Freestylegeek's squarenose conversion

freestylegeek

freestylegeek

waiting...
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
yamaslut said:
That part is not gonna be fun...:bigeyes:
Click to expand...

I'm not as scared about it as I used to be.
Once I get the top deck glued on, I'll have adheasive up the outter sides of the bulkhead, bonding it to the deck. The gaps on the inside will fill in quickly.
I'll just lay a 5" wide strip of cloth over the gap on the engine side and let it set. After that, I can bulk it up with smaller and smaller strips untill I have the thickness I'm happy with. I think it will have more than enough adheasion, and support.
 
freestylegeek

freestylegeek

waiting...
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
noodle said:
Looks like you've done an awsome job of shortening the hull, you've made it look easy, although I'm sure it wasn't. Great work!!
Click to expand...


Thanks man!

The entire job is a HUGE undertaking; however, I've found that breaking it into smaller sections makes seem very managable.

For instance, the steering relocation area took 4 seperate 'sessions' to complete. One to cut the hole, one to glass in around the cardboard tube, one to glass over the front of the tube, and one to glass the pump side.
It just takes a little time.

I finally feel like I'm moving forward now that I have the back pieces firmly affixed!:smile:
Next will be glassing them from the outside.
 
Metal4130

Metal4130

Eat, Sleep, Ride, Groove
Location
Chicago
This looks GREAT. Talk about making a 12 year old ski look modern! It looks like your doing everything right and taking your time, to me that's all that matters. I have just a few questions though. Since you are still using an OEM bottom, will you be reinforcing the inside of the engine compartment? Lastly it seems like you are really happy with the quality of the XFT products. In the past I heard a few negatives on his earlier hulls. Do you think what you recieved is worth what you paid for it as far as quality goes? Keep it up! :biggrin:
 
freestylegeek

freestylegeek

waiting...
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Marshj said:
I think that it wont be fun cause someone got a little too excited with the sawzaw:bigeyes: geek.....
Click to expand...

ooops. :rolleyes:
But, I don't think I could have reduced the gap much more.
Maybe the bottom could have been flush, but the verticals would definitly NOT have been.
The two top decks are very different in that area.

Sawzalls are fun!:arms:
 
freestylegeek

freestylegeek

waiting...
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Metal4130 said:
This looks GREAT. Talk about making a 12 year old ski look modern! It looks like your doing everything right and taking your time, to me that's all that matters. I have just a few questions though. Since you are still using an OEM bottom, will you be reinforcing the inside of the engine compartment? Lastly it seems like you are really happy with the quality of the XFT products. In the past I heard a few negatives on his earlier hulls. Do you think what you recieved is worth what you paid for it as far as quality goes? Keep it up! :biggrin:
Click to expand...

Thanks man!
I'm having a lot of fun doing it too.

I will be reinforceing the inside of the engine compartment with a 6" wide strip of uni-directional glass right over the bond line, and then an 18" wide sheet of 9 oz bi-axial twill weave to go from hull to hood seal lip.

I was blown away with the quality of the XFT stuff.
The price, lead time, and delivery were very nice.
Most importantly, Sergio customizes any part for you as part of the deal.
 
romack991

romack991

homebrewed
Location
Warsaw, IN
Marshj said:
I think that it wont be fun cause someone got a little too excited with the sawzaw:bigeyes: geek.....
Click to expand...

freestylegeek said:
ooops. :rolleyes:
But, I don't think I could have reduced the gap much more.
Maybe the bottom could have been flush, but the verticals would definitly NOT have been.
The two top decks are very different in that area.

Sawzalls are fun!:arms:
Click to expand...

I think Marsh has got ya on that one geek...
 

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douglee25

douglee25

m3booooy
Location
South Jersey
Geek, do you think filling in your gap with epoxy mixed with some filler before you lay some fiberglass on it would be a good idea? Maybe some foam and then fiberglass?

Doug
 
freestylegeek

freestylegeek

waiting...
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
douglee25 said:
Geek, do you think filling in your gap with epoxy mixed with some filler before you lay some fiberglass on it would be a good idea? Maybe some foam and then fiberglass?

Doug
Click to expand...

Nope.
I'll lay in a 5" wide strip of unidirectional glass all the way around the gap (with the strengthening strands perpendicular to it).
I'll use my finger to depress it into a little valley. Then I'll build up the 'valley' with 4" wide, 3", 2.5", 2", 1.5" and 1" wide strips.
I think the result will be *slightly* lighter.
I have no worries about how strong it will be.
 
Marshj

Marshj

DarkHorse
Location
Ann Arbor
freestylegeek said:
Dang!
Looks like he got it figured out!
Nice job there Marsh!

The real reason I cut so much of the bulkhead away was because SMC is heavier than the glass I'll use to fill in the gap.
Yeah, yeah that's the ticket!

:bs2:
Click to expand...

:biggrin:

But you see..I aborted my conversion, you my friends are faithfull:frown: :banghead:
 
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