650/X-2 Kawasaki X2 Winter '10 / '11 build

[kkosche]

Bought my 11 yo daughter an X2 last spring. Did some minor Engine mods (head, pipe, intake w/stuffers, SBN 44, impeller, intake grate). Ran it last summer. Ran pretty well for a warmed over 650. When we purchased the ski $600 it had some glass damage (nose punched pretty hard). By the end of the season, the quick fix the previous owner applied had failed and the ski would take on 2" of water after a moderate ride. Plan was to do the repairs correctly and a few additional mods this last winter. Here is a picture of what I started with. Project started around January.

 

[kkosche]

The more I thought about the damage on the nose (all the way across the main rib) and getting a little jittery on how long the build might take (and potentially having the ski out of commission for the start of summer) I ended up finding a second hull that was supposedly "very good condition". The 2nd hull was pretty dirty. Once it was cleaned up, there were additional repairs (not as major as my original hull) that were required (previous patch that had started to crack . . pretty good blow to the side of the hull that required reinforcing, etc). Here is a picture of the 2nd hull. I used blue tape to mark areas that required attention. Also included a picture of a 1 1/2" chop I did on the back. Some blue painters tape of proper width and careful work with a saw.

 

[kkosche]

I figured as long as I was going to learn how to do epoxy / mat work, I might as well do some additional mods as well. I really like the looks of the skis that had shaved hoods and filled noses. I also admired skis that had some deck work to blend the lower hood line. Keeping in mind this is going to be a kids ski, I tried not to get too carried away . . . pretending there was some form of budget and trying to do all the work myself. This forum and some key members were very helpful. I'll do a proper shout out later in the thread.

Here are pictures of how I ended up doing the venting on the hood, how the 4 pound foam was sculpted and covered in epoxy / cambosil mix. Nose was filled with 4 pound foam, 17 oz biax mat, epoxy and then epoxy / cambosil.

 

[kkosche]

On the nose fill, I used some thick plastic in an attempt to have the epoxy fill cure nice and smooth. Instead the epoxy stuck to the plastic and "pulled" the plastic when curing. Caused some major waves. Lots of sanding / grinding and refilling. Should have used wax paper then backed it with something more rigid, as I think that would have worked way better.

Also on the hood fill I must have fitted that hood back on the my original hull (which still had the motor in it . . very handy to test fit things by the way) about 20 times. Would have been more efficient to follow the factory lines / measurements of the original flotation (which end the end is what I used more seriously as a guide).

Here is the hull smoothed out, primed and painted. Same with the hood. I purchased some "zip walls" (spring loaded poles) from Summit Racing and created a 16' x 16' room inside my shop. Quicker / cheaper to heat and kept dust off the cars I have stored there. I can post pictures of what this looked like if anyone is interested. I put a 20" Square furnace filter near the top, and a 20" box fan down low (vented out a door) to create a down draft and attempt to control dust.

I used Brightside paint products. Prekote for primer and 333 brushing compound (used VERY sparingly). I was concerned about spraying urethane paint products with my basic replaceable cartridge respirator, so I ended up using 2" and 3" foam brushes and lots of sanding. In the end, I was happy with the result, but took way more work than if I stepped up to spraying. At 42 years old, I decided to error on the side of safety (and reduced expense of purchasing more safety gear). I still used my mask, limited my exposure to the absolute minimum, and used the fan. Down draft set up worked pretty well. Had zero issues with dust in the final product. I did not go to the trouble of flooding the floor with water.

 

[kkosche]

US Composites supplied all the epoxy and mat. Like many other folks, I was very impressed with their help, there products and the overall value.

I thought long and hard how do do the top deck. While there are some really cool top deck pre-fabbed pieces, levers and internal tilt mechanisms . . . all in it would have added over $400 to the build or a whole bunch of time fab'ing some lesser system myself. In the end I went with the stock petcock and tilt controls, but shaved the top deck to blend the hood lines a bit. Used hydro turf to color blend it with the overall scheme.

 

[kkosche]

Zach the air brush guru I met last summer when he did a mural project for my wife and I. Zach is one of these guys that has deep skills in almost any art medium (wood blocks, 40' murals, custom painting a bus, sculpture, etc, etc). Zach is out of Seattle and can be reached via matamuros@gmail.com. The only input I gave him was "my daughter likes green". What you see is his impress of his early visit to the Pacific Northwest. My daughter and I couldn't be more pleased with how it came out.

Check out some of Zach's other work here:

http://zachpowers.blogspot.com/

You can see the X2 about 1/3 the way down his blog.

 

[kkosche]

Spent a few more bucks on two colors of turf. I was concerned that if I went with straight black, the horizontal line would get lost between the black of the paint and the white of the bottom. I am not 100% sure I am sold on the two-tone, but it is growing on me. One advantage of the gray was it gave me another color to blend the top deck turf and the gray grips that would be on the ski. In the end, I think I needed more than just 3 colors (black, white, green) . . .

Seat was upholstered with Sunbrella by a local company that provides great value . . Lita's top shop out of Arlington, Wa. Carried over the triangle pattern from the nose to the seat. I like how it turned out.

 

[kkosche]

I used some 1.75" aluminum round stock and turned it down / drilled to make an internal fuel pick up. This took way more time that I thought. My father has a small home machine shop (13" Southbend Lathe, Bridgeport Mill, etc). I cut a few more aluminum blocks and drilled / tapped (1/8" NPT). Fit VERY tight in the hull though. If anyone is interested, I made 6 additional aluminum blocks ready to screw brass fittings into. If you are interested, let me know.

Also happy to post additional pictures of the installed unit . . although there are other posts that cover this topic as well.

I also can post some engine pictures, but other than a bunch of nice blue lines, a Factory B Pipe, Westcoast Head, Factory water box, SBN 44 w/aftermarket intake w/integrated stuffers) . . . nothing overly unique . . but happy to show if there is interest.

 

[kkosche]

Here is the ski on my trailer heading off for the first water test (just this last Saturday). My objectives were pretty modest:

1) Hope it doesn't sink.
2) Hope it runs as good as I think it looks.

Both were accomplished! Ran very well. I am impressed with the Factory Pipe (expensive). Good increase in overall power compared to Westcoast pipe we ran last summer.

 

[kkosche]

Also happy to post an itemized list of what I have in this thing if that would be of interest. Total invest thus far will tilt the scales at right around $2200 and about 100 hours of personal time (I'm not the fastest). Way more than I could most likely get out . . . but the goal wasn't to stay 100% financially whole in this project . . it was to learn some new skills and put together something that looks cool and is fun to ride. Looking forward to hitting the water this summer with my daughter.

Good luck in your project! If I am an amateur hack, but if I can answer any questions let me know.

 

[Sospikey]

Nice work there!

 

[zaptoad]

I'm interested

I'd love to see the list. I'm looking at picking up an X2 tonight!

Thanks!

 

[kkosche]

I'd love to see the list. I'm looking at picking up an X2 tonight!

Thanks for the props. . . here is the cost summary:

$600 '91 X2, WC Head, WC Pipe, Factory Water Box (Craigslist)
$75 Lanyard start/stop kill switch
$50 Finger throttle pull, Hot Products Carb Linkage Bracket
$60 SBN 44 Carb
$115 Intake w/integrated stuffers for 44 Carb
$50 SBN Rebuild Kit
$150 Pump w/jetsport 15.5 stainless
$75 Rock County Intake Grate
$440 Factory Pipe
$120 Covercraft Cover
$25 Extra Hood and Gas Tank
$25 Seat Upholstered in Sunbrella material
$75 Brightside paint products
$125 US Composite Supplies
$50 Misc Hardware (sand paper, vent fittings, bolts)
$100 Hydroturf / DAP Wield Wood Contact Adhesive
$100 Extra Hull (Craigslist)
$100 Aluminum, Fittings, Fuel Line, Machine time for internal fill set up.
$300 Airbrush / Graphics
$50 Lettering
$50 Title Transfers and Registration
$100 Odyssey Dry Cell Battery

($100) Sold old carb / manifold
($200) Sold WC Pipe
($75) Sold Old Pump / Intake / impeller
($50) Hull and Extra parts


NET / NET Approximately $2310 Invested

Parts I hand on hand - Bilge, Hose, Switch, FX1 Flame Arrestor (for SBN Carb), SBN Primer Kit, GPR1300 seat latch . . another $100 ish worth of "on hand parts"

Most purchased parts came from: Hardcore; Rock County, Summit Racing, US Composites, Factory Pipe, Ace Hardware, Carquest

 

[Vumad]

Added to the X2 mods thread http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/25705-X2-mods