My first post and introduction to the PN Community.
I recently acquired a SV211 that had been sitting for years. I bought it from the original owner, who had a handful of years of fun, but then just got busy and it sat, and the longer it sat, the more he would have needed to do to get it out, and that cycle continued. I inquired, he gave me the rundown on what he knew, but it sat for 3/4 of it's life, so other than being DIRTY, there was a lot to this purchase that was a gamble (drivetrain, electronics, pluming, etc), so we agreed on a price and signed papers.
Before I give more, I will say, I've been in, on, and around boats my whole life, but any that I've owned and worked on before were outboards. I've always loved Nautiques, but just wasn't in the cards for me. So the inboard and v-drive world is very new to me. I've worked on boats, hulls, outboards, and also cars, trucks, jeeps, dirtbikes inside and out...my wife and I love a good project, so here we go!
We bought tires, confirmed the trailer lights and brakes worked, then checked the wheel bearings out and towed it home 500 miles - all good!
Here's what I've done, and further below is what I need to do.
Even with the gauges not fully functional, I've read the boat operates fine (at least I have the engine vitals in the LCD's. I've towed people for 40yrs and never had perfect pass before! But I am looking forward to having it on this boat.
That's my story so far. I'll add to this with what we work on and what works out. If you read this far, thank you!
Below are a couple pics of my 'barn find'
I recently acquired a SV211 that had been sitting for years. I bought it from the original owner, who had a handful of years of fun, but then just got busy and it sat, and the longer it sat, the more he would have needed to do to get it out, and that cycle continued. I inquired, he gave me the rundown on what he knew, but it sat for 3/4 of it's life, so other than being DIRTY, there was a lot to this purchase that was a gamble (drivetrain, electronics, pluming, etc), so we agreed on a price and signed papers.
Before I give more, I will say, I've been in, on, and around boats my whole life, but any that I've owned and worked on before were outboards. I've always loved Nautiques, but just wasn't in the cards for me. So the inboard and v-drive world is very new to me. I've worked on boats, hulls, outboards, and also cars, trucks, jeeps, dirtbikes inside and out...my wife and I love a good project, so here we go!
We bought tires, confirmed the trailer lights and brakes worked, then checked the wheel bearings out and towed it home 500 miles - all good!
Here's what I've done, and further below is what I need to do.
- Inspected the engine, drivetrain
- Changed raw water impeller
- Pulled all plugs, borescoped the cylinders for condition, fogged them over night, turned engine by hand
- Drained 15 gallons of 15 year old fuel out of the tank, put some e85 in (to dissolve residual gelled gas) and towed it around a bit to slosh around the tank
- Drained out the e85
- Changed engine oil, transmission fluid, v-drive oil (all looked super clean, no signs of water or rust above oil line on dipsticks)
- Cleaned the anti-syphon fitting, cleaned the pre-filter, cleaned the FCC canister and installed new filter
- Check the cap and rotor, cleaned the points up. They weren't bad, but probably original, I just haven't gotten that part to replace yet
- Decided to see what happens when firing it up before pulling fuel rails and injectors
- Put in 2 new batteries...will there be power?
- Added 5 gallons of gas with seafoam to help clean the fuel delivery
- Took me a WHILE to get power, my wife pointed out the main power switch by my calf under the dash ;-)
- After a few tries, the pumps started priming, once I could hear the tone difference of fuel on them, we fired it up - and it ran (on Fake-a-Lake)
- SO - EFFING - EXCITED!
- I let it run a bit, then cool down, then run and warm up a bit, and cool down. I want to get the initial gas w/ seafoam through it before adding more
- I've put a bunch of water in the bilge, watched for leaks (didn't see any) and tested bilge pumps, all good
- I found out my ballast tanks have the 2-way pumps and all fire up, I'm excited about that
- These **** Faria gauges! Ugh!!!! None of them work (needles)
- The good news, the LCD on Tach and Speedo do work, and do give my readings for engine temp and oil pressure, etc.
- The lights work on most the guages, no action from the needles
- Lots and lots of troubleshooting. turns out my Gateway does seem good, it's sending signal and I can measure readings all the way to the end
- I've been looking at @TechBeer's postings on fixing these gauges, and that will prob be a next step
- Perfect Pass - blank screen. It beeps when I press buttons, but no readout on the LCD
- I did read a thread about replacing the display in the gauge, but it seems that may no longer be an option?
- Need to source a Driver curved window. Previous owner came home one day and the glass was shattered all over boat and driveway.
- Has anyone tried the Plexi-glas option? I'm struggling to find a windshield from a salvage
- We considered fully removing the windshield for the time being. I haven't seen a Nautique without one, but I can't be the first. Our other boats have gone quite a bit faster than this boat will and we never had windshields.
- My wife has done an amazing job cleaning the interior and revitalizing the seats. Unfortunately, so much of them are beyond gone with stitches pulling apart, some staining, and some cracks. Majority of the cushions are light (white/grey) but the areas that are black trim are mostly dried and cracked bad. For the time being, it's vinyl tape repairs. We can't sink the upholstery money in until we have other priorities handled. I can't express how filthy it was with layers of dirt in every nook and cranny and the leaves all over and in everything
- Faded / oxidized gel coat. I'm pretty sure the cutting, buffing, polishing will bring it back, but it will be effort. If need be, I can wet sand it, but I'll try cutting it first
- New speakers - the old stereo works (bonus, the PO left a Dire Straights CD in it!) but the tweeter cones are a bit rotted
- MORE to be found and added
Even with the gauges not fully functional, I've read the boat operates fine (at least I have the engine vitals in the LCD's. I've towed people for 40yrs and never had perfect pass before! But I am looking forward to having it on this boat.
That's my story so far. I'll add to this with what we work on and what works out. If you read this far, thank you!
Below are a couple pics of my 'barn find'
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