Another 1995 Nautique Super Sport Ballast Install

[hal2814]

The thru hulls were a bit of a hassle. I wasn't able to install them in a row like I originally intended. There was room for the 3 1" intakes but not for the intakes, the clearance to operate the ball levers, and the plumbing. I ended up installing 2 of the intakes on either side of the v-drive. This gives them plenty of space and the levers are still accessible through the v-drive access hatch under the rear center seat.

[hal2814]

Intake plumbing was pretty straightforward. Connect the pumps to the intakes. As I mentioned above, I have a ski locker sac and a sac under the playpen. I hooked these up in a piggyback fashion where the vent from the ski locker sac feeds the bow sac.

[hal2814]

Vents were also mostly straightforward. I set up the vents in the engine compartment so that they vent to opposite sides. the bow sac vents right next to the drain location of the glove box. I may end up adding an anti-siphon loop to this vent. In retrospect it is a little low and I think it's preventing the bow sac from filling all the way. It's higher when level but I'm not sure it is when the rear weight is added.

[hal2814]

For the wiring, I went back and forth on how to do the switches. I was ready to cut a hole near the throttle for the switches when a thought occurred to me. I ended up fashioning a custom right panel out of black ABS plastic. I figured at worst case I'd waste money on the plastic and ruin a $30 stereo by exposing it to the elements more than it was in the lid enclosure. But that enclosure fills with moisture anyway after heavy rains so it was worth a shot. So far, I've been very happy with that setup along with some lit rocker switches.

[hal2814]

For my final thoughts, I've been on two trips since the install. After the first trip I added check valves to the vents. The cracking pressure of the valves helped the bags completely fill and the valves help with draining completely. I also upgraded the bow and ski locker bags to something more appropriate to the size of the compartments. I plan to also install some flow-rite quick disconnects some time before end of summer. Dealing with hose barbs to replace the bags was a pain. Finally, a heat gun is really important in getting hoses to go on and come off the barbed fittings for anyone wanting to try this themselves. Get a heat gun or borrow one. Hopefully this helps anyone else wanting to do a ballast install on and older Super Sport.

[Nico]

This is great!! I have two rear hard tanks previously fitted with plumbed jabsco water puppies but where you've fitted the three pumps is much better placed. Also have a fatsac for the centre ski locker and a bow sac that I fill both just using a regular fatsac pump but it would be great to have them both plumbed permanently as you have.

Out of interest how full percentage wise can you fill the bow sac when tucked away under the playpen area?

[hal2814]

I was using the 400lb fatsac under the bow and it only filled up half way. I just recently replaced it with a 675lb Sumo triangle sac. According to the measurements it should fill at or near 100% but I haven’t had a chance to take the boat out since the upgrade. It fits nicely in there though.

[Chris Parsons]

Hi Hal,

Do you happen to have a parts list of everything needed? Wakemakers won't help build a shopping cart without paying them to do so.

Any suggestions on exactly what sacs you would install? 95 super sport.

This is what WM suggested:

Seems like I could get more..

- Rear Lockers: We use a 640lb bag in our UniversalFIT Line
- Center Locker: We use a 600lb bag in our UniversalFIT Line
- Bow Area: We use a 300lb bag in our UniversalFIT Line

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[Chris Parsons]

The bag in the pic is a Sumo Big Bag 800. It fits but I had to move the batteries closer to the bow to get them to for well. I could probably go bigger but I don�t trust the half walls in the engine compartment.

Does it fill completely?

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[hal2814]

I didn’t buy it all in one go and I didn’t get it all at Wakemakers. I’m attaching my original wakemakers purchase order for plumbing but it’s missing the quick disconnects, the electrical, and the bags. The important things to remember:
1. Each thru hull intake goes to a ball valve to an NPT to barb connector. The ball valve is a female NPT and the NPT-to-barb connector for the hoses is PCV. That’s ok from a plumbing perspective but be careful screwing the connector in or you’ll damage the threads.
2. If I had to do it again I would’ve gotten 60’ of hose.
3. I would’ve started with the Flow Rite quick connects for the fittings going to the bags. I ended up upgrading to those anyway.
4. I ended up buying more hose clamps.
5. Use a heat gun. Don’t even try without one.
6. Every hose had a 3/4” check valve on the vent. I just made them with valve I got from Lowe’s cemented to short runs of PVC pipe. If you wanted you can get threaded check valves and use additional NPT-to-BARB adapters.
7. I used the chrome vents. Our other vents and bilge holes are white. It’s up to you if you want to match.
8. If I had to do it again I would’ve run the vents higher. When surfing they had a tendency to submerge in rougher water.
9. Sumo Bags are 1” NPT. Fly High are 3/4” NPT.
10. The 800s were a little long but didn’t fill up the space vertically. My 650 Triangle bow sac didn’t even come close to filling completely but it was on sale so I never tried anything smaller. My locker sack filled really well except that the hose connections pushed against the ski locker hard when full. I think that in general it’s better to go bigger in bags. They’ll use up whatever space is available. You can take a tape measure and get a good idea of how much space you’re dealing with.


For electric I went with Wakemakers for everything but the actual pumps. I found Johnson pumps on sale elsewhere. I’m attaching that order, too. I did add a terminal block and flag connectors for wiring going from the pumps to the switches and for the switches going to the batteries. I just did that to make it more modular. You don’t have to use those. I found them on Amazon. I also already had those plastic ties for managing the cables. You’ll need plenty of those.

Hopefully that helps. Also, I ended up keeping the locker sac after I sold the boat. I thought I would use it in my 230 but it doesn’t have a ski locker. If you’re interested, I’d be willing to let go of it really cheap. DM me for info.

After you do all of this you really need a new prop. The old federal won’t push it. I went to an ACME 1234. There’s some back and forth on whether or not we can put that prop on a Super Sport/original SAN hull. I had no issues with clearance. It’s my understanding they shortened the prop shaft at some point but there’s plenty of room on a 95.

[Chris Parsons]

This is fantastic and the most help I've received! Thanks so much.

If you had to estimate how much money you spent outside of bags and pumps what would you guess? If its way to hard to guess don't worry.

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[hal2814]

Probably about $500-$600 outside of bags, pumps, and tools. I did buy a heat gun and a dremel (for cleaning up the dash panel I made). I already had a hose cutter, wire cutters, basic hand tools, a drill, a circular saw and a jigsaw. I think those were all the tools I needed.