1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

[dmiracle]

I am considering the purchase of a 1996 196 SN. It's been in storage for 3 years and has a GT40.

Anything specific I need to be on the lookout for?

I'm seing alot of traffic on the maintenance board regarding the GT40 engine. Does this motor have a bad maintenance track record??

[Aarons01]

RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

GT40 is one of the best ski boat engines ever made in my opinion. I have seen them last many many hours witch scheduled maintenances. I would do the typical stuff like replacing all fluids, belts, spark plugs, and distributor cap. Maybe a new battery. Take it out for an extended test drive and check it out.

[Madhat78]

RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

What are they asking for it? I have one for sale up here in CT if of any interest.

[Aarons01]

RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

also when you test it open the engine hatch and check for leaks in any of the hoses and see if there is very much water in the hull

[aaron]

RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

And dont forget to change the impeller before that extended run.Sure to be hardened.I have had 2 5.8 HOs 2 Mercruisers 350mag Gen+ and an Excalibur 330, and i although i have never owned a GT40, i have heard that they are"bulletproof".Good luck in yr purchase

[rleinen79]

Re: RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

although i have never owned a GT40, i have heard that they are"bulletproof".

My "bulletproof" 97 GT40 threw a piston at 273 hours this year. It's always been dealer maintained and serviced. Used for slalom, wakeboard (no added weigth) and cruising. Never at wide open throttle. Mine led a pretty easy life. That being said, it pulls like a freight train out of the hole. After talking to a lot of people, my problem seems to be the exception rather than the rule, but like anything else, there is never a sure thing.


Rob

[dmiracle]

RE: Re: RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

OK folks, went and saw this boat last night. Here's the deal.....

The boat is filthy.

Gelcoat/hull - bottom under rails is great. Top (rails & hood) are extremely dull and dirty. Boat would need a good buffing and possibly wet sanding to bring back to original shine. Boat has never been beached.

Interior - Carpet is very dirty and would likely need replacing. Upholstery is showing signs of dry rot and would need replacing.

Engine - 5.0 GT-40 - fired right up and sounds.....well you all know how it sounds, WOW. Only engine problems he's had are a one time overheat dur to a hose not being properly connected after servicing. He replaced the impeller and has had no problems since.

Propeller and Drivesahft - Driveshaft was replaced and propeller (4-blade) was refinished due to hitting a stump at a low idle speed in a cove. Also replaced steering cable as he said it got very hard to turn in one direction?

Trailer - Ramlin single axle with surge brakes. Back left platform around fender is rotten. Back ridht fender is slightly damaged on tope due to the boat jumping up during trailering as a result of improper tie down.

I'm thinking this could be a diamond in the rough and a great buy as it could probably be had for farl less than other 1996's.

Questions - what will the cost be for replacing carpet and upholstery and having the hull shine brought back.

Any other comments would be appreciated as well.

Thanks!

[Aarons01]

RE: Re: RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

do your research get price quotes on everything to replace then add in the man hours to replace it or to have someone else do it and base the purchase price off that. Probably even go lower since you will be the one to have to replace everything

[Madhat78]

RE: Re: RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

With hitting a stump and obvioiusly bending the shaft, then having the boat jump onto the top of the fender, wouldn't you think there would be some major gelcoat issues? I would imagine that there would definately be stress cracks atleast around the shaft. I you are interested, I still have a 1996 Ski for sale up north in mint condition.

[Richard-Howell]

1996 Ski Nautique

My personal guideline is that if the surface areas: upholstry, carpet, rug did not get treated well, then the unknown areas weren't treated well either.

We traded a 1996 last year, the gelcoat, carpet and vinyl (some vinyl replaced) were pretty near perfect.

That being said if the engine checks out, and you are willing to TLC it, you should be able to get a great price on it.

[Hollywood]

Re: RE: Re: RE: 1996 Ski Nautique In Storage for 3 years

Gelcoat/hull - bottom under rails is great. Top (rails & hood) are extremely dull and dirty. Boat would need a good buffing and possibly wet sanding to bring back to original shine. Boat has never been beached.

Sounds promising

Interior - Carpet is very dirty and would likely need replacing. Upholstery is showing signs of dry rot and would need replacing.

Well, luckily there is no wood in this boat else it'd all probably be rotten, sounds like PO wasn't a big fan of covers.

Engine - 5.0 GT-40

???

Propeller and Drivesahft - Driveshaft was replaced and propeller (4-blade) was refinished due to hitting a stump at a low idle speed in a cove.

Better drive it to make sure no vibrations.

Back left platform around fender is rotten. Back ridht fender is slightly damaged on tope due to the boat jumping up during trailering as a result of improper tie down.

Many people don't tie their boats down at all, this doesn't cause it to "jump" onto the fender. Obvious neglected boat in many areas of ownership.

I'm thinking this could be a diamond in the rough and a great buy as it could probably be had for farl less than other 1996's.

Better be a GREAT buy, lots of work ahead for the known issues, probably several hidden quirks you don't even know about yet.

Questions - what will the cost be for replacing carpet and upholstery and having the hull shine brought back.

There are a few guys on here that have wetsanded and buffed their own boats, it's cheap and easy.

Uphosltry $1-2k ?

[brodie]

Wet sanding is simple, as long as you are willing to take the time to do it. It is the same process as waxing, just with rubbing compound instead of wax, just be carefull not to go too deep. If you can buy it right, and are willing to use a little elbow grease to bring it back, go for it. Non of the issues sound overly major. The seats, carpet, and top deck are bound to need work after extended improper storage, but for me, it just means you can get it that much cheaper!

[Fast351]

Obviously from my nickname you can tell I'm a Ford guy, but the guys that said that the GT40 engines are bulletproof are pretty close to the mark.

The little version is the 5.0/302. If you look at how many of those were put into every single RWD car from 1967 to 1994 it's tough to argue that it's a trouble prone engine. Plenty of Fox body mustangs running around with rediculous amounts of boost and tons of RPMs prove it's a durable little engine. They do tend to split in half when you hit the 550-600 HP mark, but I don't know any boats that come even close to it.

Now it's big brother the 351. This engine was built from day one to be a heavy duty engine. The 3" mains, heavy main and head bolts all point to an engine originally designed for light duty trucks that found it's way into many cars and boats as well. My race car makes well over 500 HP, I regularly spin it to 7300 RPM, and the thing just keeps ticking. Granted attention to detail has been spent that most production engines don't receive.

If there is one weak spot in the small block Ford engine line it's the crappy rods and particularly rod bolts they put in the passenger car engines. Most catastrophic failures happen there. Fortunately the marine engines get heavy duty rods and bolts, with this deficiency fixed.

Not that Chevy's engines aren't great as well. **** I own one in my current boat and my next one will have one too. But the Fords hold their own, and perhaps even surpass their chevy counterparts.

As for the boat, if you can get it for a steal, I'd say go for it. But it sounds like the boat wasn't all that well cared for, with the trailer mishap and the rotted interior, and you may well find problems down the road.

[M3Fan]

The interior skins alone will cost over 2 G-notes. As for Fast351- very informative. Looks like bobchris has a new friend.

[Fast351]

BTW, if you guys are curious what's inside a 351:

http://www.fast351.com/enginerebuild/index.htm