RESTO 96 XP Resto-Mod

[falklandsx]

So I bought this ski a couple of weeks ago, right around the time I was starting my 95 XP 800 project. It was a runner, and my plans were to replace the sticky steering cable, put in a new wear ring, replace the fuel system, rebuild the carbs, replace the trim motor, and put on some new mats... all the stuff you'd normally do to a ski of this age. Compression is excellent and even across both cylinders. Overall the ski is in good shape, just dirty and neglected.

I started working on it last weekend... got the fuel system out and drew a diagram in Visio. I diagram all of the skis I work on, so if I run across another one, no measuring lines - rip the system out and rebuild it based on the diagram. When I got the tank out, I found that the filler neck was broken, so I figured.. no problem, get a free tank under the recall. Then I got to thinking... I can't put a brand-new tank in this nasty hull!

From there, I decided to pull the motor, detail it, and give the hull a good scrubbing. At his point it turned into a full-on resto project. I figured since I had the motor and fuel system out, might as well take it down to just the tub.

As Purchased:

Starting the teardown. Check this out, someone was running weed-whacker oil in this... should be a crime!

More Photos:
Carbs off:

Flying!

Aftermath

Crappy gel coat repair:

Ride Plate coming off:

Never seen this before, the bailer bracket is completely corroded:

Rails off:

Later Mats!

 

[falklandsx]

So here are the decals coming off. I tried a heat gun, but no luck, they just fell apart. I ended up using Goof-Off graffiti remover, hot water, a plastic scraper, and lots of help from the wife.

Last night we got every last bit of decal off of the tub. I'm going to try to polish out a section of the top tomorrow after work, and if it looks good, polish the rest. The bottom is going in for new gel coat.

So Here's my conundrum.. the motor is out, and someone was running crappy oil in it, but the compression is awesome. Should I tear it down, inspect the runout, refinish it piece by piece, or clean it up and drop it back in? What would you guys do? I haven't made a decision yet, but I certainly don't want to spend a bunch of time detailing and painting, to put it back in and have a seal go bad. If there's one thing I hate, it's an oily hull... especially after a ton of cleaning. Open to suggestions.

More photos to come this weekend.

 

[CReynoldsMIZ]

Wow! That ski looks super unmolested and clean!!!! Don't pull any of the bolts off of the engine if you can help it, it will just chip that perfect paint on it! Look, the raves have never even been pulled of either! I would just use soap and water and clean that engine up, don't use super clean, it will dull the finish. Use it in the hull tho!

 

[Krispy]

Subscribed: Really nice project you have going.


I have mine apart to about the same level and I am struggling with what to do with the engine. Personally I won't rebuild until necessary. Otherwise you are just inviting problems.

 

[jammin777]

ha ha, i love it! a new gas tank calls for a full restore! CReynoldsMIZ is right as i was also thinking that motor has not ever been touched.
make me wonder how many hours are on her. subscribed.
i would at least pull the raves and clean them and maybe get a look see through the rave slots at the pistons and bores. oh i guess you can also look through the rv and exhaust ports as well.

 

[falklandsx]

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Made some progress today, cleaned the inside of the hull with Purple Power and started compounding.

I called the Meguiar’s office, told them about the project and what I had available locally, and they were very helpful. I was told Mirror Glaze 105 & 205 would be a good combination for light oxidation. I was going to use medium cut as a second step, and machine glaze as a final, but the rep I spoke with advised that adding the additional steps was unnecessary. Interestingly, all of the products listed above are for clear/base coat applications, which was news to me.

The rep told me that if I didn’t get the results I was looking for with the above products, to try M67 one-step compound (slightly more abrasive than 105) or M91 (the heavy stuff) and finish with M63 sealant, all specifically formulated for Gel Coat.

Here’s what I ended up with after compounding the front-port quarter with 105:

Equipment used: Milwaukee 5460 with a 7” wool hook & loop pad.

You can see the improvement compared to the starboard side, but this is a case where the pictures look better than the actual result. There is still staining from the decals visible, and the lip (where the decals were) is also visible. I used quite a bit of compound to get to this point, so I think I’m going to change my strategy; and block sand starting @ 600 to even out the surface. I’m also going to order the Gel Coat-specific products and see how they perform.

On to the inside. The good:

The bad:

The Ugly:

I tried every trick in the book to get rid of that staining. Now that I can see everything clearly, my guess is that a battery either exploded or caught fire in this ski at some point. I was able to tell during disassembly that the rear e-box housing had been replaced (it was way too clean compared to the rest of the ski.) If you look closely, you can see where something dripped down from the e-box housing—not sure if that is acid/heat damage, or resin from a poorly-executed repair. In either case, I need to find a way to fix the damage.

Suggestions? And don’t tell me to scrub harder! 

The corroded bailer bracket I pointed out earlier is making sense now. Battery acid and heat could definitely oxidize stainless steel.

 

[Jetskigoodies]

You could use bilge paint. My soon to be brother in law painted the inside of his 96xp a dark grey. It look really nice.

 

[falklandsx]

You could use bilge paint. My soon to be brother in law painted the inside of his 96xp a dark grey. It look really nice.

Thanks JSG! Any product recommendation? Looks like BilgeKote and AwlGrip are supposed to be good.

 

[Jetskigoodies]

He got the paint from west marine

 

[Jetskigoodies]

he used this

 

[Jetskigoodies]

 

[Jetskigoodies]

Since you have everything out of yours it should be a nice clean job

 

[nikko_m]

wow looks very clean and well done.

 

[khint93]

Im digging this build, why no finished pics?!

 

[Krispy]

Im digging this build, why no finished pics?!

Because the thread is only a week old. Patience my good man.

 

[khint93]

Oh shit Nm, lol I was looking at his join date not the thread date, lol I'm excited to see how this turns out

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[96spxpos]

[MENTION=53713]falklandsx[/MENTION] any update!?!?!? are you alive!?!?!?

curious to see if you ever finished!

 

[falklandsx]

LOL!

Yep, still alive and kicking. I got really busy with work, and haven't had any time for fun stuff. On top of that, when it's 115 degrees in the garage, it's really hard to stay motivated. Now that fall is here, I've been spending more time on projects. I'm "de-summerizing" (is that a word?) the dirt bikes, and I'll be back on this project in short order.

Thanks for checking in!

Managed to pick up quite a bit of cool stuff for this ski. Wasn't expecting it to be a year-long build, but that's the way it goes sometimes.