What an adventure! 75 Ski Nautique.

So as many of you saw from the "Interesting Craigslist Finds" threads, a 75 Ski Nautique popped up for $2500 in Polk City Fl. I called, and a nice older gent named Dave Bayhon answered the phone. We talked a bit, and arranged to meet at his place.
Why is it that many times when you go to buy ski boats, you feel like you are visiting a relative? As we started talking, standing next to the boat, it was like the boat became a side issue. The more I talked to the man, the more I wanted to hear, and the boat became secondary.
David skied for the Tommy Bartlett show in the early 60's. I actually had to drag the info out of him, but as I told him about the progress of my two boys, he would talk with expertise about so many different types of skiing, that his story partially came out. We ended up going in his beautiful lake house, and his wife, Carolyn, pulled out a DVD that was converted from VHS that was converted from film, that was a TV special on the 1962 Worlds Fair in Seattle, where they built a circular ski river around the inside of a football stadium. While all the "acts" (Ballerina, Jumping, Tricks etc) were covered by the TV show, it was primarily built around "Ollie the Clown", who showcased all of it, and Dave was Ollie. I was pretty blown away by the skill that Dave had. Dave and Carolyn's son has a better copy of the video, and I am hoping that I can help them get it on youtube so I can post it here.
Anyhow, Dave wanted to show my youngest, Patrick, his skilocker, and lo and behold here was all kinds of collectible but well used equipment, including a set of well used EP jumpers. I started laughing because of how hard it is to find used jumpers for the ski team, and Dave immediately called his son for permission, and he threw them in the deal. Oh, and did I mention he also had a single Connelly jumper and 2 boots that he also threw into the deal? (To make a Slalom jumper for the team.)
Sooooo the boat has 606 hours on it, Davids son did the floor and stringer work. On that narrow boat, the floor to the sides of the engine bearing stringers must have gotten soft, because there was evidence of repairs there, but the main stringers were original and passed the "turn the engine mount lag bolt test" with no problem and also passed the "rap it with a mallet test" for sound. For $2500, I am not going to do a forensic autopsy on the boat. The upholstery is in great shape for the age, but I do not expect it to stay that way, because kids will be climbing all over it, and due to its age, it will probably crack. Neither speedo works because the sending units broke where the rubber tube fits on, so I have two sending units on order.
Dave bought the boat in 1992 (that's 24 years ago) and he bought it off a fresh water lake from the original owner. It is a 351 W. Who marinized that motor in 1975? The OO had just replaced the risers, and he got a good deal on this type:
risers
The only problem was when you lowered the engine cover, the risers hit the side of the cover, so the OO had made up a 2" wedge or lip under the engine cover to lift the cover so that the risers would stay clear. Dave had no problem with that, and never saw a need to change it. Would these fix that problem?
3" Risers

Another thing was the rope guard on the back of the boat. Dave had the bar but not the brackets. The bar is the same as in this post:
Rope Guard
From the look of that guard, it does not seem substantial enough to be used as a hand or grab rail. I sent a PM to Frank about it, but was that rope guard strong enough to be used by a skier to pull into the boat? The one I got with the boat seemed like really thin aluminum.

The next issue is no blower system. anyone have a schematic of how that works? I will need one of those. There is a ding in the prop, and a tracking fin is bent. Also the wooden throttle knob falls off.

The oil and t fluid appeared clean, and no water in the oil. The water test went fine with no problems shifting, backing, and it ran fine at full throttle. It did not overheat, and the risers did not appear to leak, even though there was evidence of past leakage. The passenger side riser was comfortable to touch when warmed up and the drivers side was a bit hotter. The bilge area was pretty clean with no evidence of oil leaking. It did not appear that the rudder packing was leaking and I forgot to check the drive shaft packing.

The trailer had good tires, and is a Custom Hauler. It looks a bit funny, but it is all "C" iron and is pretty beefy and surprisingly easy to trailer.

The whole idea of this boat is to get the kids on the club some cheap practice. I needed to stop putting hours on my PAN. I was also able to slip another boat under the wife's radar screen using the old "Noble Cause" dodge. You guys know what I'm talking about!
For Adam, I will post pics soon.
Tom

Cool story!!

The riser in question:


The semi solution to the wrong risers:






Quick fix for rope guard: (Kids need to ski TODAY!)





The panel:


The jumpers in "Patrick's Workshop":




Stringers:


Let me know what you guys think about the above problems!!!
Tom

seacamper wrote: The riser in question: Let me know what you guys think about the above problems!!! Tom

Get rid of the Osco manifolds. See if you can find a set of original logs. A 2x4 under the dog house isn't a solution.

Sure it is. Pete, you'd be surprised by the amount of members here with shimmed up motorboxes. But, logs or even PCM pyramid manifolds and risers aught to let the motorbox come all the way down.

That rope clearance bar is gross. Take everything off, then you have nothing to clear!

Blower system is entirely up to you. Whatever works. Try to avoid drilling excess holes to mount the fan.

A shift knob isn't hard to find, but hasbeenskier or BuffaloBFN might have some really nice ones left.

jackiewdeen (Adam's dad) is the original owner of a really nice 75 Ski Nautique. Lean on him for further details.

What a deal on the jumpers! Are the EPs 65"?

Hollywood wrote: Sure it is. Pete, you'd be surprised by the amount of members here with shimmed up motorboxes. But, logs or even PCM pyramid manifolds and risers aught to let the motorbox come all the way down. That rope clearance bar is gross. Take everything off, then you have nothing to clear! Blower system is entirely up to you. Whatever works. Try to avoid drilling excess holes to mount the fan. A shift knob isn't hard to find, but hasbeenskier or BuffaloBFN might have some really nice ones left. jackiewdeen (Adam's dad) is the original owner of a really nice 75 Ski Nautique. Lean on him for further details. What a deal on the jumpers! Are the EPs 65"?

The EPs are 68's and the Connolly is 72. When you say take everything off, do you mean the vent cowls are not needed? Will that leave big holes above the gas tank? Also, you say the manifold/risers that were on my 89 SN would allow the engine cover to close?

Jesus Pete you're assuming the PO did that. I'm actually thinking Tom slapped it on just to go ski without breaking stuff on the deck. You can get those at any hardware store.

When Correct Craft started using platforms they also changed the rear deck at the same time to eliminate the clearance bar entirely. It was never built to pull on. Inevitably someone will try.

Don't know about 75 but my 74 351 is a thermo electron marinization. Look for an ID plate somewhere If it has one.

seacamper wrote: Another thing was the rope guard on the back of the boat. Dave had the bar but not the brackets. The bar is the same as in this post: Rope Guard From the look of that guard, it does not seem substantial enough to be used as a hand or grab rail. I sent a PM to Frank about it, but was that rope guard strong enough to be used by a skier to pull into the boat? The one I got with the boat seemed like really thin aluminum. Tom

Tom,
You are correct that the original rope guard was simply that and not meant as a grab bar to aid a skier getting in the boat. As I mentioned in the Craigslist thread, the swim platform is not original and added. The original would have been a optional ladder as pictured in the link you provided above.

Since the platform isn't original and if you plan on keeping it, you had better check it's mounting to the transom. The factory wouldn't have done any reinforcing of the transom so hopefully some was added at the time of the install.

While driving up 95 looking at upside down photos on my cell with a shattered screen, the engine looks to be an Escort. No do not grab onto the rope guard as a handle! Rule #3 for my boat. Dad thinks his can be used as an auxiliary tow bar and as a result he has broken both brackets. West Marine has very similar brackets that will work with No modifications. Man I kinda wish I went to look at that boat but what would I do with another G2 Ski Nautique? Good luck and glad it worked out well.

After a second look that is an Escort, true Escort too not PCM's. Good luck with the logs. Buy PCM manifolds and risers, dog box will close correctly and from the looks of it, the exhaust hoses will be long enough.

We just got back from a pretty good first practice. We adjusted the idle down to about 700 rpm and slapped an extra mirror on, and all went pretty well. JB Weld took care of the shift knob, and the bathroom grip rope guard worked surprisingly well. Granted, it looks like dog crap, but it will work till I figure it out.
So this:
Manifold
and this:
Riser

Will fit under the engine cover?

Gary S wrote: That should do it Tom and unless you want to source them separately,skidim's part #0804 will be needed too On a side note I needed new 3/4" plugs for my manifolds so I bought brass ones from McMaster Carr,any problems with using those instead of the iron PCM's Pete?

Gary,
No problem with the brass. In fact, I recommend any plug or petcock in the block to be brass.

Tom,
Before you jump in and order from Skidim, do some searching. Go2marine comes to mind. I'm sure others here will have some suggestions too.

Hollywood wrote: Shift knob should not be hard to find, hasbeenskier or BuffaloBFN might have some really nice ones left.

Discount inboard marine also sells a wooden knob.

Thanks guys. Now, how does the windshield attach to the boat?

holy cow..great story...great lookin' boat. how can you beat the price.

was on the lake today..sweet set-up you have there!


john