Going to look at a barely used 97 SLT780 tomorrow - where to start?

[Oshawapilot]

Dealer didn't answer the phone despite assuring me they'd be there today. These clowns REALLY don't want to actually sell the stuff they have advertised for sale. If it wasn't in such good shape I'd have told these guys to get stuffed long ago - I hate chasing people to try to get them to actually sell you something they have for sale.

Anyhow, yet ANOTHER SLT780 popped up today locally...going to see it shortly as well.

[BryanP]

Maybe its a 97. Those are a lot nicer looking

[Oshawapilot]

Maybe its a 97. Those are a lot nicer looking

Well... I'm back. Another nice prospect, unfortunately fouled at the end. Turns out it was a SL (not a triple) anyways so not necessarilly directly what I wanted/needed, but at what he was asking for it with the trailer I would have bought it anyways.

So...the VIN shows that it's a 1996 but it's radically different style (inside and out) than all the SLT's I've seen so far - here's a pic:



Yes, it's dirty. It has a bit of dock rask, but surprisingly little. With some cleaning and polishing it had a LOT of potential - I was actually quite excited to find it. Hooked my booster pack to it and found that the MFD was dead, so I assume the fuse is popped. This one has electric trim as well, which didn't work - not sure if I was missing something (does it need to be running? A secret method to activate it?) or if the servo motor was just dead, but it was non responsive. Float in fuel tank had been disconnected. (Typical, someone wanted to stop the beeping..maybe why the MFD is disconnected as well...)

All fixable in my books. I'm still very interested.

I pull the spark plugs and peer into the cylinders while blipping the starter to look at the pistons. PTO looks good. MAG looks good. Center looks BAD. Uh oh. Sure enough, the compression tester shows the rest of the story - 132 PTO, 130 MAG, 80 middle.

At least it's making some compression, but I'm guessing it's got leaned out (the piston looked pretty cooked, comparable to the super-lean pictures I've seen in the piston-wash threads) and scored the crap out of the cylinder.

I spoke to the owner..it hasn't been in the water in a few years but last he remembers it ran fine.. I explain it probably seemed OK (Although it would have been way low on power) but sooner than later it's not going to be very healthy. He says he's owned it for about 4 or 5 years and only put a few hours per year on it, so I suspect the carbs were fouled all to hell and the stereotypical Fuji fuel system problems have claimed another victim.

From the been-there-done-that crowd, what's involved in fixing the center jug? I'm kinda disappointed now as this machine was priced right with the trailer (which I would have sold to recoup $500-$600) and is a nice body style in decent shape, but I realize I'd be buying a spring project here.

It did have a few other issues which I won't bother posting about unless it seems like it's going to go somewhere...

[BryanP]

Not an overly difficult fix. Might run you 200 bucks to have the cylinder machined and for a new piston. MFD may be bad, or the fuse may be blown. The trim will only operate if the ski is running. The fuel float is about a 30 dollar fix and a little time to get it out. If you don't mind wrenching a little bit that might be a good project. Or you could have my SL 900 for $1500 all ready to go


http://www.greenhulk.net/forums/showthread.php?t=149104

[Oshawapilot]

Heh..yeah, I'm turning into a ski collector already.

He told me it was a SLT on the phone, and of course it turned out to be a SL. If he had got the details right on the phone I probably would have skipped over it entirely as, honestly, I don't need another 2 seater, no matter how nice...but I will admit it did catch my fancy despite that fact.

The other issues it had was a completely missing intake grate, and it had oil and fuel seepage from the engine compartment that had somehow worked it's way through to the underside of the ski and was running along the bottom of the hull to the bow where it had collected on the floor. Not sure how it got from a low spot in the hull to THROUGH the hull...



He says it wasn't even in the water last year (maybe 2) so it's been sitting in this shed for quite a while. There was definitely some fuel leakage inside the hull so this is apparently what worked it's way out.

It's still tempting if the rebuild is only a few hundred plus my wrench time, but I'm not really into a project to make a machine I don't ultimately need. If it was a SLT, I'd be all over it like white on rice. However, I didn't get the impression that he was willing to drastically lower the price to the point where it would have been worth my time and effort anyways, so for all intents this one is dead and over.

So...back to the earlier one at the dealer...who didn't answer their phone today.

I've been emailing another person yet who claims to have a cherry 780 (and the stories seem to back it up) but despite promises to get pictures over the weekend I haven't heard back. His spam filter ate some of my earlier emails so I'm worried that my latest ones haven't been getting through, but I'm making new efforts tonight as I'd like to get the details on it as well before I go with the dealer option, no matter how decent it's looking - still not overly pleased with the asking price there, ultimately.

[BryanP]

That ski is not good if the oil is getting through the hull. it does have an Ocean Pro ride plate though...

[Oshawapilot]

Yeah, didn't look too hard to see where the oil was coming from as this was after I did the compression check..but I thought I'd glance underneath anyways.

Anyhow, I did hear from the other guy after emailing him from a different email address....sure enough his email account was marking all my emails I've sent him in the last 3 days as spam. Stupid Yahoo email..... Expecting pics tomorrow.

This is turning into a saga...you are all going to be glad when I finally buy something and this is over. heh....

[TBone14]

I have an SLT 750 I'd sell you dirt cheap if you wanna work on one - I haven't checked it out yet, but can't be too far gone - it is in good shape - and I promise the price is right. Definitely a hell of a road trip though

[Oshawapilot]

1300 Kilometers each way. 2600 return at 15 Liters per 100 Kilometers (the mileage my 1-ton gets on the highway) = 390 liters of diesel. 390 liters of diesel at about $1.10/L (A average wash between the price on myside of the border and south of the border) = $429.00 of fuel. Add a night in a hotel, meals, bridge fees, the import fees and such, and it's probably a $750 road trip for me.

The price would have to be virtually free, unfortunately.

I drive commercially for a living so this sort of trip wouldn't be out of the realm of a weekend turn for me (down and back), but the math above is why I'm unfortunately shunning away from all the suggestions here (in this thread and others) to buy from the USA and bring it home - the cost of fuel just turns the math upside down fairly quick, especially when my 1-Ton diesel dually is my only tow vehicle.

Now, if I was bringing home three skis (1 for me and 2 to sell) THEN the situation would change, but the problem is finding somewhere to have 3 good skis lined up and ready to go the second I arrive, already vetted, sellable on my end, and basically ready to load with all the correct paperwork at the ready. I'd have no problem making tidy profits based on what they sell for in the south, and the differences in value up here. I know for a fact that there are plenty of people doing exactly that - the dealer SLT780 I posted a few pages back (the one I'm still eyeballing as the final candidate) is exactly that - brought up from the US, as evidenced by it's total lack of Canadian registration markings. The pontoon boat sitting beside it had WI licence stickers. Various other boats, same. Profit, sure...if done in volume, and you have someone at the other end getting stuff ready for transport....but to do it for a single machine for personal use, unfortunately difficult to justify unless we're talking a MASSIVE savings.

[BryanP]

I think Tom will give you a hell of a price on it..............shoot him a PM. I think you will like what you hear back