SCM - 2002 Super Air Nautique - Full Restoration

[NautiqueJeff]

This 2002 Super Air Nautique is currently under restoration at Silver Cove Marine.

This vessel was recently purchased from us, and the new owners have opted for a FULL restoration, with a few extra improvements.

The official SCM Restoration Blog for this vessel can be found below, but I will keep this thread updated too so that PN can follow along. This is going to be an incredible transformation to an already great boat!

Silver Cove Marine Restoration Blog: https://www.silvercovemarine.com/pos...-navy-charcoal

[NautiqueJeff]

The previous owner had an unfortunate incident with his last oil change. It seems that the gasket from the old oil filter stayed on the engine when the old filter was removed, and when the new filter was installed, it was double-gasketed, resulting in the oil leaking out of the engine and the engine requiring a total rebuild.

The engine made it to PCM earlier this week. They'll have it running like new before long. We found out that this engine is actually a 2006 Excalibur, which is kind of nice because it has a few newer features that weren't on the Excalibur in 2002.

[NautiqueJeff]

The boat was brought inside last week.

Most things appear to be in decent shape. The owners have opted for a full interior replacement using stock patterns, new powder coat on the tower, windshield frame, and all other miscellaneous parts, full gelcoat restoration, all new decals and pinstripes, a new hidden stereo system, modernized ballast system, etc. This will be one of the nicest 2002 Super Air Nautiques on the planet when we are finished with it! I am so excited to really dig into this one!

[NautiqueJeff]

Replacement parts are starting to arrive for this boat.

Today, the replacement docking light assemblies arrived. These will look much better than the cracked, faded originals!

[NautiqueJeff]

More parts are arriving all the time! Today was vinyl graphics day. These will look great on this boat once the gelcoat is restored.

[rukuus]

i have an 03 in the same colour scheme. thanks for the photos of an empty engine bay. really helps me figure out how im going to run some wiring.

[bturner]

I'd have paid extra for the factory not to put all the warning stickers on. I ended up removing all my warning stickers day one but then again I know not to put my tongue in a fan or my foot in a prop.....

[NautiqueJeff]

Good point. I always replace them for a couple of reasons. First, I don't want any liability if I remove them and then sell a boat to someone. Second, usually those decals have been in place for 20+ years, and the gelcoat underneath is a different color than the rest of the gelcoat, even after sanding and buffing. Putting the decals back covers those places.

[NautiqueJeff]

Received the freshly-reworked original Acme 644 propeller for this boat today. We use OJ Props for our propeller refurbishments, and they always do a great job. When we need new propellers, we always use OJ, but it is nice that they can also refurbish good propellers of other brands like this one.

[Rednucleus]

bturner pretty sure here in WA if your boat does not have the required stickers you get a ticket

[bturner]

For someone that is refurbishing and selling boats, I completely get it and I darn sure would be installing them too. For my own personal use and being a guy that likes living on the razor's edge, I'll buck all common sense, live dangerously and pull them off on a newer boat. I took them off my 07 X2 in 09 and my current 2016 Sport 200 in 2019, wet sanded then polished the areas and had no problem. I'm sure an older boat or one that saw a lot of sun would be a different story.

I have no doubt in some states pulling them off would be illegal, sort of like pulling that federal label off a mattress would be, I guess. In Washington it wouldn't surprise me if they had people checking for them....

In all my years of boating (and I'm getting up there) I've never had a cop or state ramp officer look at my boat and say hey, where's your label that says don't breath in the exhaust? That said, if a cop wants to write you a ticket I'm sure they would find something like that. Heck, I got a ticket once for skiing in the wrong direction when it was just me and the cop on the lake.

All this aside, you really do some exceptional work on these boats. I'm surprised you can part with them after all the time you have invested. Wish I were closer so I could visit and watch you work through one of these.

[Scooter G]

bturner pretty sure here in WA if your boat does not have the required stickers you get a ticket

That's so wrong. I would put a tip jar in the boat. "What's that for", they ask?
That is for contributions towards all the tickets I'm going to get this Season for ripping the warning stickers off.
They always come off the 1st day a new toy comes home, have heat gun, will travel.

bturner, "I've never had a cop or state ramp officer look at my boat and say hey, where's your label that says don't breath in the exhaust?"
Too funny!

[BasaltRMK]

Scooter G - ha, same thing here! Boats, sleds, dirt bikes - those stickers come off first thing. Heck, that’s why I bought my heat gun!

But yes, completely understand why NautiqueJeff puts them on the refurbished boats.

- bob

[NautiqueJeff]

Wow, I guess I haven't been keeping up with this thread like I should have. You can see the full progression on this boat here if you're interested:
https://www.silvercovemarine.com/pos...-navy-charcoal

Here's today's update:

Today I got to do one of my favorite restoration tasks -- restore the dashboard. I love taking a broken old tired dash and turning it into something that looks like new or better.

This one had the old style Nautique replacement gauges for the speedometer and tachometer, but the rest of the gauges were original, and some were failing. Everything was removed, and the dash was thoroughly cleaned. Then, the new aluminum dash overlay panel that we had custom-made for this boat (and had powder coated metallic gray) was installed. Next, the wiring harness was properly modified to work with the new gauges. The original gauges used deutsch connectors, but the replacement gauges do not, so the connectors had to be removed, and proper ring terminals with adhesive heat shrink were added. Next, the gauges were installed, using our standard method of wiring (ring terminals connected DIRECTLY to the gauge, NOT to the studs on the outside of the brackets). This method provides a better, longer-lasting connection that is less-likely to fail over time. The keypads are brand new too, along with the 12-volt plug.

Here are the results. Those with a keen eye will notice the Zero Off display, which normally would not be seen on a 2002 Super Air Nautique. This boat is getting a replacement engine though, so Zero Off is the best option, and is a step up from PerfectPass.