Smokeysevin's juryrigged standup (js550) project

[smokeysevin]

Lower Deck Prep Part 2 (Wipe Until Clean)

I started today by cleaning up the disaster that my garage had become. Let me be honest here, it was always a disaster but I normally don't work with fiberglass so it was a different kind of disaster. Anyways, since I am getting closer to the point of being ready to run things like exhaust and cooling lines I needed to clean up the stock bedplate. Into the blast cabinet it went and 2ish hours later I had a freshly bead blasted and rust free bedplate. Houston is not a particularly dry climate but it was dry enough today that I kept getting shocked by the static buildup from my blast cabinet. It was not the best.

Once that was done, I blasted the bedplate with 2 coats of self etching primer and then some high temp engine paint.

Having gotten that out of the way and having postponed the inevitable long enough, I resumed sanding the bottom deck. This took approximately 4 hours when it was all said and done. I am once again reminded why I despise bodywork. In the process I used 12 80 grit sanding discs, 3 100 grit rollock discs, and 1 3X18 50 grit sanding belt but I was able to remove each of the multiple layers of paint and gelkote.

I also removed the stock hull extensions to prep for the bilge drains, rear exhaust, sponson mounting plates, and cooling lines. I plan to build removable hull extnsions and mount plates so I can get back to stock length, stock +2" and naked length.

Time Spent:
7 Hours (my hands have not stopped vibrating yet...)

Tools Used:
3X18 Belt Sander
90 Degree Die Grinder
5" Orbital Sander
1" Wood Chisel
Stainless Steel Wire Brush
Drill and 5/16" Drill Bit
Shop Vac

Materials Used:
None today

Layers of Paint Removed:
6 (Seriously

Water Consumed:
64oz (Spring is here peeps, stay hydrated)

PPE Used:
Half Respirator
Tyvek Suit
3M Worktunes Headhones
Hazard Frito 7mil blue bomber gloves

Percentage of Garage Floor Epoxy Coated
18% (running total to date, I didn't spill anything that I am aware of today)

Percentage complete:
50% (I am ready to start adding filler and glass now)

Sean





Well Seasoned Bedplate



Beadblasted and Rattle Canned with High Heat Chemical Resistant Paint



The Jawbreaker



Naked SMC






Tunnel and Transom (Sounds like a good buddy cop movie)

[steve45]

Hmmm... Salt water bed plate.

[smokeysevin]

Lower Deck Prep Part 3 (Chine On You Crazy Diamond)

This was a relatively quick and simple day. I took 4 of the fish sticks from a few posts ago and trimmed off the ends on the bandsaw (for freshness) then dressed them so there were no splinters. I then sanded the length with some leftover "Used" 5" 80 grit discs from yesterday and got to work taping them out. I followed the stock hull lines as much as possible and made sure the distance from the edge of the hull was the same on both sides.

Once I was happy with where they were, I mixed up some peanut butter and smeared that down the fish sticks until I was reasonably happy with the fitup. I figure I will end up going in and trimming the end to length once it cures and then I can fill in the gaps left by the tape and do a layer of glass over the bottom.

Time Spent:
2 Hours (taping straight lines is not a skill I have)

Tools Used:
Milwaukee Portaband and Swag Table
Porter Cable Upright Belt Sander

Materials Used:
4OZ Resin
4 Scoops of Cabosil
Painters Tape
Sanding Disc

"Fish Sticks" Consumed
4

PPE Used:
Half Respirator
3M Worktunes Headhones
Hazard Frito 7mil blue bomber gloves

Percentage of Garage Floor Epoxy Coated
18% (running total to date, I am on a roll with this no spill thing)

Percentage complete:
62.5% (I am ready to start adding filler and glass now)

Sean



Remember when you were young



You shone like the sun



Chine on, you crazy diamond



Now there's a look in your eyes



Like black holes in the sky

[smokeysevin]

Lower Deck Reinforcement Part 1 of 1 (This is probably the end, you should go to bed and stop reading here.)

Continuing on the theme from yesterday, I once again ventured into the realm of smearing peanut butter along fish sticks. This was to fill the gaps left by my structural painters tape. Once that was complete, I applied 8oz of resin to the whole bottom deck and waited for that to setup. While that was kicking, I cut qty 3 12" wide sections of 1208 and prepared them for the bottom. I started at the back and layered them sort of like shark skin. I cut one of the 50" lengths in half and positioned that at the nose. I then cut 3 6" X 16" sections and used that to cover the gap left by the 12" wide sections and laid that up to the nose. Then the time came to raid the scrap section where I found lots of small squares and used that to fill in the nose sections and cover the old "repairs". Its not perfect but its "serviceable" and it will get covered with black gel kote so who cares.

I ventured into the house to cure the stomach rumbles and got suckered into being a good husband so I kicked around on the couch watching terrible reality tv until I was once again saved by the catalytic miracle that is epoxy resin!

All my pre cut pieces were placed, and smoothed until my next 20 minutes were up. The next 16oz of resin was mixed and applied to wet out the glass. I then spent another 30ish minutes making sure all the corners were tucked and the bubbles were out. All in all, I think this went okay but the cruel light of morning will reveal my inadequacies.


Time Spent:
4 Hours (I made a turkey sandwich, and was forced to watch the end of an episode of The Bachelor by my wife while I was waiting on the resin to kick. This alone is reason enough to use fast cure resin, learn from my mistakes!)

Tools Used:
Rockwell Oscillating Multi Tool
Porter Cable 5" Orbital Sander
Shop Vac

Materials Used:
24OZ Resin
4 Scoops of Cabosil
48" 1208
Sanding Disc

Reality TV watched while waiting for the resin to kick:
The Bachelor: Women Tell All (Send help)

PPE Used:
Half Respirator
Tyvek Suit
3M Worktunes Headhones
Hazard Frito 7mil blue bomber gloves

Percentage of Garage Floor Epoxy Coated
24% (That escalated quickly, I mean, this really got out of hand fast)

Percentage complete:
75% (Could the end be near for our ruggedly handsome hero? Tune in tomorrow for another exciting misadventure!)

Sean


Trimmed and Filed Fangs (I even measured the cuts)



Smooth and Sticky







Fully Clothed and Dry







Like Papier-Mache, except toxic, and expensive, and water resistant

[steve45]

Lookin' good!

Here's a 750 SS xi I repaired a few years ago. (Word to the wise, a cheap 'Ski isn't usually 'cheap'!)





I ended up putting 2 layers over the entire bottom, and about a dozen layers across the back but I don't have pictures of all of that.

[smokeysevin]

This ski was "free" and I have since learned cheap means run away, fast.

The bottom actually cured without lifting which I was worried about. Today I am going to grab some more resin and filler to hopefully get the bottom ready for paint by the weekend.

I forsee lots of sanding in my future.

In other news, my 750 is supposed to arrive on friday so I can hopefully fit the new cooling lines and exhaust tube soon.

Sean

[smokeysevin]

Filling in the low spots Part 1 (Neunundneunzig Wei?ƒe Luftballons)


I took a few days off from ski work, went to see Willie Nelson at Rodeo Houston (good show, poor sound quality) Replaced the header flange gaskets in my Tundra, did some gardening, where was I going with this?


Right! Today I started by sanding the hull and knocking the unsupported edges of the bottom deck reinforcement off. Once that was blown clean and wiped with acetone, I mixed up 2 batches (8oz and 4oz) of epoxy mixed with micro-balloons to fill in the rough spots. The micro balloons are really cool, they flow differently than the cabosil when stirring and mixing them with epoxy.


If we call cabosil peanut butter and the filler looks like marshmallow fluff then by logic the ski must be a Fluffernutter and therefor delicious.



That bit of culinary education out of the way, I also removed the remaining squeezed out adhesive from the edge of the tubbies and stripped the remaining paint/gelkote off.


Time Spent:
4 Hours (this seems to be a recurring theme...)


Tools Used:
Rockwell Oscillating Multi Tool
Porter Cable 5" Orbital Sander
Shop Vac
Box Cutter
3/4" Chisel


Materials Used:
12OZ Resin
9 Scoops of Micro Balloons
4 80 Grit Sanding Discs


Tunes Jammed To:Album: Forever in the Friendzone
Artist: Suburban Legends
Comments: There are some high and low notes, I recommend listening to the whole album.



PPE Used:
Half Respirator
Tyvek Suit
3M Worktunes Headhones
2 pairs Hazard Frito 7mil blue bomber gloves


Percentage of Garage Floor Epoxy Coated
26% (That may have been actual marshmallow fluff, I wasn't willing to taste it though. )


Percentage complete:
80% (You and I in a little E-shop, buy some microballoons with the money I got. Set them mixed in the garage of Sean, till one by one, they were on. Back again, bugs in the fill-air. Grab the tyvek and the sand-air. Sanding here, its almost time. Ninety-Nine Microballoons go by!)


Sean

I have no future as a body-guy or a baker



Low spots filled, high spots glazed



Streaky, what you look for in a high performance coating...

[smokeysevin]

Filling in the low spots Part 2 (THE REFIL-IN-ING)


Dawn of the first day (48 hours remain)


I started out yesterday by knocking back (rather aggressively) the cake icing with a combination of the belt sander and disc sander. This got rid of most of the wrinkles and left me with a reasonably smooth surface. Once that was done and mostly flat, I blasted it with some black crust-oleum paint so I could see the low spots. I gave that time to dry and retired to the parlor to consider my life choices for the remainder of the evening. Once the witching hour arrived, I drifted into a fitful slumber and arose at the dawn of a new day.


Dawn of the second day (24 hours remain)


Tonight I went back to the garage and attacked the hull by hand with a 2 foot section of 3" diameter SCH 40 PVC Pipe. To actually remove material, I wrapped it in a full sheet of 80 grit purple sandpaper. This was pretty effective at removing the high spots from the chines. Mostly I went back and forth along the axis of the hull, the only tricky part was getting the transition points between the chine and the center of the hull. To take care of that area, I sanded on an alternating 45 and 135 degree pattern which seems to have worked pretty well.


To finish the hull off. I mixed up 2 batches of the micro balloons and resin, this time each was 4oz resin and 2 scoops of the filler. This mixed to a thick but still leveling consistency which I applied with a paint brush. I will be letting this setup and then repeating the sanding process tomorrow but hopefully with 150 grit to prep for a high build primer.


SIDE NOTE: I know everyone talks about not using cheap brushes because they shed like a husky in the summertime in Houston. There is a very good reason for that, picking out brush bristles is one of the most frustrating things I have done during this build. DON'T USE CHEAP BRUSHES


We will pick this up tomorrow to see how much more filler I need or if I just say screw it, its a JS hull and leave it as is...




Time Spent:
8 Hours over 2 days (Hand sanding with pvc pipe is a real workout, 3 hours of that was popping bubbles in the resin and picking lost brush hairs out of the filler...)


Tools Used:
Ryobi 3x18" Belt Sander
Porter Cable 5" Orbital Sander
Shop Vac
2'X3" SCH 40 PVC pipe
1/3 Sheet Sandpaper Drywall Sander Holder Thing


Materials Used:
8OZ Resin
4 Scoops of Micro Balloons
6 80 Grit Sand Paper Sheets
2 cheap paint brushes (learn from my mistakes, heed my warning young warrior)


Time Spent with Garage Door Open, shaking my ass back and forth while my neighbors looked on in horror:
2 hours, you have gotta use your legs when sanding. If you don't feel the burn, you won't get them gains. Never skip leg day, even if you are truing a hull.



PPE Used:
Half Respirator
Tyvek Suit
3M Worktunes Headhones
4 pairs Hazard Frito 7mil blue bomber gloves (Sandpaper kept ripping them)


Percentage of Garage Floor Epoxy Coated
26.2% (Negligible Gains due to the brush bristles coming off the damn paintbrush)


Percentage complete:
90% (I think I have one more round of sanding before I sling some high build filler primer on it.)


Sean






Always let your Rustoleum be your guide





Sanding tool thing I used, its a plastic handle with some foam on it with clips that come loose anytime you look at it funny



Areas where I didn't have the layup schedule flat and sanded into the CSM layer show texture, Not my best moment.




We have established that cabosil is peanut butter, lots of microballoons are marshmallow fluff, allow me to introduce to you, doughnut glaze!




This little guy, don't worry about that little guy...

[smokeysevin]

Motor and Electronics Part 1 (A Brief Intermission from Your Regularly Scheduled Program, Don't Get Used to it)

I will start by saying, I don't get the electronics setup on standups. That is a drastic oversimplification, but from a user and dealership perspective this setup has some really stupid "features". I cut my teeth with 4 stroke runabouts and all that stuff makes sense to me (except for seadoos, really brp?) You can pull the motor without opening any electronics up or having to hang the ecu off the motor when you go to remove it. The E-Box to me is basically a waste of space and weight. The electronics on the 4 stroke runabouts don't typically fail and when they do, its the gauges (for the most part). That being said, I plan to use that style of electronics to both simplify and add lightness on this build.

Complaints:

1) The entire system is interconnected without easily reachable disconnects. On the runabouts (couches) and most other vehicles the harness can be unplugged from the system without removing bolts (looking at you stator wiring)

2) The method of sealing the E-Box relies on orb fittings made of plastic that then have to be tightened against to seal the wiring that passes through them. It works as long as the fittings are tight (but not too tight) and as long as the rubber is new.

3) The E-Box itself contains a weird mix of sealed and unsealed electronics. The ECU itself is potted but the connections to the trim and power wires are unsealed. The fuse holder is sealed in the E box but the connections are open. The coil wires are sealed with epoxy (more or less permanently) while the starter solenoid is open.

Proposed Solution:

1) Since the ECU is potted and I have a ready supply of sealed connectors, I am just going to mount the stock ECU on a plate and connect the system using stock style sumitomo connectors that are commonly used on the runabouts.

2) By swapping to an external setup, it eliminates the issue with Complaint 2, I will also be moving the coil and starter solenoid to a plate rather than a box. For the coil I will swap to the couch coil with different plug ends, for the solenoid, I will probably use one of the seadoo solenoids since they are small and sealed. Basically I will be replicating the STX-15f style electronics. This will free up lots of space and make the install much cleaner and more modern. Service should be loads easier.

Mounts and Swap

I finally got around to opening my first round of goodies from Rhaas Products today. From a first glance, the mounts are really well made and the adapter plate is very nicely machined. I thought the custom hardware was a nice touch for the bedplate adapter. I also placed my order for the driveline conversion today, I went with the grooved plate, standard plastic bulkhead (for now) and added the conversion bearing. My X2 Driveshaft showed up today and my 750 Pump and 650 nozzle are on the way.

Motor

As for the motor, I have not spent much time going over it. Externally, it is super clean. I will probably get into it tomorrow or Friday to give it a once over. Off the bat, I need both the oil pump blockoff and the crankcase drain blockoff. I will need new reed gaskets and carb gaskets, 2 carb kits, and exhaust gaskets. I plan to do a leakdown test on the engine and verify the crank seals are ok before going too far with it. Plans for now are to run it stock but freshened up.

Time Spent:
4 Hours (most of which was spent cleaning the cocaine sanding dust out of the work area and wheeling my shop carts around)

Tools Used:
Broom
Shop Vac
Air Blow Gun
Box Cutter

Materials Used:
None

PPE Used:
Half Respirator
3M Worktunes Headhones

Percentage of Garage Floor Epoxy Coated
22.2% (I removed some cured epoxy)

Percentage complete:
N/A (Taking a break from composite work to plan out where the engine and electronics are going to live)

Sean



Missing features? The "holes" are sealed.



The whole ECU is potted, I have tried to removed this before on a STX-15f Ecu when I was looking into flash tools and its a royal pain. The STX ecus are sealed really well, I would not hesitate to run this out of the E-Box provided I can get a good connector installed.



It really reminds me of a shrunken 15f Ecu which makes sense given this was probably 10 years older than when the 12f came out.




Parts, Living on the gulf coast, well away from fresh water, I am not used to seeing older gear that is this clean.



RHAAS PRODUCTS BABY

[smokeysevin]

Potential Paint Scheme 1 (Enforced Idleness Breeds Boredom)


I am currently waiting on parts and don't really feel like getting dusty right now so I spent some time bench racing and making go-fast graphics. I got to talking with a buddy of mine over the weekend and since the 750 I am dropping in is so clean he suggested using the big pin 750 color as an accent on the ski. I hadn't considered it but thought it could be a cool setup. I also already had some interlux brightsides steel grey for an unrelated project that got put on hold which led to this.





It's not finished by any stretch of the imagination but I am happy with where its going so far.


Time Spent:
1.5 Hours (I found a base layout online from IPD and set about removing all their hard work so I could scribble over it in crayon)


Tools Used:
Paint.NET
Corsair K95 RGB Keyboard
TTEsports Level 10M Mouse
MSI 34" Ultrawide
Hyper-X Cloud 2 Headphones
Ikea Desk Chair


Materials Used:
None (bits and bytes only)



PPE Used:
None (I too like to live dangerously)


Music Listened to with the Wife While I Worked:
Ida Mae (British blues group, give them a listen)



Percentage of Garage Floor Epoxy Coated
22.2% (Working in the study)


Percentage complete:
N/A (Taking a break from composite work to plan out where the engine and electronics are going to live)


Sean

[steve45]

It's been over a week since we've heard from you...

[smokeysevin]

Small Update 1 (Intermission, go get some snacks)


Sorry Steve, I have been kind of dragging ass lately for which I apologize. Mostly this time has been spent waiting on parts or working on other projects. I had a string of bad ebay luck and received some broken parts, fought to get a refund, waited, ordered more parts, never got them, fought for a refund, ultimately got my money back, and finally reordered from a less sketchy seller.

In route is a 750 pump assembly to match the Rhass driveline conversion. Supposedly its still being made, hopefully it will show up soon.

I received my electrical parts from Eastern Beaver and did a base layout of how I am planning to mount the electrics.

I also bead blasted the motor mount adapters and installed the bedplate adapter onto the 750. Once I stuck it in the hull, I realized I don't remember which way the bedplate goes on the motor so I may need to flip it around. I am also not happy with the way the paint is holding up on the bedplate and motor mount adapters so I may end up redoing them.

I have a line on a 650 coffmans pipe and a 650 pjs pipe for the 750, any preference towards one or the other?

Time Spent:
3 Hours (Blasting, spraying, cleaning, and bolting)

Tools Used:
Impact Driver
Blast Cabinet

Materials Used:
Glass Bead Blast Media
Black High Temp auto paint
Cardboard

PPE Used:
Half Mask Respirator

Weeks Wasted Without Doing Anything on the Ski :
1

Percentage of Garage Floor Epoxy Coated
22.2% (no new epoxy but there are some black over spray marks)

Percentage complete:
N/A (Please be careful out there, stay home wherever possible.)

Sean

Motor Mount Adapters (I am not thrilled with how well the paint stuck, I will probably redo these and the bedplate)


Stator Cavity ( I am really not used to ski motors being as corrosion free as this one is, its a welcome surprise)



Motor Swap Adapter and Oil Drain Blockoff


Placed in for Fit Check


Electrics Layout and Spacing Option

[steve45]

Looks good!

Sorry to hear you had problems with Ebay parts. I bought a used radio for my airplane on Ebay this month and it didn't work. However, the seller was able to come through with one that worked.

I've bought a number of things from Ebay seller texash2oracer. He's been quite helpful and he's probably less than an hour's drive from you.

[smokeysevin]

Looks good!

Sorry to hear you had problems with Ebay parts. I bought a used radio for my airplane on Ebay this month and it didn't work. However, the seller was able to come through with one that worked.

I've bought a number of things from Ebay seller texash2oracer. He's been quite helpful and he's probably less than an hour's drive from you.

Yeah, I think that is Curtis. If so, I bought my trailer from him a few years ago. Real nice guy and pretty close like you said. I found his ebay store after dealing with this nonsense.

I am trying to shuffle stuff around in the garage right now so I can get back to work soon.

Despite all the corona virus stuff I have been at our materials lab for the last 2 weeks. I am working on fabricating and testing a prototype for a project I have been working on since last year.

Most of the time I can split my week between the office and working from home but this actually requires my presence to work on. The kicker is that its a medical device so I have been told that I am "essential" and have to be there... With how the economy is going though I am just happy to still be employed and the project has me isolated anyways so I can't complain too much.

Sean

[steve45]

Yes, Curtis is the guy. I met him during a trip to Galveston a couple of years ago. He was able to provide me with a part that wasn't shown on the Kawasaki parts diagram.

Glad to hear that you're staying busy. I'm in sales in the oil industry, and I'm running out of people to call on.