John's budget SJ build

[Waternut]

not sure if you did it or not, (i don't feel like searching the thread) but if you build your own hood liner it will knock off a bunch of weight as well and keep water out better.

I thought the hood mod was just for added strength and better draining. I read posts a while back and most said they didn't really save any weight at all.

One thing I didn't think about was the foam in the nose. I bet that's waterlogged too but that may have to wait. I don't think I'll have time to dig into that this week.

Get rid of that pole! Switch to a shortened rn stock pole.

I've thought about it but I've basically got an indestructible pole and the length is pretty much perfect for me. My kawi is a little shorter and my back hurts like hell at the end of the day.

 

[N3vrSat1sfied]

maybe you just just sell the SN and ride the kawi! (sorry thats for all the "buy a superjet" post on the X)

 

[BruceSki]

that foam at the front of the ski is like kawi foam i believe. it doesn't absorb water.

we did my buddy's square hood and chopped it and made a new liner. it went from about 20 pounds or whatever a stock hood weighs to maybe 11 pounds. i say that because it is lighter than my RN waterdawg hood that is 13 pounds.

we did a very light hood liner though, only two layers of thin glass and a couple strips of biax thrown in across it to add some rigidity.

that stock hood liner in the square is heavy for sure.

 

[tbaer]

that foam at the front of the ski is like kawi foam i believe. it doesn't absorb water.

we did my buddy's square hood and chopped it and made a new liner. it went from about 20 pounds or whatever a stock hood weighs to maybe 11 pounds. i say that because it is lighter than my RN waterdawg hood that is 13 pounds.

we did a very light hood liner though, only two layers of thin glass and a couple strips of biax thrown in across it to add some rigidity.

that stock hood liner in the square is heavy for sure.

he is talking about where he foamed the nose of the ski on the outside to make it more like a rounded shape.

 

[Waternut]

he is talking about where he foamed the nose of the ski on the outside to make it more like a rounded shape.

Yep that's what I was referring to.

It's completely defoamed now and I put half a sheet of 1/2" polystyrene in the hull which weighs roughly 1.5 lbs. It's a good stopping point for today.

 

[Waternut]

Ok been working pretty hard on this thing lately. I'm still on schedule to finish it by this weekend as long as the fiberglass is stiff enough after todays application (which I'm pretty sure it will be). Here's a pic of the cut up defoamed ski and a pic of the polystyrene that I put in place. I added a bit more polystyrene but I can assure you I didn't put one ounce of that mother :censored:ing two part foam in there! Not like it offered any floatation or tray rigidity last time. If any polystyrene breaks free of it's spot, it can happily float around in there.

 

[Waternut]

Added one layer of biax yesterday and let it harden before reapplying any more to make sure the second layer was fully saturated since the biax is a lot harder than I expected to saturate with resin. Used the plastic side bumpers to hold the fiberglass in place while doing the initial coat.

 

[Waternut]

While the resin was doing it's thing, I got to work on the footstraps. I debated the nice glass in inserts but I couldn't talk myself into buying 4 plastic inserts for $40 when the straps cost half that. So I bought some strainless clinch-nuts with seals in them and socket screws from mcmaster carr and then went to Lowes and got a piece of galvanized metal for $1 each to attach everything to. It was cheaper and should be a lot stronger. Obviously, the screws will be tightened down more once in the ski.

 

[Waternut]

Todays work was the final major work on the tray before turf...I hope. I rounded out and scuffed the mounting plates, then drilled holes in the fiberglass so they could be mounted flush. I added a patch over each and then added a second layer of biax to the entire tray. Got clothes pins? I wanted to make sure nothing popped up so I put some wax paper between the pins and glass.

 

[the WaTeRhAwK]

we done neeno stinkeen gunwales mane!...lol

 

[Pablo]

the clock is ticking. nice work john. how you gonna do the dash/gunwhale area?

 

[McDog]

Lookin' good. Should be easy to turf.

 

[Waternut]

Done! Ski is down to right around 300 lbs now. Not that impressive but a whole lot better than 345 lbs. Nothing like having a bag of concrete in the tray with you. I still need to add drains back in and repaint a few areas but that can be done a little later. Depends on how this morning goes.

 

[McDog]

Oh yeah! Get your butt out on the lake. You're flipping it today.

 

[Waternut]

Alright first ride was cut short today... It was a bit squirrely at first because the back end was so much lighter than I was used to. Then the ski just didn't feel like it had the mojo it used to. Brought it back into the dock and it already had tears in the turf. Pulled the one drain that I still had and apparently there is a major leak in the tray because the ski was FULL of water. When it was sitting at a slight incline, water was coming out just under the turf line. I think the problem was I reglassed one of the chines because I thought it was leaking and wanted to fix it.... Big mistake!

Anyway, I tried to seal up the things I could find and added two 1-1/2" check valves for the foamed area. Luckily there is only polystyrene in there so there's nothing to get soaked.

 

[Pablo]

johnny,

u still in for tomorrow's trip to a'toona? Well it's past MN...today's trip then.

 

[Waternut]

Well with my ghetto tray scuppers, the ski ran great today! It's much lighter and now that I can ride barefooted, the ride is more enjoyable. I can stay in the foot straps much better than holds which is really good for my shins, ankles, etc.

There are a couple drawbacks that I did notice but most just take some getting used to. First is, since my feet are further apart I have to adjust the amount of weight I shift in turns to prevent falling. The second is, if I put my foot in the front foot strap, they are off centered a bit so in a jump the ski twists a bit like jumping on a slalom ski. Getting onto the ski when stopped is easy enough but very difficult in a fast idle. The last thing was that after about 45-60 minutes of riding, I started to notice that the circulation to my feet is slightly restricted.

Other than those things... The flatdeck is sweet so far! It's actually easier to turn too which I really wasn't expecting.

 

[Polish jet pilot]

Man...I reapet myself but...love those long builds ! Cool to see how that SJ transformed over the months...

Give us some feedback on the powerplant and all. Especially how you like that porting?

 

[McDog]

That porting rocks! I was impressed.

 

[Waternut]

That porting rocks! I was impressed.

I guess that pretty much sums it up right there. If you do the same, don't be a retard and leave jagged edges and jagged lines on the port like I've seen on engines in the past. Do it right and you'll be happy.