2001's? What is there to know?

[surroundsound64]

There is a seal on the drive shaft, and it should leak some for lubrication, unless the boat has a packless shaft seal. Those are not factory.

Normal repairs would be things like the impeller, hoses, belts, trailer maintinence such as bearing lubrication, wiring for the lights... probable some carb. adjustments and a rebuild every 5 or so yrs.

Some of you other guys probably have more to add to that.

And all of that is if the boat is in good shape. It could always be 20 times worse.

[882001]

i bought a boat with a lot of hours but got a deal on it so i had to do a motor rebuild. and should have rebuilt tranny at the same time but didnt and now its acting funny. the motor rebuild wasnt too bad at all. i kinda liked it after all, it was scarry at first. the tranny will be an easy pull also. but now i have nothing to worry about for 1600 more hours. the boat is awsome. you will want to change the prop to a 540/542. and will want to do electronic ign module. and what^^^^surround sound said^^^^

[wakeboarddrumma]

882001
How much was your boat with the engine rebuild? How much would it cost to get that done?

[surroundsound64]

... will want to do electronic ign module...

I am a BIG fan of the elect. ign. However, I'm a bigger fan of not fixing it if it's not broken! I'd wait untill the points and condenser quit working before you upgrade!

Just my opinion. hehe.

[wakeboarddrumma]

Ok, and could someone with an older 2001 85-89 show the capacity plate or list the weight limit, person cpaacity and all that?

[AbunDiga909]

Capacity is 6 people, and I think the weight limit is about 1110 lbs.. This is off of memory, from an '82, but they should all be the same.

[882001]

i paid 7000 for the boat and the rebuild was 1400 for a longblock.

[jon4pres]

AdunaDiga909, My 82 does not have a cap. plate. Should it, and if so where should it be??

[AbunDiga909]

Yeah, I think USCG requires them on every boat. Ours is right on the side, just next to the throttle. If you are sitting in teh drivers seat, you can't miss it. I also think its gray and black, not yellow like they are today... I dunno why someone may have taken yours off??

[jon4pres]

I dont know either. I wonder where I could get a new one. Do you have any ideas. Maybe I could get a fake one made that said I could have 15000 lbs of ballast and still be legal.

[882001]

yeah i saw one for sale on ebay a couple odf years ago that had a capicty of 8. should have bought it. it was 25$

[Andrew]

u might want to check to see if it was covered w/vinyl by a previous owner

[surroundsound64]

My 81 is 6 people and something like 925lbs people and luggage.

[tommer12]

My 81 is very similar to the 2001s. The wake on those is awesome for boarding. Storage? Why do you need storage? You should be out on the water when the boat is going. hehe. Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

Naw... we do what Austin was talking about. Although, we have little gunnel shelvs, I guess is the best way to describe it, since it's a LTD. model. But we stick the skis in there on the shelves in the gunnels, and the board sits on the floow behind the driver between the engine and side.

Ok, lets talk ignition and starter. As it came from the factory, it has a points and condenser ignition system. All the stuff today has electronic ignition, or breakerless ignition (same thing different word). Points and condenser work fine if your distributor is in good shape. To make a long description short, on the distributor cam coming out of the engine that the rotor attaches to, there are 8 lobes, representing each cylinder. As the cam rotates, the lobes pass by the points. As they do, they open the points. This is where the condenser comes into play, if you know much about electricity, I'm assuming not too much b/c you weren't sure about the ign. systen, you'll know what a capacitor does. Basically to make a long description short, it stores up electricity and releases it really fast. The flash on a camera is a capacitor, or condenser.

Anyway, as the points open, the circuit is opened, therefore no electricity flows. But, the capacitor is charged and releases, sending electricity through the points ultimately getting to the spark plugs. All this to say that sometimes the points get dirty or the condenser gets old and it doesn't work right, therefore causing the engine to not run.

You can put in a breakerless ignition system for about $150. Definately worth the money if you're having trouble with the points and condenser. It's a very easy install. About 4 screws, 2 in and 2 out or so, and then setting the timing. A breakerless system does all that explained above, except electronically. Probably the hardest part about the elect. ign. install is setting the gap, but that's not hard, and you have to do that with points anyway so you mind as well get elect. ign. if you're having problems.

But, don't fix what isn't broken. So if it's working don't jack with it. hehe.

The starter really isn't a factor.

Hopefully that helps. Have fun!

The 81 is more narrow then the 83-89. CHeck out the original scanned in Nautique brochures at correctcraftfan.com You can compare width, height, weight, everything practically of the older boats.

I had an 84 and it was the best **** boat. I upgraded to a 92 open bow, great boat also. But the 84 has something about, or the 2001 series.. It drives like you are in a hot rod. It's got that sweet rumble when you open i t up, that feeling you can only get when get behind the wheel. I miss my old boat...
The trick to find a 2001, is to do your homework. Understanding these boats will help you purchase a gem. You will see nautiques that have been abused and some like my old one, like new.
The big ones to look for: Stringers. Open up the engine cover and look at the stringers. Most are wrapped in fiberglass, but if the fiberglass has cracks in it, and the bilge is dirty, mostly likely the boat has seen some steady water in the bottom of the boat to a point that would damage or could possible damage the stringers. You can normally feel it in the boat if the stringers are loose or rotted. If you drive the boat down the lake and hit waves at a slight angle.. if the boat feels flimsy, or "wobbles" a little, the stingers are rottern. 2001 series are normally built like a brick s-house. They are heavy, deep and plow through the water. But at plain they can haul some butt.

Watch out for guys that put towers on the 2001s. I have seen some that are off center and drilled all wrong.. it's a sad sight. After about 2 years of that tower use, they will probaby see some spider cracks in the mounts and if they did not seal it our mount it correctly, it wll forever be wobbly mess for the next person.

Great thing about the 2001 is that it's easy to fix just about anything. You can practically rebuild the boat yourself because its simple construction. Railing slipping down? pull out the rope rail and fiberglass new screw holes... redrill the railing back up, good as new!...... simple electrical system, simple 351 ford, same old velvet drive........

Beware on the Commander series engine that came in some of the early 2001s. Exhaust manafolds are awesome on them BUT... they tend to rot out from the inside..... There no replacements for them. YOu will have to rebuild the entire exhaust system from nuts to butts with PCM... which is a bad choice, but you loose the cool stainless steal exhaust system on it..... oh well.. You can usually notice if the exhaust leaks by the blows or feel hot air blowing out near the ports. I had to replace my gaskets many of times just because the stainless would not keep shape next to the manifold. Finaly found som good ones at skidim.com that worked well.

The 84's and some others have what is called a Mechanical advance system on them for the ignition system. They are a pain the arse. Stupid weights with springs that wear out over time... (if the boat is in good shape,, roughly about now they need replacing) It throws the timing all off when these weights go out of sync.... I had to make a new spring because I coulndt find new ones anywhere....

You can replace the Holly on it with 650... the 650 hauls on it better than the 4060 that came with it. You dump a little more fuel of course, but increase the HP's on the engine... smooth and fast she pops out of the water..

I could probably ramble on forever... if you need any help.. drop me a line. I had my 84 for 6 years and another 83 before that.... and now a 92 SNOB......

cheers and good luck!

[tommer12]

I have a Fat Seat and it fits well in the 2001. You don't really want it full of water, just 1/3 to 1/2 and the rest inflated with air. A tower or extended pylon with racks will get your skis and boards out of the way. A cooler behind the driver doubles well as a seat. There is a lighter socket on the dash and you could easily add another power outlet toward the rear if you want.

the2001.com is mostly wakeboarders dedicated to these boats
correctcraftfan.com is a great rescourse for older nautiques.

Both of the places noted by jon have some good info and there are also boats listed for sale. Good luck and happy boarding.

oh yeah, I had a Fat buddie on each side of the engine.. those are awesome in the boat. then people can sit on them. When the boat was loaded wth 6-7 people, and the fat buddies.. the wake was huge!!! super nice on it. Storage... good luck... not much of anything. The trick is to find the right sized cooler! I took out the back seat and had a big arse foam seat made.. then you could slide up towards the engine or flush against the back. IT was perfect! The old back seat just rots out anyways no matter how well it is taken care of..... oh well.

I had a pylon on my.. too scared to drill the holes in the sacred 2001! It worked well.. but I should have gone with the FLight Pipe, even that though that rat bastard that sells them is way over priced.....

dont' try the boardmount on the railing..... it will break! (founda good welder!)

I mounted my headunit way under the console in a custom wood box. Then sank a remote in the dash on the right side. Also had a Aux port setup to plug in the ipod, etc. YOu can mount cheap radio shack speakers under the dash and the bose 101 under the back gunnels and point them in... I used bunge cords to hold them in place and it worked perfect. Stuck a 10" bazooka in the front and walllllllla! cheap as pounding stereo.....