Rebuild or Part Out? Opinions Needed

I apologize in advance for poor grammer and spelling as Im on my phone.

I just purchased a 93 sn sj on Sunday for a good price. I knew the hull had some major repairs at the time of purchase, however, I did not know that it was done with polyester resin. After taking out the engine And everything else to do some work and clean I noticed the resin on the inside of the hull was chipping up. That’s when I realized I was in a bind. A few hours of scraping lead me to this. A huge hole with cracks all the way up the hull on either side. The hole and the cracks don’t scare me too much but the rot does. I have no idea how far the rot goes and there are other spots on the ski where a repair was completed but likely suffers a similar fate. I did a quick scrape on an old repair towards the rear to find pure rot underneath (pictured). So this is where I am at, repair or part the ski out. I have never done glasswork but I have a good understanding of what all needs to be done with real epoxy resin from posts and videos I have seen. I see the following as my options and I have questions attached to each.

- Repair the ski, probably would have to separate the hull due to the crack going all the way up (I really don’t want to do that). Sand the absolute sh*t out of all the repairs until the rot is all gone (I fear by the time Im done sanding there may not be a hull left). Is this too big of a job for a guy working with glass for his first time? Is it worth it? I have more than enough projects already that I can barely manage so If this is going to take over 24hrs of actual labor its not worth it to me.

- Part the ski out including the hull. In this case how much would a hull in this condition be worth? Something a surf builder would be interested in?

- Do a very poor patch job repair but with epoxy resin, likely leave a ton of rot and not have everything as smooth and true as it should and ride it for a season or two, not care about longevity, then part out. The whole Idea behind this ski was to get into stand ups for a decent price point to see if I really like it or not and upgrade from here, kinda beat on this ski and learn how to ride. Any thoughts on this one?

Thanks!
(P.S. the only good thing about a polyester resin hack job is that it is easy to remove)
 

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Sanoman

thecolorpurple
Site Supporter
Location
NE Tenn
Maybe look for another hull? You will spend a ton of hours repairing this one and lt still may crack again.You have to figure what your time is worth.An old Square Nose hull should not be expensive
 
Agreed. If the engine ran OK (can’t remember from your other thread) then another hull would be the way to go. You can look for another ski, but may or may not need other repairs, missing parts, etc. It sounds like you may be wanting to stay low budget for now vs get another complete ski, and parting out will take a little time (though a reliable complete engine and a couple other parts will easily put you in the black). If you have good parts, pole, hood, than just look for a hull. Maybe a partially built or non-running ski cheap with a good hull that you can Frankenstein/part out the remainder.

After getting some glasswork experience and knowing what’s required, I still wouldn’t mess with that hull being on a limited time budget and just wanting to mess around as a beginner. Going to take a lot of hours with multiple repairs, and that’s not counting splitting the hull. Plus those are significant locations, so it would definitely need to have quality repairs done. Plus the cost of resin and glass....

Bummer it turned out like this. But if you can find the rest you need to make it whole in a short time then not terrible and you can still enjoy the season.
 
I wouldn't be afraid to fix that.... We use West system Epoxy here when doing repairs. If it were me, I would strip the ski completely. Make it a good off season project, go over EVERY thing, and build a nice, solid ski for next year.
 
Agreed. If the engine ran OK (can’t remember from your other thread) then another hull would be the way to go. You can look for another ski, but may or may not need other repairs, missing parts, etc. It sounds like you may be wanting to stay low budget for now vs get another complete ski, and parting out will take a little time (though a reliable complete engine and a couple other parts will easily put you in the black). If you have good parts, pole, hood, than just look for a hull. Maybe a partially built or non-running ski cheap with a good hull that you can Frankenstein/part out the remainder.

After getting some glasswork experience and knowing what’s required, I still wouldn’t mess with that hull being on a limited time budget and just wanting to mess around as a beginner. Going to take a lot of hours with multiple repairs, and that’s not counting splitting the hull. Plus those are significant locations, so it would definitely need to have quality repairs done. Plus the cost of resin and glass....

Bummer it turned out like this. But if you can find the rest you need to make it whole in a short time then not terrible and you can still enjoy the season.

This! You would be correct about the limited budget and time, I put a WTB for a hull, not sure how much they are going for but if it’s too much I am just going to dump the ski and look to get back into this in a year or two. I was trying to stay low budget and I was about to do it until I realized the extent of the repairs needing done. I never wanted or expected this ski to be perfect, but I don’t think I can get it water worthy in short time or budget. Im not looking for a huge project, I currently have enough of those.
 
$500 plus a couple parts and 5 or 10 hours of work would’ve been nice. Typically though you’re looking at least $1000-1500 to find a SN that’s running decent, or close to it and still needs a little more done. I agree with John, yours would be a perfect second ski or end of season purchase to slowly work on over the winter. Could be pretty sweet when done, especially with a lighter, possibly wider tray, and new paint and graphics.

In addition to here, there are several standup and SJ groups on FB. Hop on there and look through the listings and post your WTB.
 
$500 plus a couple parts and 5 or 10 hours of work would’ve been nice. Typically though you’re looking at least $1000-1500 to find a SN that’s running decent, or close to it and still needs a little more done. I agree with John, yours would be a perfect second ski or end of season purchase to slowly work on over the winter. Could be pretty sweet when done, especially with a lighter, possibly wider tray, and new paint and graphics.

In addition to here, there are several standup and SJ groups on FB. Hop on there and look through the listings and post your WTB.
including the resin and glass I would spend 1200 to have absolutely everything in working order on the ski, including midshaft housing and more. I would of been happy at that price point but these repairs look too extreme.
what if I were to sand and cut the crap out hull until all the rot is gone? Do a quick repair and not worry about it being perfect or lasting super long just to ride for a bit? I would imagine that would only be another day or two of removing material to see where I am at. Do I have much to loose besides sanding pads and my sanity? Biggest thing is splitting the halfs as I don’t want to do that for time and budget sake. Id rather patch the cracks from one side where the bond is and repair everything else from both sides (where I can get to it. One or two repairs look like they extend into the tray area. I am not too familiar with what is in there, foam? Open air? Can water get in and fill it up? I would probably repair that area from the outside only as I don’t want to open it up if I were to attempt this. I really don’t know the going price for good hulls but $350 or more is probably more than I want to spend. Parting out may be my only realistic option
 
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Should also say, your foam is more than likely wet..... (Most early SJ's are) Should also cut open the tray, and re-foam. This IS a big project.

I didn’t see this at first, this answered one of my later questions. Thanks

Looks like it’s going to be a new hull or a part out for me. If anyone is interested in the old hull for a project let me know
 

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
It sucks you got had. I too have bought hulls with poly repairs and wet foam. It's no more work and minimal money to do the repair in epoxy so I would lean towards the prior owner being ignorant.

That hull is trash. Yes it can be fixed but what are you going to have when you are done? A heavy hull that is poorly repaired, or a lot of time in a good repair job that is still heavy.

If this was your first ski bought new and you got hit by a boat and had some sentiment then it would be worth your time, but that thing is better elsewhere.
 
It sucks you got had. I too have bought hulls with poly repairs and wet foam. It's no more work and minimal money to do the repair in epoxy so I would lean towards the prior owner being ignorant.

That hull is trash. Yes it can be fixed but what are you going to have when you are done? A heavy hull that is poorly repaired, or a lot of time in a good repair job that is still heavy.

If this was your first ski bought new and you got hit by a boat and had some sentiment then it would be worth your time, but that thing is better elsewhere.

I agree with this and yes I believe he just didn’t know. And he still road it without a problem as far as he was concerned. Is this hull worth trying to sell to anyone for a project? Around how much would it be worth? $150? $50? $0?
 

E350

Site Supporter
Location
Sacramento Delta
I may be interested in buying the drive train for my FX-1 someday. If not me, others may be interested. You will lean allot about skis if you gently dismantle this ski and post up the parts in the for sale section of this website.
 
I may be interested in buying the drive train for my FX-1 someday. If not me, others may be interested. You will lean allot about skis if you gently dismantle this ski and post up the parts in the for sale section of this website.

I wish I could say this was more of a learning experience but ,unfortunately, I didn’t learn much besides stay away from poly resin repairs lol. I tore an 1100zxi down to nothing and built it back up so I have a fairly good understanding of everything and the SJ was surprisingly similar to the zxi as far as operation and components.
I have a WTB up for a hull, but I wouldn’t be opposed to just cutting ties rn and start parting out the drivline.
 
It looks like I found a hull! Not super pretty but the glass appears to be in very good condition. I will hopefully be picking it up on Friday. Is anyone interested in my old hull? I may consider giving it away to someone who has a cool project planned
 

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
I agree with this and yes I believe he just didn’t know. And he still road it without a problem as far as he was concerned. Is this hull worth trying to sell to anyone for a project? Around how much would it be worth? $150? $50? $0?

It is worth the value of the title. About $100. It is illegal to sell title with HIN plates and is bannable on this site. Require the hull be taken in the sale. Whatever they do after they leave with it is not your problem. It's always good to get a copy of the bill of sale for the seller to prove they are no-longer the owner of the ski until it is no-longer registered in your name.

I wish I could say this was more of a learning experience but ,unfortunately, I didn’t learn much besides stay away from poly resin repairs lol. I tore an 1100zxi down to nothing and built it back up so I have a fairly good understanding of everything and the SJ was surprisingly similar to the zxi as far as operation and components.
I have a WTB up for a hull, but I wouldn’t be opposed to just cutting ties rn and start parting out the drivline.

You learned that cheap is often the more expensive way to go.
 
It looks like I found a hull! Not super pretty but the glass appears to be in very good condition. I will hopefully be picking it up on Friday. Is anyone interested in my old hull? I may consider giving it away to someone who has a cool project planned
I am very interested if you have a title or way for me to register it! I have lots of glass and want to build a 2nd ski! Check out the SN Superjet I just finished building
http://x-h2o.com/index.php?threads/1995-yamaha-superjet-resto-mod.197342/
@Sanoman will tell you, this is the perfect home for that SN ;)
 
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