1999 Longhorn Nautique Restoration

Here are some of the repairs that need to be made.

As a TX Tech grad that came from a family of nothing but UT grads I'm conflicted about the colors/decals but glad to see you keeping it alive.

Sounds like you have a good plan. i was JUST in your spot about 3 years ago. Total restore of my 93 S.N. It was definitely a labor of love, but worth it in the end. I am still doing minor things yet today, but nothing like the job of restoring gel coat, teak deck, interior, new heavier ground wires, etc etc.

Good luck

Wow, cool boat DH!   Yes, she's a bit rough now but sounds like she's in good hands that will breath life and youth back into her     Looking forward to reading more and following your progress and Yes, more pictures as things continue. Sure looks like a lot of fun

Here's a quote from you in another thread

DHMcFadin wrote: This winter I will need to drain and fully clean the tank,.

Maybe you should make believe it's winter right now

Why don't you blame it on obviously lousy maintenance/storage practices instead of ethanol?

Well now, if you'd led in with that bit of information/history originally it would have been good.

Sorry to hear about Dad, hope everything is good.

You have your opinion of gas with ethanol, I have mine, we'll leave it at that

If you read the different articles in the link below, you can probably come up with any answer you want

link

I like to think that the ethanol absorbs any water in the fuel and the engine burns it harmlessly up to a certain point. Too much water in the fuel and phase separation occurs when the ethanol can't absorb all the water.

Being kinda old, I can remember having all the same problems with straight gas, like you get water in the fuel from wherever (condensation, bad batch of gas, the kid next door dumped some in your tank etc) and with no ethanol to absorb it funny things happen like rust in fuel lines, the water settles since it doesn't mix with straight gas and things run like crap.

Living up where it gets cold in the winter, I used gas line anti freeze (AKA methanol or ethanol) to mix with any water instead of the water freezing in all the wrong places like the tank suction, fuel lines etc.

I haven't bought any gas line antifreeze in so many years I can't remember.

And I haven't really had any gas issues that I can remember that could be attributed to ethanol

All just my experiences and opinions other people's might (will) be different

PS   Glad you're excited to be here on CCF

Awesome info. I honestly just thought ethanol was the problem lol. Hopefully I won’t run into these issues in the future now that I am caring for the boat!

I like the steering wheel and throttle knob. Did you order the wheel from Nautique Parts? Mine looks like a mouse was eating it for a few years so it's on my list of replacement items.

Treybizttu wrote: I like the steering wheel and throttle knob. Did you order the wheel from Nautique Parts? Mine looks like a mouse was eating it for a few years so it's on my list of replacement items.

Yup, ordered everything from Nautique Parts. Direct bolt on but there is a larger gap between the rubber boot and steering wheel base so I’m trying to figure out what to do there. Might need a new tilt assembly.

flyweed wrote: be sure and use the CCF discount code when you order parts from Nautique Parts..you'll save yourself some money!

I have been using PND. What is is the code for CCF?

Another quick update:

I had been chasing a pretty significant vibration. I had replaced the prop, checked the run-out on the prop shaft, and verified I could spin the shift by hand with no binding. Everything checked out. I searched a little on this site and read about the strut bearing causing vibration. I pulled the prop again and started inspecting. I realized I could move the shaft a 1/16th of an inch up, down, left, right inside the strut. Grabbed my pick and found out the current strut bearing is broken into pieces...

I searched some more on this site for solutions. To remove the oem shaft it was either:
1. pull the engine
2. battle getting the coupling off the single taper shaft and slide it out the bottom
3. cut out the old shaft and upgrade to an ARE double taper shaft.

I chose option three because I want this boat to look and perform better than it did when it rolled out of the Correct Craft factory. So I have ordered more parts from discount inboard marine. Since I will have it all apart and have to pull the rudder, I am going to give the hull a nice bath, new steering cable and new bilge lines. I've only pulled the fuel tank and ballast tanks so far but man it is nasty under there. I've also found three different sets of carpet lol. The upholstery in this boat has been done three times. Once at the factory and twice aftermarket. I am fairly certain the carpet under the ballast tank is original as it doesn't look like those have ever been removed and there is cut line just in front of where the ballast tanks end. Kinda funny!!!

8122pbrainard wrote: DHMcFadin wrote: Another quick update: I searched a little on this site and read about the strut bearing causing vibration. I pulled the prop again and started inspecting. I realized I could move the shaft a 1/16th of an inch up, down, left, right inside the strut. Grabbed my pick and found out the current strut bearing is broken into pieces... The plastic type cutlass "bushings"?

It's a brass bearing to best of my knowledge. Heres a pic inside the hub of the strut. There are chunks missing. That sliver on the right hand side is a piece of brass that has started sheering off.

KENO wrote: What you have is a rubber bearing encased in a brass shell. Since you're removing the shaft, now's the time to replace it since you have that much movement and pieces coming off. If you search here on CCF for Cutlass or Cutless bearing you'll find a lot of info Or click on the link below link

Thanks for the insight Keno! And absolutely! The whole reason I needed to remove the shaft was to replace it. Thank you for the link. I will check it out!