eBay find 2003 196 update

As seen on the Ebay Finds thread I recently bid on and won a Boat Angel Auction for a 2003 Ski Nautique 196 that was in Maryland and advertised as having a locked up motor that likely needed replacement. A couple people here were watching it so there was a request that I follow up on it, so here it is - this boat is now officially in the water and has been skied on.

Off the top of my head rundown…

Boat was 7250 with auction fees, add fuel, food, road side truck repair costs and it ends up being about 8k to get it in my driveway, taxes another 640..
Parts I bought
Used Craigslist Tahoe Engine
New Circ pump
New Impeller for Raw Water pump
New thermostat kit
New upper thermostat housing (lower is on back order so I had to acid dip it, clean up and reuse)
New Alternator
New Starter
New Oil Pan
Trans cooler Bracket
Used Bellhousing (like new)
Used Flywheel (also like new)
New Damper
Top End Gasket Kit
Oil Pan Gasket Kit
Remote Oil Filter Mount and Nipple
Exhaust Manifold Service Kit
Knock Sensor
Fuel injector Service Kit
About a hundred dollars in stainless hardware
Oil Filter/Oil
Transmission Fluid
Paint
RTV
Solvents, rags, etc.
Amazon Sea Deck to cover top of back storage cover and motor box

Parts I had
Used Exhaust Manifolds and elbows
Used Transmission Mounts
New Spark Plugs
New Fuel Control Cell filter kit

Labor – about 88 hours between drive time, cleaning, more cleaning, de rusting, more de rusting, ordering parts, more cleaning, painting, more painting, actual engine removal, old engine cleanup and parts swapping, servicing things like the FCC and the fuel injectors, new engine install, cooling system gremlin trouble shooting, getting distributor position correct without buying a scan tool etc.

Current status, Very nice hull needs buffing but really quite nice, interior average for age with some hokey repairs, gauges all started off working but I have lost the tach and parts of the speedo, perfect pass works but shows an error code and gauge is falling apart. Boat runs very well, has good oil pressure I am not sure if there are any codes as the gauge stopped working but it is quiet and smooth and runs 44-45. Boat drives like it should and seems to be holding it’s fluids. Still needs more interior cleaning, some struts replaced, some speakers replaced, exterior buffing, platform cleaning, pinstripes replaced, and maybe graphics if I can find them and get ambitious. Not changing the cam in the Tahoe engine has maybe cost me a mph on the top end, it was a coin flip on getting a new timing cover, timing set, and swapping out the cam/lifters. If I knew for sure the boat was going to run I might have done it, but really if I went that far it would have opened the door to completely tearing down the long block, measuring, replacing bearings, maybe rings… it’s a can of worms and I was running up against the end of engine painting season here in central New York. As it was without some flooding that shut down my lake/skiing in late August and the SO traveling the last couple weekends this project could have easily have taken me 6 months to be running instead of 6 weeks. I figure I am about 10300 cash into it as a running boat and basket case trailer, would have been another 1k for parts that I had in my basement that probably paid around 300 for used over the years. I have a million pictures but its not realistic for me to post them from the phone…

Nice work for what is now a nice boat.

You’ll be very pleased when skiing behind it. The 196 is way better than the 200, or MasterCraft or Malibu. Handles like a Corvette and tracks like a freight train. The best ski boat ever built!