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87malibu

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I just aquired an 87 Skier in a trade. It looks goods and the hull is in good shape. The floor is crap and the stringers are weak. This winter it will get gutted and will redo the stringers, transom, floor and build some side panels for the new stereo going in. As far as 1 test trip it seems to have decent power and the drive/shaft/prop/rudder all seem good and tight. Since I know no background on the motor I plan on a basic rebuild. New exh manifolds are on the list since mine are cracked and welded. I am new to i/b ski boats, but I have done complete restores on 28' offshore v's. So this should be ok just smaller. After all said and done I should have a good solid reliable classic Bu. Here are a couple pics.

On the side note, who can educate me on a good tower for this boat? That is on the list as well.

Thanks and I am looking forward to hopefully meeting up with some of the local dfw BuCrew!

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Welcome to the Crew. Keep in mind you’ll get all kinds of advice from of bunch of people who have proven their average age is about 13…self included. :whistle:

btw: how did you get pics in your post without having a paid membership??? :kewlpics:

:welcome:

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Welcome to the Crew. Keep in mind you’ll get all kinds of advice from of bunch of people who have proven their average age is about 13…self included. :whistle:

btw: how did you get pics in your post without having a paid membership??? :kewlpics:

:welcome:

1. Upload to Photobucket.com

2. Paste Link into post (or use insert image link)

3. Open Beer

4. Add 1 to Ramman17's Rep points.

Photobucket2.jpg

Photobucket.jpg

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I just aquired an 87 Skier in a trade. It looks goods and the hull is in good shape. The floor is crap and the stringers are weak. This winter it will get gutted and will redo the stringers, transom, floor and build some side panels for the new stereo going in. As far as 1 test trip it seems to have decent power and the drive/shaft/prop/rudder all seem good and tight. Since I know no background on the motor I plan on a basic rebuild. New exh manifolds are on the list since mine are cracked and welded. I am new to i/b ski boats, but I have done complete restores on 28' offshore v's. So this should be ok just smaller. After all said and done I should have a good solid reliable classic Bu. Here are a couple pics.

On the side note, who can educate me on a good tower for this boat? That is on the list as well.

Thanks and I am looking forward to hopefully meeting up with some of the local dfw BuCrew!

Looks great, you should have a sweet vintage ride, that one looks like a good catch.

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Wow, that is a beauty, that grey actually looks bada$$!! I like looking at the old skier's way more than the new stuff :thumbup:

There is another member on here with a sweet '88 skier, he will be a wealth of knowledge for you and I'm sure he'll chime in soon. I think he has a Titan 2 tower on his, that would be a great tower for you.

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martinarcher

Wow, that is a beauty, that grey actually looks bada$!! I like looking at the old skier's way more than the new stuff :thumbup:

There is another member on here with a sweet '88 skier, he will be a wealth of knowledge for you and I'm sure he'll chime in soon. I think he has a Titan 2 tower on his, that would be a great tower for you.

Right on! Rockon.gif

Welcome to the square windshield club! Thumbup.gif Great looking Skier! Glad to hear someone else is willing to keep a good looking classic Bu alive! I love the older Malibu's. There are several members here with them. Rugger has done the exact job you are talking about and I'm sure will post the link to the restoration pics of his beautiful Sunsetter.

My Skier has a Titan Series I like NDawg said. It has been an awesome tower and works wonderfully on our boat. With a bit of ballast the boat throws a nice wakeboard wake and with enough weight (about 1000lbs) on the surf side will also allow you to easily surf ropeless as well.

Here's a recent thread you might find useful that another new Skier owner started....

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26602-87-malibu-skier/

Welcome to the Crew and don;t be shy to ask questions about you boat/engine or anything else! Rockon.gif

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Right on! Rockon.gif

Welcome to the square windshield club! Thumbup.gif Great looking Skier! Glad to hear someone else is willing to keep a good looking classic Bu alive! I love the older Malibu's. There are several members here with them. Rugger has done the exact job you are talking about and I'm sure will post the link to the restoration pics of his beautiful Sunsetter.

My Skier has a Titan Series I like NDawg said. It has been an awesome tower and works wonderfully on our boat. With a bit of ballast the boat throws a nice wakeboard wake and with enough weight (about 1000lbs) on the surf side will also allow you to easily surf ropeless as well.

Here's a recent thread you might find useful that another new Skier owner started....

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26602-87-malibu-skier/

Welcome to the Crew and don;t be shy to ask questions about you boat/engine or anything else! Rockon.gif

Everyone thanks for the welcome and nice comments.

Martinarcher, Did you have to add any support to the underside of the deck? The glass seems pretty flexible and I am concerned with cracking or pull through. I did a search on Titan series I, and only found them at wakeborader.com and the their ad was disabled. Are these still available do you know? Thanks again!

Edited by 87malibu
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Everyone thanks for the welcome and nice comments.

Martinarcher, Did you have to add any support to the underside of the deck? The glass seems pretty flexible and I am concerned with cracking or pull through. I did a search on Titan series I, and only found them at wakeborader.com and the their ad was disabled. Are these still available do you know? Thanks again!

They are now called StarOne and are available at onlyinboards.com and other places.

Great looking boat. One thing to consider with that tower is look at MartinArcher's and decide if the rear legs are too far back for your use (short line slalom) or not, otherwise great reputation on those.

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martinarcher

Everyone thanks for the welcome and nice comments.

Martinarcher, Did you have to add any support to the underside of the deck? The glass seems pretty flexible and I am concerned with cracking or pull through. I did a search on Titan series I, and only found them at wakeborader.com and the their ad was disabled. Are these still available do you know? Thanks again!

No problem. I was a bit concerned about the gel coat cracking. I took it to a bit of an extreme and actually made epoxy "bushings" in the fiberglass to take the compression of the tower mounting leg. Another great thing about the Titan product is it comes with nice stainless mounting plates to go under the tower legs to help distribute force across a larger area of the hull. We use the heck out of our tower and have not had a bit of trouble. I would only recommend a Titan after doing a ton of research...

-Stainless tubing and not aluminum

-Heim joints to keep stress off the hull

-Super stable and strong

-Looks great in my opinion

-Normal tube clamp board racks and tower speaker mounts fit fine.

Check out post #32 and #38 in this thread....

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19960-gelcoat-cracks-at-tower-mount/page__st__20__p__302777__hl__hysol__fromsearch__1entry302777

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I found this one, states it is a titan tower. Does not know what boat it fits. Does not include brackets or hardware. Matches the blue on my boat (a Plus) $675 to my door.

Matinarcher, could I ask you what the measurements are on your tower?? Does this look like a series 1? Sorry for all the ?? but looks like I could save a few bones if it will work for me. Thanks again for the advice.

tower.jpg

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martinarcher

I found this one, states it is a titan tower. Does not know what boat it fits. Does not include brackets or hardware. Matches the blue on my boat (a Plus) $675 to my door.

Matinarcher, could I ask you what the measurements are on your tower?? Does this look like a series 1? Sorry for all the ?? but looks like I could save a few bones if it will work for me. Thanks again for the advice.

tower.jpg

That looks like a Titan to me! Here are my measurements. Luckily I saved them on my PC since I'm in Australia and the boats on the other side of the globe. Crazy.gif

1. Spacing between the front mounts (front spread) 57"

2. Spacing between the rear mounts (rear spread) 69 1/4"

3. Front to Rear spread 79"

If I remember right, the legs can be moved up to 2 inches to fit the boat. That would get you close enough in my opinion. I remember my rear hoop being a few inches too wide when I unwrapped it. I wrapped a ratchet strap around it and cinched it down a few inches. Once I took the strap off it stayed perfectly.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looks like a fun project. Let me know if you have stringer and floor questions. I did mine too. Sounds like you already know what your doing. You'll love that skier. Great boat and gets tons of attention on the water.

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