Super Jet Steve's first Ski Builld (SN Superjet 701)

[wet408rider]

Doin Work

So I have been pumping away at the ski. I released the mold that I made for the hood liner and it came out great.. I also started to shape the outside of the hood so that it will be smoother to line up with the Nose piece. I got a special visit from Coung aka 2Ride and he suggested some other mods to help improve the ski for the Surf. One of his suggestions was to Cut the back rail off that way I could get the butt of the ski deeper in the wave and water would flow better out of the back. Another suggestion that he said was for me to add a lip on the inside of the hood seal, the reason being when I start to do barrel rolls the water pressure will be so strong on the hood that I will push my hood off if it does not have support on the inside and possible sink the ski.. So I listened to everything that he said and I have modded the ski to tolerate more abuse. Hope you enjoy the Pics..

 

[wet408rider]

Here are some more pics.

It is hard to see but I used clear plastic which are pre-made from tap plastics and Plastic welded on. I am still going to lay 2 layers of carbon fiber over them to make them more rigid.

Trimmed the nose rail so it is the same all the way around the ski.. I hated the fat nose rail.

Cut the lip off of the back Deck for the Surf and to add better Water flow out the back.

 

[Vumad]

Here are some more pics.
View attachment 166917View attachment 166916View attachment 166915
It is hard to see but I used clear plastic which are pre-made from tap plastics and Plastic welded on. I am still going to lay 2 layers of carbon fiber over them to make them more rigid.
View attachment 166921View attachment 166920View attachment 166919View attachment 166918
Trimmed the nose rail so it is the same all the way around the ski.. I hated the fat nose rail..
View attachment 166924
Cut the lip off of the back Deck for the Surf and to add better Water flow out the back.
View attachment 166923View attachment 166922

You messed up your attachments again.

How did you make your template for your hood liner? Looks like cardboard and duct tape?

 

[wet408rider]

You messed up your attachments again.

How did you make your template for your hood liner? Looks like cardboard and duct tape?

I know I caught that and reposted already.. lol.. I actually used thin sheets of plastics since they were flexible but still rigid enough and I also used a gatorade bottle for the roundness and posterboard to build some curves.. After I set up all the lines I wanted with that, I duct taped everything and sprayed WD40 to help release the resin.

 

[Vumad]

Good idea. I think I'll do the same to make my hood liner.

You might want to look into some PVA mold release agent. I'm not sure WD40 is very good for you resin, but I don't know for sure. PVA is a little more the WD40 but still inexpensive. It can be sprayed on with a gun or a squirt bottle, or even painted on. Best part is, it's water soluable (doesn't matter with your duct tape mold but with other things it just washes off with no residue) and is designed to be used with resins.

 

[wet408rider]

Good idea. I think I'll do the same to make my hood liner.

You might want to look into some PVA mold release agent. I'm not sure WD40 is very good for you resin, but I don't know for sure. PVA is a little more the WD40 but still inexpensive. It can be sprayed on with a gun or a squirt bottle, or even painted on. Best part is, it's water soluable (doesn't matter with your duct tape mold but with other things it just washes off with no residue) and is designed to be used with resins.

Right on.. I will keep that in mind for next time.. I think I am pretty much done with fiber-glassing. I did not use much WD40, Just sprayed it in and wiped it down.. Resin does not stick to duct tape very much anyway.. The liner is not done, I only put 3 layers of glass on there and it is still pretty flimsy. I am going to glue it in with 5200 and then lay another 2 layers of carbon fiber over the top to stiffen it up and get a Carbon look under the hood.

 

[tipafew]

Dude, you are one hard core newbie! Pretty advanced build you are doing there. Not going to do tubbies? They rock in the surf. On flat water I can take them or leave them.

 

[tipafew]

When you install the breather hoses in the hood make sure you push them up through the liner a ways so that they are less than 1" from the top of the hood. Or put a big V cut in the tops of the hoses and just push them in until they stop. That way the entire liner has to be full of water before the hoses actually take water in. I also make my hoses fairly long.

 

[wet408rider]

When you install the breather hoses in the hood make sure you push them up through the liner a ways so that they are less than 1" from the top of the hood. Or put a big V cut in the tops of the hoses and just push them in until they stop. That way the entire liner has to be full of water before the hoses actually take water in. I also make my hoses fairly long.

That is exactly what I am going to do.. I picked up some vacuum hose and i am going to thread it in about 2 to 3 inches and then 5200 the seam.. About tubbies, I don't think I am going to add them right now because I am not an experienced rider and I don't plan on riding in the surf for a while.. I just want to ride around on the lake and get used to controlling the ski. But I have heard that tubbies are a great add on for the surf..

 

[wet408rider]

I do want to get some input on here though. I do not have a waterbox for this ski. My buddy Jared who was a pro in Flat water freestyle told me to just run a straight pipe and we will run the hose high so that water will not run up the exhaust into the motor. Also I am running a B-Pipe so it already has a large loop that it would have to travel up before reaching the motor. What are your feelings on this? I know straight pipe is loud, but to be honest I love loud exhaust.. every single one of my vehicles have loud exhaust. I would really like input here though because I read a thread where a guy said he water locked his motor because he did not run a water box and it kind of freaked me out.

Water box? yes or no? why? Thanks in advance

 

[Vumad]

Yes. Waterbox for sure. I bought a used RN waterbox for $100. SN waterboxes are not stainless so they are even cheaper. That thread you read recently, the concenses was that it was unlikely the lack of a waterbox caused the water ingestion. However, it is possible. There's nothing to keep the water from freely flowing back through the exhaust to your motor. Also, if you have a rear exhaust, you can land on the tail and pressurize the exhaust w/ water with nothing to break it up.

At the very least, the lack of a waterbox bearly if at all increases performance and saves you only a few dollars while significantly increasing the volume of the ski. I have a waterbox on my X2 and I don't like the increase in noise from the jetworks flow control valve on my B-pipe. My X2 is LOUD. Louder isn't faster, but it can be pretty annoying, and pull the attention of people who will complain about our sport more or cops who would give you a hard time.

 

[Vumad]

Here are some more pics.
View attachment 166932View attachment 166933View attachment 166934
It is hard to see but I used clear plastic which are pre-made from tap plastics and Plastic welded on. I am still going to lay 2 layers of carbon fiber over them to make them more rigid.
View attachment 166928View attachment 166929View attachment 166930View attachment 166931
Trimmed the nose rail so it is the same all the way around the ski.. I hated the fat nose rail.
View attachment 166925
Cut the lip off of the back Deck for the Surf and to add better Water flow out the back.
View attachment 166926View attachment 166927

You used a lot of bondo on the hood. You can't just sand and paint that. The Bondo is polyester based. It doesn't bondo to the SMC hull. You can scrape it off with a paint scraper. That's no good. You need to put a coat of thin glass or something over it so that it can't delaminate from the hull. The best thing to use as a body filler is a epoxy resin with Cab-o-sil/microsphere mix. It's much harder to sand but cannot delaminate from the hull.

 

[wet408rider]

that bondo you see is a thin coat on top, i used long hair fiberglass bondo to shape the hood first.. it is solid.. the bondo that you see on the skin is just to smoothen out the top. thank you for the input though.. That is what the dark bondo is on the hood.. lang hair fiberglass bondo works great but it is super hard to shape as a final coat.. I also plan on layng a thin coat of resin over the top before i prep for paint so that everything is solid.

 

[tipafew]

People already hate us jet skiers enough. PLEASE run a waterbox

 

[wet408rider]

Yes. Waterbox for sure. I bought a used RN waterbox for $100. SN waterboxes are not stainless so they are even cheaper. That thread you read recently, the concenses was that it was unlikely the lack of a waterbox caused the water ingestion. However, it is possible. There's nothing to keep the water from freely flowing back through the exhaust to your motor. Also, if you have a rear exhaust, you can land on the tail and pressurize the exhaust w/ water with nothing to break it up.

At the very least, the lack of a waterbox bearly if at all increases performance and saves you only a few dollars while significantly increasing the volume of the ski. I have a waterbox on my X2 and I don't like the increase in noise from the jetworks flow control valve on my B-pipe. My X2 is LOUD. Louder isn't faster, but it can be pretty annoying, and pull the attention of people who will complain about our sport more or cops who would give you a hard time.

Just saw this post.. Thank you for the great information.. I will be looking into a water box, sounds like the the pro's definitely out weigh the cons..

 

[wet408rider]

So I fiber-glassed the hood supports, and sealed the hood liner with 5200 and finally sanded down the hood so it is all smooth and lines up with the nose piece better..Sanding is a pain in the ass..

 

[wet408rider]

Dude, you are one hard core newbie! Pretty advanced build you are doing there. Not going to do tubbies? They rock in the surf. On flat water I can take them or leave them.

I started looking to Tubbies after you said this comment and found a pair on here from #ZERO for $180 Shipped.. Sounds like a good deal.. I will have to look over my finances though.. Money is getting real tight.. I can always just add them on later..

 

[wet408rider]

So did a little more work.. I did not seam to have any leaks from the bond line into the foam but when I was cutting the nose and tail rails I noticed that they did a really bad job on gluing the rails, so yesterday I spent the day putting 5200 on the whole bond rail and sealing all the gaps as well as sealing in the hood liner with 5200 before I start laying Carbon Fiber on top of the hood liner.. I am off today to pick up the Jet black Paint and hopefully come back and get the hood finished today so I can start prepping for paint..

 

[tipafew]

Yep, you can always add the tubbies later if the budget is tight.

 

[tipafew]

You painting the whole ski black?