73 Skier Restoration

8122pbrainard wrote: Keeganino wrote: That was a helpful video and now I know that just about any break that could happen to this wheel can probably be repaired really well. My problem is not nearly that bad so I am going to focus on a little polish and maybe a spin with the buffer for now. Keegan, I want to encourage you to get some epoxy resin into those cracks. You do not need to rout them out as shown in the vidio. That's for a major repair. I had to do go that route with my 54 wheel and then paint. With paint on the wheel, I always feel I should be wearing white cotton gloves while driving so it doesn't get scratched. Getting the epoxy in there now may prevent you from having to the major job on the wheel.

Ok I will give the epoxy a go. That is another good rainy day project. I cannot see any point in painting it either because it looks pretty good. The wood looking vinyl could be replaced. Not going to mess with it until I find something that I think will work as it is not terrible either, just UV faded. It would have to be very thin, look like wood and be glue-able. Thought about buying some real veneer but that would probably not hold up to the elements. Anything else would be too thick.

8122pbrainard wrote: The woodgrained vinyl is out there! Do some seaching for repair kits for the woodgrain they use on cars. It's HD and UV resistant. You'll probably have to get more that needed. Probably enough to do a car door!

Good call anybody know of a product like this? I could probably do the whole thing out of a sample piece.

Keeganino wrote: Keeganino wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: The woodgrained vinyl is out there! Do some seaching for repair kits for the woodgrain they use on cars. It's HD and UV resistant. You'll probably have to get more that needed. Probably enough to do a car door! Good call anybody know of a product like this? I could probably do the whole thing out of a sample piece. I found this adhesive teak film on Ebay. 15 inches wide and sold by the foot. Teak Vinyl

That should be fine. You can also get small rolls of woodgrain rolls for cheap at home depot.

Took some of the hardware out of the bottom of the hull today like the drain plug and started on the skeg, which I think has been repaired because there was different colored glass around it underneath and the screws were bent. Could not get the last one out with the help of my 9 year old. Have to get some muscle over here to help get it out. Probably spent another hour on foam removal today. Probably 2 to go to get out the rest of the bow foam and clean it off the hull. I bought an 80 grit nylon brush attachment for the drill to remove all the little pieces still hanging on.   Curious to see how well that works.

The kids are home today for the fourth day this week due to "weather". Freezing rain today so there will not be any snowman building. I have been cleaning all the gummed up parts from the bilge. A lot of oil and grease had made its way into there so everything was covered with gunk. Anything I can make look new and reuse is going back in. I used Engine Brite from Harbor Freight, and it works really well.

Here is what's weird. A couple of the huge bolts that hold the rudder assembly together are bent, but my rudder looks mint. Same thing with the skeg bolts. Several of those are bent too, but there appears to be no damage to the skeg itself. It looks like the skeg may be a replacement though because it looks like there is some different colored glass on the outside around it. Still have 1 bent bolt that is giving me a hard time and needs to be removed before I can see for sure. It seems like it would take a major impact to bend the bolts on either one. Regardless I am going to be needing that hardware when I put the thing back together. I am pretty sure Lowes aint gonna have those. Where should I look?

McMaster is a good source for SS hardware. There may be a Fastenal local to you as well- but theyre a bit pricey.

To determine if your pieces are straight, I found it to be very difficult to do by hand. Using a flat surface and a square should confirm. I discovered that the strut that I suspected was bent was actually straight, and the fin I thought was straight was bent 1/2"!

When you say "skeg" are you talking about the prop strut or a tracking fin? If the latter, that may not be original. Ive never seen a Skier with a tracking fin (neither of mine have one), although my '78 Ski Tique did. Its possible that it was added for '73, I suppose... either way, take a picture- Im curious!

It looks like a block was added on either side of the keel to give the fin more surface area to mate to? The fin looks to be either shorter (lengthwise) or deeper than the ones CC used, even in the 80's. The fin on my Tique wrapped around the keel, if I remember correctly. That combined with the fact that my early Skiers had no fins at all would lead me to guess that yours has been added somewhere along the line. Id give some serious thought to removing it entirely. If you decide you miss the tracking and steering improvement the fin offers, maybe try to find one that fits the hull better.

What do I do about the 6 holes through the bottom of the hull?   

The tracking fin had definitely taken some shots over the years. It makes sense to me that the fin would help deflect some debris away from the prop and rudder, helping save them from damage. This one is not going back on the boat. I think I will polish it and use it as a book end. The 6 holes drilled through the hull are not even straight with one another. Pete- "filled epoxy"-is thickened, like peanut butter?

What are the pros and cons of the tracking fin? They are on all the new boats so it must be good for something right?

What do you other Skier owners say? Storm says they are more fun to drive without one. I have always liked the way this boat turns on a dime. How much is that going to change? I am imagining the boat like a wakeboard with no fins. Sliding all over the place. It does sound fun- we could do powerslides before with the fin on there. On the other hand I do like the way it sticks to a turn at high speed like a race car.

My Skier and Tique did handle differently- and the fin was the only difference between them (same hull). Like Pete and Chris mentioned, the tracking and turning were improved on the Tique. The Skier is a lot more fun to drive though. I wouldnt add one to a boat that didnt have one originally. I also wouldnt remove one from a boat that came that way. My vote is to leave it off, but thats your call!

Here is my tiny contribution to progress today. The pylon area was especially rotted out as you could already see from previous posts. I did not have much time and had to cover the boat back up really well because it is supposed to snow again tomorrow.

This is a mess. Have not tried to remove the pylon from the steel plate yet, but I have a feeling its gonna be a pita! Half of the bolts broke off when I cranked on them.


For the sake of safety I am so glad I went ahead with this project. People could have been killed if I continued to use this boat!

kapla wrote: geez nice for pulling multiple skiers

Scary huh! Glad I did not tow anybody once I bought it. I had been riding in this boat for years and there were not any visible indications the damage was so bad. The PO said I was crazy and that it would go another 20 years just like it was. Till I pulled up the removable ply in the back, you would have never known.

My coveralls came today so I am ready to cut those stringers out! Now if it will just stop raining! Harbor freight had 3 packs of Chicago 24 grit flap discs for $2.37 today. I only bought 2 packs. Any estimates on how many I will go through? The diamond wheel I used to cut out the floor seems to be doing just fine so I will use that to cut along the tops and bottoms of the stringers.   

Here is a picture before I removed the pylon. The plywood made up the floor. So from the bilge up- I have the cup in the bilge, then the pylon goes up through that metal plate that is bolted to the bottom side of the plywood. The wood was 2 layers thick of 5/8ths ply, maybe 7/8ths (as the build up is about 2 inches thick) on top of the metal plate. Then of course glass over the top. That super rotten piece was the bottom ply that was in direct contact with the metal plate. The plate does not span all the way across to the stringers so if this plate had pulled loose, all that would have been holding the pylon would have been the bolt through the cup. Scary stuff!

8122pbrainard wrote: Keegan, Thanks! Got the "picture" now. I didn't realize the picture of the plate was the complete pylon upside down. Sorry!

Pete is it a good idea to stick with this same hardware? It lasted this long and did not fail this summer when we were towing wakeboarders, but the plate is badly corroded on one corner, and I can't help but wonder if there is not something better, safer to use. Also how does the pylon separate from the cuff? It is not sliding right out anytime soon.