RESTO I'm building another X4

[Matt Braley]

Well let's give the ole K&N a chance. If rpm is better without it then I will ditch it. I have 3 of these things and a Outerwear pre-filer for it also. If it messes with me or is on the rich side down low then I'll go with free flow filters.

I finally got back on it today. I painted the Ultrac nozzles to match the engine and steering and got everything lined up and tighten down. I went with a pair of R&D trim tabs that had been cut down so they don't cost any speed. They got the paint too. It had duckbill quick drains so I went back with some. As the rubber gets old they start to take on water so I can see sealing these off in the future because I am utilizing the stock bilge system also.

 

[mikidymac]

Give it a shot but back in the day they sucked as any water on them and they flow no air. Also what are you filtering on the water with no dust or dirt?

Looking good and I see an aluminum trailer under there too!

 

[Matt Braley]

Forgot my handlebar with egt pic. I'm happy with how it came out. If I had to fly by it or land on it, although I hope that never happens, I think I'd be OK. It's not too sharp anywhere and it has a little "give" to it.

Yeah I agree the K&N too thick of material. It looks like they went with the same stuff the automotive filters are made out of. There are little bits that always find their way in a skis hull that I don't want to draw in. I could always drill holes in it and use the Outerwears cover. They are built to let air through but not water.

 

[emspjay]

Looking great! You even got the billet fuel knob on that! I would probably loose my mind if I saw all the cool parts you got on the shelf.

 

[mikidymac]

I agree Matt but even with the outerwear on if you dump it on the side with water in the hull it will still suck Water if submerged.

Give it a go but back in the old JS 550 days they were the first thing in the trash. As you can tell I hate K&N. We also saw quads in the desert days with dusted intakes with new sealed K&N’s so not good in my book.
I can’t believe in all that stuff you don’t have an ocean pro vortex or R&D power plenum.

And where’s the RAVE Link?

 

[Matt Braley]

I do have Ocean Pro Vortex(don't fit without a primer kit), R&D and most everything else. I'm trying to use what I have the most of. These things don't sell anymore cause somebody came out strong against them. One of them actually got returned to me after someone read the hate. I'll be the judge. Let's let the #'s do the deciding.

 

[mikidymac]

I do have Ocean Pro Vortex(don't fit without a primer kit), R&D and most everything else. I'm trying to use what I have the most of. These things don't sell anymore cause somebody came out strong against them. One of them actually got returned to me after someone read the hate. I'll be the judge. Let's let the #'s do the deciding.

Sorry Matt, I didn't want to hurt a sale. They are actually fine as long as you can keep them dry.

"They are great and I use them on everything. Even my lanwmower has one" LOL.:thumbsup:

I do like their oil filters if that helps?

I might even have a couple of these somewhere still

 

[Matt Braley]

Today fought me but I got quite a bit done. The real world kept interrupting me and I couldn't flow with it. My first victory was jetting a Jet Dynamics intake grate installation. I really like the stainless hardware I found for it because the heads of the bolts tucked up in there nicely. I did the Black Ultra RTV blobs over the bolt threads inside the hull.

Next it was time to break out this carbon fiber air induction single gauge hood. This was made by Wamilton's and they only made ten. It was already black and white like this so I've always had it in mind for this build.

I had a brand new black face gauge but it wouldn't do right for me or stay tight and centered in the hood. Turns out I had a wire swapped but I do have a normal needle style gauge in there. For once I'm actually using the LED oil light for it's intended purpose.

The fuel does not flow into the tank so well. When I lift the hose it does but then the storage bucket does not fit. I don't want to give either one up so I'm just moving on for now. I go to fire it up and it starts for a split sec and then just won't run like it has 2 fouled plugs or the rv timing was off or something. Then it hit me... my dumbazz forgot to pull the paper towel plug out of the exhaust mani before I put the pipe on.

Luckily I was able to dig it out of the stinger end. The starter sounded tired so hopefully it's just a little dry. It runs good though but rich on the bottom end. I went to lift the filter off and noticed the lid was coming off it so I tossed it. I have at least two more K&N's around and this is acting like it wants more free flow anyway. I almost added a pic of it in the trash for Midi lol.

 

[mikidymac]

It’s looking great!
Thanks for thinking of me but I have seen plenty of those in the trash, LOL.

 

[Matt Braley]

Well I took it with me to the river this weekend and got my first ride on it. I don't like the way it handles. This sponson and backing plate combo is just not a good match for rec riding. It keeps the nose shoved down and throws way too much spray. I can feel it plowing it's way through the water. I may try stock trim tabs with it before I go changing sponsons.

It does seem to run good. I can't tell too much because I'm staying out of the throttle for break in. I'm about to go burn some more fuel out of it. It makes me nervous tied up out there because I'm not sure if it's a floater yet or not. More pics coming soon.

 

[suke]

Wanna sell the ocean pro vortex? ?

 

[snikwad003]

Nice work man

 

[Matt Braley]

Wanna sell the ocean pro vortex? ?

Yes of coarse I have mountains of this stuff. I'd go $65 shipped on a set. PM me if your interested and we can trade #'s so I can get you pics.

 

[Matt Braley]

Thanks for the praise wad! It's still a work in progress though.

Today I finally got some time to wrestle with it so I dug in to the "can't gas it up" problem. I broke out all my 2" filler hose that I stripped from ski's that I didn't save. I had an old exhaust in there before and it was bleeding black nastiness in my fuel. Pics coming in just a minute.

 

[Matt Braley]

Ok here we go. It pretty much goes from top to bottom. That last one had a P trap in it or something. The shortened storage bucket fits better then ever too.

Check out the seat! I've never seen this shape or the stitch pattern. I have 9 other extra Jettrim high top seats but this one actually came from this hull back in the day. I didn't ride too long on it yet but so far it's been comfortable.

 

[emspjay]

Nice! I I'm liking these Jet Trim seats! Might have to do one for the 95 XP800 if I cant find a original.

 

[Matt Braley]

I plan on getting some time to work on it today. I've decided to lower the low speed jet sizes. The thing runs "soupy" not "crispy". I didn't even have to choke it when it sat overnight and my needles and seats are not leaking. Not sure yet if I'm gonna go with 75's or 70's, I have 80's in it now.

I also want to try programming different timing curves in the MPEM. I have the famed #5 curve in it now and I agree it's the fastest from point A to point B but I built this thing to cruise on. The #5 curve slams the timing right in that 4-5k rpm range where I stay mostly. This makes my temps read high, they actually come down at WOT(tested this on 2 other skis I'm still breaking this one in).

Then I have to change the sponsons. I'm thinking that I'll either stick the white blades directly to the hull or use a set of RacerXXX's sponsons. The ones I have would be great in competition where you need to keep the nose down but 13 gallons of gas up front keeps the nose down just fine.

I need to keep working on the steering adjustment also. I want to hit the limits of the R&D steering before it's tugging on a bottomed out cable and I'm not there yet. I'll be taking pics as I go.

 

[Matt Braley]

I had the day I'd hoped for. I went with 70 lows and it sounds/feels better just braaping it on the trailer. I still have the low needles in to only 3/4 turn too. I didn't have to pull the front carb just the choke cable, carb linkage and the rear carb to access the front one.

Then I got the sponson swap tackled. I took pics of how they were and how they are now stuck straight onto the hull. I think this will slide through the water better and still turn on a dime when I need it to. If the nose is still pushed down I'll back off on the extended trim tabs.

I looked up the timing curves and the #5 does not advance much more than the stock (#1) curve. I left that alone for now so I'll just play around with it until I get it running and performing as well as possible.

 

[Matt Braley]

I'm finally getting down to the details. That naked left side of my UMI handle bars filled out with a E-Trex GPS that I use for mph mostly and a TTO tach/hour meter. Unfortunately it reads 30 more hours then I have on the engine but I'll just have to remember that. I adjusted the steering so it bottoms out evenly from left to right and I can fine tune from here via the cable ends.

Now I've got to do something with the look. I think the answer is for me to get a little carried away with the turf. It makes it a safer place to be and has some sound deadening benefits also. Plus this hull has some sins that need to be forgotten. I'm cutting patterns out of cardboard first to try and minimize my screw ups.

 

[Matt Braley]

I'm no artist but I got it done. It looks a little naked in back now maybe I'll make something in the morning to fill that area in. I broke out my old box of decals and spent some on this where it represented what was in the build and/or companies I like to support. What do you guys think?

 

[racerxxx]

Looks good Matt!

 

[Matt Braley]

Thanks. I don't think it will be featured inside any magazines(inside joke) but I like it.

 

[racerxxx]

Lol, you never know. You could make it in next year's wcss catalog. If that's what your referencing.

 

[Matt Braley]

Yes that's what I was talking about.

I should be out testing and tuning today but it's windy and I'm lazy.

 

[glsmohio]

Yes that's what I was talking about.

I should be out testing and tuning today but it's windy and I'm lazy.

I'm in the same boat lol. I'm off tomorrow and plan to do it then