Barn Find 1989 Ski Nautique

If 2 years in a barn because of a broken steering cable (from doing "donuts") qualifies then I just purchased a barn find 89 Ski Nautique. Had my eye on a 1985 Big Block SN, but when I was ready to buy, it was sold . My wife proclaimed in her infinite wisdom that "it was a sign from God that it wasn't meant to be and something better would come along" While searching craigslist I found an ad in Saginaw for a 1989 SN that needed a steering cable for $6,000 and the ad stated they were very flexible on the price . Called them up and went to see it, made an offer and then dragged it home.

Interior is in good shape, no rips or tears, just needs a good scrubbing and some minor repairs (other than the steering cable).

Nice find!!
Looks exactly like mine when I purchased mine...

Customised mine a little (to Pete's dismay )

A good clean and buff will bring out that red nicely

bhectus wrote: Awesome! And w/ a 1.23 to 1 to boot! There's a barn find on CL down here in ORL but it isn't in near the shape that yours is in and the guy is asking too much. Looks like you found a great one, congrats!

Alright, I will admit that I am dumb (but you guys already knew that!)
1.23 to 1 is that the trans ratio? as opposed to 1:1

Smithfamily wrote: Wow, thats nice! How many hours on it? Pics of the motor?

665 hours on it. I will post pictures of the engine later today. I didn't try to start it because it is winterized. Plan on squirting some oil in the cylinders, turning it over, doing a compression check and then tune it up and change the fluids before attempting to fire it up for the first time (when it gets warmer out- Michigan is cold in March.

wwchevy wrote: bhectus wrote: Awesome! And w/ a 1.23 to 1 to boot! There's a barn find on CL down here in ORL but it isn't in near the shape that yours is in and the guy is asking too much. Looks like you found a great one, congrats! Alright, I will admit that I am dumb (but you guys already knew that!) 1.23 to 1 is that the trans ratio? as opposed to 1:1

Yes sir! '89 was the first year for this in the Ski Nautique and the only year for the 2001 hull.

Looks like it will clean up really nice !!

I'm Confused, in reading the tags on the engine in my 1989 2001 with a 1:23:1 trans, I thought that the R's were telling me that the engine was right rotation and the prop was right rotation.

Thanks Tim I thought my tag had 2 R's I will have to look again.

Great find looks in to be in very good condition just in need of a big clean and polish. Is it Fire Red or Cranberry??

The 89's have lots of advantages over the previous years:-

....Better resin
....Power plus 1.23 trans (improved fuel economy and pulling power)
....Single exhaust with septic tank muffler. Although some consider this a disadvantage. If you are in the boat for long periods of time you will soon appreciate it.
....Engine sits nice and low into bilge with less angle.
....Normal automotive engine rotation.

TRBenj wrote: Cant go wrong with resale red!

Just makes my old Cranberry 89 even more special.

Thanks for the TAG decoder, looks like it is LH engine and RH prop rotation. I've only owned for 24 hours and have already learned alot.

Has anyone experienced this, the engine cover wasn't fully attached to the hinges and the pins were not installed. It looks like the water pump pulley sawed through the engine cover and through the vinyl. I assume this "hole" isn't a factory clearance hole for the pulley?

My '89 has the exact hole ground into the cover as yours.

Engine looks dead on yours with exception to the accel coil, and I have an orange water separator at the port front bilge.

I removed the the muffler, not much louder really. Easier to work on.

I would add a grounding block to the gauges.
I chased a temp proplem that was non existent due to low reading gauges.

Nice boat. 89's are special.

I wonder if it made any noise when the pulley was sawing through??

You can repair that motor box with some epoxy & cloth. For a temp repair, I would clip off some red vinyl from the underside of a seat & glue it in place. Eventually, you are going to need a skin though.