Making of the SNX Hull

[Nate_D]

Picked up this square last week. It's definitely seen better days, but that was exactly what I was looking for.

The plan is to make the following changes, pull a mold, and build a lightweight ski.

Bottom Deck:
Rocker the nose
Reshape the center area of the rocker slightly (taper in the center line)
Custom Removable tubbies
Widen ski by 1-2"
Create full width ride plate
Shorten ~10". -6" out of the back and probably end up with -4" from the rocker/front
Widen pump intake track and pump area to accommodate a 155

Top Deck:
Slightly wider rails at 45*, transitioning to 90* towards the rear
Reshape nose
Move pole mounting forward
Lower and reshape hood
Reshape/lower gunwales
Widen tray
Front foot hold
Custom adjustable heated footholds
Carbon handle pole

Start

Current

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[mattyboy89]

I love build threads

 

[Nate_D]

Started by stripping what was left on the hull and preparing to split the decks.

Since the rails are going to be reworked, I cut them off at 45* angle from horizontal, directly on the radius (or as close as I could come). I used a circular saw and adjusted the depth to 3/4". I needed to cut them regardless, however doing this first should make it much easier to separate the decks.

I wanted to keep the horizontal portion of the rails in order to build the new rails off of and to follow the rocker line on the nose.

As you can see, she had a nose job at some point in the past. That is ~1" thick fiberglass I cut from the nose... Someone didn't want it to break again.

Next I cut out the nose area of the top deck. The plan is to reshape the nose and move the bracket mount forward. This was done now to help ease the top deck off as well.

Once some of the green goop was cleared out of the bond rail towards the front, I worked two flat head screw drivers around the outside of the hull. Applied heat liberally and the green goop easily separated from the decks.

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[mattyboy89]

All that in 30 minutes?!?! This will be a record build

 

[Nate_D]

All that in 30 minutes?!?! This will be a record build

Lol if only... The goal is to have it done by the end of April. That is lofty at best. More realistically beginning of June.


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[StandupNation]

Can't wait to see where this goes! Love the custom builds man! Love seeing the glass work and the things people can do!

 

[Nate_D]

Can't wait to see where this goes! Love the custom builds man! Love seeing the glass work and the things people can do!

Thanks.

Sorted out the motor. Updated first post.


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[Nate_D]

Finished up separating the decks. All that remained adhered was bulk head and pump area from the previous day. Used the same method as splitting the rails - heat gun, chisel out a starting hole, hammer in two flat head screwdrivers and work my way around.

Once the bulk head was free, using two 1" x 4" x 12" boards I worked back around the the bond rail to the rear. With very little effort the adhesive around the pump came up.

Splitting the decks wasn't nearly as difficult as I had anticipated or as others have made it seem. I think the key to getting them apart undamaged is lots of heat and consistent pressure. While working on the bulk head I had two of the 1" boards wedged down under the nose area keeping a constant upward force as I worked the screwdrivers around. Once the the glue/SMC heats sufficiently, it just pops away from each other with minimal force.

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[Nate_D]

Once the decks were separated, it was time to attack the foam. This took almost as long and was twice as irritating as splitting the decks was. It always feels like the foam never ends...

Defoaming has been beaten to death in other threads so I'll keep this short.

Tools used:
Sawzall
Drill
Assorted wire wheels
Hammer (claw side)
Heavy duty scrapper

Sawzall to cut up the foam, hammer claw to remove the big chunks, and a few different wire wheels mounted on the drill cleaned everything up.

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[Nate_D]

Finally finished with the decks and foam I can start the long list of hull mods. First up, rockering the nose.

Ground out the inserts with a right angle grinder.

Removed remaining portion of the nose.

Since I want my rails to follow the line of the nose, I decided to use the 2" cut and spacer method to achieve the rocker I was looking for. I started the cuts at 56" from the rear, or about 4" in front of the motor mount inserts.

Used a sawzall with 12" and 6" metal blades to cut the hull. I like the metal blades over the wood for this type of semi precision cutting. They tear off smaller pieces and move slower through the fiberglass.

Cut up pieces of Home Depot paint mixing sticks were used as spacers.

Metallic duct tape

All prepped up and ready for epoxy.

Mixed up some epoxy, cabosil, and milled fibers. The milled fibers were a mistake. I was hoping that they would provide some additional stability so I wouldn't have to lay any glass immediately on the nose. Unfortunately they wouldn't set into the small gaps. Tossed that batch and went with the standard peanut butter epoxy/cabosil mix.

Once the cabosil/epoxy hardened, the spacers were cut flush and a layer of 1708 biax was laid to help stabilize the nose. A roll of white paper to pattern out the fiberglass was used.

I only laid one layer of 1708 to hold the nose solid while the rest of the hull is worked on. In order to keep weight down the entire hull will be reinforced after all of the mods are done.

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[Nate_D]

Cut from the rear to the front of the motor mounts on the outside of the mounts and chines. Widened the rear 0.5" on each side. Taped the bottom, epoxy/cabosil, then 2 layers of 8oz glass tape laid on each side.

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[caseynz]

nice build man! I'm doing the same myself. few hours in it to get it to that stage!

 

[Dalton]

I'm interested in why you widened the rear and not the front? I haven't heard of this being done.

 

[Nate_D]

I'm interested in why you widened the rear and not the front? I haven't heard of this being done.

I wanted a slightly wider boat and didn't want to cut through the entire hull and have to spend a lot of time lining it up perfectly. There is already a slight taper to the bottom deck, this just increased it slightly more. Between this, the wider rails, and the tubbies that will be made later, I am hoping to gain some stability. Now how this is going to effect the handling at speed, I have no idea yet.

A lot of this build is based on proven ideas and designs from other builds and aftermarket hulls, and then a lot of it is ideas I have on changes to the hull and different methods to achieve those changes. It's really all educated trial and error for this build.




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[StandupNation]

Great work man! Loving this thread!

 

[Dalton]

I like the idea it'll be cool to see how it turns out.

 

[Nate_D]

Originally I wasn't planning on modifying the chines at all. However being that this ski has been beat on for about 20 years now, the chines are in pretty bad shape.

Started cleaning up the chines and sanding down the scratches. The random orbital sander just wasn't doing it, so I grabbed the belt sander and tossed on some 80 grit.

Cleaned the hull with water and acetone. Next I used some small wooden dowels (5/16" I believe) and taped them down with duct tape.

Cut lengths of 3" wide 8.7oz glass tape to fit in between the duct tape.

Mixed up a batch of peanut-butter-cabo-poxy. Applied liberally to dowels and shaped by hand. Next I laid the precut glass tape over the chines and wetted out with regular epoxy.

Once this first round sets, I will remove the duct tape and cover the remaining dowel with thickened epoxy and 8.7oz tape. 6" wide 8.7oz glass tape will go over that, and then finally a 10" wide cut of glass will lock it all down from the sides over to the center.



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[Nate_D]

Received my flywheel from #ZERO today. Very impressed all around with the transaction. From the communication, to the same day turn around, to the very high quality machine work and the beautiful finish... Even the packaging was above my expectations.

Also stopped by Fastenal to grab some stainless Allen head bolts for the carbs, flywheel cover, and ebox. Bought a pair of used oem 44s that were in need of some love. Completely tore them down, stripped them, primered and repainted. Had to tap the returns to fit main jets because the restrictors had been drilled out. New gaskets and stainless steel hardware. Just waiting on the new shafts to come in.

Ebox was pretty crusty as well. Cleaned it up, primer/painted, new SS hardware.

Wanting to keep the cost down I am salvaging parts from other builds. I had a stock 155 pump from a waveventure that I had laying around from the blaster swap. Only problem is the wear ring is not threaded. After looking everywhere for the correct size thread inserts, I gave up and decided to tap it for a 3/8-16. Had to drill out the stator and reduction nozzle slightly for the larger bolt diameter.

Also had to drill and tap the reduction nozzle for the trim setup.


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[Nate_D]

Working on the ride plate mold. Lots of sanding and prep work. Will update once the mold is pulled off.

In the mean time, I rigged up a foam cutter from a 24vac transformer, light dimmer, electrical cords, two yard sticks and guitar string. Please excuse the hand drilled slot.

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[Dalton]

Can't wait to see the ride plate mold. Standard size (not full width) I assume? Did you recess the bolt holes like a stock plate or make that area flush? I did the former and I'm not sure how I'll like how the part releases. I've seen it done both ways with composite plates and I'm thinking making the bolt holes flush with the plate surface would save some headaches.