FX-1 Started my pump swap, what a mess

Its a lot to read but I figured I'd document what I've done. If I manage to complete this most of you guys with any experience should be able to mange the swap with no problems!

Started my pump swap but havent had as much time as I had hoped to work on it. Im not all that confident in the work im doing but it seems to be coming together. Mainly just glassing and aligning left. Im using polyester resin and glass glass from homedepot which is pretty thin stuff so im making sure to build it up a good bit and ive sanded down to glass around everywhere ive glassed in hopes to make a nice bond. The only problem ive had so far was the foam. Not only did I use a bit much and ended up with lots of pockets, I guess it wasnt fully cured when i started shaping it and it distorted overnight. I sand it the mounting surface level after letting the foam sit at least a day and then let it sit overnight before glassing it it had a few low spots. I deciced id just build up more glass in those spots instead of trying to work with the foam more. This made the first layer of glass a bit difficult to lay but hopefully all will be well once i clean it up and lay some more on.

Here is what ive done:
Got the stock pump/shoe/midshaft housing out.
My dad got my bearing pressed in for me at work today.
Ground out some room for the 140mm pump (god it took forever, not a job for a dremel...)
Glassed up the holes from the stock mounts
Pulled out a decent bit of foam, all bone dry except a tiny but of water near the cooling tube.
Bought some Great Stuff foam and filled the voids back up.
Cut the foam back, realized there were quite a few big air pockets
Glassed over part of the foam with just one layer of real thin glass.

Unfortunately spring break is over so i wont be back to work on it for another week of two but heres my plan:
Get the couplers swapped over, push in the seals and bolt the midshaft housing back up.
Build up the pump mounting surface and level it out.
Figure out how to align the pump correctly.
Glass up the sidesof the intake that i ground down.
Install pump mounts (got some SS inserts from ACE Hardware and also recovered the stock mounts.)
Paint it black
Install my prop
Bolt up the pump and smooth everything out with some 5200
Order the inserts for my straps and glass them in.
Ride?
And somewhere in there i gotta figure out how the cooling, steering, and trim is gonna work.

Some pics of the mess ive made

Grinding done (I think)
http://img217.imageshack.us/i/img1441o.jpg

Holes left from the stock mounts
http://img20.imageshack.us/i/img1446ul.jpg

The sides of the cavity with some foam removed
http://img837.imageshack.us/i/img1447c.jpg

The holes glassed over, this part went pretty smooth it seemed
http://img690.imageshack.us/i/img1454x.jpg

Sprayed in my canned foam (a good bit too much of it)
http://img268.imageshack.us/i/img1457gr.jpg

Foam expanded
http://img69.imageshack.us/i/img1458o.jpg

Shaved it down with a hacksaw blade at first then wither with the dremel or just a sander
http://img14.imageshack.us/i/img1461m.jpg

First layer of glass on the uneven foam, this is the main part im not happy with but it should be fine once i build it up more
http://img31.imageshack.us/i/img1462e.jpg

The right side turned out ok, it had more high spots then low spots so i just sat a piece of wood wrapped in a grocery bag on top with a little weight on it while it cured which leveled it out pretty well. The a couple big low spots so i just did my best to get it to bond everywhere and ill layer some chop may of something in the low spots
 
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I hate to break this to you, but you don't want foam in those locations. The pump mounting area should be solid glasss. The foam there will allow water to leak in through the bolt holes and the foam will get waterlogged. It will also crush whe you tighten the pump mounting bolts. You need to have a solid glass structure from the top of the tray to the bottom so that the bolts (and bronze nuts on top side) pass through solid fiberglass.

Also, where you foamed the shoe area, it going to make it difficult to get sufficient amount of glass on top of the foam to have the integrity you need in that area. When you glass that up, you'll find you'll need to grind it back out to get the shoe to fit again....and that begins a vicious cycle. It is possible to do this mod from the bottom as you are trying, but it is much harder than cutting out the floor and building up th shoe area from the top side.

Don't mean to bum you out, but don't want to see you get too far and then realize you need a "do over".
 

swapmeet

Brotastic
Location
Arlington TX
From what i've read the "great stuff" foam isn't the best to use. I believe it is prone to absorbing water (vs. two part foam from UScomposites.)

Also, I would reccomend ordering some 17oz cloth from UScomposites or if you have a local boat parts dealer. I know how easy it is to run to Home Depot or an auto parts store and pick up glass and resin but you'll have a lightbulb moment when you feel how much heavier a 12 or 17oz cloth is compared to the bondo brand. Also the resin that comes with the Bondo is a polyester base. A epoxy base would be better.
You can get by with the cloth you have, but understand its like a 3-4 oz cloth. You'll have to lay 4 layers to equal one sheet of 12-17oz.

I agree with everything special fx said. My buddy is doing this same swap and made the effort to remove the tray and do it from the inside. Its defintley more work but once you get the foam out, its more forgiving in terms of laying glass and building up the pump shoe area.

Keep your head up, lots of people here to help you and a few that will give you a hard time ;) LOL... but you have my respect for taking this project on.
 
I see what you mean about the pump mounts. Ill probably just build it up like i have then cut holes on the tray side and glass in recessed so its still foamed just not where the mounts need to be (just like the stock setup is). Or just cut out some holes on the tray side and build it all the way up to the tray level with some glass. I have two options on the mounts. I still have the oem ones that were in the recessed areas or i have some stainless T-nuts. Either way I will have to make sure to seal around the mounts well and to make sure its solid glass.

As far as the shoe area I'm fairly certian i ground out a good bit further then i needed to so i should have a decent amount of room to build up some glass before i run into clearance issues.

I had considered cutting out the tray but I was a bit scared to do so at first and wanted to avoid as much glassing as I could. But once i started grinding I realized the glassing was inevitable so i just cut down and built back with foam.

I will go ahead and order some heavier glass and epoxy. I had originally hoped the glassing wouldnt be much so I didnt order any.

Thanks for the advice! Hopefully the next chance i get to go home i can make much more progress
 
Just placed an order from US Composites. Hopefully i can get it in before next weekend as im hoping to go home and work on the ski more.
Got a few yards of 8.7oz 8" tape
a yard of 1208 biax
some glass bubbles to i can fill a few scratches
and thin epoxy with medium hardener

Hopefully that will be that last thing i need to buy with the exception foot strap inserts if i choose to go with the blowsion kit. After spending a couple hundred on parts for this plus 500 for new leather seats for my mustang ive gotta start saving some more! Being is college makes the budget a bit rough
 
There you go Josh... be a champ not a chump. Do it rightand you will think your self later. I have a few things if you run short on glass etc.
 
There you go Josh... be a champ not a chump. Do it rightand you will think your self later. I have a few things if you run short on glass etc.

Hopefully it will come together quickly once i get to glassing. I get out of school the first week of may so i gotta hurry up, but at the same time that means school needs to take priority...

Do you have a good vise or some way to get the kawi and yami couplers off? I tried at home but had no luck and aside from trying again with more heat im not sure what to do. As soon as i get the FX done im hoping to look into more power but i just spent all my b pipe money on leather seats. I shoulda picked some cheaper hobbies!
 
I am installing a 140 pump in mine and had to cut my tray out so that I could build up the pump tunnel where the shoe would go. I'm gonna try to post a thread with pics but i havnt had time to work on it alot lately i got all my supplies from www.fiberglast.com they have some really cool stuff on there
 
I am installing a 140 pump in mine and had to cut my tray out so that I could build up the pump tunnel where the shoe would go. I'm gonna try to post a thread with pics but i havnt had time to work on it alot lately i got all my supplies from www.fiberglast.com they have some really cool stuff on there

Ive come to the conclusion this is the best method. In hindsight it would have been much easier to just build up the back a bit and then grind to fit but my way should work out fine in the end, just more work i guess. Hopefully my order from US composites will arrive before this weekend so i can work more on the ski. If it doesnt I will try to get the couplers swapped and finish the midhousing. The bearing is in i just need to put the seals in real quick and reinstall. Probably going to order the blowsion strap hardware kit so if i can get my supplies in soon i can hopefully wrap up the project in a couple weekends
 

tom21

havin fun
Location
clearwater FL
if you end up redoing it you need to remove that foam. it will absorb water and is also not structural. the other thing is you purchased micro balloons and while its great as a lightweight filler it is just as its named- a balloon. so when you sand it you will have a half balloon. and now you have a pinhole in your filler. actually hundreds of pinholes. its not easy to fill a hole that small with anything! and when you do fill it and resand it you will probably sand into it again and now will repeat the process. cabosil would be the better choice.

its all part of the learning process. take it from those of us that only learn the hard way so you dont have too. lol
 
Pressed in my seals by hand today. It was extremly difficult to do by hand but i didnt have a press handy and i was able to get it done after some struggling. Right now i have 2 seals on the pump side and 1 on the motor side. 2 seals fits easily even though some threads i have read only call for 1 seal.

Im still having a great deal of difficulty with the couplers. I used a breaker bar to torque down the vise as tight as i could on the shaft and then a cheap torch to heat it up but i wasnt able to get it red hot at all. Used a crowbar through the couplers and all it did was spin in the vise and scratch up my shafts a little. Not sure what to do about them now.

Probably going to hold off on glassing untill the morning but i might lay some down now
 
This is proving to be a pain... I put 3 layers of biax down yesterday and now the pump mounts are too wide and hits the seam where the flat surface meets the walls. Im just gonna grind it off, rip out the foam i put in and build it back flush with biax and be done with it so i can work on the pump shoe area.

The biax is neat stuff, way better then that 3 oz cloth. Very easy to wet out too, but i was dipping parts of it and moving all the resin around with my hands so it was all saturated but not much excess resin.

Building the mounting surface flush should be much easier to do and i can just use some shims to get the pump just right.
 
Shadow I had the same issue with my coupler not coming off as you did. I ended up getting some PB Blaster to spray on the shaft (and let it run down into the threads for about an hour), then I put the coupler in the vice, heated it with the torch, then used a pipe wrench to spin the shaft out. Another thing you can do is take an old broken driveshaft (or your stock one if you no longer want it, and weld a handle on it (so that it stays locked into the vice) then place the midshaft on that and then put a pipe through the coupler and spin it off. If you decide to go this route I would still suggest using the PB blaster and the torch to heat it..good luck!
 
what do you guys think about the kawi pump? i used to have a 650sx and i hated that pump very loud and loose sounding. Im doing this mod to my fx1 and i pickd up all 6r8 stuff from 94 vrx has aluminum nozzle to so i can weld a new tab for steering no extender needed on the cable. from my experience the 6r8 pump from the 94 can be pickd up pretty cheap and is a way better pump than kawis 650. so far i have 250 in everything and thats including a new aluminum 144 pump shoe. just my opinion good luck tho
 

swapmeet

Brotastic
Location
Arlington TX
what do you guys think about the kawi pump? i used to have a 650sx and i hated that pump very loud and loose sounding. Im doing this mod to my fx1 and i pickd up all 6r8 stuff from 94 vrx has aluminum nozzle to so i can weld a new tab for steering no extender needed on the cable. from my experience the 6r8 pump from the 94 can be pickd up pretty cheap and is a way better pump than kawis 650. so far i have 250 in everything and thats including a new aluminum 144 pump shoe. just my opinion good luck tho

There are mulitiple threads about Kawi pump swaps that have been completed. Search function is your friend.
 
Finally got back to working on the swap recently. Managed to get my couplers off, the flat part where the pump mounts is fully glasses, and one side of the pump shoe area is 90% done. The rest should be done within the next day or two.

Couple questions though:
How are you guys attaching the fx1 steering cable to the 650 nozzle? mine didnt come with any hardware so its just an empty nut.
Where can i order a couple of the bolts that hold the trim nozzle and steering nozzle in place? i have 2 of the 4 i need
And what type of grease should i use in the pump cone? also how much?
 
order yourself a 2008 or newer superjet steering cable end. It's a heim joint wuth a threaded stud that will thread right into the Kawi nozzle.

Got a part number or place to buy from by chance? google didnt show much for me

also do you have a pic of how it is set up? The only thing I have left to do is finish a little bit of glassing and work on mounting and finalizing stuff. The surface the pump mounts to is pretty much flat all the way across so ill just shim it to the right height. I need to order bolts for the nozzles and figure out steering and trim and i think thats it. I dont think i will run a trim cable just yet but hopefully that will be in the future.

edit: i just found the stock ball that comes on the x2 pump, will it fit right in the yamaha cables socket?
 
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Made a good bit of progress now that I'm finally not working for a week. The pump is essentially ready to mount (holes are drilled just need shorter bolts which i should get tomorrow).
Most of the bottom of the hull is sanded and ready to be sprayed, then its just reassembly i hope. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether my steering cable will clear my cooling line. I think i just have to flip the ball mount onto the top side instead of the bottom and all will be well.
 
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