New Member - 1980 American Skier Questions

[Rodneyls]

Hi all,
Great to see this site. I was searching a few years ago and couldn't find anything. I have a 1980 American Skier (original owner) with a Commander Marine Corp. 351 Ford that has 89 original hours. About 10 years ago somebody stole some parts off the boat. (It was in a locked garage.) I want to get the engine running again and get it back on the water. My memory isn't what it used to be, and I can't remember details. I'm missing the carburetor (and ball linkage that connects to the throttle cable), air filter, coil, and distributor. Also they cut 3 wires. Here are my questions:
1. What size carb. did they use? I know it was a Holley and I'm guessing a 650cfm vacuum 4 barrel. Looking for the model or something equivalent.
2. Linkage - There was a 1/4 inch? ball/bolt that was attached to the carb. and snapped into the throttle cable. Anything special here or can I get it at a local boat shop?
3. Air Filter - This was a metal mesh if I remember correctly. A couple of hoses/lines go into it. Where can I find another?
4. Coil and bracket - Is it a marine type? I've seen some by Pertronix. Which one works?
5. Distributor - Probably some marine type. I have seen some by Pertronix, but not sure what model.
6. Three cut wires - Two are by where the coil used to reside. One is grey and the other is red.I think the gray is for the tach and goes to the negative side of the coil and the red to the positive. There is another red wire that seems to be coming from what looks like the starter relay. It was cut somewhere near where the coil was located. Does this also go to the coil?

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for putting this site together.
Thanks,
Rod

[backfoot100]

Hi all,
Great to see this site. I was searching a few years ago and couldn't find anything. I have a 1980 American Skier (original owner) with a Commander Marine Corp. 351 Ford that has 89 original hours. About 10 years ago somebody stole some parts off the boat. (It was in a locked garage.) I want to get the engine running again and get it back on the water. My memory isn't what it used to be, and I can't remember details. I'm missing the carburetor (and ball linkage that connects to the throttle cable), air filter, coil, and distributor. Also they cut 3 wires. Here are my questions:
1. What size carb. did they use? I know it was a Holley and I'm guessing a 650cfm vacuum 4 barrel. Looking for the model or something equivalent.
It would be Holley 4160 600CFM vacuum secondary. Make sure it's a marine carb. These can be picked up at almost any marine store (expensively though) or my suggestion would be Summit, Jegs or somplace similar.
2. Linkage - There was a 1/4 inch? ball/bolt that was attached to the carb. and snapped into the throttle cable. Anything special here or can I get it at a local boat shop?
These should be able to be found at any marine store or try skidim.com. The throttle cable wasn't cut was it? If so, that may need to be replaced.
3. Air Filter - This was a metal mesh if I remember correctly. A couple of hoses/lines go into it. Where can I find another?
Same as #2. This is a flame arrestor.
4. Coil and bracket - Is it a marine type? I've seen some by Pertronix. Which one works?
I would say that depends on the make/type of distributor you want to install. See the next answer.
5. Distributor - Probably some marine type. I have seen some by Pertronix, but not sure what model.
Yes, it needs to be a marine unit. The question you have to ask yourself is do you want a factory points unit or a more modern electronic? I personally would recommend a electronic unit but there are others who would definitely disagree. Especially if the boat only has 89 original hours on it!!!! Ron T. would probably have some recommendations and possibly a line on a factory unit and I would suggest waiting on his input. The type distributor would determine to some extent what coil you need.
6. Three cut wires - Two are by where the coil used to reside. One is grey and the other is red.I think the gray is for the tach and goes to the negative side of the coil and the red to the positive. There is another red wire that seems to be coming from what looks like the starter relay. It was cut somewhere near where the coil was located. Does this also go to the coil?
I would also wait for Ron on this. The grey one is indeed the tach and and would be on the coil neg. side. There should be a violet one someplace from the plus side of the coil that runs to the ballast resistor and I would assume that the red one from the solenoid is also to the plus side. After I changed out my distributor to an MSD unit, my wire locations changed sslightly so I don't recall for sure what went where in the stock configuration.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for putting this site together.
Thanks,
Rod

As a side note, welcome Rod. Some pics of your boat and the missing parts/pieces would be nice and we could probably be able to assist some more.

[Rodneyls]

Thank you backfoot100 for the accurate and quick response! This helps me a lot. I can go either way with the ignition system. So if you have an MSD set that could be used, I would like to know what model. My red wire to the coil was tapped off a violet wire by the electronic choke, so I'm pretty sure it is the positive feed. Let me do a little research from your information and I'll get back to this post.

Thanks again for your help,
Rod

[Midskier]

Rod

If I don't have what you need, I have sources for it as already mentioned in response to your e-mail

Dan Tanis
219-365-1466
www.Midwest AmericanSkier.com

as well Ron will help with great enthusiasm too
www.RonTanis.com

Eddie, Ron and I would appreciate suggesting either of us for boat part and service needs b4 other venders

thanks again
Dan T

[Rodneyls]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the information. Great forum here for American Skier. I've already contacted Ron Tanis about spare boat parts and received his spreadsheet. Trying to put the pieces back together. I also need a cover and will get a hold of you or Ron once the boat is running again.

Thanks!
Rod

[backfoot100]

Eddie, Ron and I would appreciate suggesting either of us for boat part and service needs b4 other venders

thanks again
Dan T

Sorry Dan, you are absolutely right. I keep forgetting that you and Ron have the the parts, pieces and knowledge to help out guys like Rod with AmSkier specific needs.
My apologies.

Eddie

[56mulberry]

Rodneyls...if you need any specifics or pics let me know..I also have a 1980 American Skier...mine is "tangerine and cream" and has a few extra features, according to Ron...curious if yours does too?

Glove box under L-seat,  longer grab rail by passenger L-seat, built in Halon fire extinguisher system in engine compartment (since removed...), etc...

welcome to the club!

[Rodneyls]

Thanks 56mulberry!

I have a blue and white 1980 American Skier. Getting motor parts together and hope to fire up engine in about 2 weeks. Not sure what will happen, but I think it will run. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks!
Rod

[Rodneyls]

My 1980 is running again! After locating a carb, coil, distributor, and other parts from the vandalism for a 351, it started after 11 years! Thanks to everybody for helping me wiring etc. I ended up using an electronic ignition from Mallory. Only ran it for 10-15 minutes because it was getting late. I'll run it again tomorrow for at least 30 minutes. Hopefully in the near future, I'll send some pictures. Thanks again!

[phil]

My 1980 is running again! After locating a carb, coil, distributor, and other parts from the vandalism for a 351, it started after 11 years! Thanks to everybody for helping me wiring etc. I ended up using an electronic ignition from Mallory. Only ran it for 10-15 minutes because it was getting late. I'll run it again tomorrow for at least 30 minutes. Hopefully in the near future, I'll send some pictures. Thanks again!

Glad to hear it!!

[Joel]

GREAT NEWS!!!    Its always nice to hear the rumble of those engines after a long nap...

Joel

[56mulberry]

My 1980 sat unrun full of water an dleaves in terrible shape...but all I did to motor was replace hoses, plugs, wires and a quick check over and cranked it right up! love it.... good job!

[Rodneyls]

Nice 56mulberry! Great to hear that! These boats hang in there year after year! I need to get my seats back in and clean it a bit. Then I'll send some pictures. Probably next week when I get some time.

Rod