73 Skier Restoration

Keeganino wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: Keegan, I don't believe you mentioned if you have the original mechanical gauge in the tank. Is it still there? You mentioned hoses. There is no mechanical gauge on the tank. It looks like the electronic gauge went in the hole where the mechanical one came out.   This boat definitely came with a few of the options, so maybe it came that way?

What's up on the dash? Does the actual gauge look original? Just wondering if it was added/changed later.

Looks original to me!

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Thanks Roger! Your work is amazing and I am following your info closely. Glad I just have a skier and not a BF for my first project! I used to live in Leeds. Where abouts are you?[/QUOTE]

Keegan I'm 30 miles west of London not that far from Watford, your be safe here for the rebuild with so much knowledge here from the guys.

Am I going to have to remove the cap to repair this, and if I do that can I fill the cap with 2lb foam to make up for not putting foam in the floor?

8122pbrainard wrote: Keegan, It's hard to tell from the pictures but what's rotted? The ply backing at the deck openings? If so, just grind off the bad ply. grind flush and then you could actually glue new CPES'd/epoxied ply with 5200. What foam are you worried about? On the bottom side of the deck?

Pete-

The picture is of the rot under the sight window. Every screw hole through the top there was rotted out. All of the snaps came out without turning. Just pulled them right out. The sight window is the biggest hole therefore it has the most visible damage. Your CPES'd plywood idea sounds good to me. With the screws going into the wood it is not going to fall even if the 5200 is not cured yet. I was worried about trying to glass over it in place, with gravity and all.

As for the foam I am about to do a complete stringer job and do not plan to re-foam anywhere but in the front around the hoses. I was thinking if I had to take the top off to fix the rot under the back there I could foam the gunnels and all around in the cap. Just thinking out loud.

Keegan,
Platforms didn't come out of the factory until 1978 so yours was added. The spider cracking was caused by the PO not installing it properly not using any transom reinforcement. Yes, if you want to put the platform back on, then ply needs to be added to the transom at the mounts. It should be CPES'd and glassed in just like your stringers.

The pulsation dampener can be repaired by soldering with a solder that has some silver in it. BTW, water should not even get up that far into the dampener so you'll want to check for air leaks in the pitot tubing or even in the speedo itself. There's a bellows inside the speedo that can crack/split. It too can be repaired. Since the bellows flexs, it must be soldered with a all silver silver solder. The bellows changes the air pressure created from the pitot/water into the mechanical movement for the speedo needle. With the tubing itself, it's best to just replace with new.

Keegan,
The vinyl was under the tank as sort of a cushion between it and the glass. It helped keep the tank from sliding around if the straps loosed with time. The vinyl also protected the tank coating (paint/plating) from rubbing off keeping it from rusting. The vinyl didn't really contribute to the rot problem. do your stringer job and put the vinyl under the tank back in.

8122pbrainard wrote: Keegan, The vinyl was under the tank as sort of a cushion between it and the glass. It helped keep the tank from sliding around if the straps loosed with time. The vinyl also protected the tank coating (paint/plating) from rubbing off keeping it from rusting. The vinyl didn't really contribute to the rot problem. do your stringer job and put the vinyl under the tank back in.

My tank was bolted down to the strips of wood and I am pretty sure my gas tank is solid stainless steel. Is that not the norm?

Your tank is aluminum and will clean up nicely. On later models, CC used 1/8" rubber pads where you have vinyl; probably to help with noise.

Keegan,
I would question as to whether your tank is original or not considering the tank mounting. We've all see crazy things the factory did but I just don't think they would have set the tank on the vinyl covered 2x4's. I may be wrong and someone with the same era boat may chime in.

Just plan on using the same tank but when you do the stingers incorporate the mounting into that project.

Both the Mustang and the Nautique had 2 1x3's across the stringers with some tread like tape. The edge of the tank has a lip that a 6 to 8 inch 1x3 perpindicular clamping the tank down on each side.

We discussed the idea of doing a piece of ply for the exhaust and deck supports just like you are showing. Still trying to figure out what to do. The ply that was glued to the transom for the swimdeck is exposed and still in great shape, probably from having air to dry. If I leave it in, I will CPES and cap it.

Keegan,
Straps were used on some of the earlier tanks. They were typically perforated steel "plumbers" straping. Many of the steel tanks had them. Your tank is self supporting so all you need is a level surface under the mounting feet incorporated into the stringers. Then, a rubber pad and bolts.

Sorry about the ply at the transom question! Yes, your plan looks good.

FYI, there were no straps on my Ski Tique gas tank. The flanges at the ends were screwed down to the 1x3's that spanned across the stringers. The 1x3's were wrapped in some sorty of black vinyl.

Why not make a big rectangle backer instead of an L-shaped one? That would provide a backer for the lower platform bracket bolts as well.

I just got done sitting under there for an hour grinding and chiseling. One observation about using one big piece of wood is, at least on my 67, a pretty good curve back there. I would not be able to use the 3/4" thick that I was thinking of. I may leave mine as is.

Keeganino wrote: I don't see how I could just make the plywood a rectangle because to get down around the exhaust I have to put that L in it. Or maybe I am misunderstanding your concept...

Keegan, like this: