1963 Correct Craft American Skier

Hi all who may be viewing. An update on my 63' American Skier not as far along as I would have liked. Like many this year we had a horrible winter and I had hoped to at least had the motor well on the way, but the garage I was going to keep my boat in and use as a workshop burnt to the ground 2 days before moving the boat and we absolutely didn't have any mild days to get it pulled.

Anyhow, over the past several days ive been able to tear into it. I was able to get the seats out decking up and really get a good eye on what needs addressed. The boat had been worked on to a great deal. they had replaced stringers. the good part of that is they did a really good job fabricating the stringers and I wasn't able to find any rot. the bad part is they did a horrible job of glassing in and wrapping the motor stringers etc. lots of glass not wetted out properly and separated from the stringers.

I was able to give it a good cleaning out and didn't find anything alarming with the original glass work, no blisters or delaminanting but I have a substantial amount of grinding and re-work to do.

I had reduced the engine to a short block in the boat and am planning on getting it out and tearing it down. As known before the head was cracked original exhaust manifold and riser were shot. The cylinders look clean topside and unmarred. So I am hoping when I get it broken down I can get away with honing the cylinders, re-ring, new bearing and gaskets.

The distributor points plate was shot. No one at Mallory had much info regarding the model so im going to install a conversion kit to electronic pointless. Found a solution to the exhaust situation, but am holding until I get inside the motor and get a good look at the drive - it appears to be a, I guess Dearborn. The innards of all this is going to dictate how far I'm going to go to attempt to keep the original motor/drive, still teetering on a re-power.

Got the majority of the trim etc. off and now have a confirmation on the original color of the boat. It was conveyed to me it was "blue" by the former owner before they
had red imron sprayed on the decks. It is in fact a turquoise American Skier and I hope to return it to original color. I will post some pics later on and will probably move to another part of the forum since im not really posting questions.

I am trying to get moving so I don't have to grind fiberglass in 90 degree weather under the bow since I have no ambition to part the cap off.

Gary S wrote: I thought I saw a picture of him somewhere driving the electric nautique at a ski tournament

You did Gary but it was from the 2011 Masters Tournament Opening Ceremonies.



But he is usually seen in the 61 SN with a couple other legends.

That boat looks to be in fantastic shape, all things considered! Good luck with the project.

Well he is retired Chris. I thought I saw a picture of him somewhere driving the electric nautique at a ski tournament so he's got his plate full but I'll bet he eventually gets it for you.

Boat looks great! Better to have the hull in shape rather than the other way around

Thanks guys good info and beautiful "64" 62 wood. Anyhow, it will all begin for me this coming week I'll post some pics. Thanks for the contributions!

Cool, another '63, can't wait to see it

Christopher,

I have a 64 A.S. with the Interceptor 100. Here are a couple of pics of mine... like Gary says white with red trim...







I have done some top end work on mine a few years ago. When I bought the boat someone had put a 73 head on it. This head was cracked so I had to replace it.

Here is a pic of the engine sans the head..


I was taking with a few guys on a hi-po Ford six site. They use heads from a late 70's Monarch / Fairmont 200. A couple of them helped me out on getting this head on the old 170 block. This head has bigger intake runner, hardened valves, which I think were also larger then the originals.     One big "problem" with the Interceptor is the carburation. The "car guys" run larger two or even 4 bbl carbs. These run a single Carter YH sidedraft and you cant get many CFM's pushed thru it. I was not willing to alter the doghouse, so had to stick with the stock setup.

The other obstacle is the exhaust. Again, the manifold can only handle so much flow.

Like Gary said.. dont make it something it's not. Altho a little polishing and chrome bling never hurts anything! (dont ask Pete if its ok)

Here is a pic of the finished engine with the "new" 200 head... after chroming the valve cover and polishing the homemade stainless carb adapter and the exhaust manifold. ...




And, YEP, we need to see some pics!!!



.

Do you happen to have the hull number,it will be on the port side stringer near the rear motor mount. Since its a American Skier it will be AM _ _ _

By 64 there was a Deluxe model available,same colors but many optional items standard. Windshield with wind wings,upholstery,running lights,step plates vinyl floor covering and interior sides covered with fabric for 1k more

Guess I should clarify the color. Color names in particular shade of blue. I know it was blue and hoping it was just one offering however preliminarily investigating gel coat manufacturers / color matches available.

Bruce let me drive the Mustang (or should I say Dave) up at Benjamins this year. I loved that little thing with the 6 cylinder and would have left it just as it was. Sounds great plenty of power for two trick skiers and smooth as a sewing machine.

Glassdog wrote: Like all fiberglass boats it's vintage original gel coat on hull and topside are spidered and I am planning on taking the boat down and re-gel coating it. Therefore, not having run the I.D. yet, can anyone tell me what colors were offered in the 1963 model? Most likely I am going to go back to the original unless it's hideous! Thanks for now!

The regular member that I know of went and did the right thing and bought a more modern faster boat. Don't get carried away trying to make it into something it's not, it won't pay off in the end IMHO ---

Riley wrote: Welcome to the site. Pete, that's a baccerds engine. We've got a Mustang with that engine. Ours is stock and runs about 32 mph and cruises nicely in the 20's. A little more speed would be nice. What are you thinking of doing? From the age of yours, it probably has a Paragon transmission?

Once again I've inserted my foot without thinking. Yup, it's a flywheel forward so the rotation is standard.

I too would say it's a Paragon trans.