New 1989 2001! **Pics**

Franks degreaser then 303 to protect...

Franks

that gallon will last you a very very very long time for $16.00 and nothing I know of beats it...

It is very popular for cleaning vinyl tops on limos etc.

Yea your overthinking it if you have to ask. Some of those guys on Planetnautique actually keep their boats for more than a year

Christines cleaning page

Yes, yes I do. I love hot sauce for the exterior wipe down. Vinyl sauce for the interior does a nice job without making stuff greasy. Certainly not the wonder product hot sauce is but it smells good and it works good enough.

Thanks for the feedback all! Need to get a couple of spots on the seats re-stitched at the upholstery shop. Can you remove the drivers seat cushion without having to remove the entire drivers seat from the floor?

phatsat67 wrote: 81nautique wrote: TRBenj wrote: White lake sells a vinyl cleaner by g&t, they are the company that makes the vinyl that cc uses. Their cleaner is the only one approved for use on their vinyl. I have found the cleaner to be very good. Whether or not others are equally effective without any side effects remains to be seen. I know what I use on my boats! This is the product Tim is referring to. As much as I love all the Babes products I think the Z-care does a better job on upholstery. My vinyl sauce is out. I'll give that a try this season. I've seen no ill effects so far and it does a decent job but it certainly isn't a wonder product.

Yeah, I might try the vinyl sauce as a "maintenance" type product. My vinyl is pretty dirty and I want to get the white back so I need something that will really deep clean. So last night I experimented with just the observer seat cushion and some Totally Awesome. I have to give Andy a tip of the cap...I was impressed. It cleaned up really well! The white is actually white now!! Scrubbed it good with a brush, rinsed with water and then treated with 303. It's going to take some time to tackle the whole interior, but a weekend and a few beers should do it!

Couple of dumb questions:
-Is the wood trim on the gunwales teak?
-My trans is a PCM 40A...says "oil type: aft type a" on the trans label. I popped the dipstick off and it looks and smells like atf (reddish brown). Guessing since it says atf type a it's been atf in there?? How can I determine if it is in fact atf and not oil in there?

Boat looks good. I too grabbed an 89' year ago and I am going through the same refurbishment thoughts.

We really like the boat thus far.

My issue has really been the trailer. needs re-welded in spots and I disabled the brakes after a nightmare of a trip when i picked it up.

Yes, the wood on those rails is supposed to be teak. They clean up nice with a cleaner, brightener and oil application just as the swim step will.

ATF is what was standard back in 89" as Ford had not identified Dextron yet. There is a thread here that discussed using the Dextron as a replacement. I did that last season and it was fine.

I have the same issue on mildew spots on my vinyl. Just going to order skins in the next few years from Chrsitines and replace.

this year I grabbed an Acme 422 4 blade prop. Anxious to use as long as rocks decide to stay away.

Mine came with a tower. toying with idea of getting rid of tower and just placing a fly high on it.

Enjoy!

I actually flushed it just to be thorough.   Sorry for wording 20W was standard prior to Dexron (ATF) and CC recommendation changed on what to use - see below

there are a few threads on here about tranny oil as well as other maintenance that I really found helpful.
My original purchase thread to board.

An older link to what fluid to use

From CC several years ago: (I copied from the final hyperlink I am attaching.)

Hi Sean

Thank you for bringing your question to us. The simple answer is Dexron III
is what PCM currently recommends. PCM first used 20W oil (commonly found in
motor cycles and farm equipment) and this likely is what came in your
transmission when new (when your owners manual was printed).

While Dexron has a 20W viscosity, it cannot be mixed with oil.
To switch from 20W oil to Dexron, drain and fill your transmission with
Dexron, run the engine until warm, then immediately drain and fill again.

Please feel free to call or write back if you have further questions.

Regards,

Jim Jetmore
Customer Service
Correct Craft, Inc.

Final Hyperlink

diggit wrote: Great looking boat and I love the color combo! Gorgeous.

Thanks!! Appreciate it.

bb12 wrote: My question is (another one from a vintage ski boat newb ) do you guys oil the bottom?

I do give the bottom 1 or 2 coats. Even though Teak is very stable with varying moisture content, I've always felt it's best to seal the bottom.

So I changed the impeller and ran the boat in the driveway this weekend- after replacing the impeller I noticed a very small drip between the backing plate and the shaft housing (I think I'm referring to the parts correctly) on the RWP.   Sherwood Impeller kit came with a paper gasket so I took the old one off which looked like it had been there for a long time. I scraped the surfaces a bit with putty knife, but obviously I need to clean the mating surfaces a little better. Question is- what's the best way to clean and smooth the backing plate and shaft housing surfaces?

Other than the little leak, the pump was sucking great. Hardly any water coming out of the intake grate when the engine was on. (I have a "Timmy T" installed- works fantastic BTW!)

Your pump should have a groove so use the o-ring instead of the paper gasket.

Page 2 of this pdf shows where the parts and gaskets go

So I've noticed the oil pressure gauge pegs and bounces to the right when the engine is on. From everything I've read it sounds like it's a low voltage/bad ground...Last night while tinkering with things I noticed that with the key in the "on" position (engine not running), when I tried to click on the Nav lights the oil pressure and fuel gauge both pegged to the right. I looked under the dash and to me the wiring didn't look all that bad. I will say electrical is not my thing so I'm not quite sure. Should I start by cleaning the connections at the dash on the oil pressure and fuel gauge? Or is there a way to reground the entire dash?