so after blowing something in the crank, i think a bearing. I pulled the engine and put the hull on gumtree ( aussie ebay) and amazingly, the original builder and racer of the ski contacted me to say hi, but also tell me what he did to build it and what it was.
heres what he said, i thought some of you would like to see it to, insane for post globalised world in Australia, mid 90s.
"Hi Josh,
I built that ski many years ago and raced it with some success. I can tell you I spent much more than $4k on it
If it still has the same crank it will be welded at the big end and main pins to stop the crank twisting. Whoever rebuilds it will need to do the same thing or it won't last too long.
The reed induction was an extreme mod, we had an alloy casting made then attached it to the cases with 5 or 6 6mm Allen bolts and devcon.
The cylinders are very early 440 alloy ones that have been widened at the end transfer ports and an extra port created where the old intake was, then custom 550 sleeves made to suit. The base gasket is hand cut. The Pistons are standard 550 with the ring pegs shifted and hold cut in the skirts for the extra transfer ports.
The intake manifolds are standard JS300 items. There should be stainless brackets from the top of the carbs to the cylinder head bolts. They are also hand made.
The drive shaft support is scratch made, I just cut alloy plate to shape and had it welded to suit.
From memory there is/was a carbon/Kevlar patch on the floor under the tank/water box area at the front.
The drive shaft was a custom stainless one that had no holes for the special tool that helps to remove the prop.
When I bought it, it was hot pink with the name "Whizzy" on it. It is a very early 550 that I later put a 440 pump in (better top speed for racing)
I'm not sure what ignition is in it now but we had a total loss set up (didn't charge the battery) because the standard fly wheel was too heavy and caused other crank problems. I made a custom alloy fly wheel with 2 small magnets to trigger the ignition. The guy I sold it to had troubles and changed the system.
heres what he said, i thought some of you would like to see it to, insane for post globalised world in Australia, mid 90s.
"Hi Josh,
I built that ski many years ago and raced it with some success. I can tell you I spent much more than $4k on it
If it still has the same crank it will be welded at the big end and main pins to stop the crank twisting. Whoever rebuilds it will need to do the same thing or it won't last too long.
The reed induction was an extreme mod, we had an alloy casting made then attached it to the cases with 5 or 6 6mm Allen bolts and devcon.
The cylinders are very early 440 alloy ones that have been widened at the end transfer ports and an extra port created where the old intake was, then custom 550 sleeves made to suit. The base gasket is hand cut. The Pistons are standard 550 with the ring pegs shifted and hold cut in the skirts for the extra transfer ports.
The intake manifolds are standard JS300 items. There should be stainless brackets from the top of the carbs to the cylinder head bolts. They are also hand made.
The drive shaft support is scratch made, I just cut alloy plate to shape and had it welded to suit.
From memory there is/was a carbon/Kevlar patch on the floor under the tank/water box area at the front.
The drive shaft was a custom stainless one that had no holes for the special tool that helps to remove the prop.
When I bought it, it was hot pink with the name "Whizzy" on it. It is a very early 550 that I later put a 440 pump in (better top speed for racing)
I'm not sure what ignition is in it now but we had a total loss set up (didn't charge the battery) because the standard fly wheel was too heavy and caused other crank problems. I made a custom alloy fly wheel with 2 small magnets to trigger the ignition. The guy I sold it to had troubles and changed the system.
