Tracker Seadoo Jet Jon Build

bdeemo · Post by **bdeemo** » 25 Apr 2015, 14:01

Now that I had the shape I wanted... it was time to sand the whole thing a little low to make room for the fiberglass to go over it for strength.

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Now time to fiberglass... one side here:

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other side:

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I did a couple of coats of glass.

bdeemo · Post by **bdeemo** » 25 Apr 2015, 14:11

Next up: I cleaned up the fiberglass piece, (Got too messy with the resin ill admit) had to scrape a bunch of resin off and sand down the whole thing so it was ready to adhere. Then cleaned the whole thing with wax and grease remover, and ground down the boat real well / cleaned very good. Next we just layed a thick bead of 5200 around the whole thing(went through 6 tubes of the stuff) and set the fiberglass in / tightened our 1/4" stainless bolts/nylocs. The bolts squeezed out the caulking really well so we knew we had a good seal. I found that the cheapest place to buy 5200 was at lowes for like $12 a tube.

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Forgot to show a pic of this: I also took some aluminum angle, cut one side of it in two places, and bent it / welded it around the hole in the transom for a flange to work with bolting/glueing on the jet pump housing. Heres how it turned out:

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bdeemo · Post by **bdeemo** » 25 Apr 2015, 14:23

Water test time! About a week later i threw it in the pond, found two main leaks.

On each corner of the jet pump housing. (Which means it was seadoo's fault, not mine!

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bnt5 · Post by **bnt5** » 25 Apr 2015, 16:32

You might want to consider glassing the bottom of the jetski hull to the aluminum boat hull. I found that the amount of stress placed on the splice between both hulls is pretty tremendous and will want to separate with time. I used 3 layers of 20oz fabric epoxied to the bottom of both hulls to strengthen the joint and give an extra thick layer of protection in case of bottom collisions. Just a suggestion, and you might be perfectly fine with the 5200 and carriage bolts but the fiberglassing is always an option down the road.

CedarRiverScooter · Post by **CedarRiverScooter** » 25 Apr 2015, 19:27

looking great!

I'm in the camp that fiberglassing to aluminum won't hold up, at least up in the north woods. The thermal expansion rates of Al & plastic are drastically different. The best plan is to have an elastic joint that can handle the resultant shear forces (such as 5200).

I was going to use 'Marine Tex' to bond my ski insert to the alum hull but the guy at Marine Tex said it would crack eventually.

bnt5 · Post by **bnt5** » 25 Apr 2015, 20:54

I fiberglassed my jetski hull to the aluminum on my jetjon and it is incredibly strong. I tried removing the epoxy from a section of aluminum that was not prepped and ended up using a grinding wheel and 15 minutes of labor to get it off, needless to say I was sufficiently impressed. If the aluminum is prepped correctly ie.. sanded with 80 grit sandpaper then cleaned with acetone the bond using epoxy is permanent. I would not utilize a fiberglass bond as my only means of jetski attachment, but used in conjunction with adhesive caulking and mechanical fasteners it just becomes another safety layer in the build....and its really easy to do.

In all honesty my next build will be welded in, no mechanical failure, no sticky caulk covered fingers...all I need is a $1200 tig welder!!

bdeemo · Post by **bdeemo** » 26 Apr 2015, 00:31

bnt: I have no doubt that fiberglass adheres to aluminum very good, almost too good.. but I agree with Cedar that the expansion rates are wayy different. I think that no matter how good it adheres to the aluminum, the bond will always be broke over time of expanding and contracting. I just didnt want to have to redo anything, so I left the structural bond to 5200. I did fiberglass to aluminum in a lot of places though.

PSG-1 · Post by **PSG-1** » 27 Apr 2015, 22:00

Nice work so far! You're right, the lack of a center V will probably cut down on cavitation.

Knowing what I know now, I would have repaired my hull with a 3" or 4" wide piece of 1/4" flat aluminum stock, instead of using
2 1/2" angle.

bdeemo · Post by **bdeemo** » 28 Apr 2015, 12:50

Just did my first test run, so I need to continue updating this so you guys can hear about it

Mounted the engine

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Mounted the jet pump

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I puttied / smoothed the front of the jet pump intake, with about three feet of perfectly smooth flat primered surface before the intake I don't expect cavitation.

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I purchased some beavertail float pods for $200 from cabelas, they were the medium size... prepped to weld them on:

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welded em on

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bdeemo · Post by **bdeemo** » 28 Apr 2015, 13:03

PSG-1 wrote:Nice work so far! You're right, the lack of a center V will probably cut down on cavitation.

Knowing what I know now, I would have repaired my hull with a 3" or 4" wide piece of 1/4" flat aluminum stock, instead of using
2 1/2" angle.

Thanks PSG, I'm glad you replied to my thread! You seem to be like a walking encyclopedia on jet ski jons!

PSG-1 · Post by **PSG-1** » 28 Apr 2015, 13:24

It's a labor of love, for sure. But in the end, it's well worth the effort!

While you're at this point, you might want to go ahead and route the exhaust into the jet tunnel, then put rubber skirting around it. You'll be amazed at how much this will reduce your sound signature.

bdeemo · Post by **bdeemo** » 28 Apr 2015, 13:32

Boxed the engine in for strength

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Created a little steering box with 5/8" stainless rod, welded to itself in a T at the bottom, and a couple of bolt on needle bearings, which mounted to a 1/8"(2x6x12) aluminum rectangular tubing. I cut a channel in the top for the rod to slide freely in, and I drilled a hole in the stainless rod and bolted the jetski steer cable on it. (when I test ran the ski this worked great) Luckily my boat had sliding rail system for bolts, so I adjusted the slack really easily as I could move the entire box as I wanted forward and back and tightened it down.

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This is the first version of a deck I tried, with a refurbished road sign. It didn't work out. it was too thin and when I welded it, got all warped to heck.

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Ok, I totally ran out of pictures!!! I need to take more, I've done so much more work to this thing, and as I said did my test run two days ago. I'll update soon. Try to take some pics after work

bdeemo · Post by **bdeemo** » 28 Apr 2015, 14:34

PSG-1 wrote:It's a labor of love, for sure. But in the end, it's well worth the effort!

While you're at this point, you might want to go ahead and route the exhaust into the jet tunnel, then put rubber skirting around it. You'll be amazed at how much this will reduce your sound signature.

Ah I already routed that to the side, pointing at the water using the jetski's original exhaust port. Honestly it's not that loud! Way quieter than my outboard, I love the sound.

CedarRiverScooter · Post by **CedarRiverScooter** » 28 Apr 2015, 21:42

Wow that engine bracing looks great! I hope you got that metal wholesale. I was having to get my angle at big box retail price, ouch.

Post by **amk** » 29 Apr 2015, 08:55

I think the pods are a good addition. I know I'm glad I have them.