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86SKI

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Posts posted by 86SKI

  1. Posted

    21 hours ago, Timr71 said:

    @86SKI So, I've been giving this some thought on how to respond.  Here's my random thoughts: 1. All boats are different, and I'm not just talking about hull and models, I mean each and every boat is different.  Because they're hand made, no two are alike.  So there's some difference between two of the same model that came out of the factory right next to each other.  2. Weight and balance are also a huge issue.  My boat and my cousin's boat are the same hull from the deck down, and they ski differently, but both good.  with regard to weight, we think that my boat has a little less height on the wake due to the weight of the seat structure that we put in the open bow.  What happens there is that slight bit more weight in the nose pivots the boat down a bit and lifts the rear slightly.  3.  weight in the back of the boat is an issue too.  your boat will ski differently with a full tank than with a nearly empty tank.  4. the prop will influence the turbulence on the top of the wake shelf.  And it'll impact the rooster tail too.  Allegedly, the new ACME 541 that I just fitted softens the turbulent area, but I can't say that it does or doesn't because I haven't skied it enough to notice.  Plus I'm trying to come to grips with a new to me ski, so I'm not paying that much attention to what's hitting my legs when I'm crossing the wake.  

     

    I would suggest two things: 1. Get your prop sorted out and 2. experiment with some weight in the nose of your boat. Not a lot of weight though, maybe just like 75 lbs or so.  

    The Centurion Carbon Pro comes with a small ballast tank on the passenger side that can be filled with just the right amount of water to balance the boat against the weight of the driver.  The only negative to a little weight in the front is that it causes the boat to ride a bit more down in the water so it displaces more.  Everything is a trade off though, you know?  

    Thanks @Timr71, I'll definitely see how it changes after getting the prop refinished. The cheap wheel weight ballast is also a great idea. I'll try to post before and after pics if there's any significant change.

  2. Posted

    I have a question about wake size and rooster tail. Lately, I've been noticing that my wake is a bit larger than usual. Then again, this is the first year that I've been actively skiing behind the boat in quite a while but still I don't remember it being as bad as it is now. The worst part is definitely the rooster tail/bump. At 15 off and 34mph, I'm getting smacked in the shins and knees by water when directly behind the boat.

    What could be causing this turbulence? I know my prop is in desperate need of refinishing and balancing. Could this be it? I've already tried skiing with as little weight in the boat as possible and this helps with the wake itself but the rooster tail is still there. Any advice would be appreciated!

  3. Posted

    1 hour ago, ACon977 said:

    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. 

    I'd say that the steering cable is worth the investment since mine broke while on the water earlier this season. I actually did a write up about it on here. So far, I'm loving the Uflex system that I got from SKIDIM.com. Effortless steering and feels great.

  6. Posted

    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

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    25 minutes ago, Praesto said:

    Couple questions -

     

    Who the hell can afford these boats, and also why do they say 25 feet long when it's almost 30?

    1). Boat financing. It's possible to finance a $100k boat for up to 20 years. With a decent down payment, it can make it fairly attainable regarding monthly payments. With that being said, the prices of boats these days is pretty ridiculous.

    2). The garage specs are the dimensions of the boat while on the trailer so you can get an idea of whether or not the trailer will fit in, well, your garage. The boat itself is 25 feet but the trailer is 30. 

  9. Posted

    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.

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    45 minutes ago, Timr71 said:

    I am familiar with this issue.  We did a new cable and helm on my Falcon restore and it was put in reversed to start out too.  Of course, I didn't realize this until after I had backed the boat off the trailer.  With opposite steering I was able to get to the dock so we could switch it out.  

    Its a very weird feeling isn't it? If I had my tools with me, like I normally do, I would have been able to switch it on the water but I live down the road from the launch so I figured I might as well just take it home since it was late anyways.

    35 minutes ago, rhino89523 said:

    Not to one up you....and this is probably more like a one down, I am so dumb sometimes.

    I had a 67 ford pickup, I wanted power steering and disc brakes so I scrounged a bunch of parts that looked like they would work. I put the front end out of a 78 Bronco under it...bolted right up. I used the steering box out of the bronco as well, had to modify the frame a little bit with some tubing to support the bolts between the section of the frame I boxed Bla Bla. The whole swap took me like 6 hours with all the welding and swapping, mind you I am doing all this after work at our shop. I get all done, go to pull it out of the shop, I turn right it goes left...F!!!!

    had to swap to a different box out of a van (I think it was like 20 years ago) to make it all work and re-modify all my welding, I think it took me longer to fix it than it did to do it originally.

    Thanks for the story I had almost put that blunder out of my head...now it's fresh like yesterday. 

    One up, one down, its all the same haha. Making mistakes like these is the best way to learn, because I'll definitely never forget it. Glad I could keep that memory alive for you :lol:

  11. Posted

    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.

  12. Posted

     

    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. 

  13. Posted

    So, I thought I'd share an important lesson I learned yesterday when taking the boat out for the first time after replacing the helm and steering cable on my 86 TruTrac. You can actually find my write-up I did on the replacement in The Official TruTrac-I-II-III and Falcon Thread or in This thread, which included pictures.

    Anyway, I decided to take the boat out for a quick run yesterday after I finally got the boat back together completely. During the installation process, I made sure to align my steering wheel and rudder for a "straight ahead" position. What I failed to check was the fact that when I turned the steering wheel right, the rudder would indeed turn to the right. Now I'm sure that it is stated somewhere in the manual for the helm that the direction that you feed the cable into the helm will dictate what direction the rudder will turn. Apparently I fed the cable in through the wrong side of the helm and, in essence, reversed the steering without my knowing. Right was left, left was right.

    Fast forward to me trying to get the boat off the trailer... I immediately knew that something wasn't right but I couldn't tell what it was. I get the boat off the trailer and proceed to try to pull the boat forward and toward the dock at the boat launch while the girlfriend parks the truck and trailer. I turn the wheel left, boat goes right. Took me about 15 seconds of pure confusion to finally realize what the problem was and about another 45 seconds of the most difficult boat maneuvering I had ever experienced. I got the boat next to the dock, backed the trailer back into the water, winched it up, then got it back home and thought about what just happened. I figured out how to fix the problem pretty quickly but I'm glad that nothing bad happened to the boat. 

    Yes, this may be common knowledge to some, and it was definitely a mistake on my part not checking this before going on the water but it never occurred to me that this could happen! Thought I'd share this in hopes that it helps someone down the road, or makes some of you chuckle a bit. 

    Rotech Helm.jpg

    • Haha 1

  14. Posted

    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.

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    36 minutes ago, Timr71 said:

    If anyone is needing original graphics made, you can find them here:  http://www.vinylapproach.com/replacementboatlogos.htm

    I actually contacted them recently about making replacement graphics made for my 86. Just a heads up, if they do not have a template of the graphics you need, they need pictures with dimensions.

    They also stated:

    "Usually we have you make a pencil rubbing of each on Xmas/Gift wrapping paper taped color side down over and roll them up and mail them to us…Then we scan them and make sure size/spacing is correct to align to gelcoat “ghosted” images of where originals were…"

    Also:

    "Only issue is we are backed up this time of year on such a job so it would be upwards of a month before we could have them ready to produce…" This was about a month ago. 

    Pretty good customer service, will try to post pictures when I eventually get mine made and put on the boat.

     

  22. Posted

    Hi all,

    I have a 1986 Ski Centurion Tru Trac that has been in my family since new. I'm currently trying to rewire the dash and upgrade the fuse panel from the old glass style fuses to something more modern like blade fuses. The old wiring is poorly constructed, starting to oxidize and is causing problems with the gauges as well as navigation lights. I have not been able to find anything even close to a dash wiring diagram for my boat or a replacement harness. 

    If anybody has a diagram or link to a replacement harness I'd greatly appreciate it. 

    Also, if anybody is familiar with the correctcraftfan.com forums, their "reference" section with manuals and wiring diagrams is super helpful. Maybe we could start something like that on here? 

    Thanks 

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