'81 Ski Nautique gets wet...again

Bought this '81 Ski last December through Craigslist. Original owner to 2014, second owner 3 years. 1st owner a dedicated member of Berkeley Water Ski Club (SF Bay area) and cared for boat. Still showed original carpet, seat back and motor box upholstery, with 1447 hours.
Second owner-less so. Filthy, motor a mess, bilge full of oil and muck. Would crank (very noisy) but not start. Transmission locked. Was asking 3500, bought for 1500.


I began with a thorough power wash, then looked over engine. When I removed the valve covers, there was a rocker laying on its side. I decided then to pull and rebuild the motor. The block failed pressure test, so found a std. used for 150. I reassembled everything using new internals (crank/rods were fine), Reused original rr cam, new lifters. I had often thought about a lighter weight early SN. Nothing crazy, just some easily attainable weight loss, to see the impact on wakes and performance. Through some good connections I used Edelbrock Performer aluminum heads and intake, and Barr aluminum exhaust manifolds.
I modified the cooling system with a new "gutted" alum. water pump which distributes water through the motor from a crank-driven rwp. Made up a new alum. t-stat housing.
I also sourced a used PCM 1:1 aluminum trans from a member here. (thank you Ron) Motor fired and ran well on the stand.

Finally had a chance to run it this past Friday. First dip required final packing adjustments, but no other gremlins. Broke in the engine for about 40 minutes of varying throttle speeds and loads. All vital signs good. A few love taps on the carb screws, but it ran excellent.
Saturday ran it with local ACBS Delta cruise for about 90 minutes of run time. I had installed a new Acme 540 and.....wow! The throttle response was a huge plus, and it pulls like a mother! Around 38 mph, it just takes off like a turbo kicking in. Usually these feel like they're running out of power from 4k to 4400 rpm, but this has much more left. One quick blast nearly pegged the speedos. I didn't top it out yet, and actually that's not what I'm going for.
As for the wake, it appears much lower and softer at 34 (my slalom speed) than any of the 2001's I've owned, and more more like a '95 I'd owned. Very flat and very symmetrical. Very pleased.

So, if the factory weight is approx. 2100, this s/be around 1850.
Over this winter I plan to make up some alum. motor/trans brackets and replacement mounts. Also planning to make a new, lightweight motor box and swim platform, maybe some other misc. items. Should get under 1800 its. Is it worth it? Depends...I had to do the motor and trans anyway, all the rest is fairly small stuff. Looking forward to a final weigh in and to ski it next spring. Thanks to everyone on this site for all the help.

Outstanding

Looks nice and high in the water

Thanks for all the kind words.
The exhaust manifolds are a great savings. The pair are 61 lbs. less than the PCMs.
The other most significant weight savings came from:
Intake manifold-31 lbs.
Cylinder heads-42 lbs.
Velvet Drive to PCM-48 lbs.

That thing looks awesome, and I love the weight savings projects.   I don’t get the gutting of the water pump housing.   I can see not going with the cast iron pcm timing cover/thermostat housings and how that gets to a crank mounted pump, but there can’t be any significant weight savings in gutting the circ pump?   Is this a belts/plumbing thing?

How do I straighten photos?

Or does rwp just deadhead until the 'stat opens?

The smaller hoses take the thermostat 'bypass' water directly to the exhaust manifolds.
There is a t-stat in the automotive location.
Based on this:

That suction line to the pump is, well........."creative" but I've got one that's not a lot different with the same pump and it works just fine


You're right....mine's sort of in 'beta'...:-)

Where's the in water shot? Looks like Delta, but I can't figure where.

BKH

Ran the boat for the second time yesterday. Continues to impress.
Overall, the engine performance is drastically improved. Even though I retained the stock cam, the power @3800 rpm and up is markedly increased by using the Edelbrock Performer cylinder heads and intake. It is much, much more lively, and pulls strongly to 52 mph (GPS) w/ 3 persons aboard.
With the Acme 540, the wake is 'frothier' and the peaks are less clean. Seems more prop wash. Still haven't skied it yet.
I'll carry on with some additional mods and should cut out an additional 100 lbs,, ending up around 1750. I'll weigh it when finished.
Next up is a new, light 2-piece motor box, swim platform and some seat work. Next spring and summer we will teach 3 kids (10,12, 13) how to water ski. Their first experience will be behind a Ski Nautique. Hopefully they will take to it and grow up with fond memories of a cool boat like many of us have.