Wow, I forgot how much I've done since my last update...been too long between.
For hull chops and such, I cut 3" from the back of the ski. Jason (550/440) has a EME Q8 and I will make the ride plate holes line up with that so I can basically make both of us ride plates that are longer/shorter/D cut whatever we want. I plan on making a mold for this.
I also cut off the bond rail vertical section leaving just the horizontal section. If you've seen my thread about wide rails and handling, you'll understand why. HOWEVER, this is one area I've decided to undo/redo. I had mocked up a pink foam mold to form the new rails, they were to be 2" from the hull all the way around the ski, then a 45* angle after that giving a total width of 3". The rear was to have nice deep fins like a Superfreak which act like cornering sponsons.
What I did instead is tear off my pink foam and buy some of that PVC trim board and rip that at a 45* angle. I glued a sheet of shower board to the rail on the top side will now be forming the bond rail from the under side rather than the top side. The rails won't be as wide either, basically I'll be changing from a wider rail to a rail that is as wide as stock, but 45* angles from there making the final width evenly wider all the way around. It will still have the built in rear sponsons.
On the top deck, I cut off the existing top deck bond rail completely and then cut off an equal 1" all the way around the ski. This is my 1" body drop. I needed to form a new bond rail up front anyway, so I decided just to do the whole top deck. The first pic above shows the top deck with the 1" body drop done to it and mocked up.
Here's a couple pics of engine and tank mock up. This isn't the tank I'll be using, I'll still used external fill on a stock tank I have, this one is just sealed up so dust won't get in side. You can see I don't have much room there between the pipe and the hull.
I have some figuring out do to where the top deck meets the bulkhead. I'm figuring there will be a recessed front foot hold in there since the top deck is moved forward 2.5", I might need/want to stand farther forward as well.
I've thinned the heck out of the hull, sanded all the way through until I hit gel coat in a few spots. I cut out the stock battery location and will relocate that to where a SJ battery is since I'm running a SJ tank and since with the top deck moved forward, I won't be able to get the battery out between the hull and the carbs. I also removed the spot where the tool kit goes.