650sx rebuild and restoration.

[WFO Speedracer]

This on a customer's 650SX , chines are beat to hell and back as well as the flat section of the bottom deck . engine, electrical driveshaft, waterbox are removed from the skj.

I flipped it upside down on my trailer and started the repairs, I flooded the flat part of the ski and sanded it back down then started working on the chines.

What I am using is US composites resin and phenolic resin filler , I started by laying down 2 inch masking tape on both sides of the chine areas and along both bottom edges, then I mixed up the resin and filler, I left it kinda soupy so I can use a small paintbrush to apply it. Then when it sets up just pull the tape and most of the mess with it. Another trick you can do is putting packing tape over the filler this let you manipulate the filler material some hat and reduces sanding time.

I am not sure how I got roped into this but basically it sucks, lots and lots of hand sanding on the chines.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

It's set up enough to pull the tape, not surprising it's damn hot here. Pulled the masking tape laid down the packing tape, in a few hrs I will start sanding.

 

[Sanoman]

Surprised you didn’t add any fiberglass fibers in the mix to bond it all together

 

[Myself]

Come on man....I KNOW you didn't need another project LOL!

 

[kevbo]

I like using some white marble dust with milled fibreglass for filler. That way all the new scratches wont be red.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

You are missing an important point, it's a damn 650SX no matter what I do it will never be worth much, yeah you can mix cabosil or marble dust , PIXIE DUST or whatever in there but then it becomes a real bitch to sand on this project not worth it IMO.

I am probably going to take the easiest way out possible here, secondly it's a partial trade out deal and for some reason that deal has become rather fluid, initially there were two skis , I was supposed to fix one and keep one and he was supposed to bring the boom truck and help me clean out my lot.

Somewhere in the middle of the deal and after disassembling both skis it comes up that the other ski doesn't actually belong to him so now I am stuck repairing this one which at least bodywise is in much worse shape that the other one was. the other ski would have been a scuff it and shoot it type of deal.

The other ski also had a nice intake grate, stainless steel impeller and ocean pro head and it was a newer model with the 38 carb and better exhaust setup . I did swap engines so at least I still have a head and bigger carb and diverter manifold.

This has turned into a restoration project, all four engine mounts are toast, impeller is toast, steering cable is toast , hull is beat all to hell and back, you get the picture.

In case you haven't guessed I also had to put the other ski back together but I didn't have to make it run and it has been returned.

So I am not sure what the deal is now but he will be helping me clean my lot, there will be a significant amount of money changing hands and most likely he will be sandblasting an assload of 64 Barracuda parts for me down the road.

Myself it's a damn 650SX I could literally assemble it in my sleep, yes the bodywork is a PITA but bodywork is defiantly something in my wheelhouse so onward and upward. .

 

[kevbo]

You are missing an important point, it's a damn 650SX no matter what I do it will never be worth much, yeah you can mix cabosil or marble dust , PIXIE DUST or whatever in there but then it becomes a real bitch to sand on this project not worth it IMO.

I know this is the pervasive attitude of all jetski owners and its the main reason I NEVER buy painted skis!

 

[SUPERJET-113]

I know this is the pervasive attitude of all jetski owners and its the main reason I NEVER buy painted skis!

Well a 650SX is SMC with paint from the factory, soooo..
Or am i missing your point?

 

[kevbo]

Yea, you are missing my point... The chances of finding a jetski owner who can and will do top quality work is almost as likely as winning a lottery. So, if one has covered a hull with paint it becomes very difficult to find damage. A stock hull with original paint is easy to inspect. A repainted hull is great until you find the previous owners hatchet job underneath.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I know this is the pervasive attitude of all jetski owners and its the main reason I NEVER buy painted skis!

Did you read what I wrote, it is SMC and it was painted from the factory with Imron , no prep work was done, no primer either , they painted directly over SMC , mold release and all.

The paint job I am doing here is far superior to what it came from the factory with it's scuffed with 80 grit then high build primer sanded to 400 grit then sprayed with single stage polyurethane. If the ski is painted I repair it with paint, if it's gelcoated I fix it with gelcoat, pretty simple concept really.

It doesn't really matter what you cover it with , paint or gelcoat , you won't see what's underneath and when they scratch the bottom up and they will, it will be ugly regardless.

I can guarantee you it won't peel in sheets like the factory paint did, but given what this ski looked like the owner will not take care of it when he gets it back , he didn't before.

BTW I have never had any bodywork I did come back or had any hint that what I did was unsatisfactory , matter of fact I usually tell them if you can find where it was fixed it's free I haven't had a nonpaying customer yet.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Everything is sanded and ready for primer, all of the chines were hand sanded, the edges of the ski and the flat part in the middle were done with a DA, it is now ready for high build primer.
The parts that still look like scratches are now filled , smooth and flat, 99% of the phenolic filler that was applied has been removed., so now we await the comments from the peanut gallery on how I am doing it all wrong.

 

[kevbo]

It looks fine, I would have made the filler white.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

It looks fine, I would have made the filler white.

I could have made it purple, pink or green it doesn't matter, I would have done the exact same thing on my personal ski because it's proven that it works..

What exactly do you think happens on any painted ski that isn't painted white on the bottom , if you scratch it shows through , does this mean I should paint everything white or match the filler color to the ski color , sorry your argument is BS and I will continue to do it the way I was taught after all it worked good enough for $150,000 ski boats and it will damn sure work on a 650SX.

Honestly I can't believe we are even having this discussion about a 650SX, most guys here wouldn't lift a finger to work on one, have never owned one and could care less about one ..

I post up stuff like this so other people can see how to do it and know that it's not the end of the world if they buy a ski with the bottom beat up.

A lot of what I do here is ski rehab, I take skis that are beat to hell and back and rehab them for customers or flip them for profit , the worse a ski is to begin with the better you can make it look, if the ski is in perfect shape to begin with there isn't much of a way to improve the outcome.

 

[kevbo]

We have different interests. My time spent in a materials lab taught me that all composite structures, with rare exceptions, should be painted white. They stay cooler in the sun and are stronger that way. My time spent as a jetski owner taught me the bottom paint should be the same color as the its material or else scratches will be very ugly. My experience as a jetski buyer taught me to NEVER buy a repainted ski because I cant tell how badly it was damaged. If I made a living selling skis to people who will never know any of this Im sure I would be spreading Bondo like everyone else.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

You won't find an Bondo on any ski I ever fixed, but hey ask anyone here and they will tell you , I can go on with this nonsense all day if you like .

Life is way to short to live with whitewashed boring ass skis it's a world of many colors you should try some of them out.

 

[kevbo]

Im not saying you are wrong, we are just different people with different priorities. Im sure many jetskiers like what you sell.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Im not saying you are wrong, we are just different people with different priorities. Im sure many jetskiers like what you sell.

I am not sure how to put this in terms you will understand, but here goes one more time.

The way auto bodymen repair cars and the materials they use is not the way I would do it personally on my car but it is done everyday because it works , it's efficient and it's profitable..

It's one thing if you are working on your own personal stuff , it's a totally different thing when you are charging someone by the hour to work on their ski.

 

[kevbo]

Yep, you just have to please your customer. A kid buying a used ski sees things much differently than an old man, usually...

 

[Jplasse]

Not to be a D-rider, but I appreciate posts from WFO for his exact reasons. I have ZERO experience with fiberglass, composites, hull repairs of any kind as I do my best to be cautious and preserve my skis/boats. The forums are valuable to long time lurker's like myself, who lurk these forums daily and use them as an information source.

I understand the search function and I'd say more often than not, its WFO or Quinc (Blue Krash Reaper) that are offering solutions and experience to us rookies

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Not to be a D-rider, but I appreciate posts from WFO for his exact reasons. I have ZERO experience with fiberglass, composites, hull repairs of any kind as I do my best to be cautious and preserve my skis/boats. The forums are valuable to long time lurker's like myself, who lurk these forums daily and use them as an information source.

I understand the search function and I'd say more often than not, its WFO or Quinc (Blue Krash Reaper) that are offering solutions and experience to us rookies

Everyone was a rookie at least once , I really like putting these old jet skis back on the water, it's not all about the money with me , sometimes I will take a job knowing I will probably be upside down in it before it's over, you don't get to hit a homeroom every time or every week for that matter and base hits are what keeps the lights on around here.

I am meeting a guy from Birmingham tomorrow to pick up another 650SX , I have worked on three of his 650SX's in years prior and he wouldn't be traveling an hour and a half if he didn't like my work.