GTX 951 Restore

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First off I am so very thankful that the electrical control system functioned exquisitely. The beeper even beeped twice when I inserted the key. Yay !!! As for everything else.... it was trip through the jungle. I bought the ski from a local guy that was going to get it running. That would have been a feat in itself. I replaced the engine with a SES rebuilt and went to town. I thought I had some Mikuni Carb kits for the 951s but didn't and that set me back a week. I had to shuffle through my parts pile many times. I think parts cleaning and preparation is the biggest part of these restorations for me. I like pretty and paint protects so that gets done. I finally got done piecing this thing together and figured I'd give the fuel tank a look. Day Yum. Sludge in the bottom like I've never seen. I spent 3 hours cleaning the fuel tank inside and out. Now it's pretty. LOL

 

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So much stuff damaged on these ski. One of the Reed Valve blocks was crushed and luckily I had others including spare reeds. Takes time to find all the stuff and clean it up for install. I also run a clean up tap through every hole and clean every bolt. These carbs are a little different with the gaskets than the 787 along with accelerator pumps and related hardware. Always seems like a puzzle in assembly. These carbs never had a lick of paint left on them so there you go. I did find the fuel pump valves on these 951 Carbs are bigger than the orignials but I use Genuine Mikuni parts so... I used them. LOL I also replace the needles and seats on every carb. I bought this ultrasonic heated cleaner and filled with the Chemtool Carb Cleaner. Gives me a lot more confidence in end result with regard to all the little orifices and such. LOL

 

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Doing the propulstion system and jet pump gotta check everything. The drive shaft was worn and luckily I had a replacement in my pile. I replaced the seal and cleaned the hell out of the bearing chamber, dressed the impeller. Had some missing paint an corrosion so we had to take care of that. Not easy to clean and paint but paint is protection.

 

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I had a question with regard to the jet pump neoprene seal. I was sent a different one that I am used to. After much research I'm still not positive I have a complete understanding of why the difference. I also have a question if people are using the loctite 454 or other adhesive on the 29320087 seal. This is the first time I've seen one of those. I don't trust the parts list for the correct neoprene seal on the earlier models. I will just pay attention to what I remove. I asked a question about this on the forum so there was some discussion.

 

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Never trust an alignment.... never. People say engines are not reliable but this kinda crap will destroy any engine prematurely.

 

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I was just about to install the battery and my spidey senses told me that I better open up the rear electrical box just to have a look see. 2+ hours later and lots of digging for parts and wishing I'd have taken a picture of the coil and spark plug positions on this set up. LOL I am often surprised at what I have in my parts pile. Thank God !! This mess pretty much describes the condition of the ski when I started. Poor guy would have never gotten this thing running so he made a good move selling it. Garbage !!!

 

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Removing the electrical box was a double good thing cuz I was easily able to tighten up the bailer hose connections and recheck my work.

 

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The exhaust is always a pain on these and once it is one there isn't much to see under so make sure the oil pump set up and all that is done and checked twice. I always monitor for oil leaks long before I finish up. In this picture I got a bit ahead of myself. I haven't worked on skis in about 6 months so you can forget what is and is not possible. LOL I had to remove the carbs to install the exhaust manifold. I hate taking things back apart.

Don't worry, the correct oil is in the injection tank.

 

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I generally pull a vacuum on the fuel line to get fuel to the carb "before" trying to start the engine but that one slipped by me this time. I had the rear electric box on my mind and whether or not I got the spark plug wires correct. Then putting the key in there for the first time can open up a whole nuther can of worms. I almost passed out when I got the two beeps. Hit the start button and VIOLA !!!! She turned over !! Holy Smoke !! I left the spark plugs out and got fuel to the carbs. After a few tries.... bingo. Now I can move on to the rest of the cosmetics. INFO gauge even works!! I'll take a few pics of the engine compartment.

A little polish up front and this one will be ready to go.