RESTO Restoring a 1997 GTX- "The Hostage"

[dgoodwin10]

Overall, it has held up well. The ski gets beached most of the time when I take a break from riding, so the paint along the keel has worn down to primer/ gel coat. I'd post pics for yall but the ski is 25 mins away from the house right now in storage.

I used a single stage paint store brand primer and color- I can try and get specifics if you want. We didn't clear coat the ski, and thats the biggest regret of this paint job. It looks really good, but the clear would have added a little extra shine and durability. If I had it to do over again I would have buffed the top and not painted it. It hasn't scratched, but it is something I worry about.

 

[jforest]

Thanks for the heads up, I'm about at the paint/buffing part of my project and wanted to get some different opinions before I start.

 

[dgoodwin10]

For those that were wondering, here is the bottom of the GTX. It gets beached quite a bit, which is why this looks like it does. The picture makes it out to be a little worse than it is...

 

[jforest]

Are you planning on repainting the bottom? I ended up buying gel coat and redoing mine with the stock color.

 

[dgoodwin10]

Are you planning on repainting the bottom? I ended up buying gel coat and redoing mine with the stock color.

I've been watching yours actually. Looks great!

Honestly, until this can be seen from the waterline I won't touch it. For now it's just not worth the effort.

 

[jforest]

Yeah I completely understand that. It was a pain even with it flipped over

 

[dgoodwin10]

Well, small update. I pulled the carbs to make sure everything was good to go (and it was). I grabbed a battery off the charger to fire up the ski only to find the LCD is dead and it wouldn't start.

Odd.

Maybe it was a bad battery. Try another.

Nothing.

Pull the spark plugs, ground the boots and tap on the starter and it turns over! Barely....

The LCD will just have to wait. I'll be dropping in a spare OEM starter this week so I can finally get to the lake.

 

[dgoodwin10]

A little progress the last few days: I got a good used starter bolted on and she fired right up after the winter hibernation. I wheeled it outside for a wash:

I'm planning to take the ole GTX to the lake this weekend to clear the cobwebs off, so I spent Saturday afternoon doing trailer maintenance and tying up some loose ends I have neglected.

It's almost riding season folks!

 

[jforest]

That looks great! I've been side tracked with mine the last week. I'm hoping to finish up the body work on the 97 today and tomorrow then hopefully get my engines back so I can get them running.

 

[dgoodwin10]

That looks great! I've been side tracked with mine the last week. I'm hoping to finish up the body work on the 97 today and tomorrow then hopefully get my engines back so I can get them running.

Thanks!

Hope the rest of yours goes as planned. Riding season is nearly here!

 

[dgoodwin10]

I loaded up and headed to the lake Saturday for the first run of the season!

The XP made the trip so I could have a full trailer, hence the lack of registration numbers or real seat cover :lols:

And no, we didn't take a trailer just for a kayak... there's a lot of lumber underneath it.

I idled around for a while to let it warm up and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary so I started to ride it like normal ( like I stole it) and this is where my day got cut short.

I noticed the ski was a bit louder than normal, but didn't think much of it until I shut it off to float by out pier and noticed smoke coming from under the seat and a smell of something hot. When I pulled the seat I couldn't see the motor for all the smoke! After a brief panic and confirming I wasn't on fire, I discovered the waterbox was incredibly hot... like melt anything that touched it hot. The pisser had been... well pissing just fine, so I knew the motor was cooled. I was done for the day. I cranked it back up and idled back to the beach to trailer the ski and let it cool. My guess is the water regulator failed, but I haven't torn into it yet to verify.

This isn't the first run of the season I expected, but at least I have a good story?

 

[Matt Braley]

Yes sounds like a water regulator failure. Make sure your cylinder drain line is not full of sand also.

 

[dgoodwin10]

Yes sounds like a water regulator failure. Make sure your cylinder drain line is not full of sand also.

Didn't think of that and I was definitely around sand, even though I did my best to avoid it. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[dgoodwin10]

Restoring a 1997 GTX- "The Hostage"

Small update: the rubber exhaust coupling has been replaced, the water regulator has rebuilt and the water lines have been blown out. It appears that the stainless clamp that holds the diaphragm let loose and caused my issue. The exhaust coupling got a little warm...

I hope to dunk the ski this weekend to find out!

 

[dgoodwin10]

So to update the thread: I took the ski back to the lake when we went down to install a new boat lift a few weeks ago and ran it for a minute, but not long enough apparently. I had all my college friends at the lake last weekend for a reunion and let a buddy ride the GTX and not 5 mins after he left I get a call that its running hot and he needs a tow. Wonderful. I hop in the jet boat and go pick him up and sure enough the exhaust boot has overheated and blown out again and the waterbox is HOT- evidently I didn't totally fix my regulator issue. Since I am back at school for another semeste and all my junk is back home at my parent's house, I sent my dad a long list of stuff to bring to fix this issue one way or another. The plan is to have it fixed tonight and be posting pictures Monday from an event free weekend. :thumbsup:

Since every good post needs a picture, here's one from last weekend:




Hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend!

 

[jforest]

Hope you get it fixed! I took the 96 out yesterday on the water and had a blast! I'm taking them back out today and hopefully getting the 97 out there too. Great picture btw! Should be framed lol.

 

[dgoodwin10]

Hope you get it fixed! I took the 96 out yesterday on the water and had a blast! I'm taking them back out today and hopefully getting the 97 out there too. Great picture btw! Should be framed lol.

Thanks! I was just reading your thread actually- great work!

 

[lamajama]

I had the same issue and could not get a firm grasp on what was causing it and what else I had to replace. I eventually replaced
the hose with a hose used in oil fields that had a significant increase in strength (wire reinforced etc). It did solve it but obviously
more was at play. I could never locate it and eventually I sold the machine for an upgrade without the issue reoccurring for me...

 

[dgoodwin10]

Being that I have 5 skis in my stable, all with 20ish year old exhaust couplings I broke down and bought a new piece (Gates 24032 for those interested) to replace them all. And by broke down I mean broke down and cried since this junk is $18/foot and O'Reilly couldn't cut a 3' piecee :willy_nilly:. Gotta pay to play I guess.

 

[mikidymac]

I am sure you could cut some pieces and offer them for sale to members here.

 

[dgoodwin10]

I am sure you could cut some pieces and offer them for sale to members here.

If there is a demand I absolutely would. I'll post in the sale ads soon.

 

[chavist93]

What's involved in adding the millennium trim? How many pieces are there to buy?

 

[dgoodwin10]

What's involved in adding the millennium trim? How many pieces are there to buy?

There are 6 pieces total, 4 of which I have attached. There are enough holes/ pins to locate the rear most piece (PN 269500715 and 269500714) and drill the other necessary holes. I used painters tape to mark the approximate location of the hole and then used a paint pen to paint the hole on the trim piece and just push it into the tape to transfer it. The lower hood piece 291001404 and 291001403 located off that. The 2 that mount to the hood itself I haven't tackled yet mostly due to time. Theres nothing to locate them, so marking holes will be a challenge. If I had this whole deal to do over again I would have bought a ME hood shell (for the bolt holes) in addition to the trim pieces.

I used minnetonka4me for all the parts.

 

[dgoodwin10]

Restoring a 1997 GTX- "The Hostage"

After some late night wrenching to replace another exhaust coupling:

Some trial and error the next day (and consulting the manual) I finally realized I had the cooling lines crossed. :facepalm::facepalm:

This is how hot the tuned pipe gets. Note that it turned gold and began to melt the foam in the hull.

The ski ran great overall, though the wear ring I thought I could get another season out of blew out early Saturday. The ski was towed home so I can replace the wear ring this weekend. I also realized my info gauge isn't dead! I caught it in the sun just right and noticed it was reading correctly so it just needs new film on the screen. That's a relief on the wallet for sure.

 

[jforest]

Glad you found the issue!