He Reigns Mon Ark project

[He Reigns]

Finally getting some time to work on the jet ski, when the carbs were off you could feel the missing reed valve. Took off the intake tonight and pulled them out. Numerous chipped corners in addition to the missing one. New set should be here in a couple days. Plan is to get the jet ski running good before she goes under the knife.

 

[He Reigns]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW0a9LoJEB0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Please remember I am not a camera man. Jet Jon part one!!!

 

[bnt5]

Just watched video, looks like you have your ducks in a row! I don't see the exhaust routing as a difficult project, it looks to be easily routed to the stern, since you will have a lot more room than the original jetski had width wise. Fiberglass patch the hole and move one. In a 16' boat, 6" becomes a big deal out on the water. I would also remove the splash well (the double transom part) on the rear of your boat to allow for your decking to be placed over the engine compartment it was just there originally to keep backwash from entering the cockpit of the boat.

I was in the same boat (or jetski) as you a couple of weeks ago, I have a Kawasaki 1995 750 STS (bought for $100 ) that I completely went through. Cleaned entire engine from top to bottom, checked compression (150 psi thank God) rebuilt carbs and installed new gaskets on reed valves. I also removed the oil pump and went to premix just on the off-chance it goes out. It runs like a champ, well when I get the impeller replaced it will run good.

Now that I know we have a similar engine cc I am very interested to see how it pushes that 16 footer around, my guess is that the stock impeller will be a little weak on the low end especially getting the hull to plane quickly, of course that is easily remedied once the build is complete. Keep us updated!!!

 

[He Reigns]

Bill, anxiously awaiting your pictures! My boat is probably on the hefty side for 16 footers. I will be ripping up the floor and tearing out the water logged foam. From what I can find the hull weight was about 450 lbs but I have no idea what that weight included, interior, seats? So it may be a little slow to get out of the hole. I will be glad just to get it on a plane at first. Fine tuning will be later. My transom leans in at the bottom so that is going to limit how the pump box is placed through it as well. When I get the jet ski hull cut out and placed next to the transom it will probably answer a lot of questions. Can anyone recommend what tpi to use for a sawzall blade to cut fiberglass. I was thinking a bi metal blade.

 

[bnt5]

I think a bi-metal blade would be fine. Diablo makes a great demo blade called the demo-demon, that's generally my go to blade for most projects non-metal.

 

[Steven3]

When we cut our ski hull we used a cordless skill saw with a rip blade nothing fine tooth at all. We just took our time while cutting that way it didn't delaminate the fiberglass. We ended up with clean cuts just fiberglass dust everywhere.

 

[sulfurburner]

I just finished cutting mine apart a couple weeks ago. I used wood, bi-metal, and demo blades and I think for me the wood blade cut the fastest for long runs, but the finer blades are better for trying to shape the final product. whatever you go with I would suggest jeans and long sleeves and whatever you do make sure you have at least a dust mask and goggles.

 

[He Reigns]

Thanks for your input everyone, I have several different blades laying around. I should be cutting this weekend if the jet ski checks out ok motor wise.

 

[bnt5]

I would suggest outside in the wind! Nothing like fine fiberglass particles embedded in the skin....Ahhhhhh, good times!

 

[He Reigns]

Woo Hoo, put the new reeds in jet ski and got her running with a bit of encouragement. Water seperator was missing a few pieces so I had to bypass it and a bit of confusion as to where some hoses went. I did not tear it apart, the carbs were removed when I bought it. But in the end it all worked out. Primed with weed eater gas a couple times and vroom. Throttle responce seemed fine. Only ran it a few seconds as I did not have water running to it. Overall it is close enough for me, sawzall coming out tomorrow!!!

 

[PSG-1]

For cutting fiberglass, use some blue painter's tape to keep the gel coat from splitting, and use a fine TPI blade for your saw, like a bi-metal blade.

If you don't already have a mechanic's repair manual for that jet ski, you should get one, it will help tremendously.

 

[He Reigns]

I will make sure the final cuts are nice and pretty. I found a maintenance manual online the day I bought it. Very useful tool!

 

[bnt5]

Manuals are very handy, but the handiest tool of all is masking tape. I used it to mark all hoses, electrical wires and nuts bolts etc with exact locations since the manual can be a little shady when it comes to electrical locations. I can't stress this enough, I completely tore my jetski apart and over a series of only days I forgot where a few wire connections went, kinda easy to do since it looked like a spaghetti noodle factory inside the hull . Good luck!

 

[He Reigns]

Worked 8 hours straight on the project today, got a lot done. Cut top half of jet ski off and removed and labeled hoses and wires. Removed motor, gas tank, oil tank and battery. Then we cut it down to size.

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[He Reigns]

Then we went to the boat, removed side storage and drivers seat/storage to make room to tear up floor. Removed the floor to reveal nice dry foam and the 3 support ribs that had to be cut out of the way. Set what was left of the jet ski in the back area and took measurement. We made some lines on the exterior of the boat hull and plan on cutting it tomorrow. I'm tired, got nicks and cuts and have little pieces of fiberglass itching me all over. Great day!!!
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[He Reigns]

Some interesting points... to top off a great day working on the boat the little lady fried a bunch of crappie fillets, perfect dinner for the day. The splash well was interesting, it supported the transom and took a lot longer then I expected to remove. You can see I ended up leaving in the corners for now. Once I get a final height for the back deck/engine cover I will decide what to do with them. The 3 support ribs took a lot longer then expected as well. It was hard to get the right angle and not cut through the hull. I used a sawzall and should have used the angle grinder with cut off blades, but I was out of cut off blades. For record, I have about 20 hours research and 10 hours work time in this project so far. Good research will cut down work time.

I was wondering what others have used for adhesive/caulking to mate the fiberglass hull to the aluminum hull. It was recommended to me to use the stuff made to put in car windshields.

 

[He Reigns]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS1Ipd-gaX4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Part two of my video series for the jet Jon

 

[PSG-1]

He Reigns » Today, 00:21[/url]"] Good research will cut down work time.

OUTSTANDING COMMENT! And so true! I call it the rule of 7P, where Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance :mrgreen:

Seriously, though, I ended up spending a LOT more time on my first time around with the installation of the 2 stroke engine, pump, and components than I did the second time with the 4 stroke. Part of it was from lack of experience the first time, but part of it was just guess-timating stuff, then having to go back and do it again or modify it to get it right.

 

[bnt5]

Way to go! Looking good. I chopped up my hull today as well, started after church and got done before supper...not too bad, all I need is a boat.. :roll:

For bonding the two surfaces you can use a variety of adhesives, if you want non permanent use permatex utra black rtv silicone, it bonds very well and is impervious to water, oil and gas. If you want that hull to be there till the good Lord comes back then use 3M 5200 Marine adhesive that stuff is STRONG, like Godzilla Strong! I am guessing you are also using mechanical fasteners of some kind, so between those and the whatever adhesive you use it should be fine.

 

[PSG-1]

RTV Ultra Black is very good adhesive. It's what is used to seal removable pumps (like XL1200's) into PWC's and jet boats.

As mentioned, 5200 is permanent. Once you put it together with this stuff, you won't be taking it apart ever again, and I do mean that in the most serious way! :shock:

I'd run it with the RTV Ultra Black, as long as you're using some fasteners to hold it together, it should be more than adequate.