Bargain Super Sport: A quest to join team red.

63 Skier wrote: Blamey wrote: I Always check it out when driving out after parking mine. It is a real nice super sport. Where did you get your cover? I plan to copy it for my boat. Have you had any issues with it? Good to know your on CCF. I was checking out your trailer last week to size up the tires and turnbuckle I needed for my boat. Wouldn't it be quicker and easier to stop by some night and steal his cover, tires, and turnbuckle? Why go to all the trouble of ordering the stuff?

Last week when I needed a spare tire for my trip I did wonder if he would.mind me borrow information his for a couple days.

Unfortunately, since he has a Flight Control, the cover won't fit.

Thanx for kind words. Im usually on planetnautique but I saw your boat and couldn't resist not to register;) Cover came with the boat and i like the way it works. I had 98 SS before and cover seemed to be bigger covering platform and reaching down more. A few things Im installing this month are ballast, hydrophase gps and some other staff so I ll be there often. Also thinking about upgrading to tandem trailer but can't find anything near and price friendly

a.klos wrote: Thanx for kind words. Im usually on planetnautique but I saw your boat and couldn't resist not to register;) Cover came with the boat and i like the way it works. I had 98 SS before and cover seemed to be bigger covering platform and reaching down more. A few things Im installing this month are ballast, hydrophase gps and some other staff so I ll be there often. Also thinking about upgrading to tandem trailer but can't find anything near and price friendly

I keep my boat in the water for a few days during summer, so I want a cover that doesn't cover the platform so I can use it while the boat is in the water.

Very interested to see what you do with the ballast install as it will be on my list in the near future (probably next year)

I am assuming that you didn't have perfect pass in the boat. I make a world of difference having speed control. Basically make any driver expert level and really helps with riding consistency.

I'll come chat if I see you.

Where do you launch your boat?

Do you pick the boat up from Greenwood then head upstate?

Any recommendations? I'd like to do some exploring of other options this summer.

Hi Paul, how did you like your new prop? I also noticed new tower speakers too. I ran to sears to get some ss screws and when I came back you left already. I ll be there next weekend to work on electrical part.

I am wondering if I have synthetic ATM and that's what I am feeling.

Anybody know what the symptoms of running synthetic are. What does a slipping transmission feel lime.?

My reverse also seems a little slow to engage vs my Sport.

Quick Question.

I noticed my plug wires on the engine (GT40) are grey, rather than red. Anybody know if the plug wires for the GT40 were ever grey?


Quick Update.
Got to take the boat out for a good test (early morning, no boats buttery water) run this weekend after changing the transmission fluid. Boat ran great. Very smooth. I still have a very minor hesitation or loping that is mostly noticeable low RPM (less then 1500). Didn't seem as noticeable in neutral as it did in gear.

I also got a hesitation at WOT twice. It was just a brief loss of power then straight back up to full speed. I assume this is older GAS.

I was able to hit 44MPH with the new 644, which as far as I ca tell pretty good for that prop on a SS. So overall the engine appears to be running strong.

Still lots to do but the more I use the boat the happier I am with my purchase.

OEM Ford wires are grey it's possible someone switched. Anything printed on them?

Gary S wrote: OEM Ford wires are grey it's possible someone switched. Anything printed on them?

They say PCM pro-tech on them just like the red ones I picked up from Nautique Parts.

I'm gonna switch them and the plugs, cap and rotor just so I know it's done. I've got all the parts just need to find the time.

At this point I am torn between spending time on the Sport to get it ready to sell or the Super Sport to get it ready to for summer. My head tells me to work on the Sport but my heart wants to play with the new toy.

So after a couple weeks off today was my first day out with the whole family. Unfortunately my son, who last year loved the boat, is very cautious this year and won't let us go fast than idle. I am sure he will get used to it again.

Overall it was fun day out with the family.

Unfortunately it looks like I may have a leak in my V-drive. after does a little research, it's common for the gasket on the oil pan to fail. I noticed the V drive light wasn't going off. checked the V drive dipstick and it was dry. added around a half quart to get it to the full line on the dip stick.

I'll be monitoring the V-drive oil for the next few weeks to see how bad the leak is.

I also managed to crack the top of the dip stick. I'm hoping I'll be able to JB weld it back together. As a new one is about $90.

Gary S wrote: Did it crack around where the o ring sits? I broke mine the first time I removed it too.

Yup, I can still use it but I am afraid of breaking it some more and loosing a piece into the V-drive.

3 years ago they were 37.00 direct from them.The gate keeper,the woman who answers the phone there, told me I needed some gasket which I ended up not using.

Gary S wrote: 3 years ago they were 37.00 direct from them.The gate keeper,the woman who answers the phone there, told me I needed some gasket which I ended up not using.

At least you didn't need to purchase those Walters extra super special bearings!

So June got a little busy and I have been putting off posting updates because I keep forgetting to take pictures and I still haven't but thought I'd update anyway.

Firstly most of my time at the start of the month went to selling the Sport Nautique. Got the boat de-winterized, cleaned up and new vinyl installed just in time to sell her.

So now I have time to start work on the Super Sport. So far the boat has been great and I haven't had any major issues to speak of (that I didn't cause, but more on that later). I am pretty much ready to declare this a major bargain. Considering the overall condition of the hull\gelcoat (no major issues), trailer(apart from some scratches near the tongue the trailer looks brand new) and engine (runs like a top), I think this really was the bargain it appears to be.

Here is what I have gotten done since my last update.

V-Drive
V-Drive fluid. I don't seem to have any more issues with the V-Drive fluid and it appears to be holding since I filled it up at teh end of may. I still need to try and change it out though.

Upholstery and cover
I had the rear sun pad replaced. This was probably the biggest issue with the boat as the old pad was in terrible shape. This alone appears to have made a huge difference to the appearance of the boat. I also had the port side rear seat base rebuilt. He also fixed the cover, which appeared to have been made for a boat with a difference style tower and didn't fit properly. Total for the stern seat, sun pad and cover was $600 and the work was top notch. Upholsterer that I use is great but slow. He is working through the rest of the seat bottoms as they all had some type of issue and I think that's all I'll do this summer. Over the winter I may replace a few other pieces.

Installed perfect Pass
Transferred the perfect pass Stargazer from the Sport to the Super Sport. I haven't finalized the install as I still need to route the servo wire under the floor from the engine to the dash. Currently it's running temporarily along the gunnel, but doesn't reach were I want to have the PP master module installed.

Stereo
I replace the tower speakers, head unit and amp as they all had issues of one kind of another. I currently have the amp powering 2 Polk MM651UM tower speakers and the 4 original clarion in boat speakers. I have got to say, the clarions, which are original to the boat and over 20 years old still sound pretty good. That said I picked up 4 wetsound XS-650's on closeout sale at sonic electronics for $130 a pair and will be replacing the 4 in boat speakers with these shortly.. I am getting engine noise when using the boat when listening to the stereo while driinving but will probably leave this for now as we don't really listen to the stereo much when driving.

Blower
Blower, which was the original part was making some pretty heinous noise and going out intermittently., decided to replace it. Great upgrade and the new blower is much quieter. Simple $30 update.

Horn
As suggested above, the issue with the horn was just a loose wire, I fixed this but it has since come loose again. Will probably need to replace the quick connect.

Gelcoat
Trying to figure out my best plan of attack on detailing the boat. The hull looks pretty good overall but has some water spots that still remain even after hitting it with an 800 wet sand on a test area. I am working my way around the boat with 3m Restorer Wax which should hold me off till the end of the season where I'll do a full Super Duty and Finesse it detail before the boat goes up for the winter.

Tune up
So If you look back I did complain that the engine had a bit of a lopping or misfire, not really sure how to describe it but basically the engine had a minor surge when driving where the RPM would fluctuate up an down about 100 RPM. I decided to give the boat a tune up and replace the wires, cap and rotor and this issues appears to be resolved. I did however have a small engine fire last Friday night when the new coil wire caught fire. I had issues when trying to fit the wire at the coil side as the connection was under the plastic engine cover. I guess that I didn't have the wire properly seated and it was arcing and caught fire. The engine surged a couple of times while my wife was driving. She stopped and said she could smell something burning. Opened the engine hatch and the was a small fire. Pulled the extinguisher and after fiddling with it for about 10 seconds, managed to get the firs put out. Only major damage was to the wire, but we were still able to start the boat up and run the boat back the 1/2 mile to the Marina. A quick trip to the auto parts store and we had a new wire and we were back on the water.

So apart from the little fire which I believe was my fault, we haven't had any issues with the boat and have really been enjoying it. So far I am still money ahead as I got more for the Sport than I paid for the Super Sport which to me is what makes the a real bargain.

I'll update with some pics soon.

I really don't have too much left to do on the boat, the list here is my current to do list
-Install tower Bimini. (should have the order in this week)
- Install new in boat speakers.
- Clean extinguisher residue off engine
- Get the Gel coat shiny.



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Blamey wrote: Stereo I replace the tower speakers, head unit and amp as they all had issues of one kind of another. I currently have the amp powering 2 Polk MM651UM tower speakers and the 4 original clarion in boat speakers. That said I picked up 4 wetsound XS-650's on closeout sale at sonic electronics for $130 a pair and will be replacing the 4 in boat speakers with these shortly.. I am getting engine noise when using the boat when listening to the stereo while driving The issue is your ground. You want to be sure to not wire in your system the way the factory did. You want your head unit, amp and anything else like a zone controller or equalizer to have all of the positive wires run straight to the battery. Also, do the same with your grounds. They all need to run to the battery to eliminate the noise. Now if you have a battery switch, to run dual batteries, run all the positive wires off of the common connection on the Blue Seas or Peko Switch. This way, the system always sees power when you switch from starting battery to house battery. There are many ways to do it, but do not go thru the boat power distribution system. Send me a PM and we can talk more about this if you need help. ]