John's budget SJ build

[Waternut]

Well I bought this ski in early fall for $1100. It is a 94 and it has a factory b-pipe, aluminum handlepole, and a westcoast head. Here is what it looks like with some slight modifications to make it look semi-presentable. It had a cracked tray which I had to do a temp repair on so I could ride it occasionally before defoaming and all that happy crap.

 

[INDebtSJ]

You certainly got your moneys worth.
Looks good!

 

[Waternut]

As of now, here are my plans for this winter:

Defoam, install footholds (not sure which brand yet), and returf
9/15 hooker impeller
total loss ignition
bore reduction nozzle
port the cylinder using racelogic templates
cut 2-3" off the back of the hull
cut ride plate flush with the hull
invert tech -2" turn plate and straight bars
paint....obviously...I'm leaning towards a gloss black with yellow but still thinking about it

Things I'm still debating:
Rounding the nose
lowering the hood
curving the gunwales to mimic the SXR's
case porting but need to research that a bit more


Well that's the plan for now anyway. Although, I say it's a budget build, it looks like I'm going to be spending quite a few hundred dollars on parts. Luckily, I have a spare total loss system already though.

Feel free to offer suggestions...

 

[Roo]

Damn, that is a fine deal you got there!

Why not completely chop the nose Rickter style?

 

[McDog]

This should be good. Good luck. My 2 cents is that all the things you are debating are more of a PITA than they are worth. The rest sounds great. I can't wait to try it out.

 

[Waternut]

OK so I finally got around to defoaming this ski. I must say for as many threads as there are about how bad this process is...I just don't see it. IMO a good turfing job is far far worse and messier than defoaming...as is actually installing footholds.

Took me about 30 minutes to actually cut the tray. I can cut through steel with no problems using my air die grinder but cutting through fiberglass bogs that thing down like crazy.

Took about 30 minutes to actually pull the tray. Check out that dark colored foam. The mold and stale water make it smell wonderful too!

Then another hour using a claw hammer and a big screwdriver to this point. Just pay attention to what you're swinging at with the claw side of the hammer...and wear leather gloves so it doesn't hurt when your hand nicks something.

The last hour and a half were spent pulling the exhaust tube and finishing up. Once I got most of the foam out with the hammer and screwdriver, I decided it was time to break out the shop vac and drill with a wire brush attached.

I didn't get every bit of foam and there is still a little bit in the top of the sides that may take another 30 minutes or so but I may still chop the sides down some to make them look pretty so I wasn't too concerned. Overall though... 3.5-4 hours of work is very do-able and because there wasn't any kind of precision needed for this job, I just cranked up the radio, and went to town.

 

[BruceSki]

i agree... i dont think defoaming is as bad as most people make it out to be.

grinding and cutting is worse becuase of all the dust.

 

[WAB]

Might as well pull those PVC & alum tubes out also. Just grab and pull on the alum lines as if you are going to buy new ones. :smile: They bend slightly, but pull right out. They are not sealed very well from the factory and will leak water into your new foam.

 

[Mark44]

Time to install some drains while you are in there.

Mark44

 

[Waternut]

Placed my order with UScomposites for the 16lb kit of 3lb foam. Also bought some woven roving...hopefully that fabric will work well for replacing the tray but it's really cheap so if not, no biggy.

I spent 45 minutes removing decals with a mini razor scraper. This was much much easier than my kawi which took ALL weekend to remove those decals! I think the next step will to be to start chopping the hull up to my liking. We'll see how far I go...

 

[BruceSki]

whats the difference between 2, 3, and 4 pound foam? density, weight, what?

that woven roving is very thick and uses a ton of resin. but it is pretty strong, just hard to wrap around anything. it will work good for the floor of the tray for sure

 

[ridethelip]

whats the difference between 2, 3, and 4 pound foam? density, weight, what?

that woven roving is very thick and uses a ton of resin. but it is pretty strong, just hard to wrap around anything. it will work good for the floor of the tray for sure

Density.Those lower numbers are good for filling voids.For support Areas use 8 8lb or higher.

 

[BruceSki]

so 2 lb foam is no good for filling a tray?

 

[Waternut]

so 2 lb foam is no good for filling a tray?

Most people say to use at least 4lb foam (4lb per cubic foot). Rough measurements gave me about 3 cubic feet for the SJ tray area. In addition to the density and strength of the 2lb foam being a bit lacking, US composites says it's only 95-98% closed cell. All the others don't have that little detail in them so I'm guessing they're designed to be 100% closed cell.

I would imagine 2lb foam is probably structurally good enough since the fiberglass is supposed to be taking the real load. I mean there are guys running no foam in the surf so it can't be that bad. However, I was turned off by the 5% open cell design which in a year will weigh just as much (if not more) than the 3lb foam if there's a small water leak.

 

[Waternut]

Spent a good part of today sanding down the top deck. I started the bottom deck and decided it would have to wait until tommorrow. I've been trying not to overwork my air compressor too bad so 30-45 minutes of using the dual action sander and I give it a break. I ordered some paint and it's not here anyway so I figure there is no real rush anyway.

I ordered a gallon kit of acrylic enamel from tcpglobal for about $100 (a quart ends up being about the same price). I know it's not as good as urethane basecoat/clearcoat but then again...it's a ski and it's gotta be a whole lot better than spray paint or rustoleum. I chose Cobalt blue firemist...Hopefully it actually looks like this.

 

[Waternut]

While I was outside sanding (because I learned not to sand inside from last year)... I decided to go ahead and shorten the hull. I wacked off 3 inches. Hopefully it isn't too much but I love my 750 with 1 inch off of it and those are a lot more nose happy than an SJ when they're both stock.

Here's a side angle. I actually tried to maintain the same angle with the inside being slightly longer than the outside but I don't think it really worked. It's kind hard to tell though.

Here's the sphincter shot in case anyone is into that kind of thing...:bigeyes:

 

[SQUARE JOEL!!!]

He said sphincter!

 

[McDog]

I highly recommend the polystyrene foam. A pic is on my roundnose build thread #37. It made a significant weight difference, will not absorb water, and will be easily removed if I ever need to get in there again. I still foamed the gunwales for strength and used some foam to lock in the polystyrene peices and to attach the tray back on. I also recommend the drains and they were easy to install. I love my one way valve too. Good luck, it looks great. I still have enough polystyrene left over for your ski, you can it have if you want it.

 

[Waternut]

Thanks for the offer and I remember you using that polystyrene. I considered it for a while...especially since it was a lot cheaper and more readily available than the us composites foam. I felt that the closed cell expanding foam would give me more support and repell water since I have no intention of ever digging that stuff out again.

I know when I did the god awful custom footholds on my 750, I did everything wrong! I used great stuff foam, no fiberglass, and turfed directly to the foam. There were also gaps in the turf where I could see directly into the foam. When I finally replaced it with real footholds, that foam was dry as a bone a day after I vacuumed the standing water off.

I highly recommend the polystyrene foam. A pic is on my roundnose build thread #37. It made a significant weight difference, will not absorb water, and will be easily removed if I ever need to get in there again. I still foamed the gunwales for strength and used some foam to lock in the polystyrene peices and to attach the tray back on. I also recommend the drains and they were easy to install. I love my one way valve too. Good luck, it looks great. I still have enough polystyrene left over for your ski, you can it have if you want it.

 

[N3vrSat1sfied]

cant wait to see it finished. is this going to be your new ski or a back up for the kawi?