Finished my 85 550

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Diametunim

Throwin around a 550
Location
Texas
I know it's no super-jet but here ya go.

Well it's finally done, I bought this ski back in Feb-March of 09 and I finally finished it Feb 2010.
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Time Invested- Too much
Money wasted- A whole lot

Bought the ski off another user at pwctoday as a non running 550 that had just been rebuilt and needed a couple parts for $400 with a title. Upon further inspection I found that the motor was rebuilt with New Wiesco pistons(yay), No gaskets (RTV was used all the way around). The ski also needed a flame arrestor and a throttle cable.

I tore the engine down and rebuilt the entire ski correctly, cometic copper gaskets all the way around, new crank seals ect ect.

I was not a fan of the rattle-can paint-job either so I went from Rattlecan black and red to the Lime green used on the Dodge challengers. Needless to say I won't be painting another ski any time soon.

Well feel free to ask anything I suppose. Also the 750sxi pro is my brothers that I also happened to stumble upon while restoring this thing for a nice $200 Running and titled.

Before
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Middle
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Finished
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MADMAT

MADMAT

Location
Ohio
don't matter what you ride...can't deny the coolness of those 2 spotless Kawis sitting next to each other! Nice work on that 550!
 
Martin33

Martin33

LIVE ACTION !
Location
Azle, Texas
Looks like ive got someone else to ride with over this way, im on the west side of Fort Worth, Eagle Mountain, Lake Worth area. Actually live in Azle. Super clean skis bro!

Daniel
 
Liquid-6

Liquid-6

Location
Rockwall TX
Good lookin ski bro. I gotta say, that 750sxi is tits. Who ever owns that must be a stud. Hahah j/k, you guys should have seen this thing when he bought it. It looks soooo much better now. It came out so nice.
 
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Diametunim

Throwin around a 550
Location
Texas
Liquid-6 said:
Good lookin ski bro. I gotta say, that 750sxi is tits. Who ever owns that must be a stud. Hahah j/k, you guys should have seen this thing when he bought it. It looks soooo much better now. It came out so nice.
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I know it is :), hah, You should give some credit to the kid who bought it for you for your birthday...He must have truly been a generous man to do such a thing.

Then again you did help me sand this thing down.

King of the Js550 said:
You got any pics of the engine and did you have to re-glass anything
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Sure do, Although it doesn't look nearly as good as the rest of the ski :( . The guy I bought it from decided painting things was great fun and went crazy.

The head and crank cases have been painted a nice Red/Blue respectively, The tank was spray painted silver for that authentic aluminum look thankfully acetone took care of that problem. :soapbox:.

As far as glass work we didn't have to do any, However there is a hull patch on the left side of the hull(I think) Can't remember what side it's on. The patch holds however me and my father put the ski in our pool to adjust the carb. (Tie the ski to a fence post, works wonders) and the hull leaked below the driveshaft when the ski was under power. The leak wasn't bad at all, A little jet of water just shot all over the motor.

We filled the area with epoxy and we're hoping it holds.

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I would like to eventually build this thing up to be able to barrel roll off of a large boat wake as well as be able to nose stab ect ect.

I would like to stay on the 550 platform so where should I begin? Or should I swap to a 650? I would like to avoid anything like Fox's build as much as I envy it I won't ever be able to do anything like that at the moment.

Also, Please don't suggest buying an SJ unless you want to trade ;)

-Blueprinting the pump, Where should I send it? My dad's not going to want to undertake something like this so soon.
-Top loader intake grate.
-Rideplate, But which one?
-Freestyle cone?
-Impeller (What pitch?)
What else?

Hull Reinforcement
Nose reinforcement
Pole reinforcement?

I know footholds but I believe fitting a hold for a size 14 foot might be a little difficult on a 550. How well do footstraps work?

Port the motor
Aftermarket pipe(I'm thinking factory dry for low end?)
Aftermarket head, What would be best?


Alright fill me in on what I'm missing.

Last question, How would this thing hold up in the surf currently? Without reinforcement? and not trying to do any sort of trick or catching huge air, Just riding around on the waves? would it be torn apart by the waves?

Thanks for the comments guys :)
 
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2

2-Stroke Guru

Location
MD
Excellent looking paint job man. This inspired me to paint my 550. If you dont mind me asking, what paint process did you follow? Is that automotive paint or just a really good rattle can job?
 
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Diametunim

Throwin around a 550
Location
Texas
2-Stroke Guru said:
Excellent looking paint job man. This inspired me to paint my 550. If you dont mind me asking, what paint process did you follow? Is that automotive paint or just a really good rattle can job?
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Thanks man!

ALOT of sanding It took me around the entire summer working almost every day for 3-5hr's using power sanders and my hands to get through the Rattlecan Job and then finally down to the SMC.

Then I had to fill all the gouges from the sanding when I let the sander just sit a little too long.

Then came the primer (I used rattle can primer for that) then wet sanded that then filled some more, sanded more and primed more.

God I will never paint another thing ever.

It's automotive paint, I was going to use dupont but it was going to cost me $200 for a pint of the color I wanted so I used a lower-end brand that I forget the name of for about $80 for the pint. Then I used some dupont clear coat my dad had laying around from painting his race-bike body work.

It's alot of work but it's well worth it in the end, Just be carful because the paintjob becomes very soft and isn't very fond to having things dropped on it.

I have a couple videos of it being painted by my dad so I guess I'll post em up.





Take your time if you want it to look good, Don't rush it.
 
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Liquid-6

Liquid-6

Location
Rockwall TX
Dammmm.....Haha does dad know hes on the net lol. Ive never seen the painting part. But I have plenty of memories from sanding. And you want to paint mine. HA.
 
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