My green Skier

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   ^^The thread title is for Reid, he is always reminding me that my '71 Skier is not “green”, but Inca Gold.  Sort of a generous name for a baby-puke-green hue, I think… but he is technically correct.  (It was a color that Ford offered on their 1950’s Thunderbirds.)

I have had this boat for 10 years now.  It came to me in very nice shape, with only a few deviations from its original configuration.  It always ran and looked a little too good to mess with, so other than a few minor details, I left it alone and just enjoyed the heck out of it.  Many CCFans may have seen this boat at one point or another, it's been to several reunions.

GL:

LG:

The day I picked it up from Uncle Todd:

2008 Northeast Amateurs ski&ski (snow/water):

Back at home, season #1:

Fast forward to Dec 2015, Sara and I got engaged on this boat.  Soon after we got back home, I started dissecting it- it was time to make a few improvements and bring it back closer to original condition.

Carpet and trim removed:

Floor panels out:

Factory exhaust pocket glass removed:

Exhaust pockets opened up and foam removed:

Carpet glue removed from hull walls:

Floor panels were in good shape so they were reused… they got a fresh coat of bilgekote paint and were then covered with Nautolex floor vinyl (the color is Sharkskin and is an exact match for what was used in ’72).  Test fit:

Everything looked pretty good under the floor panels (structurally), so I addressed all the minor cracks and disbonded glass I found (most notably at the corners- exhaust pockets, batt box, bulkhead, etc).  This was all done with epoxy and cloth tape… tinted with US Composites Halyard pigment- a good match for the original ivory bilge.

New exhaust hoses:

Floor panels and interior reinstalled:

While the interior was headed in the right direction, a few more changes were in order.  New wheels and tires for the trailer:

90’s CIPA ski mirror replaced with a closer-to-period-correct West Coast mirror:

White paint was removed from the scoops, revealing original Inca gel in nice shape (minus 2 blemishes on the front scoop):

At this point, the boat was looking pretty good so long as the motorbox stayed shut.  The original Conqueror-Crusader had always run very well- if not all that fast- but I had been contemplating pulling it out for a repaint… and maybe a head upgrade (so it could keep up with some of the other hot 16-foot boats that have started popping up here in recent years) in the next year or two.  Our very good friends at CCF did way better than that- a hot 331 stroker longblock was gifted to us for our wedding… so in Oct, off to NC we went to perform the heart transplant.

Over 3 days, a herculean effort by a small army of CCFans took place.  The old engine was removed and disassembled; parts were cleaned, painted and installed on the new block… and then it was dressed up with fresh new (original) decals and a polished flame arrestor to boot.  This sort of project would take me a year to do on my own- amazing what a group of skilled, motivated people can accomplish in a short amount of time.

Joe has a few good in-process pics in his Wildcat thread here: 426 Wildcat

Interior assembly and cam break in followed, followed by a brief water test at the Badin mini reunion.

Fast forward a few months while Pinkham & Co. worked their magic on a few kinks found during the initial break in, and we were back to water testing in temperate NC a few weeks ago.

The punch list is getting pretty short now… a few carb and ignition tweaks are due, as is a prop change to take advantage of the extra 29 cubes.  Hull is due for a buffer wheel, tach needs to be refurbed, aforementioned gel blemishes on the front scoop, trailer could use fresh paint, etc.  I don’t think I’ve ever owned a boat that needed so little, ha.  Many thanks to everyone who had a hand in this boat!

My green Skier

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