Nautique Upholstery!!!!
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Boat Maintenance
Forum Discription: Discuss maintenance of your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40128
Printed Date: September-26-2024 at 8:17pm
Topic: Nautique Upholstery!!!!
Posted By: wetskier2000
Subject: Nautique Upholstery!!!!
Date Posted: October-28-2016 at 11:30am
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Not sure if this is general knowledge on the forum or not..... I just installed a ChristinesMarine seat skin on my 1997 SN stern seat... See that yellow forum ad over there to the left, CLICK IT!!!! Fantastic product, advice and assistance at a very fair price... They have the CC factory templates. You pick out your factory colors from the swatches they send and a short while later some beautiful, new upholstery shows up at your door! Installation was fairly easy for me even with NO previous upholstery skills.  ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Replies:
Posted By: Blamey
Date Posted: October-28-2016 at 12:38pm
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Looks great, I need one of those. Hoping to get some skins over the winter if I get a nice bonus this year. My rear seat back is in bad shape and I figure if I replace it I'll also replace the coaming pads and passenger seat back at the same time so thing match up nicely. ------------- 96 Super Sport Previously: 95 Sport Nautique, 1980 Ski Supreme |
Posted By: flyweed
Date Posted: October-28-2016 at 2:55pm
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I am doing the same thing this winter...replacing the stern seat back, like the O.P. and I am also replaced the observer seat bottom and back cushion vinyl as well. These both have a few cuts, and dings out of them in my boat, and new ones, will make my boat look like new again. Now, just gotta wait for December, for my Holiday bonus!!! :) ------------- '93 Ski Nautique NWZ, Air Boom Tower Drink Tonight..for tomorrow We Ride! |
Posted By: Blamey
Date Posted: October-28-2016 at 3:05pm
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Well it just so happens that about 30 mins after my post got the call that I will be getting the first part of my bonus in Monday's paycheck, I have just emailed Christine about putting in an order. Just need to get the okay from the wife. I replaced my bow, stern and observer seat bottoms last year. Used a local place and I don't love how they came out but will probably get a few years of use out of them before replacing. The bow is in pretty bad shape but we don't use in often so I'll wait another year to replace it. Drivers seat and motor box still look pretty good. I'll see how the rest of the boat comes out before deciding if they should be replaced. If they look obviously older then the rest of the boat then I'll replace them sooner rather than later. ------------- 96 Super Sport Previously: 95 Sport Nautique, 1980 Ski Supreme |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: October-28-2016 at 3:27pm
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For those considering upholstery replacement sometime this winter, it might be prudent to get the ball rolling now. The swatches need to be sent, compared and confirmed. Then there is a lead time on completion since they are all made to order. I believe Christine's does not charge your card until the shipment time is nearing. I also purchased the spotter and complete driver's seat backs. I'll report in when I complete those... If I had the option, I may have started with the smaller pieces first. It's not a big deal as the stern seat went so well, but smaller to start might have been easier. ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: Blamey
Date Posted: October-28-2016 at 4:02pm
This is exactly what I told my wife so I could get the order in now. She said to go ahead (she really hates the damaged upholstery more then me)  
I'm buying the Throttle Control and walk through pieces, These are small and should be pretty easy to start with. I'll do these first and see how it all goes. ------------- 96 Super Sport Previously: 95 Sport Nautique, 1980 Ski Supreme |
wetskier2000 wrote:Posted By: sport1999
Date Posted: October-28-2016 at 9:13pm
A little bit of planning never hurt anyone. To the OP, nice work. Having a clean seat back makes all the difference in how a boat looks and feels. |
Posted By: OldSchoolBlue84
Date Posted: October-28-2016 at 10:34pm
Great job! I did my entire upholstery from Christine's about 4 years ago and still looks great! You will be pleased  ------------- Kostas http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=6700&sort=&pagenum=1" rel="nofollow - 1984 Ski Nautique 2001 |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: October-30-2016 at 6:08pm
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All done, piping on and black channel along the bottom re-installed... Looks even better in the boat!! we pulled the boat just an hour ago, got in 2 runs each before pulling it. I'll wait to winterize it, maybe we can ski next weekend, although the leaks in my drysuit make things pretty chilly... Next will be taking off the coaming pads and getting the flake that did them to use the right blue. I told him repeatedly to reuse the blue as I didn't have replacement blue material. I just had tan and off white... Again, Christine's comes to the rescue and sold me the correct blue so I can have dunderhead fix them... He does nice work, but screw ups like this made me look at Christine's and I'm VERY GLAD I did!  ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: prski
Date Posted: October-31-2016 at 1:39pm
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very nice! did you replace the foam too or just the skin? ------------- paul |
Posted By: Hollywood
Date Posted: October-31-2016 at 1:42pm
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Besides the blanket what is different about the second picture? I'm not sure your recommendation of reusing one of the vinyls was practical. Imagine carefully removing the stitching on a pair of jeans and then sewing them back together. You need excess material to pull and align things with, then it gets trimmed off. Without it the process seems infeasible. |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: October-31-2016 at 1:50pm
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Just the skin... S'matter of fact, if you look close you can see a small amount of deflection at the seam above the logo where our knees and thighs lean against it every time we get in or out. But it's fairly minor and not something I'll lose any sleep over. ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: October-31-2016 at 1:53pm
The piping around the entire outer edge is installed and the black channel is actually riveted, not just sitting there.  The blue areas were made smaller than original to accommodate this problem. ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: flyweed
Date Posted: October-31-2016 at 3:30pm
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just ordered my sample swatches from Christine's. I'll be doing my stern back rest, and my entire observer seat. They said, it would be about 90 days until I get them. ------------- '93 Ski Nautique NWZ, Air Boom Tower Drink Tonight..for tomorrow We Ride! |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: November-01-2016 at 11:30am
I had the stern seat done locally using this method and beside the fact it wasn't stock, it came out pretty good. Hence the reason to match it with the recycled blue vinyl on the coaming pads. With any luck he'll correct the problem and we won't have to face it again since any other upholstery going in our boat will come from Orlando. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying... The locally done stern seat was very acceptable, but it just wasn't a Christine's Nautique Skin. I must be doing something right... When we pulled the boat just the other day... "That's a very nice looking boat". "thank you". "Is is new?". "No, it's a 1997". <with 1300 hours> ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: Blamey
Date Posted: February-16-2017 at 2:46pm
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My vinyl arrives from Christine's Marine today. I ended up getting most of the boat vinyl replaced apart from the stern, passenger and bow seat bottoms that I had done last year (not through Christine's which I now regret). They estimated it would take Christine about 10 hours to do a boat so I am scarred to think how long this will take me. It should be a learning experience and I don't mind if it ends up taking a few months to get it all done. Anybody who has done this before got an estimate on hour long it took? ------------- 96 Super Sport Previously: 95 Sport Nautique, 1980 Ski Supreme |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: February-16-2017 at 9:49pm
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I would guess that I took most of the aforementioned 10 hours just to do the stern seat. But, I had never done any upholstery work before... Even number 2 will be much faster... Take lots of pics, take apart (and put together) 1 piece at a time. Read Christine's suggestions on the website a few times. But her pneumatic stapler if you can... ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: OldSchoolBlue84
Date Posted: February-16-2017 at 11:05pm
I have a 84SN2001. Took about a whole weekend with my father & brother in-law. I would say 10-12 hours total. That was for the entire interior including the motor box. That motor box was a real bear! Good luck and take your time. ------------- Kostas http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=6700&sort=&pagenum=1" rel="nofollow - 1984 Ski Nautique 2001 |
Posted By: Blamey
Date Posted: February-17-2017 at 12:30pm
I have the stern seat back and coaming pads out of the boat and at home. I removed them from the boat before shrink wrapping. I'll start with these over the next month and then once it warms up I'll work on the passenger seat back and small parts (walk through and throttle pads). Driver's seat, bow and motor box will come last. I did get the tools and stapler from Christine's. I don't mind doing this in pieces even if it's done over the next year. Stern seat back is in the worst condition and where I want to start and then the coming pads and passenger seat back as these all touch and tie into each other. The original teal vinyl wasn't available anymore and the replacements where more green then the original Vinyl. Since the orignial color wasn't available and I don't love green or teal, I decided to use a little artistic license and went for the blue color that was closest to the original teal in my boat, rather then going for a more green teal. The color I choose is what I would probably get if I was ordering the boat new and I feel is close enough to the exterior stripe color that it won't look out of place. If you look at the pic in my signature you will see that my boat has an unusual coloring as it is mostly a white hull with just a teal accent stripe. I was originally not going to do the Drivers seat and motor box as they are in decent condition but because I have changed the vinyl color, the interior won't match up until I get all the pieces done. That said I am in no rush to get everything changed out and will take my time and get it done properly. I'd like to do this myself as I can know that any vinyl damage can be repaired with a replacement skin for the damaged part. ------------- 96 Super Sport Previously: 95 Sport Nautique, 1980 Ski Supreme |
Posted By: Blamey
Date Posted: February-17-2017 at 12:37pm
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Here are some pics to show the colors. I'll try post some side by sides this weekend to show the color change. Boat in water  Side of boat  Swatches and original vinyl. Colors look closer then they did in real life.  New vinyl  ------------- 96 Super Sport Previously: 95 Sport Nautique, 1980 Ski Supreme |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: February-17-2017 at 12:45pm
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One would be well advised to compare new vinyl color samples to the gelcoat in addition to the old vinyl... both surely have changed color slightly since new... the idea being to match the interior and exterior colors (in their current state) as closely as possible. They may not have been a perfect match originally anyways. Installing upholstery is one of those skills that is not easy to acquire. I have seen many pro jobs that look pretty darn awful. I am fairly handy but am quite certain that my skills would not match my high expectations of how a new interior should look... especially considering how expensive factory skins are. Hopefully you guys have a lot of patience and untapped upholstery skills! |
Posted By: Blamey
Date Posted: February-17-2017 at 3:59pm
Matching to the gelcoat was recommended by Christine's and is probably the way to go when replacing all your vinyl. I didn't because I didn't like the teal options that were available even if they were a better match to my stripe then the blue I chose. It's my first step to the dark side (resto mod). Next comes the tower  and wrap. 
From what I have read, if you take your time and do it methodically even an amateur can get good results. Unfortunately I am not usually that good at either of these things. I do plan to take this one piece at a time. and if I don't do a good job then I will hire a professional. to finish the job and correct my mistakes. ------------- 96 Super Sport Previously: 95 Sport Nautique, 1980 Ski Supreme |
Posted By: Blamey
Date Posted: February-20-2017 at 10:36pm
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So I started on my first piece today. The stern seat back. The foam has a few black spots in it that look like they cod be mold. Has anyone dealt with this before? Can it be cleaned or does the foam need to be replaced? Here is a link with some https://goo.gl/photos/5LfqaPrQyc6HUWdH9" rel="nofollow - pics ------------- 96 Super Sport Previously: 95 Sport Nautique, 1980 Ski Supreme |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: February-21-2017 at 10:30am
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my wife is a huge fan of a little bleach in water to remove black from things like carpet and blind seat areas in the boat. seems to work quite well. The other thing I found on my stern seat was a small missing chunk of foam. It was only a divot about an inch long and 1/8 wide but the missing piece correlated to a tear in the vinyl along the top rearmost edge of the seat back. I just glued in a donor piece., Mind you, our boat gets trailered over 3000 miles a year which flaps that stern seat quite a bit., ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: fgroce
Date Posted: February-21-2017 at 10:40am
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Wow talk about pulling your boat to the lake. That must be a long ride. ------------- FGroce 88 Ski Nautique For 28 years Now 2002 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: February-21-2017 at 11:34am
We trailer from NH to FL and back every year in Feb. ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: 86ER
Date Posted: February-23-2017 at 11:33pm
| Can you give me an idea what Christine's charged for the back seat on your '97? I've been dealing with a seat upholsterer for years on my cars. He guaranteed me that he could reproduce and install the vinyl (with the exception of the "Correct Craft" embroiderie) on my '97 for less than Christine's. |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: February-24-2017 at 12:53am
$399.00 ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: 86ER
Date Posted: February-24-2017 at 11:58am
| Thanks. |
Posted By: flyweed
Date Posted: February-24-2017 at 5:04pm
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I just ordered my stern seat back ($399) and my observer seat bottom ($159) Can't wait to get them Dan ------------- '93 Ski Nautique NWZ, Air Boom Tower Drink Tonight..for tomorrow We Ride! |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: February-26-2017 at 2:43pm
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Do I think that a local shop could make and install the upholstery cheaper than Christine's skins? Possibly, but my experience was that local would be a bit more. And admittedly, we are talking about labor included in the local quote and not in the Christine price. However, I had such quality issues with local that I needed a better plan.. That plan was Nautique Skins. You know they'll be perfect and correct. ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: February-28-2017 at 7:32pm
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I'm restoring a 97 Ski Nautique which was missing the original observers cushion and had a lashed up back seat as it wasn't specced originally. I couldn't find either of these items anywhere so had to have them made. For that reason alone, getting skins from Chrsitines wasn't going to work since they're made for the original seats and our new ones will obviously be slightly different. We ended up finding an upholsterer (UK) who built a new back seat, observers cushion and reupholstered teh entire boat. UK prices probably aren't comparable to the USA but I don't think there is much doubt that a pro upholstery shop will do a better install job an the average amateur who hasn't done it before (as I haven't). Ours went from this:    To this:    Have got plenty more work to do mind you. Carpet can be saved but currently have engine in bits and hull needs a full wet sand. I think the interior makes a huge visual difference though. |
Posted By: fgroce
Date Posted: February-28-2017 at 10:03pm
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Looks good, doing the same to mine. ------------- FGroce 88 Ski Nautique For 28 years Now 2002 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: March-02-2017 at 1:13pm
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Looks awesome.. Just FYI: My stock 1997 stern seat has the antelope carpet on that lower section between the seat bottoms and the floor. ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: March-02-2017 at 1:16pm
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..... like your spotter's seat.... ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: March-02-2017 at 5:56pm
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I gave the guy lots of pictures of 97 and 98 examples and asked him to 'get as close as he can'. The back seat and spotters seat aren't as 'curvy' as the original design but I quite like what he's done. Matching carpet would have been next to impossible as the original carpet has faded a bit but I think will clean up pretty well. I attacked the removable rear floor panel with Simple Green and the jetwash and it's looking much better. Engine top end rebuild is coming together well although 1 of the exhaust manifolds has broken. It's one of the ones with 'PCM Marine Engines' cast into the side in Yellow. As far as I know these are unobtainable so looks like I'll need to replace both with the newer version with stickers on the sides. Another $400 to add to the growing bill. I'm pretty new to Nautiques so if anyone has any tips on the items below I'd be extremely grateful! Where does the blower mount? It was rattling around the bilge unconnected and I can't figure out where it goes! I can get hold of Zephyr and Neutral gelcoats ok but I also need a tiny amount of Green which is only available in 1 Gallon quantities. Has anyone got some of this in their garage or suggest any solutions for matching such a small quantity? Here's the limit of green required:   
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Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: March-02-2017 at 6:19pm
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No idea on the gel coat.... Those are come scratches! On the manifolds, I needed a replacement skeg and actually found one off a boat being parted out much to my surprise. Maybe you could get lucky? I'm in the NH if I could be of assistance with shipping or checking something out locally. The blower is mounted to the starboard stringer about the middle of the engine. I'll get a pic. ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: March-02-2017 at 6:57pm
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That's very kind thanks. I'm frequently in LA and San Francisco and sometimes NY or Miami but if something comes up further north I may give you a shout. The scratches in the green gelocat at the nose should hopefully sand out but the rear corners clearly won't. Someone is guilty of some pretty careless driving! Most other hull scratches are pretty superficial except for one rather nasty spider crack which I'm minded not to touch. It's the size of an outstretched hand and I'd need to grind out the whole section. I'm sure I'd just make it worse. I'm probably lucky just to have the one spider crack . 
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Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: March-03-2017 at 7:23am
Calum, Have you looked into repairing the manifold? Where is it broken? External cracks can be brazed and some have even had good luck with epoxy. Internal cracks can also be repaired but they get more complicated. A section of the outer wall is removed to gain access to the inner wall repair and then the outer wall is brazed or welded back up. On the green gel, you may consider getting one of the gel repair kits that come with the tinting colors. The tricky part is matching the color. I find that before adding the hardener, adding the color is very small amounts until you get the color needed works best. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: March-03-2017 at 11:07am
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That's a big spider... It's truly refreshing to see someone taking the time to put a well-worn Nautique back in service. Here's the pic.  ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: March-03-2017 at 5:45pm
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Hi, Yes, I looked at repairing the manifold by wading through all the advice on this forum and beyond but there are 2 issues. First, the damage is a little more than a crack that can be epoxied (sp?) or welded!! (see photos below and also check out the state of one of the few better bolts that came out intact) Second, advice seems to be that the manifolds should be replaced every 10 years or so. I can't find any evidence that these have been replaced since the boat was built in 97 so perhaps they should be replaced in any case. The risers are actually pretty good so I'm leaving them. It's quite a fun project but since it's a high hours engine (1800), we decided to do a top end rebuild at the very least. The good news is that having torn it down, it turns out to show virtually no wear at all. Bores, valve seals, valves, rockers, rings all seem great so it's really just a clean, valve grind and rebuild with fresh seals, gaskets, bolts etc. It was a ski school boat in England for most of its life (hence the missing back seat) so I suspect that it has done a lot of idle/slow speed time but also been well maintained. The top end of the engine is so good that we thought it had already been done but the nightmare in removing the risers and manifolds suggests it hasn't been taken apart before. Carb was a mess but that has come up beautifully with a rebuild kit and some hours of my Dad's expertise. Everything is a bit harder given that we bought it in Scotland then brought it over to France where we live. Fortunately I'm in the US all the time which makes sourcing parts much easier and a lot cheaper than trying to buy them in Europe. We got the boat for the equivalent of $2900 and that was with an almost brand new transmission (less than 50 hours on it) with a supplied bill of $2700. Seems reasonably good value to me! I'm doing a blog on the restoration if anyone is interested. Wetskier; thanks for the photo - very helpful! 8122 - Yes, I think I'll have a go with tinting gelcoat. Has to be worth a shot unless I find someone who has some "grreen" gelcoat. A chap over on the planetnatutique site did a frankly stunning resto on a similar boat with amazing results. (I found it quite inspiring to be honest). I swapped a couple of emails with him re gelcoat but nothing came of it. I have no idea how many boats with this colour scheme exist so I may be hoping for too much. Tinting may be the answer but I don't mind admitting to being a novice when it comes to gelcoat mixing!   
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Posted By: desertskier
Date Posted: March-04-2017 at 7:38pm
| I just started to replace the observer seat bottom skin on my 92. The foam looks pretty tired. Does anyone know what thickness the foam started out life as, 3" or 4"? Is the front piece the same thickness as the back piece? |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: March-04-2017 at 8:45pm
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Calum, If you want, I suggest taking the broken manifold to another welder. I feel it's very repairable. It looks like a clean break and no erosion. After the repair, it would need to have a skim cut across the flange faces. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: March-05-2017 at 7:13pm
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Thanks for the advice; I didn't think it would be an easy fix. Off to a machine shop to investigate a repair! Will let you know how it goes. Can these manifolds last as long as this? They're 20 years old but look pretty good internally despite 1800 hours engine use. There was an existing crack on the sheared piece (the darker section of the sheared surface) so was probably just waiting to go . I like the sand cast manifolds though so am keen to save them if possible. Incidentally, wetskier, where does the blower get wired in? I can now see where it mounts thanks but there are short unconnected wires on the blower unit and I can't figure out where they connect? Thanks, Calum |
Posted By: wetskier2000
Date Posted: March-06-2017 at 11:27am
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I suspect the wires (or at least 1 side) goes directly to the Blower Breaker/switch on the dash. I'll take a look and verify that.. ------------- Current: 1997 Nautique Previous: 1987 Nautique 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: March-08-2017 at 5:58am
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Well, it turns out that as you suggested, 8122, the manifold is repairable but, in France, the cost of that is almost as much as a new manifold so a new manifold it is! The other one came off fine and seems ok so I'll just replace the one side. It will mean that they don't match since the ones with PCM cast into them aren't available any more but I'm figuring you can only see one side at any time! |
Posted By: shimano9
Date Posted: May-27-2020 at 9:03am
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I have a 2005 206 Air Nautique and am wanted to replace the back seat upholstery. Any one know how to remove the back seat? Are there bolts on the back or does it slide into notches? Can’t seem to figure this simple issue out. Thanks in advance! Jerry ------------- JERRY |
Posted By: gun-driver
Date Posted: May-27-2020 at 12:28pm
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I can’t help you because I don’t know for sure if it’s like my 2000 Sport. I would start a new topic with a specific title, you will probably get a quicker answer. |