1973 Correct Craft Ski Nautique Restoration

Interesting how CC had to route the exhaust to get the package to fit under the dog house.

Bringing this one back from the dead. I bought this boat back in 2015 from Adam after he had water in oil issues. I piddled with it, replaced the exhaust riser o-rings/gaskets, new exhaust valve to replace the broken/rusted one, and got the engine running. I took it to a local lake a couple times and skied behind it, and then hauled it to Dale Hollow for a week on a houseboat trip in 2017, but that's it. It'll sound cliche, but it's the usual story of I just don't have time to use it or mess with it (had a few kids after buying it, have the 67 project to continue working on some day....), regardless I've decided to sell it. This is a super cool boat with a rare engine package in it so someone on this site needs to get this thing as you guys can appreciate it more than average Joe. I'll be putting a listing up hopefully in the next few days, but feel free to contact me if you're interested in a 2nd gen with a big block!

The one shop built me a 4.2 inline 6 Stroker for my rock crawler about 4 years ago, the other shop was a friend of a friend deal that apparently only works on Ferds....and both shops do mostly diesel work anymore...guess that is where the money is at now...

"We don't specialize in marine engines, and parts are not readily available for a 73 440"

PM me if you're selling it. I'm just down the road.

Well....

Pulled the motor...

Broken exhaust valve on starboard side.
Don't see any damage to the block but it needs to be magnafluxed.

Looking for a good engine shop now to see if it is repairable or possibly thinking about selling and picking up another one (88 SN) in much better shape.

Unfortunately both local engine shops I have used in the past are not interested in the Marine 440, I got an estimate from a local marina at just over 6K to swap in a jasper m440 long block, but I'm not to fond of that.

Time is getting slim now, busy season at work....
Kinda leaning towards selling it and lift.

not yet been working on other projects, hopefully will get back on it this weekend...

And the Verdict is....

Compression Test (Bow to Stern)
Port side
120-120-90-120
Starboard side
110-115-110-0 :(

Going to pull the starboard head as soon as I get a chance...

Any signs of water in the runners? I've never actually seen the actual internal crack in a manifold.

What joe said.

If it comes down to manifold(s):

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=301644717930

The last cylinder was the only on that was full, the 3rd cylinder had a damp plug when i pulled them too, so maybe the back 2 cylinders have the issue, I will do a compression test on it before tearing it down...what are the acceptable specs for the m440?

Also is the manifold something that can be repaired, or does it need to be replaced, and where would i find one?

Thanks

Yep I'm going to start there, pull that side apart first...

I pulled the spark plug and cranked the motor until as much of the water was out that i could get, put the plug back in and the motor fired right up, i ran it for a couple min dry no water hooked up.

I'm hoping the water that got in the oil was just pushed past the rings in that cylinder.

Well some disappointing news!

Boat ran well on the hose, so I took it out to the lake yesterday and ran it a bit at the launch, it ran about 5 min then stalled, it then wouldn't turn over. Tried to but motor was locked.

Pulled the plugs and the back cylinder on the starboard side was full of water...so

The oil is slightly milky too now, it is interesting to me that It ran on the hose with no issues, but maybe it wasn't getting the full amount of water form the hose...

Going to be pulling the motor this week....

Right now I guess the plan is to pull the exhaust manifolds and heads to see how bad it is.
it has 325 hours on the motor from 73', depending on the condition of the heads and block, is it wise to rebuild everything?

Any suggestions, advice?

And if you remove the wheel there are 5 screws in the back of the hub.

The play is in the whole steering wheel. For you push forward at the top, it moves forward. If you pull back, it moves back. It wobbles and seems lose. I was wondering if there was a way to tighten the steering wheel itself so it's solid and turns nice but doesn't wobble/move.