New to PWC with a interesting prroject.

S

Scott Bennett

Location
Djibouti Africa Camp Lemonnier
Hello,
I picked up a older Yamaha FX1 stand up with the 61X engine as a way to kill some time in my deployment to Djibouti Africa. I paid $300 for it not running and hull trashed. After working on it for a while I got it back up and running. The carb is not functioning half right from sitting but feeding it I can make it run. Now I have a new project for the motor. We are installing it into a 1970s half cab boat. I salvaged what I could from the cracked hull. It looks like the section for the motor mounts is OK and will re enforce the section with fiberglass.
I've been doing as much searching on your site as I can to try to locate answers and I'm finding that I may not be using the correct wording. Because the boat is a bit heavy I'm looking at adding twin carbs to the 61X to assist in better fuel at high load and high RPMs. However I'm also looking at maybe converting to a 1100 or bigger if I can find adapter motor mounts. I know drive angle is everything so I dont want to try to re-engineer the shaft to pump. We are hoping for 25+ MPH. Everything here is such a task because the Djibouti-ans do not know proper mechanics. Everything must be sourced from Ebay or from my friends back in Texas. I've already shipped out a bunch of tools. If you guys can offer recommendations on cheap reliable power it would be appreciated. We are not looking to sink a ton of money into the project as when we leave it will be handed down to the next crew with instructions to keep it going and they will hand it down. Just a MWR type of thing. I got the boat from a scrap yard for $250 and am willing to dump about 2K more into it for fishing or to take the guys snorkeling.
 
MADMAT

MADMAT

Location
Ohio
Man I think (I can't believe I am saying this because I hate them!) I would hunt down a used 760 jug and pistons for that.

Better porting (for that) and 60 more CC's....and cheap!!

Is that a FX-1 pump or a 144mm?

Give us some pics!!
 
Quinc

Quinc

Buy a Superjet
Location
California
Strip the carb apart and dip it into a bucket of chem-dip then spray her out with carb cleaner.
Instead of going with 2 carbs on the 61x go with one big carb like a 46 mikuni and check/replace the reeds.
Find another jetski with a wrecked hull and good engine and swap it over instead.
 
S

Scott Bennett

Location
Djibouti Africa Camp Lemonnier
I'd love to rebuild the single carb on it but it looks like there is a few different models out there. I havent found carb cleaner in Djibouti. I'm sure the diafram is torn and the jets are clogged. This thing was filled with sand to where the prop was stuck then left to rot for 10 years. There is only 8 or 9 other jet skis in the country. The Kepenski use to rent them but they got wrecked quickly.This place is a 3rd world country so niceties are mail order only.
Then I rely on USPS so any chemicals is out. That is why I bought the twin 38s. I'll attach pics of the boat. Its a pile of junk but if you guys have good cheap suggestions I'm open.
 
S

Scott Bennett

Location
Djibouti Africa Camp Lemonnier
I got a good used 701 case on Ebay for $60 shipped. I will slowly hunt down the parts to build a 760.
From the looks of the Yamaha FX1 everything is stock. I'm not 100% on the pump how can I tell? I do have a second head and intake with full exhaust if that will all fit the 760. How much should a 760 jug with pistons and crank cost? Unfortunately the internet is so filtered I'm surprised I'm on this forum. My resources are limited to Ebay and Amazon.
 
MADMAT

MADMAT

Location
Ohio
@JetManiac can ship you all you need on the cheap I bet....

At least worth talking to him for sure....

If it is a stock FX-1 it is not the ideal 144mm pump.

I imagine it would be fine for that though.

760's ran dual 44's stock.

I think I would use exactly what you have though.....bare minimum purchases....
 
OCD Solutions

OCD Solutions

Original, Clean and Dependable Solutions
Location
Rentz, GA
I'm betting a 4.3l inboard would have trouble getting that hull up to 25mph so you may be asking a lot from even a healthy 701 or 760. For that reason I would be leaning towards your suggestion of finding an 1100 triple.

What's the fuel situation like over there? I'd hate to see you put all that time and effort into a 2-stroke transplant only to find out that gas is $12/gallon and 2-stroke oil is as rare as a clean floor over there.

Wouldn't an outboard be far more practical and more abundant?
 
Quinc

Quinc

Buy a Superjet
Location
California
Scott Bennett said:
I'd love to rebuild the single carb on it but it looks like there is a few different models out there. I havent found carb cleaner in Djibouti. I'm sure the diafram is torn and the jets are clogged. This thing was filled with sand to where the prop was stuck then left to rot for 10 years. There is only 8 or 9 other jet skis in the country. The Kepenski use to rent them but they got wrecked quickly.This place is a 3rd world country so niceties are mail order only.
Then I rely on USPS so any chemicals is out. That is why I bought the twin 38s. I'll attach pics of the boat. Its a pile of junk but if you guys have good cheap suggestions I'm open.
Click to expand...

Do you have a mechanic shop on base you can "Borrow" from? Also to clean it you can use an air compressor and straight gas. @Wizards Powersports has great deals on used parts and might even offer a military discount. :)

Another thing is buy extra gaskets and bolts so you have some spares.
 
S

Scott Bennett

Location
Djibouti Africa Camp Lemonnier
We have been using the shop for what we can. I am currently looking for the correct carb rebuild kit and correct jets. I'd like to keep a couple head gaskets on hand as well.
One of the options if we cant get the boat moving quick enough is to start gathering the parts to build a kawi 1100 or bigger then use an adapter plate to make the swap. The boat was designed for a max 115HP motor. A strong 701 is in the range of 73-75hp the 1100 is 130-ish so I dont see it being too bad but we have a plan either way. Like I mentioned, this project is 2 fold. It kills time working on it while providing the guys an opportunity to do something they have never done, then once complete it will provide a little MWR. Once we leave the next crew can spring for a bigger motor or outboard if they want. Once the initial cost of re-vamping the old boat is used up I've gone as far as I financially can. Like I told them yesterday. one of two things can happen. It will work and it will appear like we know what we are doing or it will sink during the water test in 4-5' water and it will be a cool story about the time we were in Djibouti Africa and tried to build a boat out of junk and sunk it.
Now the hurdle is paint. Shipping paint is a bear of a task. I've found some water based paint for boats but just seems odd to me. Is this normal or a "Go-Green" gimmick?
 
MADMAT

MADMAT

Location
Ohio
What about getting US Composites/West Systems (epoxy resins)? Won't you be needing some?

I think I would make some oars and be done with it! LOL.
 
S

Scott Bennett

Location
Djibouti Africa Camp Lemonnier
I'm doing a bit more research and I'm seeing the Kawi 650s running this type of mod @ 20+ MPH. We might be OK to run the 701 till we kill it. Then upgrade to the 1100 or 1300.
$1200 for the motor right off the bat would push the budget in to the red.
We have found that the latest thing is to do this to a light jon boat and run the shallow rivers and rapids. All we have is a nice flat sea front.
I should have some pics of the new progress here shortly as we now have the hole for the sectioned FX1 to slide into. Now we just need to get it positioned properly to the bottom hull. We are going to mate it into the existing runners in the boat as they are not bad at all. Then rebuild the floor and start with the bottom paint and build a new trailer. For testing I'm going to rig up a small platform and use the jet ski controls until my steering and throttle lever come in. I still need to figure out a way to mate a rams horn on to it for reverse and neutral and a long throttle cable.
 
Last edited:
S

Scott Bennett

Location
Djibouti Africa Camp Lemonnier
That poor FX1 had a date with the shredder as the hull was broken in three places. We cant ship a new hull here. I checked on that one a while back.
I took on the project of rebuilding the engine for GP because I'm a mechanic as a hobby. I was going to sell the motor just before I found the boat also awaiting the shredder.
Remember this is a third world country that very closely resembles some of the combat zones I recently left. We are using some very crude tools and a lot of rough cuts all the while minimizing the finishing work because those materials are very hard to come by here.
 
samsmith87

samsmith87

Site Supporter
Location
Chicago
The FX1 hull is a really bad hull to glass into this boat. The pump tunnel is real small and the pump is also small only 122mm. The 122mm pump is too small for the FX1 let alone a boat. You would be better off finding a yamaha couch hull out there with a bigger pump tunnel and pump 144mm, and use the FX1 motor.
 
S

Scott Bennett

Location
Djibouti Africa Camp Lemonnier
I would have loved to get just a normal outboard but there is not many options.
Trust me we did not plan to gather these parts for this project. There are about 7 or 8 jet skis in this entire country. This is like a true rat rod for the water. We have a shoe string budget and are using parts that we have.
The reason the boat was scrapped in the first place was because the motor was blown and was parted out. Remember these people are still hauling dirty drinking water around with donkey and wagon down the middle of the street. The city has a whopping 7 traffic lights. We can not just go out and make choices. In fact I'm building an entirely new trailer from scrap metal from the same junk yard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom