Seadoo Jet Ski / Cleaning Aluminium

[H200GT]

I have a little project in the workshop in the form of a Seadoo Jet Ski. I already have one ski which I bought in a moment of madness last year, so another seemed a good fit as it will be far more fun with 2 on the water as you can explore much further without the worry of breaking down alone and becoming stranded. And for anyone who has never tried it, its seriously good fun!!

I acquired this ski FOC as it was sitting in a friend of a friends garden rotting away, it was free to collect, but did of course need a handler to load it. The owner reckoned it was working fine when parked up, but he lost interest and it just sat there. Been there 5 years he said, but I suspect its been a fair bit longer, it was last registered with the council in 2006.

Unfortunately it was parked up with the hull drains in, and the engine compartment was well flooded when by the time I got to it, but thankfully it had not got to the electrics. Anyhow on inspection the supercharger was sized solid, as was the pump, so I removed these, put fresh fuel in it, and to my surprise it started. Given the electrics / ECU seem to be fine, I decided to strip it down, and plan is to get it ready for the spring. It only has 86 hours on the clock, and despite being a bit of a mess, underneath all the grime there seems to be the basics of a half decent ski. Its going to need a few parts which I hope to find second hand, supercharger being the most expensive item on the shopping list. I'm not going for a concourse restoration, just hope to have a tidy usable ski at the end of it. All in all by the time its finished I will have put a fair few hours into it, and I'm budgeting around £1k on parts as things stand.

Its been sat in the garage a few months as I have had other things on the go, but finally over Christmas I managed a few hours to tear it apart. Now I have the engine out, there is some aluminium corrosion I would like to clean up, and may re-spray the worst parts, any tips on what to use to try and clean it up? Tried the usual solvents, brake cleaner, carb cleaner etc.

Any tips / hints gratefully received

 

[MrNoo]

Soda blasting would fetch it off and then wash with water, ideal for engine castings etc and no grit to get into places where it's not wanted. You can get all sorts of different blast media from crushed walnut shells (for alloys) up to sands glass beads etc.

 

[Mur Huwcun]

Did you see the ex beach patrol ones for sale on Facebook in Porthmadog last week? One runner and one not, selling as a pair

 

[laich]

Alloy wheel cleaner, be any good?

 

[GeorgeK]

The white mess is aluminium corrosion, cleaners and solvents won't remove it it needs abrasives.
Ideally disassemble and send away to a reputable motorcycle restorers for vapour blasting and powder coating or ceramic coating. If you want to do it yourself try a nylon wire brush, it won't harm the aluminium. Use a 2k epoxy primer as other paints won't stick well. SprayMax do a genuine 2 part epoxy in a rattle can which works great but is expensive

Nylon filament wire brushes:

 

[H200GT]

Did you see the ex beach patrol ones for sale on Facebook in Porthmadog last week? One runner and one not, selling as a pair

no I didn’t, just as well maybe ?

 

[H200GT]

Ideally disassemble and send away to a reputable motorcycle restorers for vapour blasting and powder coating or ceramic coating. If you want to do it yourself try a nylon wire brush, it won't harm the aluminium. Use a 2k epoxy primer as other paints won't stick well. SprayMax do a genuine 2 part epoxy in a rattle can which works great but is expensive

Nylon filament wire brushes:

Soda blasting would fetch it off and then wash with water, ideal for engine castings etc and no grit to get into places where it's not wanted. You can get all sorts of different blast media from crushed walnut shells (for alloys) up to sands glass beads etc.

I don’t really want to go to much expense, as its a 16 year old ski, and not really worth a great deal. By the time i put parts into it and if I accounted for my time, I would probably be better off breaking it for parts, but where’s the fun in that, plus I enjoy a bit of a challenge.

I have been cleaning some parts with soft brass wire brushes as thats about all that shifts the oxidation. Was hoping a solvent would speed the process up a bit and get into the nooks and crannies.

Plan was then to rattle can on some etch primer and top coat. Would this work?

The main block is not too bad, its just the PTO / Timing / rear and front oil pump covers and rocker cover thats the worst parts. These all need to come off for inspection so was hoping to tidy them up as i go along.

 

[GeorgeK]

I agree, no need for a full restoration, just a tidy up and sounds like you're doing the right things. Brass wire brush is good and etch primer is far better than normal primer. The paint finish won't be hugely tough but perfectly good enough to smarten it up without too much time/cost.
I'd avoid the temptation to use strong acid/alkaline cleaners (like alloy wheel/oven cleaner) even on hard to reach places as it will get behind seals and go down bolt holes and corrode the aluminium and electrical connectors.
Is it painted black? If so satin black will blend in really well and look 'factory'
Looks like a great project, enjoy!

 

[H200GT]

Its taking far longer than I had hoped, been struggling to find the time to jump on it

Anyhow after a chat with the friendly local seadoo dealer, I ended up pulling some more bits off the engine than I originally planned to check a few bits. Thankfully all seemed well. Quite happy with the result of the tidy up, hopefully ill find time to get it back into the hull over the next coupe weeks.

 

[H200GT]

Well its now getting there, managed to source pretty much all the remaining parts that i didnt have online despite the lockdown week before last, and got it mostly back together last weekend. Not been as cheap as I had hoped, but its still been worth it. Done it right though, recon supercharger was the biggest single cost, but numerous other items have added up including oil cooler, jet pump liner, starter solenoid, gaskets, carbon ring set, steering cable, SS hose clips and numerous other small items. Seadoo parts arnt cheap, but thankfully I managed to source the big ticket items second hand over the last few months. A new supercharger and oil cooler alone would have made the project unviable.

Some before and after photos. Not finished yet, few finishing touches needed but its mostly there.

Onto the trailer next, thats going to need a new axle amongst other things, but its solid enough otherwise.

 

[TripleSix]

I got given a jet ski years ago, well swapped it for a case of beer.

I had it running but never used it, it was a Yamaha 350 I think, Waverunner?

I stupidly sold it after a mate offered me £150, I had nowhere to use it...

Shortly after i sold it I started working on a farm that had a bigish river running through it, arse.

 

[H200GT]

I got given a jet ski years ago, well swapped it for a case of beer.

I had it running but never used it, it was a Yamaha 350 I think, Waverunner?

I stupidly sold it after a mate offered me £150, I had nowhere to use it...

Shortly after i sold it I started working on a farm that had a bigish river running through it, arse.

My other one is a Yamaha, GP800R. Its a 2 stroke, where as the seadoo is 4 stroke. They say the Yamaha’s are far more reliable in general, but the seadoo’s seem far more popular, especially around here anyway.

I sm itching to try the seadoo out, its should be a bit faster than the Yamaha as its far more powerful, but saying that the Yamaha is quite a bit lighter, so it may even out. The seadoo sounds a lot better though!! I expect top end to be the same, circa 55mph.

I only live 150 yards from the estuary, so its quite tempting, but its clearly not the thing to do given the current circumstances. I’d end up on BBC news at 10!! Hopfully I’ll get the chance to try it sometime this year.