1981 SKi Nautique Restoration

We got the carpet installed last weekend and finished some odds and ends on Friday night. I still need to install the piece that the pylon goes through but besides that the carpet work is complete.

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Today we did some engine work, installed a new cutlass bearing and reinstalled the strut.   This is a picture of the alignment, I think it came out pretty good.

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Now I have to get the new coupling on the shaft.   Do you guys think a gas grill will work to bring the coupling up to temp or is an oven a better option?   Also am I shooting for a temp of 400 degrees or 500 degrees?   I would have went with an double taper shaft but the shaft we had was straight so I thought I should just use it.   I am not looking forward to this step of the process.

Wisky Badger wrote: Today we did some engine work, installed a new cutlass bearing and reinstalled the strut.   This is a picture of the alignment, I think it came out pretty good. Now I have to get the new coupling on the shaft.   Do you guys think a gas grill will work to bring the coupling up to temp or is an oven a better option?   Also am I shooting for a temp of 400 degrees or 500 degrees?   I would have went with an double taper shaft but the shaft we had was straight so I thought I should just use it.   I am not looking forward to this step of the process.

Jacob,
Yes, it's looking fantastic. Great job.

The gas grill will do it just make sure the coupling is in it long enough. I'd say 30 to 45 minutes on high. Don't put the coupling directly over a flame. Since you have the engine out, you will have the luxury of getting the coupling on the shaft outside the boat.

It has been awhile since my last update so I will post a quick update.   

We have the engine back in the boat and where able to get it all aligned.   We test ran it on trailer using a bucket of water and it ran great after waking her up from a 21 month siesta.



Last Saturday we transferred the boat to a Supra trailer while the Correct Craft trailer is getting sandblasted and painted.   Hopefully the trailer will be ready by the end of the week.

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The goal is still to have the boat and trailer ready for Green Lake on the 13th and 14th.   There is not a lot left to do besides install the new windshield, install the seats and take it for a shakedown run but I am running short on time with other things going on. I will post some better overview pictures once she gets back on the correct craft trailer and her seats are installed.

Here are a few more pictures of the final product.   I still have a few more minor things to accomplish as projects like this are probably never complete.

Fall of 2016

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Summer of 2018

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The transom decals are obviously not original but I think they look pretty good and it was a lot easier to do it this way vs. taping off the old graphic during the painting process.

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Nice work!

Where did you get your speedo gauges

Outstanding work, that looks amazing! Love seeing the kid in the passenger seat, getting to enjoy your hard work.

Great thread and nice to see happy ending!

Brian, does your boat currently have a back seat or at least the back rest to the back seat?

Having that backseat storage is really a nice edition. Here is another variation on the rear seat. I wanted a removable middle cushion to keep skiers (NO TUBERS) from stepping on the middle seat. I designed mine after the mid 90's SN rear seat.

http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16539

Thanks Pete! I was going to go back and try to remeber how to fix that, but you beat me to it. Been a while since I posted a link and as soon as I saw it didn't auto hyperlink I thought of you! :)

Wisky Badger wrote: I wish I would have saw that seat mod, nice work.     I can get you the dimensions that I used but I would suggest using them as a guide to make custom fit it for your boat.    My boat didn’t have the rear back rest so I had to fabricate that also. I think the key to making the back seat look right is getting the height correct and getting the correct slope on the rear seat base.   To do that I used the observer seat brackets as a template and a Johnson T Bevel to transfer the angles.

That's my plan I was sure I'd have to tweak it a bit for my application but a baseline to start with will be a huge help.