Super Jet Getting stock pole apart

[Vumad]

I'm shortening my stock pole. The cast aluminum pieces have a lot of corrosion. I wanted to take them off and bead blast and paint them while I was doing the work. The pole is glued the the aluminum and doesn't budge (yes, I drilled the rivets).

I have a friend who was going to take my parts to school and bead blast them free so I would prefer if there was an easy way to get them apart. Can't pry or it will certainly crack.

If not, it's not a big deal. I have to cut the bottom off anyway, and I can just spot blast the top piece while it is on the pole.

Any thoughts on a brand of paint? I was probably going to rattle can it since powder coating it isn't an option.

 

[ProSouth]

Wrap it with carbon? Look cool while reinforcing.

 

[Vumad]

Wrap it with carbon? Look cool while reinforcing.

???

I'm not reinforcing it. I am just shortening it -3. I am wanting to remove the top bracket because it would then fit into the bead blast chamber available to me for free. Otherwise I have to buy some media and a gun and spot blast the top.

I am vinyl wrapping the pole before it goes back on in carbon however. I'll post in my build thread when I am done if you want to see how it comes out. The stock black aluminum parts will be silver, and the carbon vinyl is a matte finish with a texture, as opposed to the more common high gloss smooth carbon vinyl.

 

[swapmeet]

I cut mine at the bottom and had to destroy the cut piece to get it out. I'm not sure how possible it would be to get out, that glue is serious... and the pole has a wedge cut on the sides to allow it to compress into the bracket. At least on the bottom it does.

Are you going to rivet it again or use hardware? When I did mine I used stainless button head hex screws and fender washers. I also wrapped the whole thing in Carbon (over the rivets) to make it stronger. I think thats what ProSouth meant. It's still likely to break where the pole meets the base, or the base itself. Might as well wrap with real carbon before you wrap it with faux carbon.

 

[ProSouth]

So why paint it at all? Or are you talking about the upper and lower pieces? I just always hear about stock poles breaking, so I figured visual carbon layup would help(after you shorten it) with looks and strength.

 

[Vumad]

I am not going to be going for huge aerials or doing anything crazy. I mostly race. In flatwater I'm just playing with nose stabs and such. In the surf I'm just surf riding (surf board slash stuff) and re-entries. I don't think I'm going to be doing anything anytime soon to break my pole, so I don't want to add any extra weight if I don't have to. I just need to shorten the pole I'm getting binded up because I'm almost 6ft and I have a stock length pole.

I'm painting the aluminum because it looks bad, the bead blasting is free and the paint is cheap. I'm painting silver so when it scratches it won't look as bad as it does. My paint is oxidized pretty bad and I could buff it out but enough vinyl to do the pole and nose piece was only $15.

I'm buying a new b-pipe manifold and stealing the b-pipe from my x2, which is also getting blasted because its almost free. I have a silver used girdled head kit from jet maniac and some other parts to go onto the ski.

So, with the corroded parts (ebox, pole hardware, pipe) cleaned up, buying this manifold, and getting some foot holds and toe hold from Tom, I'm going to have a very nice looking almost limited superjet. If the vinyl goes well, I can do the rest of the boat for less than $100 total for a full one color vinyl wrap.

My budget isn't much, but I've done a good job stretching it. I'm taking it apart now because I'm getting married in 5 weeks and its a good way to not get hurt and ruin our honeymoon cruise, and when I'm all done, ill finally own a boat that not only has some guts, but is easy on the eyes as well.

 

[superjetchet21]

since your shortening it already hears what you do....the epoxy at the bottom is some good lol so dont bother trying to pry it apart what you do is you cut the pole at the top of the bottom bracket.once the pole is cut there will be the rest of the pole and glue inside the bottom bracket. chisel it out or i used a dremal and chisel theres a metal plate inside that your going to cut there on the front and back of the pole so your going to need to make another metal piece i made it out of stainless diamond plate. drill holes in the plate that line up with the bracket holes cause your rivets will be going through it..i also drilled bigger holes and put fatter rivets in. when you put the pole back in the bracket put epoxy around it(more the merrier). i wouldn't carbon it or glass is around the bracket that will just make a mess if you ever want to take it apart again....hope this helps haha its hard to explain but an easy job.

 

[BruceSki]

A little bit of heat and that glue releases. Hit it with some map gas on a torch setup for a minute or two all the way around then whack it a few times with a dead blow hammer. It pops right out after that.

 

[AtomicPunk]

Vumad, cut the pole, then chisel/pry out the cut piece left in the bracket. Will take about 30 seconds.