Changing 951 from White to Silver

[jhjesse]

Ok,
Rolling an idea around in my head. (lots of space to roll around in there )
A colleague of mine has a 97.5 production GSX limited 951 white motor that is down on power and compression.
He wants to give it to me because he bought an 00GTX that He loves.

Soooooo I was thinking of exchanging the 951white motor with a good 951 silver motor that I can get for cheap and rebuild.

Can it be done relatively painless or am I just dreaming??
Electronics?
Charging?
etc??

 

[Dr Honda]

If it's a 97... it has an 800 engine in it. The 951 engine didn't show up until 98. (That's probably why they are different colors)


BUT... I have been known to be wrong in the past. It's easy to tell the difference in those engines. The 800 has a head shell that is flat and rectangle shaped. The 951 has visible domes.


If it does have a 951 engine... then color is irrelevant. Silver is just the newer color. (they did the same thing on the 720 engine)

 

[Wire4Money]

If it's a 97... it has an 800 engine in it. The 951 engine didn't show up until 98. (That's probably why they are different colors)


BUT... I have been known to be wrong in the past. It's easy to tell the difference in those engines. The 800 has a head shell that is flat and rectangle shaped. The 951 has visible domes.


If it does have a 951 engine... then color is irrelevant. Silver is just the newer color. (they did the same thing on the 720 engine)

The 97.5 GSX had a white 951. It is known as a problem engine. It was a "learning curve". They did a major design change of the engine for 98. My friends who have ridden a white engine say it was incredible, much faster than the newer silver motor. I don't know if the electronics will interchange or not.

 

[jhjesse]

If it's a 97... it has an 800 engine in it. The 951 engine didn't show up until 98. (That's probably why they are different colors)


BUT... I have been known to be wrong in the past. It's easy to tell the difference in those engines. The 800 has a head shell that is flat and rectangle shaped. The 951 has visible domes.


If it does have a 951 engine... then color is irrelevant. Silver is just the newer color. (they did the same thing on the 720 engine)

So I have been doing a little research on my colleague's 97.5 GSX. (Grey Hull)
Seadoo tested the 951 using the public in the grey hulled GSX. They produced them for only a half year. Most of the ones produced blew up and were rebuilt under warranty via a class action lawsuit and subsquently became a silver motor for all practical purposes. Cooling issues along with other things like not enough piston clearance etc were the white motor's demise. All this I know.
What I did not know was if could you swap a white to a silver relatively easy.
After doing some post searching I found that all you have to do is change the silver magneto cup to the white magneto cup on the flywheel. Then re route a couple of cooling hoses, along with some other minor things.
The exhaust will bolt right on and actually give a little better performance. Their are other minor issues depending on which carbs are used. The white carbs are 180 degrees (front to back) of the silver carbs. That would just be a matter of re routing the fuel lines, as well as, the throttle and choke cables.

This is what else I found out that most white engine parts will not interchange with the silver engine except for the head.
Hopefully I can get my colleagues ski for cheap and perform this swap.

Jesse

 

[seadooya]

Yo, how long it take you to find that info...lol

Jesse, thought the silver had dual coils?

 

[jhjesse]

Yo, how long it take you to find that info...lol

Jesse, thought the silver had dual coils?

LOL...About and hour and a half.
The 98 production had one coil
The 99 and up went to two coils.

Same engine (silver rotax) so it will work as long as all white engine electrical is used, or all silver electrical is used.

As soon as I get my new shop built I am going to try it.
I can't sing, dance or pull a slippery stick out of a dog's clacker, so I might as well see if I can blow up a ski. :lols::lols::rofl:

 

[purple_people_eater]

you would be suprised just how easy that really is lol

 

[Minnetonka4me]

Yep the white pipe supposedly was better than the grey one.

You my run into needing a different throttle cable and oil pump cable. I can only assume it still has grey lines, so make sure to leave extra when you switch them out.

Please keep us updated...I maybe doing the same swap this spring on a 97.5 I picked up last fall. Its funny I had ZERO emails for anything off that machine all winter.

 

[purple_people_eater]

if the pipe is better i might want it for my 02 xp i'm picking up this week lol

 

[Minnetonka4me]

LOL not from me...someone bought it the same day I got it home and posted an ad. $200 shipped.

 

[purple_people_eater]

dang lol i could not have been able to put that much down atm. in this crap economy its taking every penny i got for this new xp. and might i add the gf is quite pissed lol. but, and i'm sorry to hijack a thread here but Minnetonka4me sound like the guy i need to ask this question to, how does the 2001 xpl handle and how reliable is is?

 

[Minnetonka4me]

I've never really ridden one of those, but from what I know people love the way they handle, and if you take care of the motor they can last a long time.

 

[purple_people_eater]

ok thanks man