need prop help for ’76 ski tique

hello boys; report from the foam front is EUREAKA. it appears that the bottom 1/2 inch of foam in most areas i've been into so far is wet and as you pry it ot out with the weapon of choice which is the flat pry bar ,you see the water squeezing out of the foam. it's permeated in the foam but doesn't move till it gets squeezed.i'm about 1/3 of the way into it , and will post some photos for your enjoyment. the good news is that the forefathers at cc or someoneafter glassed up the sides of all the wood stringers, and they are in nice condition, however the fir plywood that was under the seat and pylon area is tired. anal me is saving all foam removed for an official weight to deduct from the dump run boat totalof 2050lbs.any body know offhand how many cu ft of foam tobuy to put back in? and how much it wiil weigh? if i unbolt the 4 bolts that hold the pylon in to the deck, will it lift off the skeg pin from below or is there more to it to remove it?going back to the foam mine. moses

got your update pete and thankyou. i'll do the exploratory surgery and get back to you, my homework was never up to par cause i skipped school and went waterskiing.thanks for keeping me on track in this major operation. moses

tubing is for those that want no control and their body beat up. skiing is a great exercise in control especially slalom, cause you think which way you want to go and you go, balance is in your hands. at this point i've removed the equilivent of 14 bushels of foam. i haven't hit the area up front of the last stringer crossbar. the orig. piece of plywood that the air tubes and the black elec. tube pass thru is in very good shape.that cavity towards the front is now empty. i'm working down the sides towards the stern. the areas of stringer that are exposed, i've drilled into and found no problems so far. it appears to be getting drier as i move towards the bow. most of the foam i'm prying out with the flat bar looks like french vanilla ice cream. the only place i'm seeing moisture is in the last 1/4 -1/2 inch that you remove at the hull, and in the area from the front stringer crossbar ahead of the tubes to just behind the motor. it's dry at the bottom further towards the stern of the boat.i would estimate that there are about 10 bushels of foam left to get out. i'll keep diggin and let you know what's up. pictures are coming soon. moses

hello from the foam front boys; had a week layoff due to tendonitus in the right elbow from diggin foam, but i'm back at it again and making good headway. to date i've removed about 3 50 gal. bags of foam and a grand weight total of about 22lbs., also have cut out about 23lbs. of floor and fiberglass decking . it's alot of dry stuff, but the bottom of the foam at the hull is wet. i'm glad i'm getting it out now. the wood is exposed in stringers and small wood parallel to the stringers, and i've poked, drilled, and dug into it to find it in great shape so far. i'm also got the mother load out of the front area, including the dryed old air tubes. i probably have 1or 2 more bags of foam to remove before i will goback and detail each area out to as clean as can be.does the ski pylon unbolt off of the plywood and lift off the skeg below or is there more to it? those air tubes sure were old and funky. update soon. moses