- Location
- Lake Stevens, WA
This winter I was going to do a little glass repair on my kids X2. In the end I found a spare hull and got a little carried away with the project. I will post the full build once I am complete (hope in a few weeks or so). I'm almost done with the ski (need to swap over the mechanicals) but have one problem that is puzzling to me.
Best I can tell the "new" hull is a 1989 (based on VIN, and based on the fact that it has direct steering set up). My original hull has a 1991 VIN (and is registered as such) but has the squirrel cage steering setup (which I believe would make it a pre-1989 ski). Not sure any of this matters (assuming the hulls / hoods are identical throughout the years) but thought I'd mention it.
Got a new factory hood seal from John at Rock County. installed with 3M 5200 slow dry black. Spent time insuring seal was seated well. Used Tape to insure it stayed in place and gave it a full week to cure. When I put my hood that I have 20+ hours invested in . . . I could not get it to shut. Way too tight near the front where the sides of the hood need to slide over the seal. I used some grease around the seal to help the hood "slide" over". I will also note . . . Prior to painting the hood it was "dry" fitted countless times as I was building the cowl style air inlets and shaping the 4 Pound foam, that was inside the hood, around the engine, pipe, etc). No obvious problems with the dry fit (no hinge or latches). When I encountered the seal binding, I looked for any binding. I looked, scratched my head and looked some more. Picture below:
Best I can tell there are zero adjustments on the hood latches and hinge. . . so I ended up cutting out a 1/4 aluminum spacer that matches the bottom of the hinge. Picture here:
This allowed the hood to close (still way tighter than it was originally). Looks like I have a small gap at the front section of the hood right by the hinge. Appears to be the best comprise I could come up with. My thought process is that once the seal forms to the hood, I might be able to pull the spacer out at the end of the season. Here is a picture of the hood, latched and on the ski:
If you have read this far, here are the questions:
1. Have you experienced this problem? Any recommendations?
2. Any other ideas on how to resolve?
Thanks for reading.
Kevin
Best I can tell the "new" hull is a 1989 (based on VIN, and based on the fact that it has direct steering set up). My original hull has a 1991 VIN (and is registered as such) but has the squirrel cage steering setup (which I believe would make it a pre-1989 ski). Not sure any of this matters (assuming the hulls / hoods are identical throughout the years) but thought I'd mention it.
Got a new factory hood seal from John at Rock County. installed with 3M 5200 slow dry black. Spent time insuring seal was seated well. Used Tape to insure it stayed in place and gave it a full week to cure. When I put my hood that I have 20+ hours invested in . . . I could not get it to shut. Way too tight near the front where the sides of the hood need to slide over the seal. I used some grease around the seal to help the hood "slide" over". I will also note . . . Prior to painting the hood it was "dry" fitted countless times as I was building the cowl style air inlets and shaping the 4 Pound foam, that was inside the hood, around the engine, pipe, etc). No obvious problems with the dry fit (no hinge or latches). When I encountered the seal binding, I looked for any binding. I looked, scratched my head and looked some more. Picture below:
Best I can tell there are zero adjustments on the hood latches and hinge. . . so I ended up cutting out a 1/4 aluminum spacer that matches the bottom of the hinge. Picture here:
This allowed the hood to close (still way tighter than it was originally). Looks like I have a small gap at the front section of the hood right by the hinge. Appears to be the best comprise I could come up with. My thought process is that once the seal forms to the hood, I might be able to pull the spacer out at the end of the season. Here is a picture of the hood, latched and on the ski:
If you have read this far, here are the questions:
1. Have you experienced this problem? Any recommendations?
2. Any other ideas on how to resolve?
Thanks for reading.
Kevin
