Kevin89MC

Skied my first tournament about 12 years ago. First time behind zero off, didn't fare too well. Tried 2 more times after that, the last one a few years ago I decided to try a different ZO setting, not smart! Always seem to be too nervous skiing in front of a crowd, and never got to practice behind ZO outside of the tournament pulls. Finally got a newer boat with PPSG and Zbox 2 years ago. Getting it dialed in, so looking forward to trying again this year! @swbca that is a sweet Higgins! Do you still have it? My wife's cousin had a yellow one growing up, he got it restored a few years ago and I got to drive it. Crazy with the gas pedal on the floor like a car! Such a cool boat though.

@ReallyGottaSki I chimed in on your facebook post as well, but just wanted to say again that that is really coming along nicely! I got a '99 RLX that was in pretty tough shape, but not nearly as rough as yours. Now that I see more of what you're doing, I have some questions for you as I re-do mine. I'll hit you up on FB messenger. Good luck with the resto, that's gonna be a great looking boat when done! Kevin

I replaced the stock heads (E7 maybe?) on my 1989 Prostar 351 (1:1 trans) with GT40 heads. No other improvements (a little poor at the time) and it definitely made the boat much more skiable. Felt noticeably more powerful and I gained about 3-4 mph top end too. With the old heads I always thought my boat skied "hard" compared to others. After the heads, it was much "softer" in a good way. Realized I was probably slowing it down at the pull, even with Perfect Pass classic, so it would hit me around the buoy as it sped back up. I'm not a big guy or a shortline skier, so it would have been worse if so. There are some great posts on Teamtalk (Mastercraft's site) about this, and mine is there too :) Find a mid-90's Explorer with the 302 and pull the heads. The posts on Teamtalk will have what years work, and there are a few options on heads IIRC. Took me an afternoon at the local u-pull junkyard, cost like $40 I think. Get them cleaned up, get the headbolt holes drilled out, get a gasket set from ski-dim, spend a few weekends wrenching and enjoy the cheap power! You can also buy them new if you want instead. Mine already had electronic ignition conversion, I'd recommend that too. If you can afford it, add on a new intake and cam and you'll have great power. Good luck! Kevin

Interesting technology. I'm sure there will be many growing pains like there were (are) with PP and ZO. Would I want to go back to hand throttle driving? No way. Have I or my drivers mowed down the occasional boat guide with bad steering? Yep. As I'm just a novice skier with an old boat, I'll likely never get a pull with this. Heck, the only time I see ZO is once every few years at a tournament. But for the pros/high level skiers, I could see the advantages. One question: what happens during a breeze that moves the entire course (or maybe only part of it) around by several inches? We've held lots of tournaments at our site where the wind changes throughout the day, and the course certainly moves around. Will there need to be some kind of sensor in the boat guides? But then a small bounce back wave could cause issues. I'm sure people smarter than me will get these things figured out.

Another vote for MaryKate's On & Off hull cleaner. You can try the Starbrite hull cleaner first, but if that doesn't work, hit it with MK. On an older boat I had a pretty bad 3 year old baked on scum line that Starbrite and a number of other things (including toilet bowl cleaner) couldn't touch. MK took it right off very easily.

I'm going to miss my Nevin USCG slalom vest with integrated back brace. Still using the one I bought 20 years ago. Somehow it is still holding up, but really starting to show the wear. Also the Accurate ARS handles, just about worn through the one I have.

Yep, I used to ski frequently on a cousin's '03 SS LXi, and another cousin's '99 Response LX. Oftentimes we'd ski both on the weekends, sometimes on the same day. Wakes were essentially no different. By far the best walk through hull as far as slalom wakes go IMHO. Unfortunately because of this they have always commanded a high price. The local Malibu dealer will call my cousin once in a while begging him to trade in the SS.

Was surprised not to see this one yet. There are a lot of Prostars (and other makes) that I love, but when I first saw this boat, it instantly became my favorite.

I'll take it!! I'll send you a message.

I was at that waterski show featuring "The Submarine" and I knew the driver. He was attempting a power turn. They were able to pump out the water and get it on the trailer, and apparently it checked out OK. I remember seeing that first video awhile back, brings chills watching it. I was nervous teaching my kids to drive through the course. Also I definitely need to put my shock tube on as well! I fell a few years ago at -22/34 mph and the rope wrapped around the driver, freaked us both out. This sport can be dangerous sometimes.

Wow, awesome work @MNshortliner ! That wake looks awesome! Very cool!

Very interesting thread, at least to me! I just got my hands on a '99 RLX and love the trunk. We keep 2 slalom skis and binding slime in there and it's all readily accessible for hitting the course. But I do see the advantage in saving the weight. One quick question, do you still have your old trunk cover? Mine is pretty soft at the hinges, and I plan to re-build it this winter. An existing one would make that much easier! I'm in Minnesota, thinking you might be as well considering your user name. PM me if you'd like so we don't clutter up this thread. Thanks, Kevin

Ha, I'm enjoying the comments about towing with an empty trailer. :smile: Yeah I've never had one tow well unloaded, which makes sense as someone mentioned they are sprung for load. I had to tow an empty borrowed trailer from Minneapolis to Detroit to pick the Malibu up. Brand new tires, but yeah it hopped the whole way down there. Never thought about strapping on a full barrel or airing down the tires, both would have helped I'm sure. Sure glad I decided to check the bearings in an empty parking lot before setting the boat on it, one of the brake shoes had worked off the post, I'm sure from all the bouncing. And glad I decided to buy it just so I could drive back properly loaded! Yeah that Eagle trailer was gone by the time I called. He does have another ski boat trailer, but also with no brakes. The borrowed trailer I'm on now has brake issues that I'm working out, and even if it wasn't the law, I wouldn't buy one without brakes. Or plan to add them if it has the right plates on the spindles, but that would take some time and effort. But i'd do it for the right trailer at the right price.

@foxriverat thanks for the link, that might work out really well! Thanks to the others about Uship, good to hear in case I go that route.

I posted on here awhile back about a boat I was looking at, a '99 Response LX at Tommy's of Detroit with no trailer. I ended up getting the boat, for way less than what they listed it for. It was ridden hard and put away wet, but mechanically I have a very good ski boat for an extremely low price. However I am on borrowed time on a borrowed trailer, so I need to get something figured out before the end of the season. Plan B is I put it on blocks in the garage for the winter, but the wife is a little nervous about that! There hasn't been much locally (Midwest-Minnesota), but there have been a few Prostar and Nautique trailers pop up on SIA that I think could fit with minimal adjustment. Willing to drive several hours for the right price, but wondering if anyone has ever had one shipped? I looked at uship.com, anyone ever used that? Thanks in advance. Kevin

@Andre I'm not sure, haven't looked into that yet. Is that the black rectangle cover with all the screws on it? Been planning to peek at that, haven't had the time yet. I do get a little bit of water in the bilge, but not much. It will be in the water for a week on vacation so I will be checking it often. I knew my '89 Prostar quite well, just starting to learn about the Malibu.

Great thread, and good timing too. I just picked up a '99 Response with the Monsoon and put in PPSG 9.2 with Zbox. Ran the first few passes without Zbox and the pull was great. Old boat was an '89 ProStar with Classic PP, so the pull was quite a bit different (better) than that. Had a pretty full boat when setting baselines, so I set in a crew weight as directed. Could not tell if I was getting any surging, but didn't think so. Plugged in Zbox for the next outing, and seemed to get some surging early in the course. Will be going out tonight, so I'll do some checking and report back. Kevin

Here's our new (to us) boat, a 1999 Malibu Response LX that I got a month ago. Has the Monsoon with EFI, shower and heater, but it was ridden hard and put away wet. Lots of minor things to fix & repair, but it was certainly priced right, and I worked them down more. Mechanically it is sound, and it is great to ski behind with PPSG 9.2 with Zbox. Kevin

Thanks for posting this. I may need one at some point, this looks like a good candidate. I am still using a Nevin CG approved ski vest with integral back brace that I bought in 1998 or 99 I think. It's finally starting to show some wear. Bummed they don't make them anymore, it is awesome.

I skied on the river a number of years ago in Minneapolis on Feb 28, that was pretty cold. Was with a group that skies every New Year's day, and they try for once a month through the winter. They're pretty serious, they have a dedicated "winter boat". My dry suit and beanie worked well, but they forgot to tell me to be sure and keep my hands out of the water (regular gloves). Almost couldn't hold the rope for the run back to the boat launch. 32 deg water and 35 deg air at 34 MPH gets you cold real quick! These days I try to stick with the 100 degree rule, air + water needs to be over 100.

Left the plug out once, ran out of gas once, but the biggest oops was somehow forgetting to tighten up the screws on the impeller cover on my '89 ProStar. Was up at speed and didn't hear the alarm until I slowed down to idle. Gauge had pegged, opened the engine cover to see water dripping out the loose cover. Long story short, blew a headgasket and cracked a head. Wrenched on it myself so didn't cost too much. Great excuse to upgrade to GT40 heads (got them used at a junkyard for cheap), gained a noticeable bump in HP, made the boat much better to ski behind, so it turned out well.

@cacman if all you're doing is launching and not driving far, i'd say you might be OK, as long as you know what you're doing. I used to tow my '89 Prostar with a RWD Toyota Hilux, 2.2 liter engine, rear drum brakes I think. I knew someone who towed theirs with a Chevy Caprice I think. We'd use the boat to help power the truck out on slippery launches. But at any moderate towing speed, the boat will start pushing the vehicle around, so you really need to be extra cautious. I was always a little nervous towing with that truck, was able to breathe a little easier when I upgraded the tow vehicle.

Yep I did all 5 of my seals as well on my baggy suit. Took some time, but not too hard. Agreed that finding the right size inserts is the key. I Think I used canned goods for wrists, pickle jar for feet, and a kid’s rubber ball I think for the neck. That was the toughest one, but no leaks. Haven’t done a zipper. Good luck.

@BraceMaker I'm running the original 3 blade that came with the boat, likely the original prop from the factory. Can't remember the manufacturer offhand. I also have a 4 blade from the late 1990's, but I actually like the 3 blade better. The wake was a little firmer with the 4 blade, and top speed seems to be pretty close, so I just keep the 4 blade as a spare.

@CPC_1 I currently have a 1989 ProStar (live in Minnesota), and there is a very good chance it will be up for sale in April, I'm working on upgrading mainly for space. If you're interested we can take it off line, but even if not I'd be more than happy to answer any questions about that year of boat. I've had mine for 25 years, been very reliable and great to ski behind. I upgraded to GT40 heads for a noticeable bump in power, the one area the boat was kinda lacking, especially with the 1:1 transmission. Quite a bit better for course skiing and footing. Regardless, good luck! Kevin