'98 Ski Nautique Restore

[beamons]

Thanks to all the other restoration threads on here I was inspired to take on my own and I thought I would share the things I wish I would have known and some of the other things I think helpful.

I was fortunate enough to find a great deal on a long neglected 1998 Ski Nautique out of California. After two 1640 mile trips through the beautiful Nevada desert, three wildfires and the previous owner dying, we were able to get it home.

I think to keep this thread clean and organized I will probably provide updates and links to other threads about specific projects within the restoration.

Some of the things we plan on doing:
Strip the gelcoat down and wet sand and polish
Powder coat the windshield
Replace the carpet with black gel coat and EVA foam like SeaDek
Re-carpet surfaces not horizontal
Restore Dash and gauges
Replace some upholstery on a budget.
Possibly add PP or Hyrdophase
Add stereo, tower speakers, amps and in cabin speakers
Get GT40 running smooth again
Refinish platform
Replace strut bearing
Restore the trailer a little
...

This is where we started.

[NautiqueJeff]

You're starting from a better place than I did, and with a GT-40, so that's awesome!

[beamons]

Thanks Jeff. You did inspire me to do this!

One of the first things I did was strip the deck down. I took each piece apart and then sanded them all down. The PO had put some urethane on there and had to strip it off with a stripper.
After I got it stripped and sanded I put it back together and put several coats of Teak Oil by following the directions. This made the finish smooth and even.

Before


Sanded


Finished

[NautiqueJeff]

Looks great. I love a nice teak platform.

[Neptune442]

It seems there are so many different ways/methods people use when refinishing their teak platforms. Refinishing mine is on my to-do list. Yours turned out beautiful...do you know the grit/etc that you used for sanding, and what brand teak oil did you use?

[t.franscioni]

Subscribed. Love this green and tan color scheme.

[beamons]

It seems there are so many different ways/methods people use when refinishing their teak platforms. Refinishing mine is on my to-do list. Yours turned out beautiful...do you know the grit/etc that you used for sanding, and what brand teak oil did you use?

I just used 120. I have spent years working with wood and found that a lot of people really do overkill in sanding. You can make that teak and teak oil so smooth that it becomes slippery. I believe the key it to make sure the layers are clean each time you put them on, sand in between. The purpose it to get as much oil soaked in. I think used the minwax stuff.

[beamons]

One of the things that we really wanted was a swivel seat. The Ski Nautique is challenging to get in and out of the seat so to make this happen I bought the swivel on NP and did some mods.
Rather than getting a full plate I reversed the way the plates were used and mounted the swivel upside down.
I cleaned up the track and cleaned all the rust off. It now works really smooth and easy.
I didn't take a lot of pictures but these should show how I did it.
The one thing that it quite perfect is that the because the lean back on the chair was done on the base rather than in the actual seat, when swiveled to the side, the seat leans.
Not a big deal however.

[t.franscioni]

That’s a great idea and really useful mod. What’s the part number from NP?

[beamons]

That’s a great idea and really useful mod. What’s the part number from NP?

https://www.nautiqueparts.com/produc...vel-seat-base/
#3072

[t.franscioni]

Thanks

[beamons]

Seat Heaters -
Considering the season in Utah is considerably shorter than some it is all about making it more comfortable in the colder days. So as all you high rollers... I needed seat heaters.

https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Unive...gateway&sr=8-3

This was much easier than I expected at least so far. I peeled part of the upholstery back on the base and back of the observer seat and then the base of the captains chair.

Layout of Observer Seat base



Observer Seat back



Cut for the tufting or seam on the captains chair



How I cut the seat to allow the heater pad through



The seat tufting pulled through



Now I have to get the wires run and the dash and panels put back together.

[MarkSkelton]

Any updates on the restore?

[Chris Parsons]

Any issues with the waterproofing of the heat seaters? Where do the cables sit?

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[THE HECKLER]

Wow. We are in the same boat! same color and year except mine is a open bow. needs all new interior and some electrical gremlins are keeping it from starting. GT-40 FI motor. I will be following this thread..