1996 Sport Nautique Powerplant rebuild or swap

[Canuck-Surfer]

I'm considering getting a project 96 Sport Nautique. It will need full skin and some foam replacement, new deck (some soft spots/rot), new wiring harness (mice damage...see other post), and possibly engine rebuild.

The big question is what are my options for the engine. My local shop that knows the boat well has suggested changing the powerplant out to a Merc Power sports package. Considering the price of a rebuild and the damaged wiring harness, it might be a good price (wiring harness alone from the Nautique dealer quoted at $2000). The shop does a fair amount of work on Nautiques/PCM and has lots of respect for them, however, they are NOT a Nautique dealer/shop. They are a certified Merc shop. Their input is that if it needs a new engine, going Merc will be cheaper to maintain and repair in the long term vs the discontinued PCM Ford engines.

I've tried to search the forums for powerplant swaps to Merc on older Nautiques but haven't found anything. Has anyone heard or seen this before? Pros and Cons? Thoughts? Fire away.

[hal2814]

I respectfully disagree that a new Merc will be cheaper to repair and maintain than a working PCM GT40. PCM has maybe the best parts availability in the marine space. I’d try NautiqueParts or SkiDim for that harness. I also suspect it will be way more expensive to competently convert your setup to Mercruiser and in the end you’ll have a bit of a Frankenstein that will be harder than it probably should be to resell if the need ever arose.

[Canuck-Surfer]

I respectfully disagree that a new Merc will be cheaper to repair and maintain than a working PCM GT40. PCM has maybe the best parts availability in the marine space. I’d try NautiqueParts or SkiDim for that harness. I also suspect it will be way more expensive to competently convert your setup to Mercruiser and in the end you’ll have a bit of a Frankenstein that will be harder than it probably should be to resell if the need ever arose.

That makes sense. That is exactly why I'm asking here, thanks for the quick feedback! I sent skidim a message this morning. They actually have a Ford harness on their website (https://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=R121025A)...does this look like an entire harness or just the ignition part (per the title of the part). $85 is a lot better than $2000!!

Also, I've seen a couple of post about some guys having GM engines. PCM was only Ford on the 90-96 Ski and Sports though, correct? I thought the GM blocks didn't come until after 98. Or did they exist earlier?

[hal2814]

I’d call SkiDim and tell them what you have. What you’re looking at is the harness for the engine. There should also be a dash harness that runs to the dash from the engine. If you’re dealing with rat infestation, you’ll likely need both. And Ford May have different harnesses for the GT40 vs non-GT40 351s.

Only is a strong word for anything hand built in relatively small batches. 90-96 wasn’t as Wild West as the late 70s at Correct Craft as far as engines go but the 454 was an engine option around that time. It was more common on the Barefoot Nautique though. The Ford 351 block was by far the most common on Skis and Sports. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say all engines were PCM by the 90s. I don’t think there was a PCM 350 at that time.

And one thing I didn’t think about earlier is if you repowered to a Merc, it’s probably going to spin the prop in the wrong direction. Correct Craft boats were predominately right-handed in the 90s and as late as 2006. Almost everyone else was left-handed. I doubt Merc even has a right-handed setup. It’s not the end of the world but it’s not what that hull was designed for.

[gary s]

Wrong harness that's for a carb'ed 351. There was just a complete FI setup for a gt40 for 40 bucks on Seattle craigslist 2 days ago, obviously for that price it's gone already. They sometimes come up on Correct Craft Fan once and awhile. You could check with Jody at Florida Inboards and see what he has,some times he has that stuff. As to rotation starting in 89 all but the very basic bare bones SN's were lefty's- prop rotation was done in the trans. A good rule thumb with Ford engines up to around 2001- if it has a BW 1:1 trans,which is rare, it's a right hand engine,if it's got a PCM 1.23 :1 it's a left hand engine. Gm's were pretty much an option on all of them. You of course can put a PCM GM bobtail in it- PCM makes motor mounts for a GM motor to fit the exact same engine mounting holes of the Ford. This is an expensive option too. PCM list prices are approx 672.00 for the main engine harness,163.00 for the injector harness and another harness called engine pcm multi port for 60.00. Going to be a big project, this stuff does not come up when you need it but when it does you have to jump on it

[Canuck-Surfer]

Wrong harness that's for a carb'ed 351. There was just a complete FI setup for a gt40 for 40 bucks on Seattle craigslist 2 days ago, obviously for that price it's gone already. They sometimes come up on Correct Craft Fan once and awhile. You could check with Jody at Florida Inboards and see what he has,some times he has that stuff. As to rotation starting in 89 all but the very basic bare bones SN's were lefty's- prop rotation was done in the trans. A good rule thumb with Ford engines up to around 2001- if it has a BW 1:1 trans,which is rare, it's a right hand engine,if it's got a PCM 1.23 :1 it's a left hand engine. Gm's were pretty much an option on all of them. You of course can put a PCM GM bobtail in it- PCM makes motor mounts for a GM motor to fit the exact same engine mounting holes of the Ford. This is an expensive option too. PCM list prices are approx 672.00 for the main engine harness,163.00 for the injector harness and another harness called engine pcm multi port for 60.00. Going to be a big project, this stuff does not come up when you need it but when it does you have to jump on it

Thanks Gary! I think I'm going to stick with the existing Ford setup and keep it original. Btw its the GT40 Pro Boss / PCM HO 5.8 with EFI and mated to a PCM 1.258 Transmission. I got up under the dash today and could not see any signs of mice damage there. Below is the picture of the damage on the engine. Can you tell if the damage is the main or injector harness. Also, do you have those part numbers so I can do a search online?

[ohiowake2]

I had a couple of GT40 engines I made into one in doing a rebuild because my boat was originally in FL and has some saltwater deterioration. I have some extra harnesses and things if you are needing some and engine parts also.

[Canuck-Surfer]

I had a couple of GT40 engines I made into one in doing a rebuild because my boat was originally in FL and has some saltwater deterioration. I have some extra harnesses and things if you are needing some and engine parts also.

Thats amazing! I just sent you a PM.

[gary s]

That's the 672.00 main harness and really does not look that bad. If Ohiowake has it your all set. I would never throw that old one out though. It could be spliced soldered and heat shrinked back to service