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RESTO My 97 XP Mini Resto Project

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CReynoldsMIZ

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So I thought I would move this over to a new thread, in order to show progress of what I am doing to my new to me 97 XP. I bought the ski on 1/28/13.

What I will be doing on the ski...

Starter replacement
Cleaning the inside of the hull
Servicing the raves
Replace grey fuel lines
Clean the carbs
Changing pump oil
Fixing/ investigating interesting JB weld, head repair job
Other general maintenance

Hopefully these are all the problems that will get the ski back in top notch form. The outside of the hull is in remarkably good condition for being 15 years old. The VTS works. MPEM gives me two beeps. The seat is in immaculate condition also. I will be removing a couple of "Hardline" decals the previous owner put on it for some reason, but I hope it is a short repair process to get it going. I will try and take pictures and videos as I go for others who are doing some of the same maintenance on their ski's, but dont have the "know how" on how to go about doing them. Here are some pics of what I'm starting with.

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I was a bit harsh in the other thread. She looks like a great start. Couple questionable repair jobs but overall a nice base. Make sure the ebox is clean and dry, the pins on the MPEM are clean and di-grease them. The 97 XP MPEMs are very susceptible to water and building a small splash deflector in front of it out a plastic jug or something will all but guarantee no issues.

Oh and just cuz I didnt see it in any of the pictures ill ask... if you dont have the tool tray that goes over the motor cuz you need it.
 
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When you pull the starter off see if it is actually turning the right way. I rebuilt the one of my SPX and when I reinstalled the starter it would just spin. Sure enough I didn't have the housing clocked correctly!! I had to pull it back out and fix it. Its a long shot, but might be an easy fix.
For the money I think you did just fine.
 
Wah wah wahhh... welp. Started to do a little investigating tonight. Took the head off to figure out what was up with the jb weld job. Didnt really see anything major, probably just needed a new rubber gasket. One of the P.O.'s look like they used a ton of silicone to try and seal it up, but it didnt work. Scraped all the sealant off the surfaces, and will get all new head rubber o-rings.
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The pistons look to me like it may have been overheated at one point, but i dont really know. There are no gouges or anything on the cylinders, and the pistons look good.
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I did figure that the ski has had a replacement engine in it at some point, but i have never heard of the company that did it.
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Lastly, went to do a rave service, and thats where things turned for the worst. I knew one was going to need some work, because it blew a hole threw the top of the rave piston, but i have had that happened before so I figured it was an o-ring, except when i pulled off the housing, what to my surprise, the rave had snapped off. The rave has done no damage to the piston that i can see, and i stuck my hand up there and it feels like it is all there, except that it wont come out of the slide. Any idea how to get it out??? It moves up and down about a half an inch or so, but wont budge after that.
441.jpg

I have spare rave parts and housings, but i need to get it out. The other one was absolutely caked with carbon, but a little cleaning and it will be fine. I just hope that one aint gunna screw me...
 
skewba98z28 said:
When you pull the starter off see if it is actually turning the right way. I rebuilt the one of my SPX and when I reinstalled the starter it would just spin. Sure enough I didn't have the housing clocked correctly!! I had to pull it back out and fix it. Its a long shot, but might be an easy fix.
For the money I think you did just fine.
Click to expand...

What exactly do you mean, clocked correctly?
 
CReynoldsMIZ said:
What exactly do you mean, clocked correctly?
Click to expand...

In the diagram if part #10 is not turned the right way the starter will run backwards. You basically remove the two bolts labled #15 and turn just part #10 90 degrees to cause the starter to turn the opposite direction.
Turning the wrong way or the bendix being locked up for some reason is about the only way it wont engance other than some flywheel teeth missing.

Also that head is pretty dinged up around the edges. I would replace it especially with the RTV and silicone treatment it has had.
 

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babied..... well that settles that one :)
you going to reuse the head ?
love the battery connection !
is the storage bin there and you took it out just for pics ?
i've heard of pmc, think its a florida company, the only thing i know about them is that i was told that sbt won't take their cores...
 
Yeah storage bin is there, I will reuse the head and just put new seals on it first. It was a little dinged up but really not as bad as the pics show. No huge dings in it. I cleaned up the gasket stuff real good, so if she leaks after new o rings I will just replace.
 
Did you notice that same spot is pushed out on the head? I had one I pulled off the other day and it was the same way.

And yup NOW we can safely say "babied" is not true...LOL

On the rave it will prob pull out after the wd40 breaks up some of the carbon.
 
I've definitely seen better heads.
actually after looking at the pic's, i'm a little concerned about the bottom end as well, but i'm skittish that way. I've been burned before.
 
Yeah, I think that the head was reused by the company that remanufactured the engine, as the pistons have no markings on the crowns like the heads do. Nick, I was wondering if you we're gunna catch that little break, I'm probably just going to leave it, I broke off the piece on my GSX but it was pushed out further And cracked on both sides
 
CRM,

Nice looking ski, but I have to ask, did you see the engine before you went to look at it? This is one of my pet peves of Craigslist, we take hot steamy sexy pics of the outside and leave the shit sammich out of it(engine pics). Now that that is out of the way, you have a great base to start with and can get it fixed back up and did good on the price I think. More than I would have spent but I'm uber cheap.

Personally I wouldn't go thru the headache of reusing that head, you'll be back in there, take Spim up on his offer or try Tonka, all that JB has me worried. Or how is the engine in you GSX, just do a swap and fix this unit to put in your GSX and send that down the road and move that nightmare into some one else's hands. At least with the GSX engine you already know how it runs, IE: doesn't sound like gremlins are running through it. I wouldn't use any heat to get the guillotine out. Just keep working at it, I wish you lived around the corner that thing would be torn down already. Did you start it before you tore into it? I'm diggin it, and can't wait to see the progress!
 
The engine on my GSX is good. It's the shit around it that goes bad. Ill look into a new head, the jb weld was because of a shitty rubber o ring that had sections missing out of it in 2 sections. I couldn't start it bc the starter would just spin, so I am going to rip the out tonight...I'm thinking about keeping both. Gimme a few weeks and this thing will be super clean. I really just think it needs a little elbow grease
 
Yeah I couldn't pass it up. I figure I could get easy 400 for the trailer as I don't need it, and the outside is just so nice. It literally needs no cosmetic work. No fading, no seat tears. Just mint except for a few scratches on the bottom. Luckily I like working on these skis, cheap entertainment
 
You know I mean no disrespect-- I love a good resto/clean up, but you started well off ahead of mine that's for sure.
 
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