Freestyle Carbon Kevlar Rickter FS-2
- Thread starter Diametunim
- Start date
- Location
- The Lake
Thanks for the information about working with Kevlar. I'm really going in blind here so every bit of information helps, even if it is disheartening to hear that Kevlar can be a pain in the ass to work with. In the end I think I'm going to end up working with Kevlar regardless, you'll see why here in a bit. I'm still on the fence on whether or not I want to try and lay Carbon / Kevlar down in the interior of the hull or stabilized carbon because it's easier to work with and I won't have to worry about fraying the material as I work with it.
How would you recommend I sand around the chip in the hood? Would I be safe hitting it by hand with 220 grit or should I hit it with a sanding disk on the Dremel? I do like your advice on mixing up epoxy, chopped carbon, and cabosil. When working with Cabosil is there anything I can do to maintain the clear color of the epoxy? I assume that mixing cabosil into epoxy will turn the epoxy into a white slurry similar to adding corn starch to food.
Any particular reason you aligning the pump out? I was able to get the pump aligned spot on in my SJ hull using the Cold-Fusion alignment tool though it did take quite a while to get correct.
- Location
- The Lake
Time for some quick updates. Using a hammer, chisel, and a Dremel with a 9905 Carbide Bit I was able to knock all of the old inserts out of the hull without too much trouble. Turns out that epoxy doesn't bond to stainless steel so the "bond" truly comes from the epoxy encapsulating the mount. I started by knocking the large globs of epoxy from the circumference of the mount using the hammer and chisel. I used the 9905 bit for detail work where needed to grind out any leftover epoxy keeping the mount glued down. The 9905 bit was also a godsend when clearing out any small bits excess epoxy from around the hull.
Cleaning up the excess epoxy from throughout the hull was easy enough. Again, liberal hammering combined with the chisel was enough to knock the large pieces of stuck epoxy off the hull. Just be cognizant of where the head of your chisel is in order to ensure you're not going to dig into or damage the hull as you whack on the chisel. The remainder of the detail work was accomplished with the 9905 bit mentioned above and 1 inch sanding discs on my Dremel. I worked with several grits ranging from 80-220.
There's quite a bit more more detail and prep work to be done but my plan overall plan is to finish the interior of the hull in carbon Kevlar or stabilized carbon. to reinforce the bottom of the hull as well as clean up blemish marks leftover from removing the old UFO mounts.
Cleaning up the excess epoxy from throughout the hull was easy enough. Again, liberal hammering combined with the chisel was enough to knock the large pieces of stuck epoxy off the hull. Just be cognizant of where the head of your chisel is in order to ensure you're not going to dig into or damage the hull as you whack on the chisel. The remainder of the detail work was accomplished with the 9905 bit mentioned above and 1 inch sanding discs on my Dremel. I worked with several grits ranging from 80-220.
There's quite a bit more more detail and prep work to be done but my plan overall plan is to finish the interior of the hull in carbon Kevlar or stabilized carbon. to reinforce the bottom of the hull as well as clean up blemish marks leftover from removing the old UFO mounts.
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- Location
- The Lake
Lets finish stripping the hull. I've never done turf before and now that I have I cannot recommend an oscillating tool enough. I picked up a cheap oscillating tool off Amazon for this job and so far so good. The chisel attachment combined with the sanding heads have made "quick" work of all of this.
I can't imagine having to do this poop by hand.
Just gonna leave these here.
I can't imagine having to do this poop by hand.
Just gonna leave these here.
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
Does the tray have foam in it? If not then repairing the cracks shouldn't be too bad.
- Location
- The Lake
No foam under the tray at all. It's completely hollow. At this point though I think I'm at the point of cutting the tray out, re-sealing everything under the tray, possibly replacing the rideplate & pump inserts (because why not I'm there), adding foam and reinforcing the tray. Anyone have any arguments against adding foam? Based on some very quick googling I think I will need roughly 5 cubic feet of foam to fill the tray (I'll calculate the volume shortly) if I used a 2lbs density , 2-part closed cell foam like Sharkthane I should only add ~10 lbs to the hull while greatly increasing flotation should I ever sink the hull.
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
If it were me I would not foam the tray. Your tray will start leaking at some point and youll end up with a waterlogged tray. I would imagine there's some stringers under the tray ro add support like is in the superfreak skis. I cut the tray open on my freak when I was going through it so i could inspect the cooling lines. When I sealed it up, I had some 4 inch fiberglass "tape" and cut 4 layers and laid them up. Once cured I cut and fit the straps and riveted them to the bottom side of the tray with some cabosil in between. That gave me a solid shelf to rivet the piece of tray I cut out, then spread thickened epoxy to fill the gaps then laid 4 layers of 8oz cloth on the entire tray to reinforce and seal everything up.
- Location
- The Lake
Alright, it's time to make an executive decision on how to repair this thing. At this point the main thing I'm still debating is whether or not it's worthwhile to cut the tray out and reseal the innards under the tray (cooling lines, driveshaft, exhaust..etc..). I pressure tested the hard-lines (cooling + trim tube) with an air compressor and did not find any leaks. The outside of the exhaust tube is integrated into the composite layup of the hull so I don't believe it's possible to have a leak there. The only thing left to leave concern is the scupper tube and driveshaft tube between the pump. Ultimately I know I should bite the bullet and re-seal regardless, there's not going to be a better time then now. Still, I find myself cringing at the amount of work I know I'm about to undertake.
I'm planning to use my oscillating tool in conjunction with a thin blade or half moon saw blade to make my cuts. The obvious thing is to take as much care as possible when making the cuts in order to not damage anything hiding beneath the tray. my fear is damaging the pump tunnel or midshaft housing making these cuts.
Below is a picture that shows where I'm planning to make my cuts. I'll follow along the edges indicated by the arrows on the blue painters tape. You'll notice that I have "Option #1" and "Option #2" indicated at the back of the tray. I'm not sure which one I should cut along.
Option #1 is forward of the pump tunnel & pump inserts by a fair amount and provides a safety net
Option #2 splits the middle of the two pump inserts. Theoretically, this would allow for more of the tray to be removed and therefore provide more access to the innards.
Below is the underside of the hull for reference.
Would someone smarter than me mind reviewing my homework? I've running out of time to write this post in its entirety. Tomorrow I'll cover the measurements I took in further depth.
I'm planning to use my oscillating tool in conjunction with a thin blade or half moon saw blade to make my cuts. The obvious thing is to take as much care as possible when making the cuts in order to not damage anything hiding beneath the tray. my fear is damaging the pump tunnel or midshaft housing making these cuts.
Below is a picture that shows where I'm planning to make my cuts. I'll follow along the edges indicated by the arrows on the blue painters tape. You'll notice that I have "Option #1" and "Option #2" indicated at the back of the tray. I'm not sure which one I should cut along.
Option #1 is forward of the pump tunnel & pump inserts by a fair amount and provides a safety net
Option #2 splits the middle of the two pump inserts. Theoretically, this would allow for more of the tray to be removed and therefore provide more access to the innards.
Below is the underside of the hull for reference.
Would someone smarter than me mind reviewing my homework? I've running out of time to write this post in its entirety. Tomorrow I'll cover the measurements I took in further depth.
Trevor don’t cut the tray out. I recommend sanding the area where the bucket and the tray separated with a piece of folded up 36 grit so you get top and bottom and squirt some thickened epoxy in there (West systems six10 is just easy) and use rivets like mentioned before and do a layup over the tray and bottom of foothold buckets. That will really help strengthen and tie everything in.
As far as prep work goes before laying anything up. Clean everything before hand then go over with wax and grease remover before you sand. You don’t want to work any contaminants into it. Mechanical bond is your friend. I do 36 grit then clean again.
In my opinion worrying about using a resin with UV blockers or something that doesn’t yellow inside the hull is unnecessary. I usually add a little black pigment into my resin. Never see yellow also make sure you squeegee out any bubbles and excess resin.
Looks like those black inserts in your tray are the plastic inserts for foot straps. One set for front and rear already setup regular foot for you like your sj
As far as prep work goes before laying anything up. Clean everything before hand then go over with wax and grease remover before you sand. You don’t want to work any contaminants into it. Mechanical bond is your friend. I do 36 grit then clean again.
In my opinion worrying about using a resin with UV blockers or something that doesn’t yellow inside the hull is unnecessary. I usually add a little black pigment into my resin. Never see yellow also make sure you squeegee out any bubbles and excess resin.
Looks like those black inserts in your tray are the plastic inserts for foot straps. One set for front and rear already setup regular foot for you like your sj
Attachments
- Location
- The Lake
I thought a lot about what you wrote here and what we discussed over the phone.
I'm sorry buddy, the nagging voice in my head won. Hopefully this is all worth it in the end.
Someone's been here before.
- Location
- The Lake
Here's a post to prove signs of life. I haven't abandoned this project but I also haven't had time to touch this floating beer cooler since I last posted. Quite literally. Life really finds creative ways to get in the way sometimes. Thankfully things appear to be lightening up so I should be able to dedicate quite a bit of time to this project. If I don't get this hull on the water this summer I'm going to be pissed.
Without much time to work on fixing the hull I've simply been gathering parts in the background.
For starters I decided to ditch my 61x/62t 718cc powerplant I pulled from my Superjet. At this point I have 2x everything needed to put together two complete skis. So everything I pulled from the Superjet at the beginning of this post will be going back in the Superjet, with the exception of the Torrent 148mm pump. Though I may buy another one of those too, we'll see.
This change wasn't exactly planned. I had been mulling over buying a 950 from JetSki Nerd(s?) but @Jyzmbe came out of the woodwork and offered to sell me a spare baby powerplant he built during covid but never used. I believe the motor has maybe 10 hours of runtime on it total since being built new, maybe less.
It's a 61x/62t that had fresh 760 sleeves pressed into it. @Jyzmbe had the sleeves bored out +1 to ~780cc and installed a +4mm ADR stroker crankshaft. I believe (don't quote me) this brings the power output to ~900cc's. The cases have been epoxied and the cylinders aggressively ported.
Though not pictured because we were in the process of pulling the motor, fueling will be provided by a set of 50mm XScream Carbs mated to an XScream Intake Manifold and a Pair of VForce2/3 reeds (I forget).
Exhaust wise I will be running a mod chamber B-Pipe that I picked up from @Krenn Power Sports. I'm hoping that I don't regret not running a PowerFactor Pipe but I didn't want to sacrifice fuel capacity by running a laydown pipe.
@Jyzmbe was kind enough to let me test the motor before pulling it from his DVX and it RIPS. He's talented enough to flatwater flip with this powerplant so I'm praying that I'll be able to backflip this boat behind a large boat-wake.
Electrics wise I picked up a used Cold Fusion Ebox from @MarkWalker that needs a little TLC. I'll be stuffing a 62t Zeel in the box along with a fresh set of Yamaha electrics and a fresh @JetManiac Yamaski coil. Everything currently in the box will go into my spares bin.
I'd take a better picture of the motor but it's currently wrapped up and sitting on a shelf in my garage.
Without much time to work on fixing the hull I've simply been gathering parts in the background.
For starters I decided to ditch my 61x/62t 718cc powerplant I pulled from my Superjet. At this point I have 2x everything needed to put together two complete skis. So everything I pulled from the Superjet at the beginning of this post will be going back in the Superjet, with the exception of the Torrent 148mm pump. Though I may buy another one of those too, we'll see.
This change wasn't exactly planned. I had been mulling over buying a 950 from JetSki Nerd(s?) but @Jyzmbe came out of the woodwork and offered to sell me a spare baby powerplant he built during covid but never used. I believe the motor has maybe 10 hours of runtime on it total since being built new, maybe less.
It's a 61x/62t that had fresh 760 sleeves pressed into it. @Jyzmbe had the sleeves bored out +1 to ~780cc and installed a +4mm ADR stroker crankshaft. I believe (don't quote me) this brings the power output to ~900cc's. The cases have been epoxied and the cylinders aggressively ported.
Though not pictured because we were in the process of pulling the motor, fueling will be provided by a set of 50mm XScream Carbs mated to an XScream Intake Manifold and a Pair of VForce2/3 reeds (I forget).
Exhaust wise I will be running a mod chamber B-Pipe that I picked up from @Krenn Power Sports. I'm hoping that I don't regret not running a PowerFactor Pipe but I didn't want to sacrifice fuel capacity by running a laydown pipe.
@Jyzmbe was kind enough to let me test the motor before pulling it from his DVX and it RIPS. He's talented enough to flatwater flip with this powerplant so I'm praying that I'll be able to backflip this boat behind a large boat-wake.
Electrics wise I picked up a used Cold Fusion Ebox from @MarkWalker that needs a little TLC. I'll be stuffing a 62t Zeel in the box along with a fresh set of Yamaha electrics and a fresh @JetManiac Yamaski coil. Everything currently in the box will go into my spares bin.
I'd take a better picture of the motor but it's currently wrapped up and sitting on a shelf in my garage.
It has a lightweight php 4mil not a adr and a modified dasa intake manifold with the cable holder cut off the speed plate (such a stupid design) . Made a new cable holder and welded it on the manifold. Did this to may dasa 1200 manifold also. Vforce 2s. I do like the recessed and oringed area for the reeds in the dasa mani. Keeps them further away from the crank. Hopefully help them last a little longer.
85mm bore x 72mm stroke = 817cc
It was and amazing running motor on total loss and race gas with the high compression domes @240 psi compression. Still runs very well detuned a little. Better than I thought it was going to.
85mm bore x 72mm stroke = 817cc
It was and amazing running motor on total loss and race gas with the high compression domes @240 psi compression. Still runs very well detuned a little. Better than I thought it was going to.
- Location
- The Lake
Thank God I have friends who know what they're talking about because I clearly don't haha. Thanks for keeping the information accurate.
- Location
- The Lake
Baby's first wetlayup(s). I'll write a more detailed post at some point detailing the journey to this point but I just wanted to share some progress pics.
Nothing special at all just some test layups so I can learn and understand the process. All in all it's a fairly straightforward but tedious process. I'm having fun though.
I'll likely cut these scrap pieces into keychains, bookmarks, or whatever else.
The carbon kevlar was my first attempt at wet layup. It's 5.5oz cloth. From right to left: single sheet of 5.5oz, three sheets of 5.5oz + peel ply, and two sheets of 5.5oz
Yesterday evening I laid up some 11oz 2x2 carbon. Two sheets a piece, one with peel ply, one without. Still waiting on it to cure.
The pot life of my 105 epoxy + 206 hardener is ~20 minutes (@100g of epoxy). For these layups I used ~115g of epoxy each. Since I work slow I decided to try a tip that @Jyzmbe shared with me. Place your mixing cup of epoxy in cold water to slow down the exothermic reaction and extend the pot life of your mixture. Just remember to be careful and not drip water in your layup
Nothing special at all just some test layups so I can learn and understand the process. All in all it's a fairly straightforward but tedious process. I'm having fun though.
I'll likely cut these scrap pieces into keychains, bookmarks, or whatever else.
The carbon kevlar was my first attempt at wet layup. It's 5.5oz cloth. From right to left: single sheet of 5.5oz, three sheets of 5.5oz + peel ply, and two sheets of 5.5oz
Yesterday evening I laid up some 11oz 2x2 carbon. Two sheets a piece, one with peel ply, one without. Still waiting on it to cure.
The pot life of my 105 epoxy + 206 hardener is ~20 minutes (@100g of epoxy). For these layups I used ~115g of epoxy each. Since I work slow I decided to try a tip that @Jyzmbe shared with me. Place your mixing cup of epoxy in cold water to slow down the exothermic reaction and extend the pot life of your mixture. Just remember to be careful and not drip water in your layup