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Kevin89MC

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Everything posted by Kevin89MC

  1. I love that you're doing this, and can't wait to hear more about the results! As a fellow Minnesotan I also feel the need to keep occupied in the winter months. I have a very long list of things I need (and get) to do, so unfortunately ski adjusting will never be in my foreseeable future. But as an engineer I totally get the desire. With the expected "warm" temps coming soon, maybe a few lakes will open up and you can try some ideas out! 🙂 Good luck in your pursuits! Kevin
  2. I have battled tennis elbow (from racquetball) for a number of years, and I've had a bit of golfer's elbow over the years as well, but I don't golf a ton so that typically doesn't get too bad. (I'm a lefty golfer and righty for racquet sports so the right elbow gets all the abuse.) Fortunately it doesn't seem to bother my skiing, as it usually gets a little better in the summer when I stop playing racquetball and start skiing. I've talked to a few doctors about it, and they gave me a few exercises and massage techniques and they do help. It was getting pretty bad in 2019, then the racquetball season got cut a bit short from Covid so that heled some, but it did come back. When we got pretty much shut down for a season in 2020 it finally mostly went away. I think the long rest was the main thing that healed it. One doctor said that once it gets pretty inflamed, it needs a long time to heal as there is not a lot of blood flow right where the tendon attaches to the bone. Right after that I started wearing a compression sleeve (per doctor's recommendation) on my elbow when playing and that helps to really keep it at bay. Not sure if that would help for golfer's elbow though. However it might force me to keep my elbow straighter! John I noticed you said to always get up both palms down. I've never done that but seen other people doing that. I wondered if that was just the way they learned, or if that was to be easier on the arms. I'll have to try and see if it helps me. Kevin
  3. Honestly more storage/space was one of the bigger reasons I upgraded from my 1989 ProStar. Loved that boat but as the kids were getting bigger and wanted to bring friends & more gear, we were getting really cramped. Being a course skier I did not want to take a step backward in wake. As I enjoy footing and wakeboarding as well as slalom & trick, I found the 1999+ Malibu Response LX fit my needs very well. The trunk can hold a boom, skylon and several skis, and can even get a surprising amount of stuff under the passenger seat even with the open bow. If you're gonna stick with the MC then definitely build a custom rack off the pylon. I contemplated doing that on my MC before switching. Good luck!
  4. I don't really have any substance to add as I'm just a mediocre course skier (getting into -32 on a good day) and a mediocre mechanic (try to keep all my vehicles and boat out of any shop for all maintenance and repairs if possible), but I just wanted to say I find this thread absolutely fascinating! Thanks to this forum (and my main ski partner) I'm skiing as good now at 53 as I ever have, and I try tackle more projects as the years go by (learning how to weld, re-upholstering my boat seats, about to dive into fiberglass and gelcoat repair) all because of my quest to learn more and get better. I love the knowledge sharing! Wouldn't be where I'm at without the internet, the key is figuring out the good info from the bad! 🙂 Scott I really appreciate & respect your desire to make a better (or at least unique) boat, and I love reading about other's knowledge about tournament skiing, engines and ZO/PP. Thanks John for hosting such a great platform for discussions like this to take place, and good luck Scott with your project however it develops. Looking forward to seeing however it shapes up! Kevin
  5. I got a 1999 Response LX (step over open bow) a few years ago and have driven/ridden in my cousin's same '99 RLX since they got one new. My '89 ProStar was a great slalom boat, but it was tough to bring friends along when skiing. I brought water over the windshield on that boat twice as I was learning how to safely operate it with big waves around. One of the main reasons I got the RLX was because of the open bow. It is also better for slaloming, wakeboarding, footing, open water cruising, and the 1-2 times a year we feel like surfing it, it does OK-my youngest can even occasionally throw the rope. (We only do that on a big lake, out in the middle-I don't ever want to be accused of being that guy us slalom skiers hate.) I've had a little water spill over a few times, but I've never dunked the bow on that boat like I did on the old Prostar. My wife and I will occasionally pull a skier in the course with 1-2 in the bow, but only on our private lake or if there are no other boats out on public water. My daughter is a great slalom course driver, but she will not drive with anyone in the bow, she just doesn't feel comfortable doing it. We took it out on a very busy lake on the 4th of July on a big lake in the metro (White Bear Lake), as we had several folks who wanted to go for a pleasure cruise. There were a million other boats out, we maxed out our boat with people and I drove, and I warned everyone to stay seated at all times we were under way. I also warned them that I will occasionally need to throttle up if I see waves coming, sometimes with very little notice. I made sure we had USCG vests readily available for everyone plus a throwable. Our outing was great and uneventful, but we could not believe it when we saw someone out not just skiing, but dropping a ski. There were also 2-3 others out tubing. Absolutely insane to us. I'm certainly not the best boat driver, but I feel like I've spent enough time behind the wheel to have good common sense. I like to think that it is not that hard, but when I teach someone new how to drive, I realize that there is a ton of things I take for granted, and it really is not as easy as it looks. I'm certainly not one for more government regulation when it is not needed, but I firmly believe that it is way too easy to rent a boat, or get a vehicle license for that matter. More training and the right education would prevent a lot of accidents, both major and minor. So if you know what you're doing, open bow ski boats are great and can be used safely. But I do agree that the risk factor increases quite a bit over runabouts/pontoons/etc. It's the ones that really don't know what they are doing that we all need to be ever watchful of, regardless of what they are driving either on the water or the road.
  6. Great ideas folks, thanks. Didn't think about FB marketplace, TomH you're right there's a bunch on there. I forget how much stuff is on there these days.
  7. We forgot to pick up one of our combo skis when teaching someone to drop a ski, and it is gone. Does anyone have a pair of general combo skis for sale? Don't need anything fancy, just a pair for teaching new folks how to ski. There is nothing on ski-it-again. I'm in Minnesota (the Twin Cities metro area) but I make it up to the Brainerd area every few months. Thanks! Kevin
  8. Yep just to triple-confirm, I replaced both filters on my 1999 Response LX a few years ago and kept record of it on my spreadsheet-Wix 33033 for that one 🙂 Kevin
  9. If anyone is somewhat serious about that 2019 Prostar on Minneapolis Craigslist I can see if I can stop by to look at it (I live in the Twin Cities) to see if it's legit Kevin
  10. Second vote here for Rush-co as well. We had an old Shore Station pontoon lift with no canopy, bought the canopy hardware from Shore Station and the sales guy said you can buy the canopy from us if you want, but if you want to save a lot of $ for the same quality, go to Rush-co. We got a vinyl one, fit perfect, great quality, but it is heavy. Got it in 2014 and still looks great.
  11. Yep Minnesota winters can definitely get long! Not sure how long the wife will let me stay here 😉 Not sure the kids want to come back after college either 😞 Lots to do if you can deal with the cold. "There's no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing choices" holds a little bit of truth but there comes a point when I'm really looking forward to shorts & sandals. Gotta find a way to stay active, my main one is racquetball 3X a week followed by a super hot session in the steam room, no dry skin here! Here is my screen saver to remind me of the fun times in summer coming up soon!
  12. Good to see so many other wrenchheads 🙂 I also do all my own maintenance on my new (to me) '99 Response and did it on my '89 ProStar. Did a carb rebuild and put GT40 heads from a junkyard on the Prostar. Did new seat bottoms on the Prostar and the Malibu, did trunk cover & added a seat heater on the 'bu. Had to redo the shower and heater on the 'bu, and added SG. Sewing is an art, takes time to get it looking decent. Gotta get into fiberglass/gelcoat work too, that's gonna take some time to develop the skill. Have a '76 Hobie Cat 16 that I'll be trying fiberglass/gelcoat work on first. Started out of necessity (couldn't afford to pay for a mechanic), stuck with it as it's kinda fun, and I enjoy figuring stuff out. Haven't had a boat repair yet that I've had to pay for. Gonna teach myself how to weld soon as well. Also do all the maintenance and any repairs I can on the 4 vehicles: '89 Supra, '00 CRV (kids car), '14 Jetta and '15 Cherokee.
  13. Wow, very interested in this too. I've been thinking about how to solve our wave bounce-back problem at a slalom course I ski on a lot. Most of it has a pretty steep rock wall on one side (it was an old quarry) and depending on the water level, it can get a little rolly in the course after 1-2 passes. That Wahoo Wave set up looks really cool. If anybody install this next to a slalom course, I'd love to see some video of it in action. Kevin
  14. I have done it several different ways with both boats I've owned over 25 years. On my '89 MC ProStar (351 carb), it ran poorly on high octane fuel (which was the only non-ethanol fuel I could get) so I always ran it on 87 octane with 10% ethanol fuel. The only time I _didn't _keep either Seafoam or Stabil in the tank was when I knew I'd run through it within a week or 2. In the beginning I always kept it full and stabilized over the winter, and the ethanol fuel never gave me any problems. One fall I forgot to fill it up in the fall, had no problems the next spring. I also recall forgetting to have stabilized fuel in at the end one season, and still no problems the next spring either. That spring I did fill it up completely with fresh gas and Seafoam, and maybe got lucky with no issues.I usually store my '99 Response (EFI) with however much gas is in there (usually 1/4 tank as I don't like a full tank for slalom). Always stabilized for the winter, usually ethanol free (but not always), no problems so far. Obviously I think stabilized non-oxy is the best for the winter, but I tend to think fresh gas in the spring is better than burning a full tank of 6+ month old gas in the spring. So I think that having the fuel system in good shape and using good quality stabilized gas are the most important things for storage.
  15. Did the survey, good luck with the product development. I got tennis elbow from racquetball maybe 5 years ago, it lasted for several years. I did not play in the summers (when I switched to skiing) and while skiing didn't make it worse, it may have prevented it from completely healing. I used an adjustable strap while playing which kept it from getting worse. The pain would usually be almost all the way gone by late fall when I'd start playing racquetball again, but it would always come back. Went to PT and got some good exercises which also helped. What appears to finally have cured it (at least for now) is taking an entire year off (2020) of playing during Covid. Continued to ski a bunch over the summers, and I played a full season last winter/spring. No pain for the whole season, and nothing yet so far (knocks on wood!) I also used a compression sleeve toward the end of the last season, and continue to use it every time I play. I do believe that helps, and I don't mind wearing it. If someone else comes out with something better, I'd definitely try it.
  16. I replaced all the seals on my baggy probably 10 years ago, still holding good. Suit is probably 25 years old. Got the kit from Overton's I think, worked well. Had to scrounge around the kitchen/garage for the right sized spheres to prep the seals, never thought about something inflatable. Take your time, make sure the prep is good and good luck!Kevin
  17. I had @dbski make one as a present for a friend's wedding years ago, it turned out awesome and was loved by everyone who saw it!
  18. I tow my '99 RLX with a 2015 Jeep Cherokee. 4500# tow capacity so it does OK, but recently lost it's AWD. Still launched and went skiing anyways, but it wouldn't pull it out with just front wheel drive, so had to go old school and have the boat "push" the jeep while I drove out! Hoping it's a cheap fix, but fearing not. It's got 215,000 on it, so can't really complain.
  19. The trailer I picked up a few years ago had the gatorback material on it. So far so good. It is a bit more $ than carpet, but seems to last a long time.
  20. I had my '89 Prostar for about 20 years, and it was very reliable. I did have to do a few things to it, but nothing major out of necessity. I did put GT40 heads on it which really gave it a nice boost in power, which it needed. I have not skied behind any other late '80's boats, but from the friends I've talked to who have, the Prostar was by far everyone's favorite boats of the 80's as far as ski wake. Added bonus is that I believe MC was the only one using fiberglass stringers that early ('83 I think), most others didn't switch until the 90's.
  21. Actually I should have stated that I also could not read the numbers on mine, and Bakes stated that 30 lb were for everything I mentioned. Originals certainly could have been different. My original trunk ones would barely help open it, and just barely keep it from falling down, so they maybe were 20 lb, in addition to being old.
  22. Wow, that is really coming along nicely! Awesome work! I posted a bit before, I have a '99 Response LX that I got cheap as it needed a lot of work, but not nearly the amount yours did. Someday I'll post some pics with what I've done, but it's not nearly as ambitious as yours. I also needed a new trunk lid and muffler access panel. I decided on HDPE, got a sheet through Menards. Initially it seemed like it would be strong enough, but the material has a slight bend to it that I just couldn't work out. It worked well enough for the muffler access panel, as I reinforced it on the bottom with some aluminum angles. But it has sagged a little bit the other way on the trunk, and it definitely flexes when I pull it open from one side. I will be curious to see how your plywood works out, I wish I would have gone that route. I did the vinyl myself, not an easy task for either sewing or install. Did the driver and passenger seat bottoms and trunk lid, need to do the back seat bottom soon. Not looking forward to the back seat backrest, those inside corners where yours didn't lay flat has me concerned for that exact reason. You got me nervous about my foam now! Any way to check without cutting a hole in the floor?
  23. Bakes Marine has exactly what you need. They were close to the pricing from other sources, so figured I'd patronize the Malibu specialist. They are 30 lb struts used on the trunk, passenger seat and engine doghouse. FYI Personally I think they are too light for the doghouse, I gave my 30 lb ones to a friend and got 40 lb for that, wish I'd have gone even higher.
  24. I had an '89 Mastercraft Prostar, currently have a '99 Response LX, and have skied a bunch behind a '97 Nautique 176 (similar to a 196) and a 1998 Prostar. The Nautique wins the slalom wake award, with the '99 Response and '98 Prostar right behind. My '89 wake was certainly not bad, but was a bit "more" than the others. I put GT40 heads on my Prostar, and that definitely helped both the slalom pull and barefoot speed as the old boats were a bit underpowered, especially with the 1:1 transmission. I foot occasionally, and like the Response and the '98 Prostar the best. I have skied a few times behind a '95-'97 Prostar and a '91-94 Prostar (with a full boat) and was not a big fan of either wake. Again nothing bad, just a bit "more" than the newer boats. IMHO Nautique got the slalom wakes figured out in 1997, Mastercraft and Malibu in 1998. Of course I'm a little biased, but I like the Malibu for the slalom & footing wake and speed, and the Wedge for playing around with a bigger wake. But honestly any of the boats discussed in the thread should meet your needs fairly well. Keeping it under $15k will be tough, but maybe next year prices might settle down a little bit where some of the later '90's boats will get there. I bought my Response for way under that in 2020, but it was ridden hard and put away wet. Still working on all the cosmetic things, but is skis great! Good luck with the search. Kevin
  25. FWIW a number of years ago (10+) I changed the oil in my '89 ProStar with the 351, late in the evening before bringing it to storage for the winter. When I got to the storage place the next morning, I realized I never pulled the drain hose back up through the bilge. The 30 mile trip ground the cap off and I accidentally left a long thin strip of oil on the highway, as it was empty when i checked it. Couldn't do too much about it at the time other than cross my fingers, storage place ran a tight schedule. In the spring I put a new cap on the hose, filled it up, cranked it for a bit without firing, and did not have any issues for the next 8+ years I owned the boat. Mine sat "dry" for about 6 months with no problems, so guessing yours should be just fine. Good luck!
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