After a few weeks of diligent research and lots of miles driven, I finally found a ski I liked and wanted to take on the challenge. I bought a '97 SPX, with a fairly new trailer and brand new tires, for a reasonable $300 bill. The guy I bought it off had very little mechanical knowledge and didn't want to take on the challenge of getting it running. Some of the issues are: needs a new battery, he removed the rub rails to do a small fiberglass repair along the overhanging lip where the two halfs of the ski meet and lost the rails and never repaired the fiberglass so that is my first task, and the DESS Key is so brittle it crumbles in your hand, but I could get it to beep at me twice. He said the stop/start button was junk so I jumped the starter solenoid after connecting the ski to my truck (not running, no fried MPEM) and there appeared to be sufficient compression ( blew my finger off with force). It does have the old junk gray fuel hoses, so new fuel hoses and a carb rebuild will be task number two. I will post photos of the fiberglass damage and the rest of the ski when I get home!
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First Ski!
- Thread starter TNBass
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soccerdad
Well-Known Member
Congrats. Nice ski. Take your time and do it right. Get a real comp gauge to make sure. You got a great deal if the motor and electronics are sound. Sounds like you have done your homework. But to make sure, NO riding until the carbs and fuel hoses are done. And of course, pix pix pix 
Well, bad news.. I’m going to need a rebuild. My initial finger test, while promising was sadly off. I went and rented a compression tester at the local parts store, and the rear cylinder had decent compression, 100lbs, but the front had around 30, so I pulled the head only to be greeted with sadness. Complete garbage. Luckily, no burnt piston but full of junk. The cylinder walls look decent, but full of brown liquid. Any suggestions on the next step? Do I attempt to get my money out of it or go ahead and rebuild the engine? The rear cylinder head has some knicks on it, would I need to replace the head? Pictures are attached. Also, a picture of the fiberglass damage is there too
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Another thing I noticed, if I end up keeping the ski or not, is the start/stop button on this ski is completely different from all the others I’ve seen. The ones for sale online are red/yellow while this one is blue/grey and black. Any suggestions on that?
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At this point, would an engine purchase be more cost effective? If I do end up going with the rebuild, any suggested manufacturer I should go to parts with, any on the forum?
soccerdad
Well-Known Member
So a rebuild will be about $900 or so with a warranty. So you have some options. Since you basically bought a trailer with a free ski, you could just sell it all and start over. Or you could put rebuilt motor in it and do the other work. So for around 11-$1200 you will have a very nice reliable ski. You could also keep an eye out for another ski that is in bad shape (no trailer) that has a donor motor you can use. I have over 4 seasons on motors that came with my cheap ski purchases. As long as they have good compression, you should be fine. So find another 787 ski (maybe one with a bad MPEM) for $300 and you are good to go. Lots of options. And yes, you can rebuild a motor yourself. But I would spend your time detailing the other parts of the ski (fuel system and pump and that glass work).
After some deep thought, I’ve decided to go ahead and keep this ski. I believe I could wash my hands of it and walk away, but where would the fun be in that? Can anyone suggest a company, brand, website, where I can source either parts for the rebuild myself or a reman engine?
Yep we have the rebuild kits @ www.pwcmuscle.com contact me with what you need and I can get a price for you.
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