[tlr457]

Hi guys & gals,

My name is Thomas Ralph, I live in the western suburbs of the Chicago area. Purchased a MINT 1996 210Z in spring 06'. Boat was owned for previous eight years by a middle aged fellow and his wife who ran it on Indian Point Lake in central Ohio.
Boat was (and IS) in great shape, perfect original interior, very few nicks in the gel or decals, Chariot trailer in nice condition, 350 Mag carb w/thru-hull and captains call, 214 hours when purchased.No other options except the standard Z stuff.

My passenger bucket seat is flexing a bit, I see it's from the seat shell cracking slightly in the corners where the back meets the base. The cracks are light and are only 1"-1.5" in length, but will continue to lengthen I'm sure with additional use.
Parts are a problem for these boats which I new going into the purchase. Does anyone know of where a NOS shell might be found??, or do I just have it rebuilt and stiffened by a quality fiberglass shop??

I love to water ski, my style at 51 is probably not the most correct (I start with one foot out of the ski) and the boat gets me out okay with a 4 blade 20 pitch. Top speed with this prop is approx. 50mph. Any thoughts on what a 19 pitch/4 blade would perform like??
Thanks in advance for any advice or direction

[bpfirrman]

Welcome! You may be out of luck replacing the seat back, better off having a fiberglass repair place strengthen it. They come up on ebay every now and again. As far as the prop goes, what is your WOT with the current prop? If you want more top end you may want to go with a 21p with as big a diameter as you can fit, assuming you are hitting the recommended RPM.

[ShabahZ280]

Welcome to the board! I'd recommend a fiberglass shop take a look at the seat and see if they can structurally reinforce it for you. Replacing the seats is a near impossible task. So try and get it fixed before it gets any worse.

Let us all know how it turns out!

[z275st]

The 19p/4blade should gain hole-shot and increase rpm. Unless its a Rev4 which may decrease rpm due to its rake and cupping. Bret at BBlades.com has a great trial program that I used to get the right prop. Your set-up sounds good now if your in the high side of the rpm range.