1973 Correct Craft Skier

Welcome to CCF. All of your questions can be answered here, its a knowledgeable group. If you get more specific on your questions, folks can give you answers. I'll take a crack at a couple.

Owners manual. You don't mentions which engine you have. There are a number of manuals in the reference section (see blue banner at top of page) Maybe yours is there. If not, winterizing is pretty generic. and we can guide you through it. There are no less than a jillion threads in here about winterizing but the gist is:

run boat, spray fogger in carb till it quits
some folks take out all plugs and spray oil in each cylinder (probably not necessary)
drain water out of all drains on block - easy to find, just look closely for them
close drains, take hose off of top block somewhere near thermostat and pour a couple gallons of "environmentally friendly" antifreeze in.
maybe some stabil in the gas tank. Some say fill the gas tank up to minimize condensation build up in the tank

I will say it for Pete, please post some pictures of your skier and tell us that story how you ended up with the boat. Skiers are cool boats.


Repairs to instruments. some guys here are handy and can do it themselves. Others can provide you with some shops that can do it. Or you can hunt down original replacements.

Bilge pump and blower in a 73. Not sure when that started. My 76 has both. The sixties boats had neither. If it doesn't have a blower, highly recommend opening dog house prior to each start. If it doesn't have a bilge pump one is advised. If you leave the boat in the water, you would want to install one including the discharge tubing to a thru hull and an automatic float switch. If you don't leave it in the water, do what my dad did to our 66. Mount the pump in the bilge, and just hang the discharge tube over the side to bail it out.

In addition to block drains, don't forget about exh manifolds and the circ pump inlet (this is another low spot).

'73 would (and should) have had a blower and bilge. There are switches for both on the dash, '73 would have even marked them. Never seen a 68+ boat that didnt have them, Larry... '66 may have been a different story.

Pics and more info would help us!

Welcome John! Ditto on the pictures.

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Thanks for your patience. I have been quit busy and took today off to catch up. Attached are some photos. What else would be helpful? Thank you so much so far! This is a great group!

Peace,
John

wwiison wrote: Thanks for your patience. I have been quit busy and took today off to catch up. Attached are some photos. What else would be helpful? Thank you so much so far! This is a great group! Peace, John

Gauges & switches:








Throttle - now very loose and needs to be secured

I think #5 is the transmission cooler, but I'm a bit disoriented by the picture. If so, it needs to be drained. Many people remove a water hose to drain or blow it out since the fitting at the bottom can be difficult to deal with. I think you've got the rest. Instead of removing hoses and putting antifreeze in a few spots, you could suck 4-5 gallons through the entire cooling system.

Wouldn't '73 have a round windshield?

TRBenj and others - you have my gratitude! I am sooooo delighted and not more excited than ever about the boat.

Previous owner's title had 1973 on it for those who asked. I don't know how else to tell the mfg year at this point.

TRBenj wrote: Ugh, don't suck in antifreeze.

How come?

John,
Welcome to CCfan.

I'd like to add a comment about draining the engine for winterizing. Tim mentioned probing the drain holes to make sure there isn't any sediment that would plug the hole but your Palmer has radiator style drain cocks. These can't be probed since the valve stem isn't removable plus they are very restrictive. I highly recommend removing them and replacing them with ether brass pipe plugs or a better removable stem drain cock like these:



Many including myself use them and find them very useful. With the non removable stem drains, some have been fooled thinking there isn't any water but since the drain is plugged, there actually is remaining water. Then come spring time there are big surprises!!

Tim also mentioned the pour in method for adding RV antifreeze. I'm also a big proponent using the pour in. It's simple very effective and doesn't require the engine running. I don't really know how the pump through method has become popular since it is more complicated, takes more time, more antifreeze and equipment.

Chris, in fairness I do use additional equipment with the suck method.



For me, it's just so simple and fast and thorough that I like it. Yes, I use 5 gallons which is more than just spot pouring. I do pull the raw water strainer after and empty and rinse so the plastic isn't sitting in antifreeze all winter.

Riley wrote: What's the purpose of using anti freeze?

Corrosion resistance.

You need a new watch quinner. Suck up is for suckers!

I'll suck on a beer while you fiddle with your hose.