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

[Timr71 30]

On 8/14/2018 at 3:29 PM, ACon977 said:

Our boat has them built into the cap. The wires are run under the bottom of the cap where someone glassed in some old paper rolls (no idea what they actually are, they have rotted out, but the glass is still there lol) 

The wires can be just run back to the same receiver. You can cut holes in the cap and upholstry with a jig saw I would assume. Not sure a hole saw is big enough to fit std size round speakers. In our boat there is one in the front and one in the back on each side. This is a pretty standard way to do it which wouldnt involve much. 

That Bolster should be removable from the cap, but I would imagine that the fiberglass behind it has a half moon cut to allow the speaker to have clearance. When you lifted the cap, did you lave the bolster attached? I'm assuming that you'll remove it to get them reupholstered. Are you going to keep the spartan head logo on the new upholstery? When I did my boat, I lost all of the centurion logos and graphics. 

[HuD91gt 2]

Hey guys,

 

Heres my Falcon I bought last fall. After a summer of mechanical issues (self imposed) and a lack of tow rig we got all of 1 day on the boat. Refinished the swim grid (spent upwards of 20 hours on it), to only get mouldy again.   Spring tuneup, and I ended up having two plug wires backwards. It stumped us for ages as it actually ran quite well, just idled slightly off (my father was a career mechanic, and I have rebuilt a few cars myself). Due to this we never ran it as poor idle was caused the transmission to make noise (perhaps flywheel spring system, I forget the name). Once I figured out the plug wires she ran like a champ.

Finally bought a vehicle which can get it in and out of the water (stays on the dock all summer), but after more investigation I may have under estimated the weight. I was hopeful the boat didn’t weight more then 2500lb. I’ve seen a source for 2800lb.  We have a single axle trailer. Does anyone have a confirmed weight for a 1991 Centurion Falcon (perhaps with trailer). My new tow rig is maxed out at 3500lb.

 

But on to the pictures!  

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2019 by HuD91gt

[Timr71 30]

Hi Hud,

Nice looking Falcon. Glad you got it running good again. 

As to your question the NADA boat guide says that a 1991 Falcon weighs 2500 lbs. Your single axle trailer doesn't weigh 1000 lbs for sure. Maybe 750ish. Keep in mind that your boat has about a 25 gallon gas tank and so that'll add another 175 lbs when it's full. I think you'll be fine, just don't overload the boat (or the vehicle) with other heavy stuff.  

Enjoy the boat, looks great! I see some classic wood skis in there.  

 

-Tim

 

 

[HuD91gt 2]

Thanks. Yes, wood skiis found in the back of the shed. Having spent many summers on skiis and other sports I had nevwe tried slalom skiis. I failed. I tried dropping a ski over and over. Couldn’t do it. So I tried a water start. Popped right up.ha.

I am quite concerned about the tongue weight when the boat is on the trailer. I’m fairly use to moving 300lbs around at the gym, and despite some awkward handling of the tongue, I can’t budge the trailer up.  The vehicle has a limit of 350lb for tongue weight.  Anyone have any experience with moving the position of a boat on that style trailer? Everything seems to be welded in place without adjustability.

i hope to get a more accurate tongue the next time I see the boat (it’s about 5 hours away).

Edited February 8, 2019 by HuD91gt

[Timr71 30]

Proof of 25 gallon tank:

[HuD91gt 2]

Hey Guys,

Just popped my ‘91 Falcon in the water for the year after a summer full of troubles last year.  Running like a champ so far.

 

A few questions for experienced Falcon owners.

1) What was the factory top speed and rpm of the Falcon?  When I purchased the boat, the previous owner said it “lost 10HP” when he swapped out the carb.   Obviously inaccurate but it does make me believe the carb could use a calibration (would love to hook up a wideband 02). The boat seems to top out at 37MPH according to one of the speedos. The other doesn’t work. (Why is there 2?)

 

2) How big is the factory prop?

 

since everyone loves photos.. polished up and ready to go in.

[HuD91gt 2]

To add, I have an Edelbrock Performer intake ready to be bolted in at some point. I also have a spare Megasquirt ECU I’ve tossed around putting into to get theboat fuel injected. I’d most likely use a TBI setup of some sort for simplicity.  A MSD Blaster Coil on the sidelines as well. I love having spare parts around.

I’m on the search for some GT40p heads.

[Timr71 30]

That is a nice looking boat!  Let me see if I can sorta answer some of your questions:

1. Best guess on factory top speed would be in the 43-44 mph range, maybe 45. With a different prop you could probably get near to 50 mph, but you'd be giving up low end pulling power that tournament ski boats are known for.

2. Two speedos goes back to it's tournament ski towing roots.  The speedos are notorious for going out, getting something clogged in the pick ups.  So, there's two so hopefully at least one will keep working.  I have one not working in my boat now.  For speed though, load a GPS app to your phone and use that to see how fast your boat is going actually.  The speedos tend to not be calibrated correctly too.  

3. Factory prop size, I believe was 12 x 12 3 blade.  On a 1 inch diameter shaft.  

 

I just replaced my prop with an ACME 541. That's the preferred replacement for slalom skiing.  Do some google searching on props.  The best prop for you will depend on what you intend to primarily use the boat for.  Good luck!  

[HuD91gt 2]

Thanks Tim.

I was able to get out on the lake once more to test the top speed. I downloaded a GPS app, and to my amazement the speedo was dead accurate!

37MPH is all she’s got, and that’s only turning around 37-3800 RPM. Something is definitely up.   I haven’t been able to get under the boat and check out my prop. But it’s either not making enough power with the stock prop, or it’s been propped way too big!

Edited May 30, 2019 by HuD91gt

[Timr71 30]

You should be seeing 44-4500 rpms.  These boats have a 1:1 transmission and you should get approx. 1 mph per 100 rpm.  Good luck.  

[HuD91gt 2]

Well, I found out my electronic prestolite distributor was only advancing 10-12 degrees, bringing in total advance at only 22 degrees! I’ve since ordered the other replacement module I can find made by Pertronix.

In the mean time, I advanced the base timing to 15 degrees, which gave me 27 degrees total timing. Sadly I saw no increase in top speed. I was hoping to see a good jump. I guess I will see when the actual part comes in.

Guestimating the throttle position, I can get about 32mph out of the boat before the secondaries open up.  Does that seem about right? Or am I dragging a big anchor?

[laketappscenturion 0]

Hi all! new here and happy to finally find some info and great reading on this boat. It was a hard search to find any info or reviews or anything like that. I just purchased a 95 ski centurion falcon xp last week. Live on lake tapps in Washington and got the boat in the water on Monday. After cruising around and hanging out I have noticed a few things that maybe some one can shed some light on or give some insight on a fix. I have noticed that the boat idles pretty high when in neutral and when you go to push throttle into forward or reverse it kind of like jumps. not a real smooth transition like I have felt on some old boats. also not good when I have kids hanging out in the boat. any info will help and here is a pic of the boat. 

thank you

josh  

 

Edited August 9, 2019 by laketappscenturion

[HuD91gt 2]

Is it carbuerated?  A flathead screw driver on the end of the linkage will lower your idle, your loooking for around 800 RPM in neautral, 600-650 in gear. If you tach is anything like mine, at the lower RPMs it’s not even close to being accurate.

 

you know it’s too high, drop it so it is not too low when in gear.

[Mordecai 1]

I'm looking at purchasing this 1986 Ski Centurion Trutrac for $4,000. Any thoughts on the price? I'm thinking it's a fair deal. 

Edited August 11, 2019 by Mordecai

[HuD91gt 2]

Solid interior. As long as the floor and stringers are secure, I’d say it’s a solid buy.

[Timr71 30]

Great looking boat...mine is essentially the same.  I would say that idle RPM is 600 - 750 and it drops about 150 RPM when I drop it into drive and when I do it's buttery smooth. My does have a bit of a clunk when going into reverse, but it's not concerning...yet. Could be your damper plate or you may need a transmission rebuild.  

[bosman 2]

Hey everyone!

Just picked up this 82 trutrac!  she needs some tlc so I was curious if anyone had a good website for oem parts?  might be a stretch to find these old parts but thought I would ask!  thanks for your time

[Timr71 30]

The three best places I've found for parts are:

1. Discount Inboard Marine: https://www.skidim.com/

2. Great Lakes Skipper: https://www.greatlakesskipper.com/

3. Ski Boat Parts Online: https://www.skiboatpartsonline.com/index.php

The real trick to finding what you need is figuring out what will work on your boat off of other tournament ski boats of the era. That will include Mastercrafts, Natiques, Supras, Supremes, Ski Brendellas, American Skiers, and so forth. The drive trains and most of the underwater hardward were the same. I was recently talking to Ron at Ski Boat parts online and he said there was a lot of similarity among the boats built in Tennessee, but things got more difficult to match up when it came to the west coast boats, like your ski Centurion. 

 

Good luck and post questions here. We'll do what we can to help. Also some of the other brand boards, where there's lots of guys who've worked on older boats will be helpful too...if you ask nicely.   

[bosman 2]

Thank you so much for the links and the information Tim!  I really appreciate it!

[HuD91gt 2]

I need to order a starter for my 1991 Centurion Falcon. It’s 6 hours away. Can anyone tell me if the 351w used in these boats are CW or CCW rotation?