96 XP revival

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Pwnage1337 said:
Don't the rub rails need to drill out like 300 fucking rivets lol
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On the GTX hull from what I remember it was about 60-65 on the rub rail, over 80 rivet holes to die grind and fill after removing the mats!! That X4 hull is like half as much effort....takes no time to remove....3/16" bit, aluminum rivets are like butter..
 
If I'm going to do it then I have to take the ride plate off too. Which means that I'll have to remove the jet pump that I just siliconed back on lol fuck
 
I haven't done any gelcoating yet but I would try to avoid pulling the rub rails and I would NOT pull the ride plate. Good luck with it.
 
What is so bad about pulling the ride plate? I have heard that some of them break because they are glued so well at the factory. Wouldn't heating the plate up with a heat gun help loosen it up?

Trust me I am all for trying to leave the rub rails and the ride plate on lol. I would like to just re-coat the bottom of the ski and tape off the ride plate. The problem I see is where I need to blend in the sides of the hull along the footwell since I roughed all that up with 80 grit and some spots are down to bare fiberglass. I would imagine I could just tape off under the rub rail and run the gel coat right up to it then blend it back in with a sander so there isn't a big ridge where the new gelcoat is sitting on top of the old?
 
The rideplate is also the pump shoe on your ski and has lots of black silicone bonding it to the hull. As silicone is a high temperature sealant you can't get it hot enough to do anything. It is a really good bond and is why the rideplate/shoe is easy to break when trying to remove it.
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So basically the advice to not remove it is simply because there's a good chance it will break when trying to remove. Got it.

I think I'm going to do some hood shit and remove everything except the Ride plate, do my best to tape that thing off and then coat the rest of the ski.
 
Pwnage1337 said:
So basically the advice to not remove it is simply because there's a good chance it will break when trying to remove. Got it.

I think I'm going to do some hood shit and remove everything except the Ride plate, do my best to tape that thing off and then coat the rest of the ski.
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That is what I would do. Who looks at the very bottom of the ski anyway? LOL :D
 
Should I go over the surface of the Ski with 150 grit, or can I leave it at 80 grit roughness before applying Gel Coat?

I think the rougher surface would allow better adhesion?
 
Pwnage1337 said:
I would imagine I could just tape off under the rub rail and run the gel coat right up to it then blend it back in with a sander so there isn't a big ridge where the new gelcoat is sitting on top of the old?
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The rub rail is really easy to remove and reinstall, the X4 ride plate might be another story because of the design. But....other X4 owners on here doing paint jobs have removed the ride plate without issue. I'd remove it, just don't shove a 3 foot crowbar in it and pry. Go easy, little at a time breaking it loose.

Just my thoughts, but remove or not at your own peril.
 
If you want to try to remove the ride plate use a block of wood and a small bottle jack between the plate and hull but go very slow and stop if you think it's too much pressure.
 
Since I don't really want to screw around and remove the jet pump that I just siliconed right onto the pump shoe, I am going to leave it on. I am gonna try to get the sponsons and the rub rail off this weekend. Maybe after work tomorrow if I feel like it.

Did you just use 1/8" Drill Bits to drill the rivets? Re-Riveting the rub rail will be easy because i bought a pneumatic rivet gun a few years back...works awesome!!
 
Pwnage1337 said:
Since I don't really want to screw around and remove the jet pump that I just siliconed right onto the pump shoe
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I thought that 96' XP X4 used the neoprene seal, what a pain being siliconed on if you need to pull it off during the season. Maybe the seal started on the 97' SPX X4 hull? @mikidymac would know..

See post #151, use a 3/16" bit drilling rivets on the rub rail.
 
It does use a neoprene seal where the pump itself mates with the shoe. Unless I interpreted it wrong, you are supposed to use silicone around the bailer tubes and the cooling line fitting that go through the hull, so I applied silicone there.

When I removed it it had a bunch of silicone on it in those areas too
 
Pwnage1337 said:
It does use a neoprene seal where the pump itself mates with the shoe. Unless I interpreted it wrong, you are supposed to use silicone around the bailer tubes and the cooling line fitting that go through the hull, so I applied silicone there.

When I removed it it had a bunch of silicone on it in those areas too
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I use a little 515 just on the other groove of the nozzle to pump. As one unit, you should be able to remove it by only having to take the 4 pump to hull nuts loose. And steering/vts linkage disconnected of course. I've even removed and re installed the entire unit including reverse bucket as one on the GTX to avoid that exact issue you're talking about.
 
Yes only those 3 spots get a little silicone but it shouldn’t be enough to make it really hard to remove.

It’s the newer skis 97’+ with the plastic pump shoes that don’t use any silicone.

It’s not like the old skis that siliconed the entire pump to the hull.
 
Pwnage1337 said:
Since I don't really want to screw around and remove the jet pump that I just siliconed right onto the pump shoe, I am going to leave it on. I am gonna try to get the sponsons and the rub rail off this weekend. Maybe after work tomorrow if I feel like it.

Did you just use 1/8" Drill Bits to drill the rivets? Re-Riveting the rub rail will be easy because i bought a pneumatic rivet gun a few years back...works awesome!!
Click to expand...
The rivets on my XP were 3/16". How about some info on the pneumatic rivet gun? Sounds cool.
 
You might want to check out my build thread before you start putting gelcoat on with a roller. Couple things...first if you have sanded down through the gelcoat to the bare fiberglass, be aware that it almost certainly will have voids in it. They are hard to see but you will see them like zillions of air bubbles when you try to gelcoat over them. You are going to want to skim that so it is smooth before applying gelcoat.
Secondly I am going to respectfully disagree that 80 grit is smooth enough. I would suggest 150 on the smooth surfaces and 220 on sharp edges, contour lines etc.
Thirdly, while I am sure the bottom of a ski can be re-gelcoated using a brush and/or roller and then sanded and buffed, you are talking about a tremendous amount of work to get it back to factory smooth again. In the process of doing so, it is very likely you will sand through the new gelcoat accidentally in spots. And that's on the bottom of the ski where most of the curves are convex. What about on the top of the hull where the shapes are much more complex? How are you going to color sand and buff the footwells and some of the inside corners so they are perfectly smooth again? It will be extraordinarily difficult and time consuming to do this without leaving orange peel behind OR burning through on edges. Can't really get into the footwells very well with a rotary buffer. With the buffer you will also go through a fair amount of expensive polishing compounds as well. All of this can be avoided if you spray.
I hope I'm wrong but I really think that since you are doing the top of the hull, you should sand to a finer grit and strongly consider spraying.
 
Major Woody said:
I hope I'm wrong but I really think that since you are doing the top of the hull
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I think he's doing just the bottom. To each as own, I rolled and it came out nice, did 2 skis top and bottom. For me spraying was out of the question, set up area, spray gun needed, clean up and time crunch getting it down were factors. Plus, I'm not good with a spray gun, haven't done it enough. Yes, rolling was a lot of work, but I had all off season...

Respectfully, if he's going to roll vs. spray 80 grit prepped is fine.

Regardless which way he chooses, roll or spray, looks like he's got two people like you and I that have been down both roads. So we're here to help guide him to make the pain minimal and produce good results.
 
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The sprayed on looks impressive!

Did you set up any type of spray booth/area? Definitely more appealing to not have to sand for a million years but I would have to buy an HVLP gun and setup a spray booth which would add to the cost.

Can you share what gun you bought?

And I am only doing the bottom. The top of mine is in pretty decent shape, at least good enough to buff, I think.

When you say skim it, do you mean with like marine tex?
 
Pwnage1337 said:
The sprayed on looks impressive!

Did you set up any type of spray booth/area? Definitely more appealing to not have to sand for a million years but I would have to buy an HVLP gun and setup a spray booth which would add to the cost.

Can you share what gun you bought?

And I am only doing the bottom. The top of mine is in pretty decent shape, at least good enough to buff, I think.

When you say skim it, do you mean with like marine tex?
Click to expand...

I guess I misunderstood about you doing work on the top side of the hull. Yes Marinetex or gelcoat paste, sanded flat. Something to ensure you don't have a bunch of tiny pinholes in the finished product. I thought I got all of mine but there are a few I missed. Luckily the pinholes are on the keel right in the middle of the bottom out of sight.

https://www.amazon.com/2-5mm-Gravity-Detail-Sprayer-Repair/dp/B071ZJ6Z89/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=hvlp+gun+2.5mm&qid=1584649733&s=hi&sr=1-2

I just set up in the garage. Drop cloths on the floor for a 10' radius. That's it. The stuff cures in half an hour.

IMG_0537.JPG

IMG_0536.JPG

The blob of masking paper at the bow is that way because I needed to blend it into the existing gelcoat and did not want a sharp edge. When you need a "soft" edge, you apply your masking toward the spray area and then fold it over backwards so the paint can't accumulate against the tape. If you're painting your entire bottom hull, then you won't need this.

Wetsand the whole thing by hand with at least 220 then mask, wipe down with acetone and tack cloth.
Set gun at 40 psi. Spray a light coat, wait 2 min then spray two full heavy wet coats, lighter on vertical surfaces so you don't get sags or runs. Hurry off to clean your gun in acetone before the gelcoat sets up in it. Walk away for an hour and when you get back you can unmask and you're completely done.

I have 1.5 pints each of gelcoat and Duratec which I will sell very reasonably as it has a six month shelf life. That's plenty for the entire bottom of your hull, with enough left over to do another center section repair on another ski if you can find someone else who had damage concentrated in the middle like mine did. LMK via PM if interested.
 
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