worked well and the gap was pretty well corrected. This caused the back (stern side) of the door to become misaligned, and I used a dremel to sand a bunch of material off the back.

The final thing was the retention cable that was supplied was too short. I used some 1/16 stainless and made a longer cable.

Like I said, the install was a bit more complicated than I had hoped but it wasnt bad. It isnt water-tight but overall it looks good and I'm happy with the finished product.

See photos for details
 

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I purchased an aftermarket rope door from rgardner928 and here is the detailed install and some thoughts on it.

It wasnt an exact fit and took a trip to home depot and some work to get it done. Probably about 2 hours to install completely. Now that it's in it looks great, closes well, and I'm happy with it. The material looks like it's HDPE (pretty much industrial cutting board material) which makes it easy to work with. It does however have a little bit of flex to it and it is not as rigid as fiberglass. Also on the bow side of the door it doesnt match the contour of the boat and you can easily fit a finger under it, so it is not water tight. Not a big deal for me since I keep it covered when I store it.

Install:
The hinges arent an exact match to the OEM holes. In my case, I used a step bit to open the holes a little wider to give some wiggle room. 1 hole on each hinge lined up and the second hole needed to be drilled. I started by aligning the hinge holes with the rear/stern and tried the fit. The lock didnt line up with the catch on the boat. I switched it up and aligned the hinge holes with the front/bow OEM holes and it lined up the latch better so I went ahead and drilled the second hole for each hinge and tightened all the bolts down.

The initial install had the door really tight to the hinge side, and a big gap on the lock side. The gap was wider toward the bow and the latch didnt engage very well. I bought some more stainless steel washers and added 3 washers to each side of the bow hinge in order to close the gap. This worked well and the gap was pretty well corrected. This caused the back (stern side) of the door to become misaligned, and I used a dremel to sand a bunch of material off the back.

The final thing was the retention cable that was supplied was too short. I used some 1/16 stainless and made a longer cable.

Like I said, the install was a bit more complicated than I had hoped but it wasnt bad. It isnt water-tight but overall it looks good and I'm happy with the finished product.

See photos for details


Last few pictures
 

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thank you for posting your experience. why did you mount the hinges on the top of the door?



my ski rope door is oem and not the aftermarket described here.
i purchased random 2" aluminum hinges off ebay. they had no holes in them which was an advantage as far as i am concerned. i was able to drill my own exactly where i needed them.
 
The rope door arrived with the hinges predrilled and attached. Probably would have been better if the door arrived without hinges attached so I could align the door my self. Not sure why the hinges are on top- a previous post of the rope doors shows them installed the other way
 
After long hard battle, I have finally acquired the mold for an Aftermarket version of the elusive Rope Door. You can attach Hydro-turf to this without any issues using the contact Cement. It only comes in white, but will do black for added $50 cost to cover dye.

List price will be $220 with FREE US shipping.
-Comes with Stainless Hinges, Stainless LOCKING Slam Lock and a cable tether like on the cooler door.

This goes by Seadoo part number: 269700030

This will fit the following boats:
1996 Challenger, 5896
1997 Challenger, 5603/5606
1997 Speedster, 5602/5608
1998 Challenger, 5612
2000 Challenger, 5672

It may also fit a 2000 Sportster LE, 5693. Looks same but its Seadoo part number: 204070716. Not 100% sure on it though.
I would likento purchase 1 please contact.me plarena83@gmail.com
 
After long hard battle, I have finally acquired the mold for an Aftermarket version of the elusive Rope Door. You can attach Hydro-turf to this without any issues using the contact Cement. It only comes in white, but will do black for added $50 cost to cover dye.

List price will be $220 with FREE US shipping.
-Comes with Stainless Hinges, Stainless LOCKING Slam Lock and a cable tether like on the cooler door.

This goes by Seadoo part number: 269700030

This will fit the following boats:
1996 Challenger, 5896
1997 Challenger, 5603/5606
1997 Speedster, 5602/5608
1998 Challenger, 5612
2000 Challenger, 5672

It may also fit a 2000 Sportster LE, 5693. Looks same but its Seadoo part number: 204070716. Not 100% sure on it though.
I have access to two OEM Rope Doors if anyone is interested for the price if $270 each.
I am interested of still available
 

Stop telling me you're interested! I've emailed you on how to order and you don't answer my emails. If you want it that bad enough then learn to check your emails OR this forum!
I'm no longer replying to you via this thread. If your interested, send me an email... have a nice day!
 
After long hard battle, I have finally acquired the mold for an Aftermarket version of the elusive Rope Door. You can attach Hydro-turf to this without any issues using the contact Cement. It only comes in white, but will do black for added $50 cost to cover dye.

List price will be $220 with FREE US shipping.
-Comes with Stainless Hinges, Stainless LOCKING Slam Lock and a cable tether like on the cooler door.

This goes by Seadoo part number: 269700030

This will fit the following boats:
1996 Challenger, 5896
1997 Challenger, 5603/5606
1997 Speedster, 5602/5608
1998 Challenger, 5612
2000 Challenger, 5672

It may also fit a 2000 Sportster LE, 5693. Looks same but its Seadoo part number: 204070716. Not 100% sure on it though.
Ate you still manufacturing/offering the rope box cover? I would certainly like one.
 
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