Mark Gomez
is where the surf is
- Location
- Fullerton, CA
Mark Gomez's Freeride 550SX Rebuild Footholds, Tubbies, Complete Refoam.
Hey Party people,
So this week was my first week of Christmas break and started nice when my family came through for me and got me just what i asked for, Not a single Gift!... Just cash :veryhappy: I ended up with a little over $500 in the end. I'm stoaked every bit helps especially being out of work due to being in the middle of my wrestling season.
So this is great because I now have money to spend going into my few days i spent at my friend Johns Fiberglass shop, Performance Fiberglass in La Habra.
Instead of just throwing him my ski and saying do this and that I wanted to learn how to do it. So I'm still paying him for all his product i use but im also paying him for his time to help me do it myself and assist with the things i shouldn't do on my own yet.
So what I've done so far is completely cut open my ski and defoamed it. I cut the top layer above my foot wells because i want to reglass it Flat for an easier turf Job. I had the ski Hanging nose down for a long time to let water gravity drip out of any remaining foam i didnt get in the back. My ski had quite a bit of water inside.I ended up counting about 36 holes i drilled into my ski in just the tray area alone for my footstraps...:hitwithrock:.
So the plans for the ski is to:
-Install Blowsion Kicker Footholds
-REFOAM!!!!!!!
-Reglass my Tray and tops of my footwells
- Install a 3/4 pvc tube from my bulkhead to the back of my ski with a PWC doctor Versiplug-R.
- Gel Coat white the bottom of the hull.
So the first day John and I got more done than I thought possible.
I started by sanding my entire Tray area removing more foam from around the bulkhead for the install of the PVC tube.
John cut open the left rear hull extension in hopes to get a more flat surface to mount the Versiplug Flange.
after it is mounted were going to Glass the sides and the base for strength so we can leave it open like it is.
We then drilled the holes for the PVC pipe to go through, Sanded and epoxied it all in.
While i was doing that He took some left over Fiberglass from another project and rounded it to the exact diameter of the fire extinguisher cap so epoxy and seal it up so i still have enough room for a tow rope. Score!:notworthy:
After that we Trimmed down the Kickers to Fit the 550 tray shape instead of the more rounded SN tray. Sanded laid our epoxy and riveted them in. They will look alot better when their glassed in.
So it started to get late and really Cold about 45-50.
And we were going to start to foam when we read the foam is best to be used in temps above 65 haha. So we pulled out the Head lamp and got my ski nice and warm.
We then built a little brace out of wood to keep my footwells from expanding as the foam set.
The first Pour was great the stuff is pretty trippy stuff its funny to see it grow and the warmth of the heat lamp made it haul ass.
The second pour wasnt so pretty because I mixed it... I just stired it for too long and it airated and started to expand as we were pouring it but i covered that with my first pour the next day. The last pour of the night went well Using the last of the 2 QT kit, and we called it a night. I Still needed to do a pour or two more.
So the next Morning I got more Foam from his dealer. I Scraped and Wire brushed the excess foam down to get the tray flat then With the next pour filled the voids from the bad pour and finished the rest of the voids that needed filling.
I then trimmed it all down and level to prep for the future glassing.
With the expoxy set on the pvc pipe we shaved down the excess pvc in the back, to get it flat with the rear surface. I'll install my Versiplug last after we glass the surrounding walls of the hull piece.
Last before we wrapped it up for day 2, The 550sx hulls have the Retarded Divits in the side of the tray walls and I want to glass those flat for easier turf job while its already under the saw. So i sanded, laid my tape down and mixed a little more foam to fill those areas so I could sand and shape them how i wanted them before we glass.
So now I'm waiting till Wednesday to get back into the shop when we can finish shaping the foam. and begin the Final glassing. Were going to Glass wrap from the top of the Footwell area down to the bottom and lay a whole new layer on the bottom of my tray for strength and to fix my bigassed hole i made because of all my screwholes.
Ill be going to the hardware store soon to get the small Stainless steel sheet and T nuts to Glass in my one forward footsrap(THE RIGHT WAY) lol.
Ill then be cutting down my SN SJ Kicker Mat Kit to re turf it. Most likely will paint the top deck depending on funds.
I'm going over the measurements with the owner of AC racing about making me a 550 Alum Handlepole with a Superjet like Steering set up to attatch the SJ Chinpad i have. :cheer2:
My Cylinder and Case will be getting Bored next week.
My Wiseco 1.5 Overbore pistons Arived the other day at the shop
My Cranks Comming back From getting new PJS rods my boss spoted me installed and rebuilt soon.
I have all my gaskets and all my other engine parts are cleaned and ready to rock.
Im SO STOkED! I love this project and Cant wait to be back out with Ross Hopefully Mike after hes all healed up, Randy, Brad, and John, all the O side crew pretty much early mid march!:fingersx:
The rest of the pics are comming in my next posts...
and i will post updates as i go.
Thanks for helping me out with all my research guys!
-Mark
Hey Party people,
So this week was my first week of Christmas break and started nice when my family came through for me and got me just what i asked for, Not a single Gift!... Just cash :veryhappy: I ended up with a little over $500 in the end. I'm stoaked every bit helps especially being out of work due to being in the middle of my wrestling season.
So this is great because I now have money to spend going into my few days i spent at my friend Johns Fiberglass shop, Performance Fiberglass in La Habra.
Instead of just throwing him my ski and saying do this and that I wanted to learn how to do it. So I'm still paying him for all his product i use but im also paying him for his time to help me do it myself and assist with the things i shouldn't do on my own yet.
So what I've done so far is completely cut open my ski and defoamed it. I cut the top layer above my foot wells because i want to reglass it Flat for an easier turf Job. I had the ski Hanging nose down for a long time to let water gravity drip out of any remaining foam i didnt get in the back. My ski had quite a bit of water inside.I ended up counting about 36 holes i drilled into my ski in just the tray area alone for my footstraps...:hitwithrock:.
So the plans for the ski is to:
-Install Blowsion Kicker Footholds
-REFOAM!!!!!!!
-Reglass my Tray and tops of my footwells
- Install a 3/4 pvc tube from my bulkhead to the back of my ski with a PWC doctor Versiplug-R.
- Gel Coat white the bottom of the hull.
So the first day John and I got more done than I thought possible.
I started by sanding my entire Tray area removing more foam from around the bulkhead for the install of the PVC tube.
John cut open the left rear hull extension in hopes to get a more flat surface to mount the Versiplug Flange.
after it is mounted were going to Glass the sides and the base for strength so we can leave it open like it is.
We then drilled the holes for the PVC pipe to go through, Sanded and epoxied it all in.
While i was doing that He took some left over Fiberglass from another project and rounded it to the exact diameter of the fire extinguisher cap so epoxy and seal it up so i still have enough room for a tow rope. Score!:notworthy:
After that we Trimmed down the Kickers to Fit the 550 tray shape instead of the more rounded SN tray. Sanded laid our epoxy and riveted them in. They will look alot better when their glassed in.
So it started to get late and really Cold about 45-50.
And we were going to start to foam when we read the foam is best to be used in temps above 65 haha. So we pulled out the Head lamp and got my ski nice and warm.
We then built a little brace out of wood to keep my footwells from expanding as the foam set.
The first Pour was great the stuff is pretty trippy stuff its funny to see it grow and the warmth of the heat lamp made it haul ass.
The second pour wasnt so pretty because I mixed it... I just stired it for too long and it airated and started to expand as we were pouring it but i covered that with my first pour the next day. The last pour of the night went well Using the last of the 2 QT kit, and we called it a night. I Still needed to do a pour or two more.
So the next Morning I got more Foam from his dealer. I Scraped and Wire brushed the excess foam down to get the tray flat then With the next pour filled the voids from the bad pour and finished the rest of the voids that needed filling.
I then trimmed it all down and level to prep for the future glassing.
With the expoxy set on the pvc pipe we shaved down the excess pvc in the back, to get it flat with the rear surface. I'll install my Versiplug last after we glass the surrounding walls of the hull piece.
Last before we wrapped it up for day 2, The 550sx hulls have the Retarded Divits in the side of the tray walls and I want to glass those flat for easier turf job while its already under the saw. So i sanded, laid my tape down and mixed a little more foam to fill those areas so I could sand and shape them how i wanted them before we glass.
So now I'm waiting till Wednesday to get back into the shop when we can finish shaping the foam. and begin the Final glassing. Were going to Glass wrap from the top of the Footwell area down to the bottom and lay a whole new layer on the bottom of my tray for strength and to fix my bigassed hole i made because of all my screwholes.
Ill be going to the hardware store soon to get the small Stainless steel sheet and T nuts to Glass in my one forward footsrap(THE RIGHT WAY) lol.
Ill then be cutting down my SN SJ Kicker Mat Kit to re turf it. Most likely will paint the top deck depending on funds.
I'm going over the measurements with the owner of AC racing about making me a 550 Alum Handlepole with a Superjet like Steering set up to attatch the SJ Chinpad i have. :cheer2:
My Cylinder and Case will be getting Bored next week.
My Wiseco 1.5 Overbore pistons Arived the other day at the shop
My Cranks Comming back From getting new PJS rods my boss spoted me installed and rebuilt soon.
I have all my gaskets and all my other engine parts are cleaned and ready to rock.
Im SO STOkED! I love this project and Cant wait to be back out with Ross Hopefully Mike after hes all healed up, Randy, Brad, and John, all the O side crew pretty much early mid march!:fingersx:
The rest of the pics are comming in my next posts...
and i will post updates as i go.
Thanks for helping me out with all my research guys!
-Mark
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