Super Jet De foam???

[CANDYANDCHROME]

ok heres the deal i put footholds im my 08 superjet and chose not to defoam. i fit them in perfectly and backfilled the foothold. i sealed the entire seam with 5200 along with all the rivets. after that i glassed the entire hold and bottom of the tray. my question is should i have defoamed of do you think i will be ok considering its a ski that has one summer of ridding on it? or chould i cut everything out and defoam befor i turf? i was told either way works if you do it right and i was very meticulous in everything that i did.

 

[tor*p*do]

how heavy is the back end? can you compare it to other skis?
you can drill a small hole and see if it drips

 

[jetx]

If you are already done install of holds I wouldn't worry about it. Turf it and forget about it.

 

[CANDYANDCHROME]

its deff not wet i just dont want it to leak it has not seen water yet

 

[Waternut]

Don't kid yourself...it doesn't matter how well you sealed it, it WILL leak and the foam WILL get wet. Not trying to be a jerk, just calling it like it is. That said, ride it for another year or two and then defoam it when the foam really is wet and definitely needs it.

 

[CANDYANDCHROME]

thats what i hear i think ill do it this winter before i turf it

 

[Pablo]

Id think its dry and fine for this year, but if u have the time then go ahead and do it right. Waternut is right, that will eventually get wet. Just plan for it and put a tray drain in with some polystyrene or ping pong balls. I wish u could just pour something on the foam to melt it. I tried taking a mini torch and see if u could just braize it and make it melt...not a good idea. Its really flammable. Ive tried everything to make it easier. No luck. The best way to remove it is with a free day and lots of elbow grease.

 

[CANDYANDCHROME]

pressure washer?

 

[Joker]

I am filling my tray with the ping pong balls and a layer of foam over it to provide for an easy surface to re glass on. And then for the two holes where the factory originally filled the tray with foam I'm going to put drain plugs so if water does get back in I can drain it.

 

[NVJAY775]

I've heard pressure washers work good. I used wire wheels on a drill and it went pretty good. Screwdrivers and other stuff for the tight spots.

So far I think the best refoaming set up is to run extruded polystyrene (you can buy it at home depot in 4x8 sheets for about $12 a sheet) in the bottom of the hull (cut up jigsaw puzzle) and then use 4 lb 2 part foam over that and glass your tray in over it. Install drain screws in the lowest part of the chines. Water can easily move around the polystyrene in the bottom and out the drain screw holes at the end of each ride. Pull screws after each ride and you're good.

As others said, no matter how good you think the hull is sealed, they always let water in. Sucks...

 

[Joker]

But doesn't that foam become water logged?

 

[NVJAY775]

But doesn't that foam become water logged?

Not extruded polystyrene. It's completely water proof. The 2 part can and will absorb water over years. That's the reason for using the polystyrene on the bottom and 2 part on top.

Hopefully others will chime in on it. I got the idea from others that have done it this way and had great results.

 

[CANDYANDCHROME]

yea i guess with the winter here i should defoam but i already put my footholds in.

 

[NVJAY775]

Ouch! That hurts.

 

[jkemp]

Why do they get water in them? Mine has a drain in either side and every time I ride then pull drain there's water in it.

 

[NVJAY775]

All kinds of places to get leaks unfortunately. Inserts, steering cable fittings, cooling lines, pump shaft seal, trim tube, bond line, hull cracks, scupper, exhaust etc... There's a lot of stuff that goes in that part of the hull.

 

[CANDYANDCHROME]

im just going to cut everything back apart

 

[Pablo]

it sucks, but once you do it and do it right ur all good until you break the thing. I remember reading the thread where the guy used pp balls and it takes a ton of them. You can buy the polystyrene at lowe's or HD relatively cheap. I put two threaded, brass 1/4" fitting in the rear of my SJ and it worked well. Anything that lets you remove the plug and drain. I think Mcdog put a mini versaplug in the tray of a ski it works well too. Hell, my freak only has two screws threaded directly into the ski for drains. With your ski being so new and the fact you just put the time in on the footholds I'd leave the gunwhales alone. They were dry and you sealed the footholds up nicely, right? You could cut out the floor of the tray and defoam the bottom (front to back) and just polystyrene the bottom. All the water you ever take in will eventually drain to the bottom deck. It's up to you, but I'd do it before I'd go through re-turfing then having to rip up a nice turf job and cut a ski open again later to a do a job you could knock out now and forget about for a long time.

 

[MCrider]

i tried the pressure washer idea, idk if ours isn't big enough but it did not work at all. It just made a huge mess!