Older ski-boats are a super value, just throw on an after-market tower and add a fat-sac or two and you’re good to go.
For our ’92 SNOB, I purchased the popular Monster MT1 tower, and chose to do the the install myself (saves you about $300 beans).
Regardless what folks say, reinforcing the mount points is recommended. In my case, the gel-coat along the gunnels (rear tower mounts) was fairly thick, but barely the minimum. The thickness up on the open bow (front tower mounts) was super thin.
I couldn’t find any good pictures or references on the web for how to do this, so hopefully this post will help a few stragglers.
Some talk about actually adding layers of glass and fiber to build up the mount points. If you got those skills and materials, go for it. I didn’t feel like messing with all that…
Instead, I cut a few 2×4′s I had in the garage to fit. (Note: I had already drilled the holes for the tower mounts following the tower instructions), then I…
- dug out the foam underneath each mount point
- cut 2×4 sections to fit, numbered each one
- had a friend hold each one, while from the top, I used a pencil/marker to mark where the holes were
- drilled holes at the mark points
- bought longer stainless bolts at the hardware store, applied 3M marine adhesive and held each one in place with a friend passing the bolts through and tightening snug
(TIP: Blue lock-tight on the mount hardware)
Here’s a pic:
Holding solid…
