87 Malibu Skier

[skier_88]

I just bought an 87 Malibu Skier. I am new to Malibu. Any thoughts? It has a Ford 351 in it. I've always been a fan of Mastercraft so this was a big jump. Any thoughts are appreciated from the neebie.

[JeffS]

Not a lot of old Skier folks on the board. A couple of die-hard fans of the old boats. Welcome. How's the new boat? What's the condition...especially floor and stringers. Give us some info! :-)

[shade]

Skier 87,

Welcome aboard. Lets see some pics of the boat. Martin Archer has a 86 Skier IIRC and he will be a wealth of knowlegde if you have questions about the boat. Also, he seems like a great DIYer and not afraid of tackling most projects, so if your boat needs some work and you have questions he will be your go to man.

BTW, I think an 87 Skier is a much better looking boat than a similar era MasterCraft Prostar. Though, I do admit that the late model Prostars look damn good.

Edited June 2, 2010 by shade

[skier_88]

Boat seems to be in great shape. Runs great and sounds great. Much better than the new ones. I like the rumple. The interior needs to be replaced. The guy before me already rebuilt the floor and said the strings look good. How can I check that? What should I look for? The boat is the light blue and "rainbow" color. Not a fan but oh well. I just need info on interior basically. What about the 351 Ford? Any information on that motor and what I need to make sure to maintain. Who is this guy I need to talk to about it? How can I get a hold of him? I'm sorry, I'm new and don't know all of the tricks to this site yet.

[JeffS]

For the interior - my suggestion is to take it to an upholstery shop and have them do it custom. There is a guy who gets talked about on this site - name is Chi - who has a lot of old patterns for interiors. Not sure if he'll have patterns for an 87 interior or not. But in my experience, finding a marine upholstery shop to do a good custom job is in a lot of ways better and often cheaper.

351 Ford. Good motor. Just normal motor maintenance is all you need to know for starters. Use the search feature for things like Oil Change, Transmission Fluid Change, Bilge Pump, Thermostat, Impeller - things like that. Leak Down Test, Compression are two more that you might want to tackle. You'll get the hang of it.

You can find users from the menu bar. But unless you have a specific question, I'd just keep it general.

Many times, when the floor gets replaced, stringers get worked on too. They're pretty important. The way to check the stringers - pull the engine hatch and floor covers, tap the stringers with a metal pick or sharp leather punch. If it sticks when you are tapping along the stringer, it's soft. If it just clicks when you tap it on the stringer, you're golden. To access all of the stringer for testing, you have to take the floor out. It's a really, really big job.

[skier_88]

Ok, so its an 1986, not 87 haha. Any ideas where I can get a cover?

[sprdave]

I got a stitchmaster from Costco a while back. I think Overtons has a cover too.

I have an 87 Skier with a 350 Mercruiser.

Some Pictures of my work.

[martinarcher]

Welcome to the board! The Skier is my favorite Malibu.

Thanks for the intro shade!

I have an 88 which is almost identical to your boat, but mine has the Mercruiser (GM based small block). The motors in our boats need very little maintenance. Just keep the oil changed (every 50 hours). If your not sure how long it has been I would recommend starting with an oil change. It will help you become familiar with the boat. the second most important maintenance on the motor is a proper winterization in the fall. If not done correctly, it won't get to see another season of use because the fresh lake water int he block will crack the engine colling passages and then the entire block itself.

If your boat has the points ignition system you can upgrade to electronic ignition. Pertronix make drop in modules that fit right inside your existing distributor. Check out you plugs and wires as well as the rotor too. Replace if they look like they need it. It's money well spent.

Check your rudder. On the 87-88 Skiers the rudder port is a brass assembly with flax packing rope. If the rope wears out and degrades, the rudder will develop side to side play and begin to leak. I rebuilt mine this spring. I have a 34 page how to Word doc if yours needs redone that will certainly help. The only thing you need to buy is $10 worth of packing rope.

A Skier is a boat built to be light and throw a very light wake that is great for slalom skiing. I love to try and run the slalom course, but hey.....I like to wakeboard and surf as well. I ended up designing a ballast system for my skier that fills the internal fat sacs via the flick of a switch and empties it the same way. It uses 1000lbs of water and two fly high 500lb V-Drive sacs. We also have a 1000lb bow sac tucked under the bow, but rarely use it as the Skier's wake just dies if any weight is added to the front of the boat. Any wake enhancing weight needs to be added along or behind the engine. The results are great with the two 500lb sacs. We have been throwing inverts and can easily surf ropeless. Anyone who says you needs a VLX to surf isn't trying hard enough to surf behind their boat. My surf save isn't the Hawaiian ocean wave that Blue Thunder throws, but it is still a lot of fun.

Pics of wake/surf here....

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22539-93-skier-wake/page__hl__surf

Youtube vid of ballast system here....

I threw a Titan tower and a custom sound system on mine with Wesounds Pro 80's on the tower and a Kicker L7 12" sub and vinyl color matched box at the drivers feet.

Good luck with the boat. Feel free to ask if you have questions or PM me with questions.

[martinarcher]

As far as the interior and the cover....

I got my cover from Cory at Evolution Covers. He didn't have a pattern for the skiers, but he does now!

Call Cory at.....

(425) 478-2043 between the hours of 7am-4pm PST Mon. thru Fri.

http://www.evolutioncovers.com

Here are pics (starts on post #25). You can't get a better cover....

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/20623-evolution-cover/page__st__20

The interior.....certainly give Chee at the Merced Malibu factory a call. A local shop would do a good job, but Chee does a Malibu job. What I mean is you will get skins for your boat that look like a modern Malibu with the logo stitched right into them. There have been a couple other guys on the board that got their skins from Chee and the results are awesome. My interior was re-done by the previous owner through a local shop and it looks fine, but looks just like to original interior did, without any modern designs or Malibu logo's. It would look awesome with a Chee interior. I'm working hard to wear it out again and have Chee stitch me up another one!

Here is his contact info....

Chee Upholstery Supervisor at the Merced Malibu factory

209-564-6202

Pics of his work on Levi's Skier interior...

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/20057-what-to-do-for-a-floor/

Oh, and when changing the oil, you will need an oil extractor. The pan is way too close to the hull to even get the oil drain plug out let alone a pan under it. Check it out and you'll see.

Here's some info on the Skier oil pan...

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/23543-93-skier-maintenance/page__p__341717__fromsearch__1entry341717

[rugger]

welcome.... another boat for the square windshield club!! I've got an 87 sunsetter that I rebuilt a few years ago and am glad I did. Still a great boat, and I still have no boat payment. You can make your boat like new for cheap if you're willing to get your hands dirty -- or just cruise it as is (also recommended) and enjoy your summer without the headache. As you can see you'll get plenty of help from this site, just be sure to return the favor to others with any DIY projects.

Here's a link to my redo from a few years ago. Might be helpful for the interior. I decided to sketch up some designs for a more modern look... although I was really torn over losing the classic look too. Chee can do both.

http://picasaweb.google.com/myfourday/MalibuFinished#

Should be similar layout.

[BigJerDog]

Heyas... Welcome... I also have an older skier. The only thing I would say is "Ditto" You just got a ton of great info that will help you out. I have done the floor and stringer replacement as well. Hope that you have good stringers cause that job is a pain. If you do end up needing to do that feel free to hit me up with questions. Thanks martin... Didnt know about the rudder and ignition stuff. Now I got a new project to work on!

[msuwaterski]

I just bought an 87 Malibu Skier. I am new to Malibu. Any thoughts? It has a Ford 351 in it. I've always been a fan of Mastercraft so this was a big jump. Any thoughts are appreciated from the neebie.

A big jump in the right direction! I skied behind MC's all through college and once you go BU you'll never go back. Welcome to the crew!

[martinarcher]

welcome.... another boat for the square windshield club!! I've got an 87 sunsetter that I rebuilt a few years ago and am glad I did. Still a great boat, and I still have no boat payment. You can make your boat like new for cheap if you're willing to get your hands dirty -- or just cruise it as is (also recommended) and enjoy your summer without the headache. As you can see you'll get plenty of help from this site, just be sure to return the favor to others with any DIY projects.

Here's a link to my redo from a few years ago. Might be helpful for the interior. I decided to sketch up some designs for a more modern look... although I was really torn over losing the classic look too. Chee can do both.

http://picasaweb.goo...MalibuFinished#

Should be similar layout.

That's the other classic Bu interior I was thinking of that Chee did that really updated the boat! I forgot he stitched up yours as well. I love the logo on your rear seat cushion! Nice touch!

[martinarcher]

Heyas... Welcome... I also have an older skier. The only thing I would say is "Ditto" You just got a ton of great info that will help you out. I have done the floor and stringer replacement as well. Hope that you have good stringers cause that job is a pain. If you do end up needing to do that feel free to hit me up with questions. Thanks martin... Didnt know about the rudder and ignition stuff. Now I got a new project to work on!

The projects never stop if you keep looking.

I'll have to convert the How-to on the rudder from a Word doc to a thread in the maintenance section before long so everyone that might benefit can use it. Good to see my long flights to Australia can be productive!

[skier_88]

Wow, great help! I love this site, its amazing. I will be posting pics soon. Outside of the rainbow color, the boat is great. Just small projects. I'm dreading the oil change

What to do with the fuel filter? Change every year too?

[termite]

Welcome aboard ! There is a lot of great info on the site you just need to cruse around a little. I would check all the safety stuff first(blower,fuel lines,battery ect.). Don't check the stringers until the end of summer. There are some greate check lists as well as maintance info here.

[martinarcher]

Wow, great help! I love this site, its amazing. I will be posting pics soon. Outside of the rainbow color, the boat is great. Just small projects. I'm dreading the oil change

What to do with the fuel filter? Change every year too?

Yeah, I do mine every spring. Just don't dump it out to get rid of the water it has collected and re-install the same one or all the sediment get stirred up and make it's way to your carb filter.

[skier_88]

Just waxed and did some major cleaning today, almost water ready. The bumper rail is coming loose. What is the best way to fix that?

Also, my boat has a white hall. I washed it with soap and water and a few brownish spots appeared at water level. Does that have anything to do with stringers or just wear on the paint? I'm nervous about the stringers. THe guy before me replaced all the floor and said stringers look ok so he didn't replace them. I just been keeping everything dry.

Thanks for all the help.

[Malibu_Rob]

Welcome to the board...I am new here too. I have an older skier that I am trying to get fixed up for some family fun. Hope everything works out for you and your boat!!

[martinarcher]

Just waxed and did some major cleaning today, almost water ready. The bumper rail is coming loose. What is the best way to fix that?

Also, my boat has a white hall. I washed it with soap and water and a few brownish spots appeared at water level. Does that have anything to do with stringers or just wear on the paint? I'm nervous about the stringers. THe guy before me replaced all the floor and said stringers look ok so he didn't replace them. I just been keeping everything dry.

Thanks for all the help.

No, stringer damage wouldn't show through your gel coat. They are only in the middle of the hull and only meet the exterior of the boat on the bottom and at the transom. The gel coat is probably just stained from lake water. Try a cleaner made for removing lake scum (I know soap and water won't touch our lake scum on the white parts of my hull either). I use this stuff....

Available at my marina, but at lots of places online too....

http://www.iboats.co.../view_id.168298

Edited June 4, 2010 by martinarcher

[skier_88]

Ok, boat is almost a go. I started doing a little interior work. Going to stay with the old for another season. Now, after I reupholstered the sides (I don't know what that trim is called, but it goes on the fiberglass from passenger seat to the rear seat and from drivers seat to rear seat) can someone tell me if the back of the back seat should be able to be removed without removing those trim pieces? I got one side together and don't see how the back of the back seat can be removed without removing some of the side trim. Let me know!!

Maybe one of these days I can get it in the water.....

[sprdave]

The back of the back seat is carpet. The upholstery is stapled to the end of the carpet with a million stainless staples, right? You can probably tear the rotten carpet out and leave a tiny bit under the edge of the upholstery. I've been working on my interior too.

Some pictures here.

[skier_88]

No, I mean can the seat be removed without taking the side trim panels off. For example, above your side speakers. I been redoing my upholstery and the side trim pieces were not on the boat. I built new wood and re upholstered them. I put one side on and the back seat seems like it is harder to get out now, when I pulled it to work on gas tank. I didn't know once I attached the other side if my back seat will not be able to be removed without taking the side trim off.

[martinarcher]

My back seat comes out fine with the side panels on. Just remove the two hinges that fasten it to the floor and lift it straight out. You should have plenty of access to the tank by just swinging it forward though.

[skier_88]

Ok, got it to work. It is a little tight though. I sort of need to twist it out. Boat is ready for water. Thinking tomorrow or Thursday will be the maiden voyage. I'm nervous. I got approval from an 83 Mastercraft Stars and Stripes owner. He liked it!