Finally Splashed My Skater After Many Repairs! (pics)

[Viper GTs]

I bought my Skater last spring, got a fair deal on it but it needed lots of mechanical work...Couldnt drive it due to the weather when I bought it...Heard it run and shift only...Big mistake but would have bought it anyways...Times got tough with work and had to fix it on a tight budget..This spring I started digging in on the repairs. The motors stalled constantly on idle which made it very difficult to dock safley anywhere...the shifters worked backwards...The right motor was fine, but you had to put the left shifter in reverse to go forward and vice versa...That is a nightmare...The shift helm was non reversible..The speedo didnt work...Water pressure gages as well...Tunnel tab and power trim worked intermittently...Trim indicators missing brackets on motors...Hydraulic steering was leaking...Worn steering components...rigging was pathetic...No brakes on trailer...I am sure I am forgetting many other things I have fixed...Found out the left drive had 2.1 gears and 1.87s on the right..Thats why the RPMs were off on the motors...Couldnt afford a new set of gears so had to find some used ones...Finally got some in July....One time out and the right drive blew:nonod:I was very disappointed at that point...Luckily I found a used 1.87 drive a few hours away! The good news it had no issues and works great....Anyways all of the above issues have been fixed with a lot of hard work, friends, and ingenuity...Finally got it out this weekend and it runs great:smiletest: What a difference when you have engines that dont stall and shift properly...Boat is now in tip top shape and ready to fly:smiletest::smiletest: Anyways I can go places now and not worry about docking....Nice to have a boat that is mechanicly sound...Here are some pics docked at Claudio's in Long island this weekend....Hope I can salvage the rest of the summer with no breakage...Alhttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c363/8711260/boat2010006.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c363/8711260/boat2010012.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c363/8711260/boat2010003.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c363/8711260/boat2010004.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c363/8711260/boat2010002.jpg

[jdinny]

Great looking ride.
Good luck with it!
we love our Skater.
jd

[stokernick]

:thumbsup:congratulations,may you now enjoy many,many years of trouble free boating!Looking good!:cheers:

[ChrisM]

I like the "JETSKI INTAKE"!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Brabender]

Nice looking Rig AL

[Charger200]

I like the "JETSKI INTAKE"!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

:iagree:

Congrats for sticking with it, Looks great and im sure it was all worth it in the end:thumbsup:

jay

[sammythebull]

good luck and have some fun, boats are like women they like lots of attention (at least mine is like that) both women and boat

[Viper GTs]

Thanks guys...Yeah it is a labor of love...a bit more than I was expecting :eek: seems all worth it now though...P.S. I took out a 38 foot Cigarette Top Gun on the inside of long beach where I had water fit for a little 24 footer! That felt great :thumbsup: Now you know why I started the hot girls with boats thread :rolleyes: I was pretty board without a boat for most of the summer :thumbsup: AL:thumbsup:

[bulletbob]

Congrats Al! The Skater looks great. Boats are definately a love hate relationship with all the maintenance. Especially with twins. Hope the rest of the boating season is trouble free for you.

[Euroski]

What's the history on it since #19 is on the hull? Was it a race boat? And... looks great!

[patchesII]

Boat looks great. I love the look of it docked there with the other run of the mill boats at the restaurant. Kinda like parking a Vette outside with a bunch of Buicks and Pontiacs.

[200VEGAS]

Looks good, and the worst the pain the better the glory

[Viper GTs]

What's the history on it since #19 is on the hull? Was it a race boat? And... looks great! When I bought it it had all of the numbers on it...Actually I was thinking about removing the numbers...Kinda getting used to them now...It was raced in the 80s on the east coast...Al

[Forkin' Crazy]

Very nice! I love Skaters!

[LowerFifth]

Love the boat, looks awesome, I want one!!! I like the numbers on it

[moomba]

Looks great. Glad that CLE Lower worked out for you.
Enjoy the rest of the summer.
Steve