Winter punch list what are you all doing?

Well I got the tique almost ready for spring already.Drained and filled with antifreeze,stripped the engine down and painted all the brackets and pulleys and such,new gates belts,plugs,wires,t stat.The hoses were showing some age so they got replaced .As for as some mods,I replaced intake with a 2101 Edelbrock,marine HEI,also pulled the oil filter mounting base and plugged the bypass valve,added new oil and two quart filter.So I now have a six quart oil capacity,In my opinion more oil and cleaner oil is always good. I filled with Valvoline Racing oil and set the initial timing @ twelve degrees,I have yet to find out what total timing should be and dont know how much is in it now,guess Ill have to wait till summer and check it then.Think Im going to look at the control cables,the throttle seems ok but forward and reverse seems a bit stiff.I'm currently pulling carpet and seats for the upolstery lady to pick up tomm.So I guess while I wait on her,Ill see about a replacement prop and pull the boat off the trailer to make some repaires.O well sorry for the long post,I figured I would share.I find it interesting to read what others are doing on there down time

My typing sucks sorry to all that notices..

Hi, i've just got almost done for the winterize;
New sparkplug wires, impeller replaced, belts replaced, conservated the cooling, cleaned the knees( flushed, 10 years of rust and dirt), grease in all electrical connection(special grease!), new distributor and cap, spark plugs, oil and filter, fuel filter as well, new thermostat.Maybe more than an ordinary service though...But this is my first Nautique and it is not brand new..
Have also repainted all rust marked details as knees, muffler hoses, pump house, termo house..
Will also replace all raw water hoses ( with blue silicone hoses:) ) Then it just are the cleaning left of the gelcoat.
( in Sweden there is a product called Shark Bite which is extremly easy to use to clean the hull, do not know if it is available in US, but it is just to spray on and after 10 minutes clean with fresh water, no more hard work! )
Next winter I think I will only change oil and filter as well as conservation of the cooling system :)

I have learned to plug that valve because they will get brittle and break up,this leads to pieces of it running through the oiling system.The valve is meant to open on cold startup to relieve the stress on a pretty much dry dist gear (cold oil is hard to pump and the dist gear drives it) and the oil filter of high pressures related to cold oil. If you plug this bypass it will ensure 100% oil filtration,you do however have to run a quality filter that will withstand the added pressure.I have yet to see any increased wear in the dist drive gear,and i have done this to many chevy engines.I remind you that my boat is powered by chevy,dont know if this is a good solution for the ford motors.

I got mine in the garage. That is a small miracle since my door is 96" and my trailer is 94"! I took the motor box and back seat out since the garage has a low ceiling. I plan to remove the front seat and fuel tank to investigate a hard spot in my steering. I also have to remove the intake to repair an oil leak at the rear. It's a new motor so some normal maintenance close to spring and she'll be ready to rock!

This winter for me I've decided. New wood from port to starboard in the front seating area then new lower carpet. Also I'm going to order a new full graphic set and wet sand/buff the hull and replace the pin stripes. New rope in the rub rail if I can find something that will work. I may take my dash apart to have our graphics guy make a over lay to bring it back to pretty again.

As far as winterization goes they are calling for almost 80 3 days out of this coming week so I think I'll hold off for one more ;).

well started last week with new exhaust manifolds and risers, but then decided while I was doing those I should do the valve cover gaskets, then since I have those off, why not a new intake manifold.... at some point the wifey is bound to notice the pile of parts and cut me off. I'm curious to see if I can get to a cam before she catches me lol...

That should get me through the end of the next. Plan on redoin the interior in March. New upholstery and carpeting.

I'm with you on that one Pete!!