73 Skier Restoration

The Form and Function is a custom job so why not. I will have to think about this one. It may come down to how much I can still see the lettering after it is removed. Wet sanding does not remove the color change in my experience.

This boat is not ever going to be show worthy because of the platform, tracking fin, carpet, stereo in the dash, the speedo and some other mods that were made before I got her. I chose to put the fin and platform back on because they are part of what I love about the boat. It handles like a 911 Porsche and I love hanging out in the water with my drink on the platform and it will make it a lot easier for the kids to get in and out. The carpet came down to cost and the fact that I can easily change it made it an easy decision to revert to carpet. If I repair the dash one day it will be hard if not impossible to match the gelcoat, but I hate the stereo in the dash. It makes the Skier logo look off center and it was a hack job probably done with a sawzall.

While I will try not to further diminish the original aspects of the boat, it is what it is. If anyone recalls I wanted to put a tower on the boat in the beginning! At least I was not going to put Air Nautique stickers on the side! I still like the idea of a stern flag with the name Floor It. Besides I have enough to worry about just trying to get it back on the water which is approaching 2 months after the targeted launch date. Close enough for government work I guess!

I went to grab my boat yesterday and see what they had done to it. They have the engine and tranny together and had dropped it into the boat. To avoid ranting about their BS the shortened version is that they knew they could not make any money aligning the engine because they don't know anything about it and would have been learning on the job. They did not put up a fight when I told them I was taking it home to do the alignment myself with the help of my neighbor who built multi million dollar off shore racing boats in Miami for 25 years. He had it close in about 10 minutes. By the end of the evening we had it ready to dial it in, but ran out of light and will finish tonight if it does not rain.

I hate it when people BS me and tell me they can do something that they can't. Especially when its on my dime! I never have a problem admitting my limitations and don't understand why that is so hard for people to do.

Pics

Thanks Tim. The mechanic in question painted the manifolds black without asking me and swore that high temp paint had to be used there. I disagreed with him on that based on what I have read on this site. The mechanic also connected the exhausts. I could go into a rage about all the things this guy did but I am going to focus on the happy. I am almost done!!!!

Finished up the alignment tonight! Hoooooray! It was a lot of work for sure. Many thanks to my friend Frank from Chief for all the help. Still have some rigging work to do before we fire her up for a water test.

Make sure you take a video camera!

Rain rain go away so I can finish rigging my boat today! Next house I buy is going to have a huge shop in the back. Maybe I should look for a shop with a house in front of it. I am so close and am supposed to have the timing set tomorrow morning if I can get anything done today.
To do list:
Dial in shifter and throttle cables
Connect the alt and sending units
Hook up Battery
Fill with oil
Top off trans fluid
Attach trans oil cooler
Put the prop back on
Put some fuel in the tank
Set timing

When we go to start it up for the first time on land to set timing should I prime the raw water pump from above, or will it still pull from a bucket of water? I know not to put it in gear because of the cutlass bearing, but my water pump has got to be bone dry since it has been empty for 9 months.

I am excited, nervous, anxious, and tired of talking about how almost done the boat is. The phrase I am looking forward to reciting is that "Its done!"

No need to prime the raw water pump?

The PO showed me the bucket trick and it is pretty impressive how fast she will drink 5 gallons. The only rubber hose on my 73 is in the bilge. A fake a lake would work bottomside but the bucket is free and works.

A couple drops of dish soap is all you need. Do use the bucket trick the first time around.

Keegan - Stay focused & you will make your goal - stick with your checklist so you don't forget something, like putting the plug in before you launch - just saw some one do that last weekend!

Great job, your kids are going to love that boat.

Things are looking up! The engine is tuned and running great. The mechanic ate the parts and extra work so there were no problems there. I am so excited! Now I have to get on the water!

Here is the video of her running like she should.
Running Right

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you CCF and all the members who make it a great place to learn and share knowledge!

hahaha!!!     Great video!   

Only one more test for true happiness!


Cable connector? which one? Marty found them, they are in a post titled,
Thingy or Do-hickey something.

AT

Thanks Gary. Got a firm price from a guy down the street on his 68 Barracuda that has not moved in over 4 years.

I went ahead and ordered new control cable connectors from skidim yesterday and they are supposed to be here tomorrow. Boats Unlimited which is NC's biggest boat dealer does not carry them. (They sell Gayliners and Bastardcrafts) This weekend I will be on the water!

Keegan,
I haven't posted in this thread for awhile but have been following the problems. Just keep up the good work and yes, good luck out on the lake.

TRBenj wrote: Keegan, I just noticed something in the pictures above and cant tell either way... did you install the motor mounts on top of the carpet?

They are not on top of the carpet now, but they were. I tried to put the engine up on top of the plywood floor but it did not work. Could not get the proper angle to align to the prop shaft, but it was real close. The mounts could not adjust that far so I used a plunge router and took the 3/4" ply down a half inch then reglassed where the mounts sit. Minor hiccup . When I made the decision not to notch out the floor for the engine mounts I did not have access to them because they were at the garage still attached to the motor. Thought I could get away with it but live and learn. When I am done I will go through my thread and summarize all my trial and errors and how to avoid the errors.

Thanks Marty. Looking forward to Sunday! That bucket was empty about half way through the video and then I pushed the garden hose up inside the intake for the rest, so it is working but I could probably use new belts.

Praying for no rain!