My Badass Badass

[just joe]

After selling my Fx1 I decided I wanted something with more carbon, more power, and though I coveted the efficient FX1 size, a little more room would be nice. I can barely flip a coin, but of course my ski must be flippable, and versatile enough where flat days on my river or monster chop on the Cheasapeake Bay were equally as fun.

The choice was easy for me, a -4.3 Freak.

Found my *donor* ski with a 1k dasa in it, TL, and 144mag pump. Though it had some waterline and corrosion issues to deal with, the best part was the flawless top shelf paint job and visual carbon layer Steve Papp laid in the hull.


So naturally with all new toys, I tore it completely down to rebuild it, fixing the issues, while planning the build.

 

[just joe]

After disassembly, fixing water lines was the first step. Used 1/2" thickwall stainless lines. They will outlive the ski now.

Also took some time to seal the gunwales, added foam, and hull drains.

 

[just joe]

Now is where things get interesting. I have a fully capable 1000cc dasa, novi, TL, 144 mag package that I started, but haven't ridden. I think I'm pretty good with ski's, been building my own up for years, but buying a house, having a baby, and my job getting more intense has me worried I either won't get it done and it will be an endless project, or I will cut corners.

Talking to a friend, he said the magic sentence "dude, you live like 3 hours from Philip Clemmons, just take it to him to build back up". Hmmm.... Good idea, and Phil can also tune it for me.

A couple conversations later, I find myself at his shop with my hull and a box of parts.

 

[just joe]

I think it might have been somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour after I meet Philip and Penny in person that they hung a for sale sign on my dasa and we decided to drop in the latest gen TPE1105, 148 pump, full spec 49's, X-metal pole, RRP steering, X-Metal trim, complete TL re-wire, Penny special turf job, and much more.

Here we go...

 

[just joe]

This is a good example of working with Philip.

A text to him asking how it's going, he replies I have your pump apart working on the shaft.

Huh? my pump is new, shaft is new.

Yes, he replied, but I can improve the run-out. Better alignment, mid-shaft life, reduced vibration.

My new 148 pump had a new shaft, but it wasn't perfect. Philip made it near perfect, and sent a video of the shaft on a lathe with a dial indicator.

Cool start, and much more of this attention to detail ensued.

 

[Mdavies_02]

Subbed.

 

[just joe]

The motor was the long lead, especially since I asked for something a little different in my 1105. Again Philip and Erik didn't disappoint, but more on that later.

So when we talked about re-wiring the TL, I was thinking a clean-up.

The result was a complete overhaul. Custom mounting plate, all SS hardware/lock nuts, new wires, connectors, cables. Shifty module replaced the on/off switch.

A work of art:

And yep, that's a stock GP800 coupler on the midshaft.

 

[just joe]

New OEM motor mounts, and a trick custom machined battery hold down bracket.

Did I mention the awesome visual carbon work by Steve? Adds a much needed finishing touch to the SF Ski's. Weight schmeight, I have enough motor to get this into orbit.

 

[just joe]

I had a unicorn pole planned, a 34" carbon SFS pole I wriggled from Tem, but to some disappointment, we just couldn't use it (watch marketplace for the sale).

The carbon pole was work of art as well, surf proven, light, bling.... but this ski had a RRP pole on it and the breather tube feed throughs were just too far forward and we couldn't get the breather tubes in without opening the holes. The holes are r-e-a-l-l-y far forward, didn't need to be but such as life.


We talked about custom plates and such, but ended up with the cleanest route, an X-metal pole, RRP steering, blowsion fat straight bars, Thrust finger throttle, Thrust trim lever. Phil had to machine the pole to get the RRP steering to fit perfectly.

No spring, tight pole. First time for me. I'm told I'll probably hate it, then soon love it.

 

[just joe]

Finished TL

Pump went in easy peasy... Yeah right, this is a freak. Midshaft took a little shimming, but he got the pump in and lined it up perfect without any pump shims... just some massaging

Went with X-metal trim and the silicon coupler trick. New steering cable, new trim cable. Well, I'll stop adding 'new' as it applies to everything.

 

[just joe]

Some prep work for the motor... Flat landing insurance

 

[VXSXH20]

Subbed' Looks great Joe, Your skis never disappoint! seeing Lola FX at va beach a few years ago that thing was a work of art! enjoy the badass badass!

 

[just joe]

Thank you. She's still close, in Pa. Hope I still have dibs if Jim wants to sell.

 

[Lm12]

Saw this at phils a few times. Very clean work indeed.

 

[Informal]

Nice SF!!

I'm torn between wishing Phil lived closer, and being thankful he's so far away lol!

My SF is 99.9% done..... Just waiting till a few cosmetics are complete before posting my build (will be more like a "built") thread, as I'm terrible about taking progress pics.

 

[Proformance1]

Nice build so far. Phils attention to detail is insane and his tuning is spot on

 

[just joe]

In walks the motor!!! Complete with updates from 900/1200 development

Updated port timing as well, a little on the smoother side of violent. Yeah.

PHP lightweight crank

50/50 race/pump mix

 

[just joe]

More details... Proformance1 is spot on, I'm still finding little tricks Philip used in this build.

New cables, welder grade. #0 flywheel

 

[just joe]

Pipe...

RRP - sexy, light
TNT - new, trending, solid roots
Powerfactor - proven

Phil, pipe? Power factor.

RRP is really light.

Phil: Powerfactor.

TNT has some interesting qualities with heat retention.

Phil: for you, Powerfactor. Can tune it with eyes closed.

Ok Powerfactor.

Proven, reliable, more than what I need or can use. So Powerfactor it is.

Motor, meet hull.

 

[N3vrSat1sfied]

Clean build and clean Total loss!!!