Neglected Supra 1992 Comp ready to start restoration

[colindawson]

Hi everyone,

I am a new member and have what I know to be a Supra and believe to be a comp model ski boat. I have neglected the boat for the 10 years I have owned it other than having the engine serviced, which is about the only thing that works! I have basically left it in a warehouse for 50 weeks a year and used it for 2 weeks skiing on holiday. I have some time now as my employers have put me on 6 months gardening leave so I intend to give it some TLC.
Reading the threads it sounds like I should start with taking up the floor and seeing what is rotten? It does take in a little bit of water when moored overnight but drains down and is kept in dry storage.
Sealing up where the water gets in?
Replace and glass in the wood.
Remove the instruments and check the connections. The speedos do not work as I believe the little pipes that come out of the back of the boat have broken off and are probably blocked.
The rev counter just doesnt work!
The lights do not work, but I ski on a river and do not use it for anything other than skiing so not to bothered about them.
Some of the upholstery is ripped. The 3 back seat cushions and the drivers cushion.
I also need to remove the decals and spray the red stripe down the side as its very Matt, will this polish up?
It is a nice flat waked ski boat but my son who is now 24 likes to wakeboard as well as slalom, what would you suggest here, a tower, some kind of removable ballast?
Any suggestions on the way to go about this would be greatly appreciated. I am British, live in Switzerland and the boat is in South West France! If anyone knows any suppliers in the Toulouse area that would be great!

Thanks in anticipation, Colin

[92SupraComp]

is that really a 92 Comp Classic? What are the last 2 digits of the hull ID?

Also, I'm in the same boat, lol. My parents bought our comp in 94. All that we have done is used it. Still runs great, and everything works fine, just needs lots of love. We are getting the upholstery redone. Etc...

[colindawson]

I honestly do not know. Where are the hull ID digits? I will have to look next time I am in France.

My muffler ( I take it that is an exhaust silencer? ) Is also not very well, the engine backfired and it blew up! I think it may have loosend over parts of the exhaust which may be causing the leak!

How do you find out the spec as you have detailed above? I just bought it as it looked OK and ran well. It has been a great boat for the 10 years I have had it given that I have neglected it.

[DAFF]

Given the age (1992) it is more than likely is composite with a square windshield. To be certain check the floor boards and seat backings and compare with the hull identification number on the right side of the transom near the rub rail.

As for the rest of the issues they are mostly wiring and very common with age. The majority of these sound like there is no ground at the helm, causing the instrument and lighting faults. Give her some love she deserves it. These boats are timeless in style and look so great in the water. As for sacking it out and making a wake board boat out of it it can be done but the Comp has its limitations.

[colindawson]

It does have a 2 piece square windscreen with triangular side screens that open it has a wooden floor, does that mean its an older boat than I believe? Thanks for the advice on the wiring. I understand what you say about letting the boat do what it is designed to do, it is a great slalom ski boat.

Is there a good supplier who would ship parts to europe from the US or should I try and find someone locally? The ignition failed last year and cost me 1700 euros, about $2200 to replace as I was told there were no parts available due to its age. I have no idea if this was reasonable or not?

[trayson]

Maybe you should check out Skidim.com

I think you got ripped off on the ignition. Skidim is expensive on some things and reasonable on others and they have the ignition retrofit kit for $549USD.
http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=RK107025A

And since I have friends that are ford mechanics, I could get my stuff retrofitted to a distributer if I wanted for less than half that. There are many things that are direct swaps with Fords on these engines. For example, SKIDIM wanted $129 for a ring gear for the flywheel. I was able to go to my local auto parts store and source one for $22.

But for you, Skidim could be a fantastic asset. Also maybe try iboats? http://www.iboats.com/Boat-Parts-Accessories/dm/

[Syntek]

Hi Colin,

It seems we have almost identical boats (mines a 1990, based in UK) same colour though too. I've been lucky in that the boat is new to me but has been looked after to some degree so no major repairs (yet). Will be keen to see how your restoration progresses.
Cheers,
Oli

[colindawson]

Thanks for the links they will prove really helpful to me in the future I am sure, with the price differences it would be as cheap to fly over and bring them back in my luggage! I think I need to find out everything I need and get an order into them.

[colindawson]

Hi Oli, the links above will be brilliant for us when it comes to parts. Where do you ski? I used to be a member at White Cross on the Ouse but moved the boat to Moissac on the Tarn in France a great little ski club with a slalom course and jump.

Cheers, Colin

[trayson]

Thanks for the links they will prove really helpful to me in the future I am sure, with the price differences it would be as cheap to fly over and bring them back in my luggage! I think I need to find out everything I need and get an order into them.

Well, I hope they help. I looked at Skidim and it appears that they ship internationally. There is a drop down where you can choose about any country in the checkout screen. Also, I would encourage you to use their tech support at Skidim. They have guys there that are AMAZING in their knowledge of how to do stuff. One of them Vince used to have a Supra Comp, so he would be a great one to talk to if you ran into problems.

[92SupraComp]

Now, for the exhaust. Do you have the large chamber on the back of the motor? If so, PITA to get out and back in. But, if you hollow it out like mine, oh boy. You will love the sound. Very loud though, but unique and loud. Is heard over 2 miles away. Sound imitates a big block.

Actually, funny thing. My boat back fired real bad years ago as well and my chamber blew apart as well! It was already hollow inside. The 1st owner severely overheated the motor and cooked the internals of the muffler bad. And he just did a cob job of fiberglass repair, he just used the mat stuff, not the woven.

[colindawson]

Yes its a big black plastic box on the back of the engine. When it blew up I had the cover open and it whacked me on the head, I will not do that again! I bodged it up with fibreglass matt as we were on holiday at the time, its not very pretty and leaks water. Would it make sense to run the pipes straight through?

[92SupraComp]

Well, did it have the baffles still in there or was it hollow? I am very interested to see what the baffle setup shoud be, mine has been hollow ever since my parents bought it. Now, It depends on what kind of sound you want. If its hollow, thats as loud it will get, if you 2 straight runs, it will sound very different, and maybe even be a bit quieter. With the chamber and the dual out, the sound resonates and through resonance it is louder

[colindawson]

It just had chambers with nothing else in it. No kind of sound deadening. Basically a big black plastic box with plastic walls forming chambers. If I open it up again to do a proper job of the repairs I will post some photographs.

[92SupraComp]

Those chambers, are the baffles, they redirect the water and exhaust and are made to different specs, supra wanted a loud sound so these by no means are considered a silencer. I would very much like to see the inside if you do open it up again.

Our CC has an InvertaFlow (by Centek) Silencer. Holy crap, talk about quiet. Once you get like a 1/4 mile away you can barely hear it. Our supra, a mile away you still hear fine :D

[colindawson]

Hi,

I have this number: xkb01012f091 does that identify the boat? How will can I find the spec etc?

Thanks, Colin

[92SupraComp]

Well, i cant tell you much other than you have a 1991...

[trayson]

Well, i cant tell you much other than you have a 1991...

I would agree. My hull ID # ends in "92" for my "92". That said, if he has a 1991 with a square windshield, I'd say we can be pretty confident that his boat has WOOD stringers and such. Not a composite one like ours.

[86 century]

I highly recommend the fine folks at discount inboard marine. On my first order from them what was a total of maybe $20 worth of packing rope I didn't know witch size I needed so I just ordered both. They recognized that and called me to help find out what I really needed.

Our bravura has been running just fine without the muffler for at least two years now.

[92SupraComp]

The muffler has nothing to do with performance. Its purely sound. Instead of tuning in an engine, its tuning in the sound. With out the muffler you get a loud old school sound of true duals. I do not know the sound of the original muffler as our was broken up when we got it. (the internals) With it in place you get a loud deep tone, sounds bigger than a 351w, and is heard over 2 miles away pretty easy...