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Timr71

The Official Tru-Trac [I, II, III] & Falcon Thread

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86SKI    12

 

21 hours ago, 86SKI said:

So, I replaced the helm and steering cable assembly on my TruTrac this weekend. I thought I would share my experience for anybody who wants to do something similar in the future. I am posting the majority of this as text here, but I also have a photo album with some pictures and essentially the same writeup, since this site has such a small limit on attachment size, which can be accessed via this link: PICTURES!

Some background info on the steering system on my 1986 TruTrac to get started since I couldn't find similar information anywhere on this forum or elsewhere on the internet. 

Old Helm: Teleflelex (now SeaStar) Big-T Helm Model #TEL-SH5000 

Old Cable: Teleflex SSC7217 Cable (SSC72xx is the base part number and 17 is the length of the cable in feet)

New Helm and Cable: Rotech Uflex System, Item #2417 on SKIDIM.COM

While I did not take many pictures during the removal and installation process, there are some things worth mentioning. First, since it was supposed to rain all weekend up here in Michigan, I decided to try to get the boat into the garage for the first time. I'm surprised I got it to fit on the first try!

To get a general idea of how to replace the steering cable in your boat, refer to THIS VIDEO by Ron Tanis of skiboatpartsonline.com. Something to keep in mind while watching this video. The complete engine and transmission assembly is removed, which made a pretty significant difference to in my boat. This is because the steering cable in my boat was routed directly under the rear port side engine/transmission mount. This meant that when I was pulling the old cable out of the boat, the nut that secures the old style teleflex cable to the helm could not fit between the hull and the engine mount. This prevented me from pulling the cable out of the boat and I ended up having to cut the old cable in half with a Sawzall and pull the rest of the cable out from the engine compartment.

Thankfully, the new helm and cable install went very smoothly. I ended up routing the new steering cable around the rear port engine mount which didn't make any significant difference and the cable pulled through the boat smoothly. 

One thing to keep in mind if you decide to switch from the old Big-T Teleflex helm and cable to the Uflex helm and cable... The Uflex helm quite a bit shorter than the Big-T helm. This will mean that the steering wheel will sit closer to the dash and in my case it obstructed the view of my Tachometer, but that doesn't bother me much. What does bother me a bit is the fact that the Uflex helm bezel does not cover the holes left by the old Big-T helm bezel, as you can see in the pictures in the linked album.

While I was at it, I decided to overhaul my clamp block assembly since it was essentially bone dry and suffering from some pretty bad oxidation. I disassembled the clamp and mount, hit it with the bench grinder and wire wheel, painted with some rustoleum rust stop (Ford Gloss Grey), lubed it up with some heavy grease, and I think it came out looking pretty good. 

Again, I recommend looking through the photo album linked here: https://imgur.com/a/6BHhKQF as it makes a lot more sense when you can actually see what I'm talking about.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please see the post I just made about an important lesson I learned yesterday about helm replacement in the Maintenance, Performance, and Troubleshooting thread HERE

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Timr71    30

86Ski - a couple of questions: 1 - I looked at your pictures, seems like you could make a black circular veneer to cover the old holes?  2 - what lake(s) do you go to in Michigan?  I grew up there, twice, in the West Bloomfield area and I was surrounded by lakes including Orchard Lake, Long Lake, Walnut Lake, and Cass Lake.  

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Timr71    30
On 4/26/2018 at 0:26 PM, jago bay baby said:

here is another question for the guys with older boats what kind of oil are you running in your 351w engines i run valvoline vr-1 20w 50 but was thinking of switching to royal purple HMX– HIGH MILEAGE SYNTHETIC MOTOR OIL

I think I just used Castrol 20w50 last time.  I change it at the end of every season.  

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86SKI    12
36 minutes ago, Timr71 said:

86Ski - a couple of questions: 1 - I looked at your pictures, seems like you could make a black circular veneer to cover the old holes?  2 - what lake(s) do you go to in Michigan?  I grew up there, twice, in the West Bloomfield area and I was surrounded by lakes including Orchard Lake, Long Lake, Walnut Lake, and Cass Lake.  

Timr71- 1). I was thinking the same thing. Also, I'm sure I could just find a larger diameter bezel that will cover the old holes. It's not super pertinent, purely aesthetic lol.

2). I grew up going to the west coast (St. Jo, Benton Harbor area) of MI with my family every summer with the, now mine, 86. I just moved to MI about 2 years ago and live in Howell now. I've been on Belleville, Chemung, and I live very very close to Thompson which is where I've been going the most lately. I'm a bit west of where you were in West Bloomfield but am planning to meet up with a few other Centurion owners on White Lake.

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Timr71    30

White lake meetup sounds like fun.  Take lots of pics and post some...especially if there's some other classics like yours there.  

A couple of links for you guys.  This guy, Austin is his name, is doing a full stringer up restore of a 1987 Ski Centurion. I'll send him a PM and see if we can get him to join us over here too.  

1987 Ski Centurion Restoration

Here's my restore thread: 

1993 Ski Centurion Restoration

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86SKI    12
29 minutes ago, Timr71 said:

White lake meetup sounds like fun.  Take lots of pics and post some...especially if there's some other classics like yours there.  

A couple of links for you guys.  This guy, Austin is his name, is doing a full stringer up restore of a 1987 Ski Centurion. I'll send him a PM and see if we can get him to join us over here too.  

1987 Ski Centurion Restoration

Here's my restore thread: 

1993 Ski Centurion Restoration

Timr71- I have to say, your boat is absolutely gorgeous. Great colors, beautifully restored, also made the same year I was born! Also, I've been following Austin's build for a while now. Great boat as well.

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Timr71    30

Exciting news: I just received my ACME 541 prop.  We'll get to try it out maybe Sunday.  I'm sure it'll be an improvement over the 30 year old stocker.  

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86SKI    12
17 hours ago, Timr71 said:

Exciting news: I just received my ACME 541 prop.  We'll get to try it out maybe Sunday.  I'm sure it'll be an improvement over the 30 year old stocker.  

Please let us know how you like it. My prop is in desperate need of refurbishing and I have been playing around with the idea of buying a 541 and keeping my old prop as a backup.

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Delta-Dog86    0

New to the site, all of the knowledge and expertise from fellow Centurion owners is awesome. I have an 89 Tru Trac ii with 530 hours.

Does anyone know where to purchase a new glove box? Is it even possible? 

Also, any recommended engine mods for 351? As of now all it has is aftermarket Holley carb. Engine runs great but I’m always looking for improvements...

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Timr71    30
10 hours ago, Delta-Dog86 said:

New to the site, all of the knowledge and expertise from fellow Centurion owners is awesome. I have an 89 Tru Trac ii with 530 hours.

Does anyone know where to purchase a new glove box? Is it even possible? 

Also, any recommended engine mods for 351? As of now all it has is aftermarket Holley carb. Engine runs great but I’m always looking for improvements...

Glove box: your boat uses the same glove box cover as my boat (1993) somewhere in the 1995 range the glove box lid changed shapes.  I was able to purchase a replacement for my boat from Great Lakes Skipper, but I don't see that they have on listed on their website as of right now.  You can keep checking there and/or call them to be sure.  If you can't find the stock cover you're going to have to get creative and start shopping for lids that are the dimensions of the original.  

Upgrading your 351 - you can do a lot of research on this one.  Most will: switch to electronic ignition, change the heads, change the cam, etc.  I'll put a link below, but you can search for 351 upgrades on both the Mastercraft Teamtalk site and correctcraftfans.com.  Lots of guys have documented their results there.  

351 upgrade

541 - the new ACME 541 prop runs great on my boat.  I really like it.  We've skied it a bunch this week and there's a definite performance increase from the original OJ 13 x 13 3 blade.  The boat comes out of the hole strong and smooth and gets on plane in a hurry.  From there you're up to skiing speeds 34 - 36 in just a few seconds.  I didn't put a watch on it, but my cousin who's a very strong skier gave it positive marks.  

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86SKI    12

Had a great time skiing this week, although I ate it harder than I ever have this past Friday. Learning to really commit to crossing the wake on the slalom ski and every now and then, you get bit. 

I had a great encounter with an owner of a 1990 Falcon Heritage Open Bow who seemed like he was really into the brand. Didn't get to mention the forum but I'll try to direct him this way if I see him again. Also beached next to this 1993 Falcon Barefoot. Owner didn't really take care of it and needed some love but regardless, I had to snap a pic. 

20180630_105625-1-.jpg

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Timr71    30

Wow.  That's a nice looking barefoot.  Those have a cult following too.  Go over to ballofspray.com and do a search for outboard ski boats and you'll find a few guys with barefoot centurions in their history.  

 

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ACon977    0

Hey All! 

Glad to be joining up on another forum that's more specific to Centurions than to a rebuild in general. 

Thanks Tim for throwing out my rebuild thread, its going slowly but glad to have some good experience over on iBoats for the glassing and woodworking tips. 

Here are a few pictures of my old boat, the floor and stringers were rotten so I have them all cut out and putting all new structure from the hull up. 

1987 Ski Centurian.jpg

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86SKI    12

Welcome to the site!

Your rebuild is looking great so far, can't wait to see it when it's all done. It's awesome to see people still giving the older boats the love and attention they deserve. How much longer do you think it will take until you finish the boat structure? Also, any plans on repowering?

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86SKI    12
19 hours ago, Timr71 said:

Wow.  That's a nice looking barefoot.  Those have a cult following too.  Go over to ballofspray.com and do a search for outboard ski boats and you'll find a few guys with barefoot centurions in their history.  

 

Yeah they're cool boats for sure. The owner really didn't know what he had and didn't care too much either, which is a shame. 

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Timr71    30

Welcome Austin! Glad you made it over here.  Our little group sometimes gets lost among the giant surf boat threads, but we're here.  The purpose is to share ideas and part finds and stuff like that.  And post pics of awesome old boats.  

I saw a Ski Centurion on Cherokee lake this past weekend in Tn.  I was 85% positive that it was a Centurion, but not 100%.  They came into my cousin's cove and went under the bridge to do some swimming.  I almost idled over to get a closer look at the boat and talk to the owner, but I didn't.  I happened to be pulling my nephew on a knee board when they idled out from under the bridge...that's when I saw that it was a Ski Centurion.  I think it was a DD, but it could've been a V-Drive.  Oh well.  

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rhino89523    34

I don't own this other site or anything, but I goof around on a site called wake garage, it's all about DIY projects and I have seen multiple stringer replacement projects and interior redo's on older ski boats. It's all about building something into what you want it to be not just buying a new $100,000 boat and taking it to the dealer. Check it out it's pretty cool and you can get some great advise on bigger projects. Like I said I don't own it or know anyone off of the site....but it can be helpful.

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ACon977    0
2 hours ago, 86SKI said:

Welcome to the site!

Your rebuild is looking great so far, can't wait to see it when it's all done. It's awesome to see people still giving the older boats the love and attention they deserve. How much longer do you think it will take until you finish the boat structure? Also, any plans on repowering?

Thanks 86ski! I am excited to start putting the structure back in the boat for sure. Stringers are almost done, then engine mounts, pylon mounts, and floor. My goal is sometime in August to have it in the water, doesnt have to be completely finished, but I think that would be a great turn around from starting in March.

Im not considering repowering at the moment. It has an old 351W which seems like someone got it up and running and then didnt take care of it. It has the carb upgraded to a Holly, new hoses, wires, and ignition coils. I had to replace the starter because it wasnt turning over for me and purchased new exhaust ports. I may also replace the steering cable since it felt a little stiff. 

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