Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Thanks guys. I have recently befriended a few members that are waverave regulars so I am really hoping to make it this year. We'll see if I can make it happen...
My Freshwater Surf Blaster Build
- Thread starter Dustin Mustangs
- Start date
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Hood Paint
I used Duplicolor 'cherry red' and 'gloss black' Acrylic Enamel paint out of a spray bomb for the hoods. I've used this twice before on red blaster hoods and not only does it match the hull pretty well but it also seems plenty durable. Best part is it's C-H-E-A-P! I brought back a cart full of beercan returnables to my local grocery store and that was enough to buy more paint than I needed, the bondo and a tack rag. They claim it's resistant to gas but I have found it needs to be re-waxed if you spill gas on it (maybe this is due to my wax tho?). Either way it's easy to deal with if it happens. The one downside with this stuff is that it seems to attack the stock paint and causes it to wrinkle up so, as already gone over, I stripped the stock finish before painting. If you put this paint on thick enough the shine comes out really nice. The instructions say light coats but f that. Do one light coat and then as heavy as you can get away with before dripping starts from there on out and it will look great. I hot lapped 3 coats this time around. Buy extra and return the cans you don't use so you don't come up short because it looks like sheeot if you don't put enough on. If you are not happy with how it looks, it buffs out really nice if you put it on thick enough. The black portion on this time around had some slight hazing because of how humid it was outside when I sprayed them. This buffed out really easy with an extra fine polishing compound and random orbital buffer. I have been really happy with this paint all things considered.
These aren't the best pics, but they give a decent idea of the shine and color match under incandescent lighting. The match looks closer in sunlight. I'll get some of it outside and post them up later on.
I used Duplicolor 'cherry red' and 'gloss black' Acrylic Enamel paint out of a spray bomb for the hoods. I've used this twice before on red blaster hoods and not only does it match the hull pretty well but it also seems plenty durable. Best part is it's C-H-E-A-P! I brought back a cart full of beercan returnables to my local grocery store and that was enough to buy more paint than I needed, the bondo and a tack rag. They claim it's resistant to gas but I have found it needs to be re-waxed if you spill gas on it (maybe this is due to my wax tho?). Either way it's easy to deal with if it happens. The one downside with this stuff is that it seems to attack the stock paint and causes it to wrinkle up so, as already gone over, I stripped the stock finish before painting. If you put this paint on thick enough the shine comes out really nice. The instructions say light coats but f that. Do one light coat and then as heavy as you can get away with before dripping starts from there on out and it will look great. I hot lapped 3 coats this time around. Buy extra and return the cans you don't use so you don't come up short because it looks like sheeot if you don't put enough on. If you are not happy with how it looks, it buffs out really nice if you put it on thick enough. The black portion on this time around had some slight hazing because of how humid it was outside when I sprayed them. This buffed out really easy with an extra fine polishing compound and random orbital buffer. I have been really happy with this paint all things considered.
These aren't the best pics, but they give a decent idea of the shine and color match under incandescent lighting. The match looks closer in sunlight. I'll get some of it outside and post them up later on.
Attachments
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Front Breather Hose Mod
Something I kind of stumbled upon when putting the new hood together was that the front breather hose dumps right next to the intake on the 62t engine. Like less than an inch away and the waterbox is right underneath it ready to deflect any incoming water right towards the engine.
You can clock this thing in 90` increments, but there is only one other position that doesn't make it bind against the tank. Unfortunately, in that position it still dumps really close to the intake and directly over the waterbox. It doesn't take a big stretch of the imagination to see water entering via that duct (in either position) and immediately getting sucked into the engine.
After a little bit of experimenting I found that with a quick trim and an 'in-between' position on the mount, I could get it to dump on the far (port) side of the tank. It is also angled forward a bit which gets the water even further from the intake. I happened to have two of those backing plates laying around so I doubled them up to prevent the bolts from bending the plate down in the now unsupported corners. As an added (and maybe unneeded) bonus it shoots right at the coupler between the limited chamber and it's u-pipe possibly making it stay a bit cooler.
Something I kind of stumbled upon when putting the new hood together was that the front breather hose dumps right next to the intake on the 62t engine. Like less than an inch away and the waterbox is right underneath it ready to deflect any incoming water right towards the engine.
You can clock this thing in 90` increments, but there is only one other position that doesn't make it bind against the tank. Unfortunately, in that position it still dumps really close to the intake and directly over the waterbox. It doesn't take a big stretch of the imagination to see water entering via that duct (in either position) and immediately getting sucked into the engine.
After a little bit of experimenting I found that with a quick trim and an 'in-between' position on the mount, I could get it to dump on the far (port) side of the tank. It is also angled forward a bit which gets the water even further from the intake. I happened to have two of those backing plates laying around so I doubled them up to prevent the bolts from bending the plate down in the now unsupported corners. As an added (and maybe unneeded) bonus it shoots right at the coupler between the limited chamber and it's u-pipe possibly making it stay a bit cooler.
Attachments
Last edited:
- Location
- chicago
I like the paint. I was wondering what would be a close color to that red. Thanks for posting that. Keeps looking better.
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Re: Front Breather Hose Mod
Just a quick update on this breather hose mod. After I did it I got a little worried that cutting the hose this short would let water into the hull with the ski upside down in the water. If the end of the hose (now pointing up with ski upside down) is lower than the water level on the outside of the ski, the water pressure would make it literally pour right in. And with how big that hose is, it would happen at a pretty fast rate. This is a big concern for me because if (read: when) I dump in the break zone and the ski gets away from me it seems to end up capsized almost every time. Well, long story short, I flipped her upside down today in shallow water for about a minute to see if this would happen and literally no water came in.
:fest30:
Just a quick update on this breather hose mod. After I did it I got a little worried that cutting the hose this short would let water into the hull with the ski upside down in the water. If the end of the hose (now pointing up with ski upside down) is lower than the water level on the outside of the ski, the water pressure would make it literally pour right in. And with how big that hose is, it would happen at a pretty fast rate. This is a big concern for me because if (read: when) I dump in the break zone and the ski gets away from me it seems to end up capsized almost every time. Well, long story short, I flipped her upside down today in shallow water for about a minute to see if this would happen and literally no water came in.
:fest30:
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Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Update on the Jetworks brap-o-maker
I finally have had some saddle time on this Jetworks mill with it broken in and all systems go. My free time has been very short this summer so it took way longer than I would have liked. Add in a few gremlins and it took me damn near half the summer to get everything worked out and ready for battle. Well it is finally there and WOW is all I have to say. Every time I take it out I get re-surprised at how much fun a blaster is with this level of power. Flat water, buoys, small waves, big waves, whatever; this thing is just a riot now. The porting Art did in combination with those taper bore carbs and how he had me set everything up makes for crisp and clean power right where I wanted it. My body can no longer handle WOT on side mounts, which used to be mandatory to get my fat ass out of the water with the mild limited combo I was running before. And my biggest surprise is that even with all the additional power I now get significantly more run time per tank compared to the b-pipe / stock single carb 61x setup I was running before. I knew it was tuned a bit rich but not to the point that it ever stumbled so it couldn't of been too far off. Extra ride time per tank is a HUGE benefit for me that I did not see coming with this build.
And by no means did this engine break the bank. You can get your cylinder a one-off port job specific to your exact type of riding and his taper bore mod on your 38's for the price of a new b-pipe. This certainly made for more of a jump in power than the pipe did, so bang for the buck I am not sure it gets any better than this.
Thank you Art and Jetworks!!!
:hail:
I finally have had some saddle time on this Jetworks mill with it broken in and all systems go. My free time has been very short this summer so it took way longer than I would have liked. Add in a few gremlins and it took me damn near half the summer to get everything worked out and ready for battle. Well it is finally there and WOW is all I have to say. Every time I take it out I get re-surprised at how much fun a blaster is with this level of power. Flat water, buoys, small waves, big waves, whatever; this thing is just a riot now. The porting Art did in combination with those taper bore carbs and how he had me set everything up makes for crisp and clean power right where I wanted it. My body can no longer handle WOT on side mounts, which used to be mandatory to get my fat ass out of the water with the mild limited combo I was running before. And my biggest surprise is that even with all the additional power I now get significantly more run time per tank compared to the b-pipe / stock single carb 61x setup I was running before. I knew it was tuned a bit rich but not to the point that it ever stumbled so it couldn't of been too far off. Extra ride time per tank is a HUGE benefit for me that I did not see coming with this build.
And by no means did this engine break the bank. You can get your cylinder a one-off port job specific to your exact type of riding and his taper bore mod on your 38's for the price of a new b-pipe. This certainly made for more of a jump in power than the pipe did, so bang for the buck I am not sure it gets any better than this.
Thank you Art and Jetworks!!!
:hail:
- Location
- sunbury ,ohio
what prop pitch and nozzle bore did you decide on ?
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Stock nozzle bore although Art said going after that would be a good idea when the budget allows.
The jury is still out on the prop. Up until just recently I was running a 13/17 concord. Now I have the 14.5/18.5 skat super slimline in there that Art recommended I run. Compared to the concord, he said it would be faster out of the hole and on top with my setup. My initial impression is that the boat is marginally faster with the skat but it doesn't hook as well in chop. If this proves to be true I will probably go back to the concord because more times than not Lake Michigan is pretty sloppy.
The jury is still out on the prop. Up until just recently I was running a 13/17 concord. Now I have the 14.5/18.5 skat super slimline in there that Art recommended I run. Compared to the concord, he said it would be faster out of the hole and on top with my setup. My initial impression is that the boat is marginally faster with the skat but it doesn't hook as well in chop. If this proves to be true I will probably go back to the concord because more times than not Lake Michigan is pretty sloppy.
K-SCARB
HELLS YEAH!!!
- Location
- Belding MI
Wow great job on the hood. Hopefully that holds let me know if you need help "stress testing" the hood.
tom21
havin fun
- Location
- clearwater FL
very very nice and detailed write up!! love what you did with the hood. and the tip on the paint may come in handy til I can find the money and time to paint my ski.
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Thanks guys.
Kyle, I will no doubt take you up on that offer. Wave season is almost here!!!
Kyle, I will no doubt take you up on that offer. Wave season is almost here!!!
Im doing alot of this to my 94 blaster down here in OZ atm. Am finding this thread very helpful, specially with the hood reinforcement. got the hull upside down doing some gel-coat repairs and beefing up the hood in the mean time. gona flip it right side up soon and get on with strengthening inside the hull on the bond line.
keep an eye out for a new Blaster build thread coming soon in this section. . . .once i get into it and i get all the pics sorted!!
keep an eye out for a new Blaster build thread coming soon in this section. . . .once i get into it and i get all the pics sorted!!
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Thanks man. Deff make a thread once you get going. I love me some surf blaster builds!
Tyler Zane
Open Your Eyes
- Location
- Panama City Beach, FL
i really enjoyed reading your build, im looking into just about the same engine setup for my sj (waiting on Arts email now). you have great attention to detail and i really like the temp strips on the head. thats a great idea!
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Thanks, I can tell by your posts that you are putting alot of thought into your build. I am interested to see how it goes...
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Blaster footholds in the house...
I previously assumed foot straps were an essential ingredient for getting upside down on one of these bad boys. Then I realized I hated having my feet confined to straps for everything but inverts and stabs. It also became apparent that straps are 100% in the way if you aren't using them.
One mundane night and about 6 beers later I had a cardboard template made for a foothold that bolts on under the rear grab handles. I cut some wood, stacked it up, and shaped it into a matching plug that I could wax and form fiberglass over.
Typically you use a plug to make a mold and then pull parts from the mold but I have just been pulling them straight off the plug; male mold style. I am also not using any gelcoat. It’s a down and dirty process but it works great for a non-cosmetic part such as this. I used 5 layers of 12oz biax and they are plenty strong. Don't mind the effed up black paint in these pics, I had to de-turf for some slight reshaping and the paint job temporarily took a hit.
I put a layer of 1/2" underpadding (mmc pn 85175K59) around the bottom portion before the turf. This adds comfort while you are in them, gives your foot some positive resistance holding it in there and eliminates any chance of a bruised ankle when you aren't in them. I also added a wedge shaped piece to curve the outside edge down so your foot is less likely to slip off to the side. You can see it sandwiched in the middle.
From there I wrapped everything but the mounting surface with b-stock and put a fresh coat of black paint on everything else. I also put a piece of turf cut to shape between them and the hull to avoid glass to glass contact.
I will have to say that I am really happy with how these turned out. They are way comfy with all that foam and super easy to get in and out of. Once your feet are jammed under there, the grip is tight enough to have confidence in but not so tight that you'll hyper-extend something if you get torn off the ski to the front or rear (first hand experience talking here). They stick out far enough to get a good grip on your foot but not far enough to get in the way when you are not in them.
I am so stoked to finally have these done. Bring on the waves, this thing is ready for some down side up action!!!
:brap:
I previously assumed foot straps were an essential ingredient for getting upside down on one of these bad boys. Then I realized I hated having my feet confined to straps for everything but inverts and stabs. It also became apparent that straps are 100% in the way if you aren't using them.
One mundane night and about 6 beers later I had a cardboard template made for a foothold that bolts on under the rear grab handles. I cut some wood, stacked it up, and shaped it into a matching plug that I could wax and form fiberglass over.
Typically you use a plug to make a mold and then pull parts from the mold but I have just been pulling them straight off the plug; male mold style. I am also not using any gelcoat. It’s a down and dirty process but it works great for a non-cosmetic part such as this. I used 5 layers of 12oz biax and they are plenty strong. Don't mind the effed up black paint in these pics, I had to de-turf for some slight reshaping and the paint job temporarily took a hit.
I put a layer of 1/2" underpadding (mmc pn 85175K59) around the bottom portion before the turf. This adds comfort while you are in them, gives your foot some positive resistance holding it in there and eliminates any chance of a bruised ankle when you aren't in them. I also added a wedge shaped piece to curve the outside edge down so your foot is less likely to slip off to the side. You can see it sandwiched in the middle.
From there I wrapped everything but the mounting surface with b-stock and put a fresh coat of black paint on everything else. I also put a piece of turf cut to shape between them and the hull to avoid glass to glass contact.
I will have to say that I am really happy with how these turned out. They are way comfy with all that foam and super easy to get in and out of. Once your feet are jammed under there, the grip is tight enough to have confidence in but not so tight that you'll hyper-extend something if you get torn off the ski to the front or rear (first hand experience talking here). They stick out far enough to get a good grip on your foot but not far enough to get in the way when you are not in them.
I am so stoked to finally have these done. Bring on the waves, this thing is ready for some down side up action!!!
:brap:
Attachments
jetskier79
I'm goin' for two
- Location
- San Diego, CA
That's what I'm talkin' about!
Ski looks great, amazingly thorough job on every bit of it. I commend you on the creativity of the footholds, they are clean, and look like they will do the job. But, I'm not sure I'll ever be convinced that something protruding into the footwells of a blaster isn't just one massive ankle breaking incident in the making.
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
That seems to be the first thing people comment on when they see these. I understand the concern given how painful the handles back there can be. Before I put these on I would have bruised ankles from those handles after pretty much every surf ride. I have been using these or previous versions of these for 20 or so tanks of surf riding spread out over three seasons now and I have yet to get even a single bruise. And the older versions didn't have any under padding. With the padding on there almost everything you can come in contact with has a bunch of give to it. I am actually wondering if I went a little overboard in this department considering I never really had an issues with injuries, just speculation about it. My concern is that the foam section might completely rip off when the going gets rough due to how flexible it is. We'll see...
Thanks for the feedback and for the inspiration. What you used to do on blasters has really fueled my fire!
Thanks for the feedback and for the inspiration. What you used to do on blasters has really fueled my fire!
- Location
- sunbury ,ohio
Thats way too ridged for me ! It only took me a couple of tankfull of fuel to get used to my straps and now i use them on flatwater '' it just seems natural anymore . and I also removed my plastic handles and installed soft conveyor belting material '' just like a thin flat fan belt on a car '' my ankles were taking a beating . so now I have a completly soft tray . but its all what ya get used to and im sure your brackets will work . I would just hate to impact them in any way in the surf where we dont always have a choice where or how to land . but again nice work on that ski .. I hope to see it some day .
Dustin Mustangs
uʍop ǝpıs dn
- Location
- Holland, MI
Yeah, it is all just personal preference. I gave the straps a full season and never came around on them. These footholds may continue to evolve but I am already too happy with them to ever go back to straps.