97 Nautique Super Sport

[jonathswind]

My first Nautique, very excited to build it up!

[scarbs]

Congrats on your first Nautique! That is a fantastic blank slate to work from. Keep us posted on the progress.

[raymanrox]

nice! just finished my 99 super sport I bought last year. awesome boat

[jonathswind]

Thanks guys! raymanrox nice boat!

[s_kelley2000]

Nice looking Super Sport, looks very clean. What are your plans for it? They are a little pricey but if you are thinking of adding a tower you should check out New Dimensions because they have an FCT clone that will look great on your boat.

[jonathswind]

Thanks Shawn! You are correct, very clean with 567 hrs. The interior is excellent. I plan to put a black powdercoated New Dimensions FCT tower, ballast system, wet sounds stereo. Of course all this will be over a period of time. Tower will be first, not sure if I can do the install of the tower myself though.

[s_kelley2000]

I haven't done an NDT myself but I have helped friends with other brand towers and the install was pretty straight forward. Basically measure 10 times and then start drilling. Run the drill in reverse until you get through the gel and then switch to forward to get through the fiberglass. A black NDT is going to look great on your boat! I am not sure how long of a ride it is from you to the NDT plant in TN but if you are nervous about the install you could always drag your boat there and have them do it.

For ballast you can put 750s on either side of the motor and still have room for vests and ropes on top when they are full(I only fill those bags when surfing and keep them at about 400-500 for boarding). The 600 LB Fly High rear seat sac fills up the in floor ski locker pretty well. My 99 has the walk through bow so I use the integrated bow sac under the bow seats but I am not sure what works best in the earlier super sports that have the playpen bow.

[HVL2010]

I did a NDT on a 92 Ski many years ago. It was fairly easy, but nerve wracking for sure. Definately take plenty of measurements and do them a couple times to be sure. Run drill in reverse as mentioned to break through the gel coat. Have a much larger bit to chamfer the holes. Through bolts touching the gel is where spider cracks develop. Be sure to cut some feet from metal or thick plywood, and use "kitty hair" to stick them on and bond to the hull. This will build up thickness under the feet.

That tower was extremely solid and well built.

[jonathswind]

Thanks guys. New Dimensions is 4 1/2 hours from me so I will have to research on cost of installation, drive time etc to see if it will be worth to have it professionally done. This may be one of the things I let a pro do.
Shawn, thanks for the info on the ballast bags, I was wondering if there would be room left in the rear lockers with the 750's in there. The rear bags do not affect the hydro lift do they?

[Brichter14]

How and where did you find that beauty? I've been looking for a clean SS for a month.

[jonathswind]

Hey brichter, I was very lucky. I have been looking for a long time as well and come across a listing on boat trader from a dealership, called and they still had it, two days later I had the paperwork done. There is some cosmetic things I need to do like polishing light oxidation, touch up paint on the windshield, paint the trailer, then other things like getting all the gauges working properly, more teak oil on the platform, but very happy overall!!!

[s_kelley2000]

The hatch actuator lift probably prevents the starboard bag from filling 100% but it gets real close to full. No problems opening or closing the hatch and the bag doesn't seem to be wearing out at all after a season plus of use.

[LKN210]

Great looking boat!! Regarding the tower, did you ever consider a FCT3 (currently on the 200 Sports)? They are the correct beam and not drastically more expensive than a ND tower. I'd be glad to talk about it more with you, feel free to send me a PM. Just wanted to give you another option that you may not have considered.

[jonathswind]

I have not thought about that LKN, that might look pretty good!

[surroundsound64]

Great looking boat!! Regarding the tower, did you ever consider a FCT3 (currently on the 200 Sports)? They are the correct beam and not drastically more expensive than a ND tower. I'd be glad to talk about it more with you, feel free to send me a PM. Just wanted to give you another option that you may not have considered.

That's what I was thinking he should go with. Didn't know how close it would fit though.