ford vs chevy

I have no problem agreeing to disagree with a Crazy person .

JoeinNY wrote: Now on the mustang or in your case skier.. different story those are riding boats at this point, not skiing boats.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, Joe. At least youre breaking 50, though- Ive still got several mph to go before Im there, and I doubt another 50hp would do it. Ive gotta get the nose up, just a little. Rest assured that Ive talked to a few people with experience in this sort of thing (on newer Nautiques specifically), and Im confident I wont do any harm. Its not like Ill be breaking out the angle grinder... at least not yet.

As far as the yellow/red Skier goes, we plan to ski the hell out of it this year. We'll be able to keep it here in MA, where I would never want to do that with my '90. A 16' boat and a single axle trailer is just what this area calls for. The green boat will do some pulling as well, but probably not nearly as much as Nick's.

JoeinNY wrote: I still think your crazy to touch that gelcoat. Crazy, go molest your skier, ski behind your nautique. I mean I am crazy, but not that crazy.

Reid said the same thing, but you know for a fact that you both would be doing the same thing if you were in my shoes!

Ive been told that I would see a nice improvement by removing just 1/32" to 1/16" of gel at the trailing edge, so Ill take a straight edge to it and start slowly with the sandpaper. I dont want to go all the way through, so wetsanding and buffing it back to a shine wont be a problem.

I dont anticipate any real changes to the wake or handling, but we'll find out once its done. I would just like the hull to run at the same attitude as an average 90-96 Ski Nautique. Mine runs noticeably nose-low (Keith mentioned the same thing), which absolutely kills the top end. Taking some of the hook out of the last few feet should help that.

JR_VIC was running 52+ with similar mods as me (minus the cam and dual exhaust, actually). Right now I have a very average top end speed for a stock HO boat. With an extra 50+ hp on tap, something doesnt add up!

Im hoping that its nothing a little sand paper wont fix. I figure I can always add a little hook back in if I need to.

What will sanding/grinding do to the wake/handling characteristics? You ought to offer to do it to Keith's boat first.

The Sportster is pretty good on top end, but its bow digs in above 45 so it tops out about 49. Hole shot is what it does best. It'll knock you out of the observer's seat if you're not paying attention.

TRBenj wrote: The story Ive heard is that Ford stopped building Windsor blocks sometime in the mid 90's and discontinued their marine program. PCM bought up a bunch of 351w longblocks and continued to offer the GT40 through '02. And no Eric, it wasnt because the Chevies are better/stronger/faster. Ive lined up against '02-03 196's of both flavors (310hp GT40 and 330hp Excalibur) and the Ford is the stronger engine.

Ive lined up against '02-03 196's of both flavors (310hp GT40 and 330hp Excalibur) and the Ford is the stronger engine.

Darn Tim, I was really hoping I was going to see that boat of yours on Sebago and test your theory.

It ended when Ford came out with their new line of trucks in 1997 which had all new engines. I don't know why they didn't keep building 5.8's for marine use other than maybe the market for them was mostly ski boats and was too small.

GM stopped building the 5.7 for their trucks, I think in 2001, but still builds them for marine use because they have a huge market for whatever reason.

The story Ive heard is that Ford stopped building Windsor blocks sometime in the mid 90's and discontinued their marine program. PCM bought up a bunch of 351w longblocks and continued to offer the GT40 through '02.

And no Eric, it wasnt because the Chevies are better/stronger/faster. Ive lined up against '02-03 196's of both flavors (310hp GT40 and 330hp Excalibur) and the Ford is the stronger engine.

Can some tell me why did PCM turned from ford to chevy engines? Sebastian