Flipping couches for fun and profit

[WFO Speedracer]

It still doesn't look like much but I have one rafter and two ceiling joists left then its decking time and I am done , the guys putting the metal roof on get to remove the rest of the shingles, I can't have all the fun.

This one man construction crew idea is BS , everything takes you about three of four times as long .

The headers have been replaced and I used 5 inch STRONGTIE structural screws to attach it to the existing framework , it should be there for good .

The rafters were cut , new rafter tails were cut to replace the missing pieces , then new rafters are sistered to the old rafters, I glued them with Weldwood waterproof glue, nailed them from both sides with the nail gun then glued them to the original rafters, from there I used structural screws to screw the two together then I installed carriage bolts and bolted everything together , this way I am using four different attachment methods , and sheer loads should not be an issue , the chances of failure from anything less than a tornado are close to zero.

All of the rafters are cut in different places , some are drastically longer than others which is good , rafters are like spokes on a bicycle wheel each rafter takes part of the load and shares it , if one goes out no big deal but when four are bad and you only have nine it's a big deal. .

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I took a break from roofing and rebuilt the top end on this really clean 650SX , I still have to water test it which won't be fun since it was 28 degrees here Tuesday morning , but you gotta do what you gotta do I suppose.

I just hope that my fat ass will still fit in my wetsuit because if not it's going to be a damn quick water test lol .

 

[Myself]

Still hard as heck to get in and out of but my wetsuit still fits LOL!! In fact, I've been wearing the same size pants for about 30 years! You gotta get on the scale once a week, then if you see that number creeping you skip the soda and fast food for a bit LOL!!!!

 

[WFO Speedracer]

My motivation to do work for customers anymore is fading fast, I am trying to get motivated but the way this business went after I left the welding shop a few years back has made it very difficult , I have been playing catchup for a few years now , most people would have just thrown in the towel after what happened to my business but then I am not most people.

There is now finally some light at the end of this long and dark tunnel , next week I get my first SS check , so basically it covers all of my bills , what that means is now whatever I make I can actually keep or use to put into flip skis to make more money and get out of debt much faster . In other words I have made it to the top of the hill and the climbing part of my journey is now over ,

I am hoping restructuring this business as mostly sales driven will get my motivation up to do the small amount of repairs that I will continue to do , once the shop at the lake is back open and operational I have no idea what will come through the doors at that place but I do realize that it's a very necessary piece of the puzzle if I want to buy , sell and flip skis .

 

[WFO Speedracer]

650SX is done , the water was not as bad as I thought it would be and yes the wetsuit still fits .

 

[Myself]

Woot Woot!!!!

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Dropped of the 650SX and brought this one home, this is a flip ski from several years back ,most of the top deck was resprayed and , new graphics installed , I think I had to replace the starter , fuel pump and clean the injectors .

These guys decided it was a great idea to just leave the ski tied out floating in the water , they quickly found out otherwise , instead of calling me they took the ski somewhere else for repairs, about $1000 and a few months later they got the ski back , it still leaked , several hundred more dollars and another few months go by and they get it back, now it won't start.

I haven't looked at it yet so no idea what's going on with it but the bottom line is I am to repair it , sell it and give them whatever money is left after the repairs , they don't want the ski back.

So technically I guess it's a back to being a flip ski again lol , I will probably replace some of the graphics they messed up from letting it sit uncovered for three years , redye the steering cover and the rear grab bar , maybe put new turf on it IDK just yet, lets figure out why it won't crank first . I am defiantly stealing a pattern off of the seat cover while it is here and I may do a new seat cover or not, the day is still young .

 

[WFO Speedracer]

In the time between these two posts I have it running, mind you it's not repaired but it is running , first thing I found when I lifted the front storage cover was this bottle inside the front , it's HEET fuel deicer , water remover and it's seriously nasty stuff that does a lot of damage to rubber components in carbs or in this case the injectors or the fuel pump , never use this stuff .

Second thing was no slack in the throttle cable which I readjusted , if the throttle body is the least bit open it won't crank and run, so I fixed that , the next thing I did was take the intake hose off the throttle body and spray carb cleaner in it , it cranked up as soon as I hit the button so either they messed up the injectors or the fuel pump is not building enough pressure.

I believe I can use the fuel pump on the injector cleaner machine I built as a remote fuel pump and rule out whether it's fuel pump or the injectors. I pretty much told him on the phone it was either the fuel pump or injectors before he even brought the ski in , I am leaning towards the fuel pump so I will see if I can rig my Seadoo fuel pressure gauge into the system so I can check the fuel pressure .

The bottom line here is some people are just idiots and should not own jet skis period !

 

[faceplant2]

Job security.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Job security.

Yep I guarantee you it's had nothing but ethanol fuel run in it and it hasn't been Winterized since I sold it , sometimes you just ask for problems to occur .

 

[Myself]

Job security

That's what my wife says when I start complaining about the idiots. I need to learn to just say.........Bring it on!!

 

[WFO Speedracer]

That's what my wife says when I start complaining about the idiots. I need to learn to just say.........Bring it on!!

You are a little younger than I am , dealing with idiots everyday takes a toll on your soul , you probably are not there just yet , it slowly creeps up on you and it will catch up with you eventually.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Well this turned out to be a really smart idea , I unclipped the fuel hose from the machines fuel pump canister , took the power connector loose , connected the fuel hose to my pump on the injector cleaner and put in enough gas to just cover the pump , I had to jumper the two wires going to the flasher relay so it got constant power , then I turned my pump on , hit the start button and it fired right up , so bad fuel pump 100% and now I know how to check them from now on , quickly and simply.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Fuel pump canister is out and apart, on these older vx1100's the canister does not just pull out , you have to drain the tank, take the filler hose loose , take the straps off and wedge up the back of the tank as far as you can get it, this gives you just enough room to remove the canister barely clearing the steering and the hull .

When you do get it out it's all plastic with a series of tabs holding everything together , first you release the bottom piece and pry it out, then you have to separate the bottom piece into two more pieces and finally take the cap off on the bottom that holds the pump in place. Pita !

On this one the pump looks fine, no rust , the regulator however is all rusted up and the strainer is completely trashed , also one of the plastic corrugated hoses is now broken , Quantum fuel systems has all the replacement parts including the new ethanol proof hoses so most likely I will go with their complete kit , new pump, regulator and strainer and two new in tank hoses and Oetiker clamps .

Whatever the repair costs are will just come out of the sale price and the customer will get what's left , a OEM fuel canister is $953.00 for this turd , no thank you , the Quantum kit runs about $114.95 plus another $15.00 for the hoses and clamps , good enough .

 

[spinyard]

Well this turned out to be a really smart idea , I unclipped the fuel hose from the machines fuel pump canister , took the power connector loose , connected the fuel hose to my pump on the injector cleaner and put in enough gas to just cover the pump , I had to jumper the two wires going to the flasher relay so it got constant power , then I turned my pump on , hit the start button and it fired right up , so bad fuel pump 100% and now I know how to check them from now on , quickly and simply.

ok but this looks dangerous AF

 

[WFO Speedracer]

ok but this looks dangerous AF

What exactly is So dangerous about it , it's really no different than using an auxiliary tank to run a motorcycle or ATV while working on it , this ain't my first rodeo BTW .