2003 Ski Nautique 196 Project

[NautiqueJeff]

Just picked up this 2003 Ski Nautique project boat on Kelleys Island in Ohio. I will be taking delivery next week. It was owned by a camp, so it needs a full wet sand and buff, new pinstripes, new graphics, new rubrail, new upholstery, and a few other odds and ends. It'll be beautiful soon!

This was part of a package deal that also included a 2002 Ski Nautique.

[NautiqueJeff]

Here are some other shots of it.

[Spud]

Would match our 210

[NautiqueJeff]

Made it home yesterday with the 2003 196. This is going to be a great looking boat once it is fixed up!

[NautiqueJeff]

While I was towing it home from Ohio, I saw in the RV camera that the windshield had opened up (and yes, I had made SURE both latches were locked before I started)! I thought for sure that the door glass and the passenger wing were destroyed. The door was just flopping in the wind! I stopped as soon as I could, and was surprised to find that NOTHING was broken! Not sure how that happened, but you better know I zip tied that thing closed for the rest of the trip home! This is one of those unobtainable windshields, and I was so happy that it wasn't ruined!

[shag]

Did you take the ferry over to get it? or did they meet you somewhere ... .Cool boat!

[jjackkrash]

Gonna drop a ZO 6.0L in just for grins?

[NautiqueJeff]

Did you take the ferry over to get it? or did they meet you somewhere ... .Cool boat!

I took the ferry over to get the 2002. The seller was kind enough to meet me on the mainland with this one. It isn't cheap to go across with the RV, so I very much appreciated that!

This one will not be getting a 6L, unless there is something very wrong with the 5.0, which I doubt. The 2002 (the one I am going to hold on to for a while) may get a newer 6L. I'd love to be able to put ZO on that one.

[Michael Crouse]

Once you drop a 6.0 in one of those, the raw power really makes anything else feel inferior. Now my buddy and I are looking at what it would take to bump it up to the 450

[NautiqueJeff]

Yeah, I always wanted a Python Ski Nautique, but a 450 has even more power (by horsepower numbers). If I do drop a 6L in one of these two, I'll make every effort to have it be a 450.

Going from a 409 to a 450 involves a recalibration of the ECU and a different cam I believe.

[Tigerxj]

will be watching this one. While I love the GS20 my dad picked up a few years ago, I do miss the wake on the 2004 SNOB we had. Wife and I are thinking about finding a dedicated ski machine, passively looking for a 196, might be a good time to visit Norman for the first time in 20 years! Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[NautiqueJeff]

This one has found a place in the workshop, and disassembly will start in a few days, after the interior has had a chance to dry out. It is under the fans and dehumidifier right now. Hope to start pulling it all apart later this week.

The whole interior is coming out, the dash, windshield, decals, pinstriping, and rubrail are all coming off.

Interior will all be replaced.

Windshield will be disassembled and powder coated.

Dash will be cleaned up, and PerfectPass gauge will be added.

Boat will be sent out to my new fiberglass/gelcoat guy (this will be his first boat of mine, so we'll see how he does on an easy restoration of white gelcoat). There is one chunk out of the chine that he'll have to address with filler or new fiberglass, but I am sure he can handle it.

[NautiqueJeff]

Here's a question for you guys...

I am considering changing the colors of the interior just a little bit. This would have been a stock color choice in 2003, so nothing custom here. I am just trying to give the boat a little more pop.

On the 2003 interior, certain panels had two color stripes. In this particular boat, both stripes were ordered WHITE. That's pretty plain.

My thought is to make one of the stripes GRAY to match the stripe on the exterior of the boat, and make the other stripe RED, to match the pinstripe tape that I will be replacing. Right now, that exterior pinstripe tape is black, but I am thinking of changing it to RED to add just a little bit of color to the outside. I would leave the piping on the interior black.

Like I said, these are all choices that would have been available in 2003 from the factory, so this isn't custom and shouldn't detract from the value of the boat.

Thoughts?

[bird_dog0347]

I'm not a big fan of red in general, but I'd say yes, do it... It could use a bit of color and that is a safe choice.

[CincinnatiCC]

I like the red, and agree it needs some color.