300/440/550 Pics of my 550SX Rebuild Footholds,Versiplug, Complete Refoam.

[Mark Gomez]

Hey everyone I made it back into the shop for a half a day after one of my practices last week before my tournament.

I started by sanding and shaping all the foam around the sides that came out alot better than I thought.

We got the big sheet of glass, I cant remember which specific one it was but it was very tough and one of the strongest sheets he had. It was woven on one side with glass fibers on the other side woven into it.

With the help of my friend John again he did the finish work with his sander wheel and got everything shaped perfectly and preped for glassing.

Im doing a whole new layer of glass for my tray to replace the hole i made in half of it and to provide strength for the years of stress it will take.

He measured up and cut the sides of the footwell sheets.

Mixed the resin and got to work.

We also laid down some thinner cloth to wrap the corners cleanly and keep them intact.

And that was that, It is now dry and sitting in the shop still, I hope to get back in there this Saturday to begin sanding and smoothing it out for the finish work. I'm stoaked riding season is coming a little quicker than I thought.

Thats it for now
Still more work to be done.
Thanks
-Mark

 

[Mark Gomez]

More

 

[douglee25]

Looks good man!

Doug

 

[Mark Gomez]

Thanks Doug!

 

[ezmoney]

looks good!

keep us posted

 

[Polish jet pilot]

Hello Mark, hello all!

I just wanted to give you big props for doing the old Kawi. I havea similar ski and I am gonna go your way in modding it for surf conditions. I love the old kawi its a blst and so much more agile tan the bigger stand ups. I hope that if I have some "newbie" questions regarding the ski preparation process you will be willing to help out.

Once again, best to you all!

Andrew:wavey:

 

[Mark Gomez]

Hello Mark, hello all!

I just wanted to give you big props for doing the old Kawi. I havea similar ski and I am gonna go your way in modding it for surf conditions. I love the old kawi its a blst and so much more agile tan the bigger stand ups. I hope that if I have some "newbie" questions regarding the ski preparation process you will be willing to help out.

Once again, best to you all!

Andrew:wavey:

Thanks for the compliment Andrew just post a thread or PM me when you have any questions were all here to help, i know they are because they have been helping me from the beginning.
-Mark

 

[63chevyll]

yes,

finally 550s are taking over...... it was just a matter of time

 

[Mark Gomez]

Update

Just got back from the shop a while ago,

Turns out that John shaved down the fiberglass laid from the last update the day after before it became bullet proof. It looks great so far! :Banane09:

There were some spots that need a little more cloth to be laid down.

So i started by cutting some cloth to Strengthen the S^#T out of the rear hull extension where my versiplug will be.

We mixed the epoxy resin and got to work laying down the cloth.
Then he helped me mix some filler to help me puddy up some holes in the bottom of my hull from screw holes or my first attempts long ago to drain my ski.

Not a whole lot happened today but its definetly progress. I cant to much more the glass has to set.

Next day i plan to be back in is either the 25th or 26th maybe both if I'm lucky.

Until the next time
-Mark

 

[D-Roc]

cool ski. i still ride my old 550 every couple of weeks. its a limited setup and rips really well for a 550. nothing like the stock 550's. nothing wrong with turning a ford taurus into a drag car if it runs 9 sec 1/4 miles. lol

 

[douglee25]

I also have a stock 550. I crack up everytime I ride the thing (compared to my sj). I'm about 225lbs., so a stock 550 has a little trouble getting me up on plane. Once I'm there, I feel like I'm riding a weedwhacker. It just buzzes along... I'll come up to a wake from a boat, and when I hit it, I barely get any air. It's a blast to ride. Good times.

Doug

 

[Polish jet pilot]

Mark what prop are you running? I bought a Skat trak prop 15 straight. Hope to get a lot of bottom end power (together with porting, exhaust, etc). How much Hydroturf is needed to cover your tray and sides, and so on. I am about to purchase parts and need to know how much to buy....

Andrew

 

[Polish jet pilot]

Oh, Mark, one more thing:

Do you have any pictures of the inner strenghtening of the hull, nose?

Best regards,

Andrew

 

[Mark Gomez]

Pm sent

 

[Polish jet pilot]

Since I am new to this forum I still can't send a PM. So here it goes:

Hello Mark,

First of all thak you for your email. The superjet way is out of question for this season. I also put too much money already in this ski (Poland is quite expensive if we talk parts, etc.). Finally I like the ski's hull more than the SJ (it is much lighter, blah blah). I just want the ski to practice basic freestyle manouvers and surf riding. When I get these right I will switch to a bigger machine. I am a normal size type guy - and with the porting job a guy did here (he is a world champion in 2 stroke powerboats) the ski was flying (without prop, exhuast, etc), so the Kawi has big potential. Right now I am collecting parts and maybe in a month's time I will start cutting and so on

Andrew

 

[Superjetter_95]

nice set up! ive got my old 550 set up with a 650 modded engine. getting the thing set up for surf ride right now! footholds, tubbies, sponsons, all the goodies.
basically all your doin.
your skis lookin sweet!
nice job! :bigok:
and all the people that dog on the ol' kawi's, ive been able to woop on my dads fx1 and our friends superjet so i dont know what their talking about saying the old kawi's are no good! :moon:

 

[Mark Gomez]

nice set up! ive got my old 550 set up with a 650 modded engine. getting the thing set up for surf ride right now! footholds, tubbies, sponsons, all the goodies.
basically all your doin.
your skis lookin sweet!
nice job! :bigok:
and all the people that dog on the ol' kawi's, ive been able to woop on my dads fx1 and our friends superjet so i dont know what their talking about saying the old kawi's are no good! :moon:

Thanks man
let me see some pics of your ski :beerchug:

 

[Polish jet pilot]

When something is old it does not mean it's bad. With technological progress in handling and power an old ski can be a hard opponent (to newer skis) after investing into it, plus the do not look that bad - they are classics!

 

[Polish jet pilot]

Mark, how's progress going on? Pics, pics pics...

 

[mxsuperfly124]

sik ski, do you have a shortend pole??