As you already know, I have the same boat, same year, color, low hours and original.
I pulled off the pink stripe that is applied on the hull at the water line.
After you get the boat back together and your using it, you can always add things, such as a second battery, better sound system.
Mine has a thru hull depth gauge which was failing, it had to be replaced. The problem was later found as a damaged wire that was pinched where the steering console is mounted to the boat. The 270 hp mag mercruiser comes with a water filter on the fuel line, so you don't need to add another one.
I would change out the steering wheel for a smaller diameter wheel. I'm small, and tilting the wheel downward places it too close to the seat. When you rebuild the seats, if you can make them a bit narrower total outside width, it will help. The front bucket seats seem bulky and oversized in total width for the space available in the cockpit. I would add a 12 volt plug-in, just above the vertical locking glove box. (good for powering a Marine band portable radio or a flood light.) If your rebuilding the stringers up under the crawl in cuddy on the side of the steering console, try making more headroom by framing out the floor to help you out. Remember that the sliding door slides, and the floor in the cockpit area would have to be exactly the same location as stock. But once inside the cuddy, if you can drop it down a few inches, take what you can get. If you can get the center section of the cuddy lowered so that you can accommodate a shallow portapotty and your feet, go for it. (They make a portapotty with a smaller storage waste tank so that it does not stand as high, to find one call the manufacturer, most retail places won't stock them.) A portapotty would be very valuable with young kids. I run with a single battery, which powers the electrical needs just fine. If your going to camp out, you might need a second battery. Having a bimini would be nice, but you would have to figure out where to store it when not in use. If you run the boat at 50-60 mph, the bimini would have to come down. I don't think you would use a bimini enough in the Midwest to really need it. If you end up taking your wing apart, I would add an electrical line and install a stick in white light in the top center. Moving the gas tank from the centerline of the floor to find room for a ski locker seems lot a lot of work. I would reconfigure the storage area underneath the hinged rear bench seat to allow ski storage. Tom S
