Jeff's 1998 Ski Nautique Restoration

[NautiqueJeff]

OK, got it back from SeaDek today!

I love what they did with it. Still looks classy!

Engine goes back in next week! Can't wait for that!!

[markj]

Looks great so far.

[homer12]

Wow! Impressive and unique looking

[t.franscioni]

Seadeck looks cool, really like the white color you chose as well. Drawing lots of inspiration from this thread. Thanks.

[NautiqueJeff]

Preparing for the engine installation on Monday!

Got the new throttle and transmission cables in today, and I replaced the shift knob too. Looks just a little bit better!

Tomorrow I am replacing the blower hoses (a pain because you have to remove the gas tank to do this right). I'll also throw on the new fuel filter then.

All of these parts came from NautiqueParts.

[wakejunky]

I think I would have waited putting in the seadek until after the motor and the interior went in. Now you have to extra careful with dirty feet and general dirt messing up that nice new seadek.

[NautiqueJeff]

Very true. I am being SO careful, especially with the light-colored SeaDek.

[rossrips7]

Love the look of that shift knob!


Sent from my iPhone using PLANETNAUTIQUE mobile app

[NautiqueJeff]

Got the engine back in the boat today!

The PCM guys really did a great job with this engine, and they were not satisfied until the installation was as perfect as the engine itself. They stayed until way after closing time making sure everything was just right. I can't wait to get this boat out on the water. Thanks to everyone at PCM for all of the hard work!

[philb]

Very cool......
I was thinking it might've turned up with an H series engine.
Glad they kept it old school.
Great stuff!!!!

[DLafont]

That Seadeck is impressive!! This will be one unique boat once you're done with it.

[Quinner]

So what did they do? Don't recall if the chrome was all there before or not, any performance upgrades, HP gains?? Everything looks great!!

[keithh2oskier]

Bump for any more updates?

[NautiqueJeff]

No more updates yet. The upholstery is still being worked on. The skins that Christine's sent over did not fit the foam in the boat. It appears that the foam had degraded, so we're filling in with additional foam, and that is taking some additional time. Once the interior is complete, I will post some pictures of it all.

I am having some work done on the dash at the Nautique factory, and some additional parts for the dash are coming from SeaDek. I don't have the dash back yet, but I do have the original switch panel from the dash, so I can run the boat if necessary.

I have a new cover on the way from Angola Canvas. I would have ordered one from our friends at SewLong, but they don't have the pattern for the '98 Ski Nautique, and since they are way out in Utah, I couldn't just take the boat over to them. Angola Canvas has a great reputation though, so I am excited to see what they send over.

I am hoping to have the upholstery back within the next week or so, and once that's in, I will try to get some shots of the boat on the water!

[NautiqueJeff]

I did a few things to the boat this afternoon.

I installed four pop-up cleats from Nautique Parts.

I measured and taped the areas, marked them, drilled pilot holes, then drilled the large holes. Start both sets of holes by drilling in reverse so that you don't chip the gelcoat, and chamfer the holes once they are drilled so you don;t get spider cracks later. The cleats then just slip in and bolt down from the underside. Very simple process, and will certainly be a great addition to the boat since there are no cleats on these boats from the factory!












I installed the gold metal flake pinstripe, which is the proper color as ordered from the factory. This was easier than I expected. I just made sure the area was clean, and eyeballed the installation, starting at the point of the bow. I worked my way around the boat slowly, and it turned out great!











I also replaced the bow light assembly with a replacement from Nautique Parts. The front light is the new part, and the old one is behind it for comparison.