Restore or Replace?

To 79 natique,

My name is Scott, I live in Muncie IN.

I bought the Mustang from the original owner in 1991. The boat had 200 hours on it at the time I purchased it and I put about 200 or 300 hours on it during the time I owned it....the full story is below:

The boat has a 198 hp 305 Chevy engine with a velvet drive transmission.

The interior / carpet are original and have never been touched, it is mint except there are a few buttons missing from the seats that I kept and needed to be re-installed....the interior of the boat is 100% original including all gages and controls.

The exterior of the boat had new gel-coat and new painted on graphics applied at Mid-west correct craft in the mid to late 80's (shortly before I bought the boat). As received I had one CC script that was broken .....the previous owner had hit a pier and never replaced it....the emblem had saved the gel coat from taking a hit.....I replaced both scripts the week I bought the boat just to make the entire package look new again.

The trailer was white when I purchased the boat with primer fenders and some surface rust.

In 1995 I stripped all of the hardware and bunks off of the trailer and took the trailer to a local sand blasting company called B&B sandblasting and had the trailer sandblasted, epoxy primered and painted using an electrostatic paint process that causes the paint to wrap around all of the unusual features of the trailer. This process cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 300.00. I had them use 1995 Chevy Silverado Red on the trailer called fire red or bright red...I can't remember exactly. After painting I pin striped the trailer myself, installed new original CC trailer decals from Mid-west CC and installed new lights, winch, carpet on the bunks etc. I was really happy with the way it turned out.

I sold the boat in July of 2003 to a friend for $6,800.00 because my family had outgrown the boat and I replaced it with a 1989 ski supreme open bow that is a good boat and will serve our needs until I can find a sport natique that I can afford. I talked to my local CC dealer / friend and he said that if I could not afford a Sport that this 1989 Ski Supreme Open Bow would be his runner up as a recommendation. It has served us well and is every bit as nice as the CC was as far as condition, but I will say that selling the mustang was the hardest thing I have ever had to part with and I still have days that I regret selling it because I know I will never find another that is in the condition this boat was.....it turned heads everywhere it went.....we typically do our boating on lake Cumberland in Ky....we have a house boat there.

I have pictures of the Mustang and the Ski Supureme if you are interested. I would attach them here but I am not sure how.

In my previous e-mail the work I listed by Harmon was all conducted on boats that were owned by my grandfather and a friend....I was very impressed with the fiberglass work of Harmon boats and they were very reasonable in price.

Brian,

If you live in Indiana or anywhere near by and you want fiberglass work / structural work done I would highly recommend Harmon Boats. Harmon is a CC certified repair location and is likely who Midwest CC will outsource your boat to, so you might as well go direct and save the mark up on their services. I recently had a face lift and new engine mount stringers done on a boat by Harmon Boats and you can not tell it from new, I also have a friend who had a complete face lift done on their natique, their work was fantastic. The owner's name is Steve Scott and you can contact him at 765-432-1779. If you need interior work completed on this boat I would highly recommend Ron Parker of Alexandria, IN 765-724-9444. Ron recenly re-done the interior of a natique for a friend, he made his own skins at 1/2 the price of the CC cut skins and they look great or you could order your skins from Mid-West and then pay Ron to install them.... Harmon boats do have a website - www.harmonboats.com

Good luck with your project.

Brian wrote: As far as junking the boat, I don't want to cause any issues with Don and his wife so I will just have to keep it and fix it! Don, hope you don't mind me jumping in on a little fun here.

Brian,

Over the last 25 years, I have given that woman more grief and heartache than any wife should have to endure. For some reason she still lets me live with her and even laughs at my jokes. So I don't really think that taking that piece of junk off your hands would cause any undue strain on this end.

Offers still there, I can be in Naperville in about 3 hours!

Seriously, I agree with '79, you made the right choice, "keep'em on the water".

Don

Another (soon to be) restored classic to add to the site.

Thanks Brian on deciding to put the time and money to restore your boat. There are alot of us that have done the same and if you run into problems or need advice, we're all full of it in more ways than one.

Hell Don do you really think the wife is going to let you take time out from waxing and polishing her's to let you work on yours?

Brian where is the floor soft? if it is only a small section like around the ski pylon then you might be able to do it your self with a little advice from everyone here. As far as the interior is concerned you can get the skins and foam from Mid-west C.C. The paint is a whole different game unlees your a painter. You'll have a much bigger smile when everyone comes looking and you can say you did it your self. It's really not that hard to do, all you need is to take your time and not get in a hurry.

Brian,

Don't know where you are located, but if reasonably close, I would suggest going over to Midwest CC to see what they have done.

Last time I was there, I talked to their shop guy (Jeff?) about getting some things done on the wife's boat. He intimated that they will do the mechanical stuff, but sub out things like stringer and fiberglass repair work.

One of the folks they use is Angola Fiberglass Works. The owner's name is Brad, 260/667-7931. They are about 15 minutes from Midwest. I have not knowingly seen any of his work, but have dealt with him through work and church and can vouch for his integrity. He will be doing some gelcoat work on ours this winter. Midwest also mentioned a company in Indy they deal with but I wasn't interested in going that far so I didn't pay attention.

Personally, I think you are making the right choice to keep the boat. BUT if for some reason you decide to junk it, I'll be in line with Ken.

Don

Thanks for the responses. Ken you had me scared with the first line!

I have owned the boat for 5 years after owning several boats including new ones and larger ones. This has by far been my favorite boat, I love the style and the charm of an older Correct Craft. Sounds like I have made up my mind.

Now, the next question. Who do I have do the work? Any experiences with Midwest Correct Craft in Indiana? I have never been there but order several parts and talked about various stages of the restoration project. I have seen some pictures of there work, looks good on paper. Anyone out there with a finished product?

Brian,

Very subjective question. How do you feel about the boat? My wife would part with me before her '78 SN, some would say that would be a smart move regardless. Sure, we have updated the interior color scheme, installed new gauges (but kept those big old Airguides!) and a CD player. The gelcoat has the typical hairline cracks that will get addressed this fall; but the motor and gear are strong with normal maintenance.

Seriously, if you like the older style boat with their unique issues, keep it, fix it and use it as it was designed. While I have not had to do any stringer or floor work, from what I have read here, it is mostly time consuming and not all that hard. If you are looking for an excuse to get a newer boat go that road.

The parts and knowledge are out there to keep these older boats on the water a very long time. Your choice.