Flipping couches for fun and profit

[WFO Speedracer]

Trailer time , if there is an easy way to do it , that is the way I am going to do it , I had a feeling the trailer wiring was janky and I don't have time for no janky trailer wiring , so I flipped the trailer over against a tree , cut the old wiring and ziptied it to the new stuff then covered it with duct tape so it wouldn't catch on anything .

It pulled through like butter then I separated the wires and ran it through the rest of the trailer using the same method, the brown wire had to be spliced in to the left side taillight and run back across to right side. I threw the old janky wiring in the trash.

Bunks were loose and flopping around , I tried to tighten up the u -bolt and it snapped so I put a new one on it , good to go.

I spun the wheels , the bearing have no play and sound good so I shot them full of grease and spun them again, smooth as butter , I changed out the tires with a set I had here about a season old, not new but very close , then I put the Seadoo back on the trailer. I still have to get taillights and wire them up but now I can take my pictures and post it up for sale,

https://imgur.com/a/LO5DdGA

 

[WFO Speedracer]

And for the finale , I manhandled the Jammer onto the Towgo trailer , it fits pretty well , I will have to get the 300SX on there and see how well it balances out as there isn't much of a way to adjust the tongue weight with these two particular skis on it , the Twogo is a single that I converted into a double stand up trailer , if worse comes to worse I will add a trailer jack , I am tired , this is about as much as hard as I have worked this year today and it's past time for some Screwdrivers.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I pulled the next one out, a 2000 RFI , this one is a creampuff and now that I have the other RFI I have all the parts to fix it with. , engine came out of my 3D so it's low hours , I had to change out the flywheel to make it all work. Fuel pump and filters have already been replaced and it was water tested last year with parts I robbed off of another ski so I know it runs well.

It stripped out the driveshaft and PTO, I have the PTO off , I have the needed parts here , I need to reinstall it and put the driveshaft and wear ring back in the ski, a new wear ring has alreay been installed in the jet pump.

Cosmetically it needs very little the front vent is jacked up, I should have one here , there is a chip missing on the hood deflector , most likely I am glassing that one up and spraying it black , I don't want to even try to match that funky shade of green that is on this ski . It needs a new stop button, I have that covered. The footwell pads are still in good shape and the gauge works and is nice and clear.

It needs a set of seats recovered , I have that in hand as well , the mailbox numbers also need to go , probably within a few days I will have it up and running and ready to watertest .

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I got the 300SX on the trailer and it looks like it's going to balance out quite nicely , I will have to do some digging and find a bow stop for it though , on the Jammer I may just put a Seadoo type front eye hook , it has the perfect flat place for it on the hull already , I used that setup on my X2 when I had it on this trailer and it worked out really well.

 

[Myself]

Nice! I just finished working on one I sold........for free........I sold an XLT800, guy only put about an hour on it and burned down the rear piston. I didn't find anything wrong with the carbs. All back together now and I guess I'll have to pressure test it. Rear seal looks fine and has no indication of any leakage. I sold it AS-IS, WHERE-IS, but only 1 hour..........damn! So I'm making it right.

Also started checking out a 65u core engine I bought from 'Troy Boy'. I have a pretty nice SUV here that windowed the block and busted out part of the cylinder. Maybe I have enough parts now to put it together.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Nice! I just finished working on one I sold........for free........I sold an XLT800, guy only put about an hour on it and burned down the rear piston. I didn't find anything wrong with the carbs. All back together now and I guess I'll have to pressure test it. Rear seal looks fine and has no indication of any leakage. I sold it AS-IS, WHERE-IS, but only 1 hour..........damn! So I'm making it right.

Also started checking out a 65u core engine I bought from 'Troy Boy'. I have a pretty nice SUV here that windowed the block and busted out part of the cylinder. Maybe I have enough parts now to put it together.

I am saving the two SUV's for later those things sell almost any time of year and people will drive from out of state to buy them , so far the selling season this year is not looking so hot, hopefully it will pick up soon .

 

[Myself]

I am saving the two SUV's for later those things sell almost any time of year and people will drive from out of state to buy them , so far the selling season this year is not looking so hot, hopefully it will pick up soon .

Same here........season is starting off VERY slow. Nothing but clouds and rain. The lakes here are at flood levels and most campgrounds are under water.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I really thought that people would start loosening up their purse strings a bit when Trump got reelected but that is defiantly not the case thus far .

These tariff scared people are acting like idiots, stuff costs what it's going to cost , either you buy cheaper stuff or you don't buy so much stuff .

I am old poor which means I have been poor for a long , long time , this stuff isn't anything new to me , thses guys are new poor , they have no idea how to survive in the real world.

If Trump screws everything up and completely crashes the stock market in the process , I will lose exactly nothing .

All I know at this point is eventually the market corrects itself and when it does I will be ready to go with skis to sell.

 

[JC-SuperJet]

Nice! I just finished working on one I sold........for free........I sold an XLT800, guy only put about an hour on it and burned down the rear piston. I didn't find anything wrong with the carbs. All back together now and I guess I'll have to pressure test it. Rear seal looks fine and has no indication of any leakage. I sold it AS-IS, WHERE-IS, but only 1 hour..........damn! So I'm making it right.

Also started checking out a 65u core engine I bought from 'Troy Boy'. I have a pretty nice SUV here that windowed the block and busted out part of the cylinder. Maybe I have enough parts now to put it together.

Is this the same Engine design that has Oil Ports that leak air at the Rear Seal? Did you plug it?

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Is this the same Engine design that has Oil Ports that leak air at the Rear Seal? Did you plug it?

That is indeed the same engine design .

 

[Myself]

Is this the same Engine design that has Oil Ports that leak air at the Rear Seal? Did you plug it?

Yep, same worthless design. NORMALLY, you can see the signs cause there will be oily 2 stroke residue running down the seal and dripping off the lower case. I've NOT had this lower end apart, and it does NOT have signs of leakage. I guess the pressure test will show. About to do that right now!

 

[JC-SuperJet]

Could also be BTOL: Beach Take Off & Landing. Might of clogged the cooling system launching from real shallow water. I've seen people rev the engine hard, sucking the ski down into the mud...

Myself, I commend you for standing behind your sale.

 

[Myself]

Pressure test went poorly.........leaking like a sieve out of the rear cylinder powervalve shaft seals. Well........that would explain the lean burndown and partially melted piston from that cylinder. Every back pulse was sucking in extra air right into the exhaust port causing a superheat situation. Now I have to make a plate to block off the exhaust so I can try again. You can't spray soapy bubbles or see ANYTHING with that exhaust in place!

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Those suck , anything that has to do with the powervalves and you are pulling the whole exhaust system off to fix it . I am headed out to the shop to go round up some RFI parts off the other ski.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I pulled all the needed parts off the other RFI ,well except for the PTO coupler, that came off the engine that came out of this ski and it really didn't want to, that's ok if nothing else I am persuasive .

I didn't want to lug this engine too far so I had a huge concrete table my granddad made that was near the engine , I strapped the engine down to that with a giant ratchet strap , then using my homemade impeller wrench (driveshaft bent 90 degrees ) and a really long piece of pipe I removed the PTO , easy peasy , no really I just got lucky on this one..

The Pto looks good , no spline damage and it has a good sealing surface on it, good to go , it is already installed back onto the machine as soon as I got home , rubber boot , carbon seal and accordion boot were installed , driveshaft is back in the ski , I need to get some silicone to seal the pump back up to the ride shoe.

Sometime tomorrow I should be able to bust it off .

 

[Myself]

Sounds like it's getting close WFO.

I pulled the exhaust, pulled the power valve shafts, and pried out the seals. Those on the rear cylinder were toasty!! That's on me, I never checked 'em. That piston was just ate up on the exhaust side.......intake side was only scored a little bit. I emery clothed BOTH shafts and replaced ALL shaft seals. Then I made some rubber gaskets and pressure tested the engine again...........GOOD TO GO!! It's now all back together and ready for a lake test.

 

[orangefinger]

what's that seadoo going to sell for on a single in your neck of woods .... just curious about price differences ?

 

[WFO Speedracer]

what's that seadoo going to sell for on a single in your neck of woods .... just curious about price differences ?

If you are talking about the GTS I can tell you what I am going to ask $2200 , what will it sell for who knows lol , the RFI will list for $2500 . the RFI was given to me as was the second RFI. , the RFI engine came out of my 3D so either the engine cost me $1000 and the 3D was free or the 3D and the engine cost me $500 each, whatever way you want to look at it , either way I don't have a lot tied up in this ski.

The second RFI I am partnering with Doug on that one , his ski is supplying the engine, I am supplying the ski and the trailer and the labor , after that I will build the second RFI engine and putting back in his ski , so I am supplying the engine and the labor , he is supplying the ski and the trailer , we are splitting them both 50/50.

Myself , I bought some Penetrol yesterday and used it on the rub rails and sponsons as well as a couple of decals on the GTS , you are right it works amazingly well.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

This is the result with the Penetrol , rub rails came out really nice but it took about 3 coats, front bumper came out amazing , sponsons well they are a different type of plastic and they may need some more work, I may have to scrub them down with 000 steel wool and cleaner then reapply the Penetrol, overall I am very happy with the results.

The sponsons also do not respond to the heat tricks either so I am not surprised that much .

 

[Myself]

When the parts are chalky I also use fine steel wool or just scuff pads depending on how bad it is. Clean with alcohol, the wipe with Penetrol. As you found out........really dry plastic sucks that stuff right in. when it sits on top and feels tacky is just right. Then just keep it out of the weather until the next day. After the Penetrol treatmant, your favorite vinyl/plastic detailer will keep it fresh looking, even after MULTIPLE trips to the water!

.........and DAYAM!! That bumper looks shiney as NEW!!