A "Carbon Blaster" is Born

After three months of stripping old paint off and getting the hull to 100% again the bare hull is back from the body shop. I have used marine grade gel coat metalic paint so that this will be a long lasting paint job and not a quick blow over. You can see the carbon hull from this picture and the alloy coupler which will be having new bearings and seals fitted in the coming months as will all the old parts using high grade stainless nuts/bolts seals etc.

I have fitted the polystyrene as a precaution (same as a stock ski) incase it ever takes on water, but with all new hood and seat seals plus its dedicated bilge system it should stay dry........

I have aligned the alloy pump shoe, and also machined the rear bolts of the jet dynamics intake grate from 6mm to 8mm to increase the strength. All blasters came with plastic grates and plastic pump shoes. The jet dynamics custom shoe on this hull will improve hook up and handling

I have brought some 1300R Riva Race spec fully adjustable sponsons and re milled them to fit the Blaster hull..

I've filled the old mount holes in the billet alloy mounting brackets with marine resin. Here you can see the sponson brackets all bolted on through the carbon hull to a 7mm thick alloy plate for strenth. Note that I have fitted them with the front edge slightly higher to improve the handling by forcing the front of the hull down, it should work the same as stepping the stock sponsons on the 1200R and the 1300R skis which most of the racing guys do on their larger race skis to give them the edge...

I have installed stainless steel drain plugs and not refitted the standard plastic tacky plugs, Which is in keeping with the quality I am going to achieve.

UMI polished alloy bilge outlet, which I am going to run on a independant 12v battery because the msd total loss ignition system will have its own dedicated power too.

Just to be on the safe side I have installed new bearings and seals in the main housing

I've got rid of the big old square yamaha solenoid case and installed a small water tight box. This now houses the starter solenoid and leaves lots of space for the msd ignition and the extra battery.

This is the MSD ignition, it will be the brains behind the spark. I have rewired all of the old clipped joins and soldered and water sealed the connections to give reliability.

Starting to get the electrics in now, the new bilge is in and its dedicated battery tray on the far left which will house one of the latest gel battries on the market for marine use. Also is the MSD ignition system which will have the second high output gel battery along side the new water tight starter motor relay box which will make it purr at a clic of a button, and the new high presure dual feed inlet pipes from the pump

After spending a fortune with my local yamaha dealer the engine is ready to go back in.

The engine is in and aligned.  The next step is to sort out the wires.  I have used soldered joints and a resin coating over the soldered wire then I am using shrink tubing over the join to keep out water that may get in the hull under extreme conditions. All the fuel lines have been replaced along with a upgraded fuel pump to feed the huge 46mm carbs, and I will be fitting the genuine inline water trap filters.

Due to the high level of noise this machine will produce I will be fitting a waterbox and also leaving the westcoast resonator on so I can swop from one to another depending on where the ski is used.

The factory alloy water box is in.  If you look at the picture above you  will notice I have changed the outlet to a 90 degree angle so that it meets up with the water box, . I used a piece of 54mm stainless steel tube and stainless welded it to do the conversion

Hood is fitted. Just got to connect the wires. It should be ready for testing the wiring soon.

In goes the 20ah gel battery. I have two of these because the total loss ignition will drain them. Two should last a whole days use I hope.

For ease of swopping batteries quickly I have used wing nuts for a rapid change from one to another.

The mats only need a slight modification and a trim here and there. Once that's done I can glue them on and bolt on the new rear bumper ends.

The new bumpers are now fitted

 

 

The mats are glued on using the tried and tested hydro-turf glue

I have started to put the racing decals on.  Not easy but I am having a go after reading pages and pages of hints and tips on sticking them on.

On go the custom decals. Not as easy as it looks

Notice the works factory hood?. Twin air ducts for extra performance.

So thats about it as far as the rebuild goes.  Finished on 22nd March 2006.  Check back from time to time and see how it gets on once its been tested.  It has been rebuilt to a ultra high standard.  It would be impossible to put a price on its value.  Even today blasters are sort after because of the sheer grin factor once you have ridden one.  I have four of these fun machines.  They are by far the best sit on fun/stunt ski you will ever own.  Go and try one if you get the chance.  Once the ski has been tuned by my local dealer who himself raced this engine type in a superjet I will make a video to show the ski against my 1300 for accelaration , and I will radar the ski  which should hit about 50mph in about 5 seconds on a calm  lake.