"Souled Out" Sneaky 550

[Conquistador]

1994 Kawasaki 550sx :sneaky:

Mods:
Reinforced for Surf-2006
500gph Atwood Bilge Pump-2006
Factory Pipe 550 Waterbox-2006
Limiting Rope-2007
750 Kawasaki Engine (Big Pin SBT)-2007
5 gallon Pacific Jet Sports gas tank-2007
Solas 16 Impeller-2008
PJS Top Loader Grate-2008
Black Diamond Hydro-Turf w/ Yellow Diamond Tray-2008
Widened Tray-2008
Blueprinted Pump-2008
Aluminum Handle Pole-2008
Blowsion Pole Spring-2008
Custom Foodholds-2008 (modded again 2009)
Quick Steer Plate-2009
Hood intake relocated to back-2009
Hood modded to hold required safety items-2009
Finally installed a 750 ebox, no more stuff 750 electrics into a 550 box!-2009
JRE tapered bore nozzle-2009

Future Plans:
Quick Steer Nozzle
13/18 impeller


(with the old 550 in it)
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i224/capitanBS/JuneJump06.gif

New Pics April 2009!

[sjetrider]

looks like a fun boat. Got foot holds yet???????

[Conquistador]

nope, that's my next project. I'm still working out some issues with the new setup. I broke a carb bolt off in the intake manifold yesterday. Heading out now, to find a replacement. then, the drilling starts. :grumble: :laughing:

[Conquistador]

I've updated my list...
I've tried a few rolls, but none completed to date...

[keefer]

Looks like a lot of fun, I remember my old 550 with that little light hull being able to get great air time even off of small waves. I would love to ride one like yours with the 750 engine update. A few years ago there was a 550 with a 750 engine around here but I did not get to ride it. I wonder if adding some tubbie like sponsons would improve the stability of the 550 hull.

[Conquistador]

Looks like a lot of fun, I remember my old 550 with that little light hull being able to get great air time even off of small waves. I would love to ride one like yours with the 750 engine update. A few years ago there was a 550 with a 750 engine around here but I did not get to ride it. I wonder if adding some tubbie like sponsons would improve the stability of the 550 hull.

the line-x and reinforcement has added quite a bit of weight, but it'll still fly.
I haven't really thought about tubbies :scratchchin:

[cattledog]

some guys on pwc today have tried tubbies on their 550"s and really like them i am going to put surfjetlouies tubbies on my 550 great price and they look great, its great to see 550's out their yours looks pretty special. i have had my 550 for eighteen years since new

[63chevyll]

does the pump hook up, or does it spin the impeller?

[Conquistador]

Thanks cattledog

does the pump hook up, or does it spin the impeller?

It hooks up pretty well. I ride mostly surf & have little problems with hookup. The grate helps a great deal.

[Foximus]

Blueprint that pump and you will notice a HUUUUGEEE gain. Like.... tremendous.

And bore that nozzle out till the walls are paper thin.


That is how youll get the best bang now.

[brett]

you shall refer to him as "el conquistador"

[Foximus]

I will not...



And yea what cattle dog said. I gave the 550s their first real hard test runs and I approve 100% of them. They really turn the 550 into a modern ride from a legdrag boat.

[surfjetlouie]

I'm here if you need the sponsons and the footholds. great looking ski you have. cool video too one small wave and up you are in the air 20-30 feet long.

[SQUARE JOEL!!!]

Louie, can you tell us more about your footholds? Pics maybe? Thanks!!!!

[Conquistador]

I haven't been paying to this thread in a while. thanks for the advise fox. the tray has been defoamed at this point & I'm installing custom footholds next week. while the ski is down, I may go ahead and get the pump done. What exactly is blueprinting though? I've never heard of that...

[Foximus]

Grinding out all the excess casting slag material from the in the pump. You basically end up boring out the pump ~2 mm because the 550 castings were so horrible. Really helps on strung out motors.

[JETACE]

congrats on your intro to the sport!! I have been riding for 16 years now and started with the 440. I have grown up too- to demand better performance and craft your skills, step into a Superjet. Any 90-08 will do; 650 square nose, 701 or some tweaked versions of those will give you an amazing ride. The Yamaha design has always had a much larger pump, which flows a lot more water, hence more power and thrust available. consider it if you like the thrill of freestyle......

just accept it now and you can save your money and a lot of frustration (I wished I learned sooner, I got mine in '98!!)

[WILKEY]

lol we have trid so hard to get him to convert....

[Midlake Crisis]

lol we have trid so hard to get him to convert....

Today was the first time I saw this thread - after looking at the pics and the airtime I was almost convinced to convert to a Kawi!
Nice work on that ski, I bet it is a blast!!

[Conquistador]

congrats on your intro to the sport!!
I've been riding for 18 years (since 1990) :cool:

Today was the first time I saw this thread - after looking at the pics and the airtime I was almost convinced to convert to a Kawi!
Nice work on that ski, I bet it is a blast!!

I love it, but am the only one in our group who rides one. Nothing wrong with being a little different though. :clown: :fing02:

[Conquistador]

just added some items to the mods list & future plans list :naughty:

[EmaSe]

hey where did u find a write up on the swap?? i have a bunch of 750 parts and was trying to fit it into my 550 but i lost the site from long ago.. where did u get your mounting plate for the engine?? do people still sell them?

[cattledog]

I've been riding for 18 years (since 1990) :cool:



I love it, but am the only one in our group who rides one. Nothing wrong with being a little different though. :clown: :fing02: being different is cool , us standup guys are all a bit different if people knew how much we spend on skis they would think we are nuts,maybe i can ride it at wavedaze me and wife coming from toronto canada u can ride my x2 or superjet

[Conquistador]

hey where did u find a write up on the swap?? i have a bunch of 750 parts and was trying to fit it into my 550 but i lost the site from long ago.. where did u get your mounting plate for the engine?? do people still sell them?

JRE (Jet Race Engineering) has a conversion plate on ebay right now. It runs about $70. I put the 750 electrics in my ski, but i'd highly recommend using the 550 electrics and modding the case to accept a 650 starter. John Zigler on this site is a great source for info & I got lots of feedback on pwctoday back when I did the conversion.

being different is cool , us standup guys are all a bit different if people knew how much we spend on skis they would think we are nuts,maybe i can ride it at wavedaze me and wife coming from toronto canada u can ride my x2 or superjet Hell yeah bud! I can't wait for this year's ride. we have some cool things in the works, but cant talk about them yet. It's tearing me up inside! :smokin: Also, I have some new mods I'm adding this week. :biggrin:

[EmaSe]

hey how did u get the couplers off both of the motors?? is there a special tool?

[Conquistador]

hey how did u get the couplers off both of the motors?? is there a special tool?

the 550 coupler must go on the 750 motor to work. I have a big pin & had to bore the 550 coupler out to 20mm and rethread it to fit. I had a friend at a machine shop do that.

to get the coupler off, you can do one of two things. You can put a rope down through the plug hole and put enough that it will stop the crank from turning. or, as SBT recommends, you can stuff a rag into one of the exhaust ports on the motor to do the same thing. Then you can use a chain wrench to get the coupler off. I don't have one, so I used a breaker bar in between the teeth to get it off, but you have a high risk of breaking a tooth off of the coupler.




UPDATE: I blew the motor last week. Installation of a aluminum handle pole and new motor from SBT is in progress!

[Conquistador]

January 2009 update:
Installed an SBT 750 engine last summer. It rips!
Since installing custom tubes in the hood, the ski can sit upside down for a long time before taking on any water.

Today, I started the removal of the line-x bottom & should be finished before the weekend is over. I'll add some glass to reinforce some areas & also mod my footholds in the tray. When all the coating is removed, I'll weigh it all & post up.

[the WaTeRhAwK]

foximus can instruct you on how to convert it to a 750 pump.

[Conquistador]

I'm going to bore my nozzle & see how that & the lighter hull reacts. Not sure if I want to hassle with swapping the pump.

[Foximus]

Cool Stuff man. Its cool seeing other people still doing 550 stuff.

Its not that hard doing a pump swap. Just 1/2 gallon of resin and 2 yards of cloth and biax, and a donor 650 hull that you dont mind ever riding again. :smokin:


Whatd you get? Big pin or small pin? Modded any yet?

[Conquistador]

it's a big pin SBT motor. Runs like a champ. Ripped all weekend in Daytona last week.

[Foximus]

oh kick ass! Now have a smallpin sx cylinder ported by JetWorks and that baby will RIP.

[Polish jet pilot]

I smell some braaaap :)

[firemedicmonkey]

Brian... glad to see you are ripping it after all the trouble with it up here in C-Town... I can't wait to hang with you and the VA-Beach crew this summer... Hope all is well with you brother!

[Conquistador]

thanks man.

March 09 update:
I am currently redesigning my footholds & will have them done soon. The big thing is the hood mods that I'm doing. Some previously seen, some not ever done before to my knowledge. I still have time to screw it all up :smokin: , but I hope to be done in the next week or so & I'll post pics of the new setup.

[Foximus]

LoL. Dont take this as an insult, but if its for a 550, its been done and done. Trust me. They made the things for 25 years.


However, its cool news to hear. Lookin forward to pictures.

[Conquistador]

LoL. Dont take this as an insult, but if its for a 550, its been done and done. Trust me. They made the things for 25 years.


However, its cool news to hear. Lookin forward to pictures.

it's nothing that will get me any gain in performance & may or may not even look cool, but I'll be glad to have it. This may be something new, time will tell.

[Conquistador]

Updated the list for this year. Took the ski out yesterday & it Fn ripped! :Banane36:

LoL. Dont take this as an insult, but if its for a 550, its been done and done. Trust me. They made the things for 25 years.

Check out the hood pics. I've never seen the extinguisher there b4. Not the coolest thing, but it's legal again.

[Conquistador]

well, it's 230 am & I just loaded up the ski for the first surf ride since Daytona! We're hitting the ramp at 8am :Banane36:

[SuperDave4x4]

How did it turn out?

[Conquistador]

How did it turn out?

Ran great! I had some issues with the starter coming OFF yesterday. Got it back on, but now I have no spark. I probably missed plugging something back in the ebox, but I'm going to try to mount a 750 ebox in there this week. I'm tired of fighting the 550 box. I'll update the thread again soon.

I also have a JRE bored nozzle on the way, anodized red. Should be sweet :bigok:

[SuperDave4x4]

Ran great! I had some issues with the starter coming OFF yesterday. Got it back on, but now I have no spark. I probably missed plugging something back in the ebox, but I'm going to try to mount a 750 ebox in there this week. I'm tired of fighting the 550 box. I'll update the thread again soon.

I also have a JRE bored nozzle on the way, anodized red. Should be sweet :bigok:

Sweet! I bet that thing is a ball to ride!

I got to ride my buddies fx1 today and holey shat that thing rips!!!:Banane09: I got back on my 440 and wanted to just sink it after riding that thing. Oh well. My 550 top end is here and I"m going to have the head milled so hopefully there will be a noticable power increase. That 89 440 engine is loosing it's oomph....

[Conquistador]

Nice bud. Ride what ya got :bananalama:

Just finished a custom install of a 750sx ebox into my ski. I'll post pics of the process & the finished product tonight. I hit the start button once & it sounds like it wants to rip! :bananapowerslide:

[JM-Team]

so your starting on a new project

[motoxracer1551]

i want to see pics of this thing. i just bought a sn sj. but still have my 550sx that started it all for me. love the 550's

[Conquistador]

Here's a nose stab from Hurricane Bill this last weekend. I need to update the mods list. I am VERY HAPPY with the way it rides now.