Beginner X2 build

[Wolfi]

Ill start with a little back story, It's been about 11 years since I've been on a ski and I finally decided that should change. Back in the beginning of June I was visiting my parents and started looking at my old 650sx I put together when I was 13. I did alot of bolt on stuff to the ski learning how to turn a wrench but never did get it running perfect. After the second test run on the ski my waterbox opened up and sunk the ski. I thought I got all the water out but sure enough I didn't and the crank seized. At the time it sank I was saving money for a truck/college so a new crank was out of the question and the ski just sat, I moved 6 hours away and spent all my money on cars.

Fast forward 11 years from it sinking and I decided I'm tired of staring at it buried in a corner covered in parts. A few weeks went by and I started reading some forums, watching youtube videos etc to relearn what I could. Sure enough two weeks before a trip to visit my parents I come across a completely stripped x2 with a 750 sp (motor, electronics, carbs etc), the original 650 and the rest of the parts from the x2. Being an impulsive poster child for adhd it seemed like a great plan to go buy this, regasket the 650 for my old ski, 750 swap and assemble the x2 and have both ready in 2 weeks. A month, 3 blown up 650 motors and a damaged x2 hull and here we are.

*****X2 Build Starts Here*****

My original plan was to get this thing running as quickly as possible then do a proper build after I had atleast ridden it before. Now those plans have changed and I'm hoping to get it done for spring next year (probably won't be until mid to late may that the water is warm enough).
Here is a list of some ideas I'm thinking about

Fix hull damage and reinforce
750 sp (rebuild with wiseco pistons, port, deck head etc)
Shorten rear hull (unsure how much)
Fill fuel door
Move steering back/raise (unsure how much)
Move trim to lever on handlebars
Flip trim
Fill trim hole
Rule bilge pump
Dual cooling
Convert to rear exhaust?
Rocker front?
Custom 2 inch waterbox
Extend stock 650 stinger and convert to 2inch exit
drypipe mod
Front fill?
Sponsors?
Shave front tower?
Lanyard start stop
Fill hood caps
Redo air inlet in hood
Custom surf brace?

I'm sure I'll come up with more as this progresses and I'd love input on my plans. Here are pictures from getting everything home.

 

[harrymank]

What kind of damage does it have?

 

[WFO Speedracer]

As someone who has done the front rocker mod I am going to say don't do it, same goes for cutting off the rear , learn how to ride the ski to its potential with a stock hull first, I don't know if you have ever ridden an X2 before but its a lot different than an riding an SX.

750 swap yes by all means go for it , same with the trim, it's easy enough and the price is right.

Rea exhaust yes it's cheap and easy also, sponsons yes if you can afford them, dual cooling yes use the stock drain tube already in the hull, air intakes yes cheap and easy, exhaust mod yes for sure if you are running a 750 although a better pipe will let it reach its full potential , lanyard switch yes defiantly, surf brace yes but probably not needed , waterbox yes if running a 750, you also may want to look into drilling the waterbox , all the filling and moving stuff around yes it will let you gain valuable experience if fiberglass repair.

 

[Wolfi]

Wow thank you for the quick response! In terms of the front Rocker mod what do you think about simply removing snd reinforcing the bond line in that area? Most of the front bumper is very damaged on this ski so I either need to rebuild it or remove it. I've read removing it can have some negative effects with splash. I've never been on an x2 before and that makes sense with waiting to chop the rear. I was originally just planning to do all the glass at once but the back is far enough away from everything else I can always do it later.

Here's day 1 of working on the ski. I started by pressure washing and scrubbing everything (for hours) and started looking closer at the patchwork previously done. Being all fiberglass mat I was concerned it was done with polyester resin and tried to pull on it. There was almost no bond to the hull so I ripped/cut out what I could.

 

[Wolfi]

Let's try those pictures again

 

[Storbeck]

My suggestions, and keep in mind there is a lot of personal preference in this:

Get pro watercraft sponsons, with lip.

Don't shorten the hull, at the very least don't do it until you have spent some time on the stock (with sponsons) hull to know what you like and don't like. I've never ridden a hull with a front fill so I can't comment on that, but definitely don't get rid of the bond line these things splash you in the face already and that can only make it worse.

Rear exhaust is cool, another option is moving the exhaust outlet further forward to the tip of the nose, search around on pwctoday and you'll see pics of various people who have done it. It's a lot easier. Rear exhaust is kind of nice though because it tends to make the ski quieter, and I like skis to be quiet.

750 yes

Run pro x pistons if you want to buy the good stuff, run wsm if you want to spend less money and they'll be fine.

buy a Yamanube porting template and do a home job exhaust port (the template is intended for yamaha but it can be used on a kawasaki just line it up with the top of the port), run no base gasket. This will give you tighter squish and higher compression with your stock head. This is a pretty decent power increase for very little cost.

Do the drying out stock pipe mod (nearly free).

Stick heat temp stickers on you stock waterbox and restrict water going into it until it runs ~170 degrees. Basically run very little water into the waterbox.

I would get a zeel before I bought an aftermarket pipe (this is a controversial opinion). I would also plan on eventually getting a pipe.

Get a decent impeller, something big hub. Stock SXR is a low buck option. Skat swirl and hookers are good.

The stuff with the trim is personal taste, not my thing but some people like it.

 

[Wolfi]

Day 2 working on the ski consisted mostly of grinding out cracks and removing more filler (probably bondo) from the damage area. I also exposed alot more damaged glass. Ended up deciding to grind out some of the bottom ribs to extend my patch and reinforce the whole floor section. Not sure if I'll make new ribs or just add extra glass across this section.

 

[Storbeck]

Good chance you're alread aware, but make sure to use epoxy resin for the repair. I have always bought from us composites because when I was buying it (has been a few years now) that was the place with the best price.

Don't use the stuff you can buy locally at like an auto parts store. That is polyester resin and it won't stick to the hull very well.

 

[harrymank]

My chopped X2 handles totally different than the stock one I have. I love it in comparison but the stock ski is the one I teach people on. I put sponsons on mine a few years ago. My exhaust is moved foreword with a blaster pipe. I e got a big hub prop and a pump stuffer. I enjoy this X2 a lot. Headed up to Glendo for the weekend in a few minutes.

 

[E350]

I actually sandblasted the interior engine compartment on my wife's 1988 X2 before epoxy glassing the similar to your's nose damage from the inside. Then painted it white, with IRRC, Valspar Tractor and Implement paint with Hardener.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Unless you like water in your face constantly rebuild the front bumper area, it is actually on one the easiest fixes on that ski from what I can see so far.

On that front right side repair I would fix something to the outside of the hull to lay up against and repair it from the inside, cardboard covered with was paper, an old piece of Formica or even a piece of sheet metal with plastic attached, you need something the epoxy will not adhere to and make sure it is flat against the hull, you can pop rivet it to the hull to hold it in place, then start laying up glass from the inside.

Duct tape covered stiff cardboard is another option you can use.

You can do something very similar to rebuild the front bumper area.

 

[Wolfi]

My suggestions, and keep in mind there is a lot of personal preference in this:

Get pro watercraft sponsons, with lip.

Don't shorten the hull, at the very least don't do it until you have spent some time on the stock (with sponsons) hull to know what you like and don't like. I've never ridden a hull with a front fill so I can't comment on that, but definitely don't get rid of the bond line these things splash you in the face already and that can only make it worse.

Rear exhaust is cool, another option is moving the exhaust outlet further forward to the tip of the nose, search around on pwctoday and you'll see pics of various people who have done it. It's a lot easier. Rear exhaust is kind of nice though because it tends to make the ski quieter, and I like skis to be quiet.

750 yes

Run pro x pistons if you want to buy the good stuff, run wsm if you want to spend less money and they'll be fine.

buy a Yamanube porting template and do a home job exhaust port (the template is intended for yamaha but it can be used on a kawasaki just line it up with the top of the port), run no base gasket. This will give you tighter squish and higher compression with your stock head. This is a pretty decent power increase for very little cost.

Do the drying out stock pipe mod (nearly free).

Stick heat temp stickers on you stock waterbox and restrict water going into it until it runs ~170 degrees. Basically run very little water into the waterbox.

I would get a zeel before I bought an aftermarket pipe (this is a controversial opinion). I would also plan on eventually getting a pipe.

Get a decent impeller, something big hub. Stock SXR is a low buck option. Skat swirl and hookers are good.

The stuff with the trim is personal taste, not my thing but some people like it.

Great input, it seems like everyone agrees I should wait to shorten the hull and rocker the front. Instead I will work on rebuilding the front bumper/bond rail section that is broken away. Ill definitely check out the proX pistons when I get a chance to pull the motor apart. my main reasonings for the rear exhaust are sound levels and I read somewhere about X2s having an issue with water ingestion. Being an inexperienced rider I can see the ski being on its sides more and want to do anything I can to prevent water ingestion through the exhaust.

Unless you like water in your face constantly rebuild the front bumper area, it is actually on one the easiest fixes on that ski from what I can see so far.

On that front right side repair I would fix something to the outside of the hull to lay up against and repair it from the inside, cardboard covered with was paper, an old piece of Formica or even a piece of sheet metal with plastic attached, you need something the epoxy will not adhere to and make sure it is flat against the hull, you can pop rivet it to the hull to hold it in place, then start laying up glass from the inside.

Duct tape covered stiff cardboard is another option you can use.

You can do something very similar to rebuild the front bumper area.

Definitely dont need water in my face the entire time, this will be on the short list and a good spot to tackle to learn fiberglass work. I have little experience working with vacuum infusions/carbon fiber about 7 or 8 years ago but not much of any experience in repairs like this. For the through hull holes I bought a pack of flexible cutting boards (6 dollars for 3 on amazon) that have enough rigidity to keep the radius of the hull but are easy enough to bend. I am going to lay up a few small pieces of fiberglass onto one of them to see if it will release easily or if I will need wax or tape over the cutting board.

I haven't gotten anything real noticeable done on the ski over the last week aside from clearing out a garage bay to move it inside for the epoxy work. This was far from the ideal time to take on a new project but here we are, and I really want to get the fiberglass work done before winter comes to Upstate NY. I received my shipment from US Composites and after spending more time on this forum and watching some youtube videos I am afraid I need much more than I ordered. When I initially placed the order I had yet to fully uncover all the damage and just attempted to get a variety of different things. In addition to the invoice below I also got 3 yards of epoxy compatible mat and some e-glass left over from something else aswell as west systems 404 filler. I tend to over analyze everything but need to get some glass down on this thing. To start I am going to tackle repairing the floor damage and reinforcing that area. I think this will be the easiest repair and a good way to get my hands dirty. Can anyone speak to the use of mat along with cloth? I have read people switch between cloth and mat for each layer but haven't found much justification aside from building up height quickly and possibly that the first layer of mat adheres better than cloth. Appreciate all the tips and information so far.

 

[Wolfi]

Finally got some glass on this thing. To patch the area where the large crack/damage was I measured a depth of around .25 so I used 5 layers of 1708 with a thickness of .044 tapering the edges with the largest on the bottom. My patch ended up sitting a little proud which doesn't concern me being under the motor. I then went with 3 alternating layers of 1.5oz mat and 10oz cloth to further reinforce the bottom of the ski. Finally I built up the valleys next to the motor mounts and put 3 strips of 1708 with a layer of 6oz cloth over the top spanning the mounts. Overall everything laid up nicely but I should have left the plastic on it longer as the frayed edges were pulling away in a few tight bends. It's not perfect but atleast it's progress.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Looks god that should hold up just fine.

 

[madscientist]

Don't remove the bond line on the front. Don't rocker it. The x2 is already rokered. Tubbies for sure. Widen the bond rail it helps with lift and keeping the nose out in turns also. My custom x2 I also removed the chines on the sides. It rolls edge to edge lime a superjet and doesn't hook and roll at speed.

Find my build thread on here.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Its getting harder and harder to find unmolested X2's these days , keep that in mind while building this ski.

 

[madscientist]

I have both.. lol

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I know where one is I can probably buy dirt cheap but I have no need for another project ride now.

 

[madscientist]

Me either..