Race Boat Resurrection - Pro 785

[hyoctane23]

I've posted this on the Facebook Pro 785 page but I would go ahead and start a thread on here to show my progress on this project I've been working on. While I was out practicing racing on my other Pro 785, I got word that there was an old race boat that has been sitting out in a field just rotting away. From what the owner told me, it had a decent amount of things on it: Hot Seat pipes, Hot Seat head, V-Force reeds, Red Top carburetors, Hot Seat steering, Hot Seat manual trim and a factory lightened hull.

I figured it would be a little rough, but I didn't think it was going to be this bad. You can tell it has been sitting out in a lot under some trees for quite some time, insects crawling all over it. Well I could certainly see the beauty of this once proud race craft that laid underneath all the tree leaves, insect droppings and dirt.

Before pulling the trigger, I ran a quick compression test and all cylinders came back with 150 psi, a sure sign of a somewhat healthy engine.

So based on what I saw, there were some good things...
-The boat had some good race parts
-The hull was in okay shape, no big holes or gouges
-The engine put up 150 psi in each cylinder even though it has been sitting
-There was strong spark when turned over
-The price was decent, maybe a bit much, but still decent

Then there were the bad...
-Completely dirty and left out to rot
-The seat is complete crap
-The pump stator, spacer, impeller and steering nozzle is missing
-The steering cable is seized

Once I got home from my excursion to pick up this project boat, I immediately started to tear into it....

[hyoctane23]

After getting a lot of the crap out, pipes removed and engine pulled, it was time to start-a-scrubbin'! Armed with a high concentration of Simple Green and a stiff brush, a lot of the mold / mildew / dirt came right out leaving an aged and neglected princess. The cylinder plating still looked to be in great condition and the steering system had good bearings in them. At least I had that going for me...

[hyoctane23]

Next was to pressure test the engine. The last thing I would want is to spend time and money on a ski to just have it burn down due to an air leak. I am sure glad I did the right procedures because the PTO seal had a decent leak and the MAG seal was not holding any air at all...basically I could pressure the engine up to only 5 psi and it would completely leak down within a minute.

The Hot Seat pipes cleaned up quite nicely as you can see. Other than a few dings here and there, they look almost brand new.

After replacing the seals with new OEM seals I found on eBay, I pressure tested the engine again. After 15 minutes, the pressure didn't even drop a smidgen. I'd say that is one tight crankcase!!

Unfortunately it took be about two hours to properly align the engine. This hull is a pre-production hull so there are some custom made solid motor mounts used. It seems that the engine sits a lot lower in the hull than with production hulls. It was absolutely imperative that the alignment was spot on...and you can see my alignment tool went right on in the coupler.

[HiPeRcO]

Very nice project review, keep 'em coming!

[hyoctane23]

Couple more pictures..

I pulled out all that foam crap that was in the rear of the ski to supposidly "reinforce" the top deck but it was obvious it wasn't doing anything. I used a piece of treated wood I had in my garage and shoved it up in there. Perfect fit...

Started to lay the Hot Seat pipes down. There needs to be some Hydroturf placed in some areas so I used some contact cement to hold those pieces in place.

The Red Top carbs cleaned up really nicely and look almost brand new. I have three new Mikuni carb kits that I will use to completely rebuild these carbs. The diaphrams were so old they crisped up like plastic when I pulled them out. Same goes for all the other elastomers inside the carb.

Handlebars are all set and ready to go. Just need to run the trim cable to the left lever.

[CrazyA]

Very cool �� indeed!!!!

[TxVirageTx]

old watercross or cory's ski?

[hyoctane23]

Used to be one of Corey Heimann's skis. I think at one point it was a full superstock ski as there are holes drilled on the side of the hull for the fuel pumps on the right and MSD total loss on the left. He said the CDI in it is a Jay Drake Curve #1, not really sure what that means though. The hull is a pre-production hull that is super light but since it has the solid motor mounts, it will vibrate a lot and make my hands fall asleep....greattttttt lol.

Plans for the ski are to get it running and see how she performs. The hull is a little rough but quite honestly I'm more concerned with how it runs versus how it looks. My 1998 Pro will be my rec / practice ski and this will be my new full time race ski...afterall, they say if you're not rubbing, you're not racing, right??

[CrazyA]

Actually, they do say that. "Rubbing is Racing"!!!!

[hyoctane23]

Got a little more done today. I honestly wanted to have it running by this weekend but I decided that I didn't want to rush it. These pipes have been giving me hell getting into the ski. I had no problems before putting in my Hot Seat pipes on the 1010 stroker ski but for some reason this one has been difficult. Maybe the pre production hull? I dunno...

First picture is of some 'turf I put down on the fuel tank strap hook. The CEN pipe was rubbing on there so I doubled up on the Hydroturf there and on the pipe to try and stop that.

Trial run of the pipes installed before I used the o-rings, springs and silicone sealant. I see that the PTO pipe is rubbing on the lip where the bin goes so I clearanced that out today.

The CEN pipe is installed. Started to do the MAG but I got tired and hungry....but tomorrow is a new day!

[hyoctane23]

I got the MAG and CEN pipe installed. Not sure why but the MAG pipe seems to rub on the gas tank no matter how I have it positioned. I went ahead and glued some Turf on there to keep it from rubbing raw on the tank.

I'll be running the Watcon water routing with the orifice sizes as specified.....1/4" to the cylinders and 1/8" to the pipes.

[hyoctane23]

Okay, pipes are installed. The electrical is all hooked up....there is good spark on all 3 plugs.

Checked the compression and I'm at 155 MAG, 150 CEN, 150 PTO. Not too bad!

Now to finish rebuilding the carbs, running all the water lines and other miscellaneous things.

[hyoctane23]

Water system is all done. Electrical system is all done.

I rebuilt the carbs last night but I need to check the pop off before I completely assemble and do the fuel system. This boat didnt even have a water separator before and man those carb filters were nearly clogged.

Looking to have the maiden voyage this weekend!

[stimpsonjcat]

[TxVirageTx]

that right arms got a lot of movement there daffy!