Bought myself a project '99 LS2000

[dabomb6608]

Maiden voyage took place Friday evening!

Last week I had gone through the front carb on my starboard motor and found the fuel pump dry as a bone and not pumping fuel. I replaced the clear diaphragm and check valves and it would then pump fuel through the carb when I applied suction/pressure via mouth. These carbs also have new rubber diaphragms on the jet side of the carbs.

Got everything reinstalled and running again Friday after work. We headed to the ramp and it idled good and felt strong while throttling on the trailer.

Backed off the trailer and away we went. It seemed good through the RPM ranges and didn't seem to have any dead spots. Wasn't really watching speed as I didn't trust the speedo anyways but want to say I was at or around 50 at WOT. WOT was showing about 7200 RPM on both motors, not 100% confident in rpm gauges either. But they both were in the same range and no drastic differences at speed.

A few things I noted on the run.

First: My port motor throttle is slightly too lose. It wanted to slide back on me occasionally.

Second: Definitely a smoker! (100% expected especially with premix) My friends place we generally boat with have a half mile long no wake zone through a cove to their place. We idled back there and I made sure to shut down a motor and occasionally flip flop which one was running.

Third: Starting wasn't terrible. Especially after running. No choke needed once warm and very quickly came to life and straight to idle. Even after the long no wake zone. I know how these triples shake and like to load up when idling for long periods so that was a relief.

Fourth: Steering is very tight/difficult while underway. I believe my starboard cable is worn, and me fighting with it during the transom plate removal probably didn't help any. I am going to attempt to lubricate it and see what happens. Otherwise I will be replacing it.

Fifth: My port motor seems slightly louder in terms of exhaust noise than the starboard one. I am going to investigate more on that. I know what these motors sound like in skis. The water boxes are different in comparison on these boats vs the ski boxes so the sound is also different then what I am used to. Might just be me being overly cautious.

From here I have my replacement intermediate housing for my leaking port housing. I will try to find time to replace that this week. I also ordered a new gas gauge. Went with a Faria GP9932A "Spun Silver" Gas Gauge. The finish is similar to the rpm and speedo gauges I am eyeing for a future upgrade. I also need to get a replacement bow light. And I want to install a safety lanyard. The previous owner deleted it. Those are the more immediate things on the to do list. Along with getting a temporary radio installed.

Our boating season is just around the corner so getting everything ready for actual full time weekend use is priority. Hoping to have the fuel gauge and intermediate housing finished by this weekend that way depending on weather we can do a extended shake down to really test everything.

 

[Speedling]

Checkmy trottle drop mod in faq

 

[dabomb6608]

Checkmy trottle drop mod in faq

Will do!

I just read through it, albeit very quickly, and was a bit confused. I have pulled the throttles/shifter up before when I was trying to find a source to my ignition not killing the starboard motor. I don't remember the throttles looking anything like your pictures did. Its possible I just wasn't looking close enough at them considering I was looking for a different issue at that time. I will take another look as soon as I get a chance.

Last night I had a customers 1100 Waveraider I needed to test on the lake and found that even though it was pissing out the side thru hull it was overheating due to a sand clogged stinger. Now that it is fixed and ready for pickup I have two Kawasaki's to rebuild motors on. A Ultra 150 and a 1100 ZXI. The weather hasn't/isn't cooperating at all. Rain most of last week and forecast of rain the rest of this week. I still have a waiting list of a few skis and a Seadoo boat waiting to be brought for work as well so I'm going to be busy the next month.

 

[rkim808]

Congrats on ur build, she looks clean. I have a 2001 LS2000 and my family and I love it. As for swapping out the motors to 4-strokes i seen a posting a long time ago of a guy that did a MR-1 swap and was successful. He did extensive modifications to the hull too if I remember correctly. IMO I would just run her with the 2-strokes, they rip. Congrats again thank u for sharing.

 

[Speedling]

Will do!

I just read through it, albeit very quickly, and was a bit confused. I have pulled the throttles/shifter up before when I was trying to find a source to my ignition not killing the starboard motor. I don't remember the throttles looking anything like your pictures did. Its possible I just wasn't looking close enough at them considering I was looking for a different issue at that time. I will take another look as soon as I get a chance.

Last night I had a customers 1100 Waveraider I needed to test on the lake and found that even though it was pissing out the side thru hull it was overheating due to a sand clogged stinger. Now that it is fixed and ready for pickup I have two Kawasaki's to rebuild motors on. A Ultra 150 and a 1100 ZXI. The weather hasn't/isn't cooperating at all. Rain most of last week and forecast of rain the rest of this week. I still have a waiting list of a few skis and a Seadoo boat waiting to be brought for work as well so I'm going to be busy the next month.

Yours will have 3 levers. One for forward and reverse and individual for throttles on each side. Basically need to take apart the side that is dropping and pinch tight the little fingers. It SHOULD be that simple.
But you are correct that my writeup is throttles from 06 and newer other than e throttles.

 

[dabomb6608]

Congrats on ur build, she looks clean. I have a 2001 LS2000 and my family and I love it. As for swapping out the motors to 4-strokes i seen a posting a long time ago of a guy that did a MR-1 swap and was successful. He did extensive modifications to the hull too if I remember correctly. IMO I would just run her with the 2-strokes, they rip. Congrats again thank u for sharing.

Thanks.

The 2-strokes certainly do rip and nothing compares to them in that regards. But I am one to like challenges and to "be different". It seems like a fun upgrade. Personally I would prefer to do the new TR-1 setups. I believe I have seen the post you are talking about. I think that setup was in either a Exciter or a XR1800. Which, the XR1800 for sure has more room front to back in the engine compartment due to those motors exhaust setups. After measuring out some MR-1 motors I had from a customer I really don't see them fitting without doing any kind of fiberglass work to the front wall. The TR-1 on the other hand can have the front airbox removed with a aftermarket air intake and then the ebox relocated. With that being done, I believe they would fit. Unfortunately I haven't seen one in person while having a tape measure to really say any of that with 100% confidence.

Yours will have 3 levers. One for forward and reverse and individual for throttles on each side. Basically need to take apart the side that is dropping and pinch tight the little fingers. It SHOULD be that simple.
But you are correct that my writeup is throttles from 06 and newer other than e throttles.

I'll hopefully take a look at that sometime this week. Thanks!

 

[dabomb6608]

Got my new fuel gauge installed last night. Wired right up and because of the oil injection being deleted I didn't need to worry about the oil warning light. I installed LED bulbs for my gauge back lights as well while I was at it.

After topping the boat off with 22 gallons of fresh premix it is ready for a trip to the lake. Unfortunately we will be out of town this weekend for Mothers Day. Not sure when we will get a chance to take it out next. I am sure I will upgrade a few things here and there in the meantime. I've got some weather stripping I want to install to replace the front/ski/rear hatch seals. I still need to get a head unit ordered as well. I believe I am going to go with a Kenwood headunit that has the option to add a few small circular wired remotes. One near the captains helm and one near the swim deck. This will provide me with a decent headunit for future amp/sub upgrades.

 

[dabomb6608]

Upgraded my bow light and my anchor light base last night. Here is a shot of the bow light. It is a 1NM Attwood Bi-Color LED light. Fit was good but needed two holes pre-drilled for the screws that were relocated.


The anchor light is just a stainless steel base with rubber seal for the lid. Also bought a new 36" pole light to go with the new base. Didn't get a shot of it. I am going to start looking at stereo components so we have tunes. I know I want to go with a Kenwood bluetooth headunit with 2 wired remotes. One at the captains helm and one in the swim deck area. Depending on deals I can find I might do both remotes as the LCD screen remote. Or just the swim deck as the LCD and the captains as the smaller button only remote. Then I will add a sub or two in the future with a amp and some upgraded LED 6.5s. Those upgrades will come as money allows.

I still need to get the port intermediate housing swapped out. Hoping for another outing this weekend for a better shake down run before Memorial Day Weekend.

 

[dabomb6608]

Got some updates coming!

My new Kenwood headunit arrives today. I also may or may not have jumped the gun on two LCD wired remotes to install with the radio. One will be getting installed somewhere at the captains helm. The second one will be getting installed somewhere at the rear swim deck area. I'm taking half days from work today and tomorrow to try and catch up on some customer work (I'm up to my neck right now in customer skis/boats). I am hoping to use some of my extra available time to get some work done on the boat in preparation for this weekend.

I also am needing to install a new bendix in my port motor as well as still do the intermediate housing replacement on that side. Probably wait till after this weekend to do the intermediate housing. I don't want to risk something happening causing me to need to order anything and it be down over the holiday.

 

[dabomb6608]

Memorial Day Weekend was a success! Got out on the lake Saturday and Monday. Sunday had some family in so we didn't make it down to the lake at all that day.

I got the new radio and rear remote installed before going out Saturday. Turned out great and the Pyle 6.5" speakers that were already installed in the boat sound really nice for being driven from the head unit instead of a amp. I still plan on installing the second remote somewhere near the dash. Had to order another 10' extension cable for it. I was able to use a 10' cable from the rear remote up to the head unit. Ran it up the port side of the boat.





My new boarding step came in just in time Saturday to get installed before heading out.



After a LOT of cleaning/scrubbing the interior actually started to clean up very nicely. I didn't have any before shots but lets just say there was more brown/green/black then white showing on the floors before I started. The exterior hasn't been wiped down yet. I will spend some time doing that here soon.



I really didn't take any pictures while we were out on the lake. With the new radio and rear remote I didn't ever need the phone out to control music. Took one random photo that you can see the floor in all its clean glory. The grouting has some mold spots I want to try and bleach out. But other then that it cleaned up great.



I also cleaned out the ski locker very well and shop vac'd the rear bilge area that had collected crud from all the cleaning. It was stopping up the bilge pump screen occasionally.

Going to be out of town this weekend but excited for the next time out in it! Will be getting the second radio remote installed before our next outing.

 

[dabomb6608]

Winter update:

Have been collecting some goodies to install this spring. Still need to install the 2nd remote for the radio at the helm that I didn't do last summer. I have all new Faria Spun Silver gauges to install that match the fuel gauge I replaced last year. A Fell Marine Wireless FOB Kill Switch to install in place of my nonexistent factory kill switch. Some LED lighting and LED stainless steel cup holders throughout. As well as reinstalling a complete oil injection system I picked up from a guy converting his boat to premix. Will be installing new oil lines with stainless oetiker clamps and priming before final install. Looking forward to a little less smoke during our ~ 1 mile long no wake zone through a residential cove. Sure the neighbors will appreciate it as well.

Mechanically, other then the oil injection, there were three things I wanted to do this spring. First, the bendix on the port motor needs replaced. While the motor is pulled/moved for that I will also replace my mid shaft assembly that was slightly leaking on that side. I also wanted to pull the carbs on the port motor to do a fuel pump check valve replacement and thorough cleaning/inspection. The port motor was developing a very slight bog towards the end of last season. I've been considering doing the "drilled return restrictor mod" as seen here to both sets of carbs.

I would like to get some new 6.5 speakers installed and maybe add 2 to the rear deck this summer, then at that stage look into pricing for new vinyl for the engine hatch and rear seat back. My spending might be limited for the next year on "nonessential" upgrades, I got engaged this winter and planning a wedding for spring 2021.

 

[dabomb6608]

Slowly making progress even though I am already fighting finding time on nice days to work on my stuff. I am starting to get busy with working on customer jetsksis as the warm weather approaches.

No pictures but so far I have the new starboard steering cable installed, which was brutal. The port motor carbs are rebuilt and bendix replaced. Oil pumps primed and installed. Waiting on the OEM oil tank strap brackets to get here to final mount the oil tank. They were ordered two weeks ago and are delayed. Was told by partzilla they should be shipping out tomorrow.

On the to do list now:

Installing the new 4 Kicker 6.5 speakers I have on the way. Thinking about relocating two of the old speakers to the rear swim deck.

Installing the new gauges and red led low oil level light (factory fuel level replaced last season with a gauge without light built in)

Installing the new Fell Marine "MOB+" wireless engine cut-off system to replace my non-existent kill switch

Installing the last remote control for my radio near the captains helm/cup holder

Installing some LED goodies throughout the boat

Installing my custom made air fuel separator that is all but identical to the kit from groupk. I was able to do some searching and found the same exact electric fuel pump type they use and came up with a fuel chamber very similar to theirs. Have it mocked up as a system and ready to install in the boat and plumb once my bulk order of fuel line comes in this week.

I will try and actually take pictures next time I get around to working on it. I told the fiance I don't plan to spend much more on upgrades to the boat this season...will see how well I can keep that promise...

 

[dabomb6608]

Finally some progress and pictures!

All of my mechanical upgrades/repairs are completed. New starboard steering cable, fixed port motors starter issues, oil pump system install with all new lines, filters, oetiker clamps, homemade Air/Fuel Seperator, port motor carbs rebuilt, and new plugs.

I've tested the fuel pump and it primes up just fine. Will be wiring up the rectifier tonight so it activates with either key. Excuse the dirty boat in pictures. Waited wayyy to long in the fall to put my cover on. Leaves everywhere. Plus the engine compartment is due for another deep clean. I've been wanting to wait until I am completely finished with all the upgrades to actually clean it.







From there I started on my other upgrades. Got all my new gauges installed with LED backlights as well as the 2nd remote for my radio which I mounted to the right of the dash.





The MPH gauge has a slightly darker blue tone to it due to the plastic gauge housing being darker blue then the tachs. Not insanely fond of that but I have to live with it unfortunately.

My last task last night was installing the Fell Marine "MOB+" wireless engine safety switch. I wanted it to go in place of the factory switch (which was missing on my boat). But it extends too deep to install there due to the shifter/throttle assembly just behind that area. So I removed the factory radio remote and made up a aluminum panel to cover all the holes up and allow me to position the MOB+ where it will not interfere with the shifter/throttle assembly. This is why it isn't centered on the aluminum panel. Anymore to the rear of the boat and it wouldn't have fit.



I am undecided on keeping the aluminum panel as a "brushed" piece. I haven't wired up the MOB+ yet so I can still easily drill out the rivets and polish it up to a mirror finish if I want. I might run it as is for a bit and think on it.

I am leaving for vacation tomorrow afternoon. If I find any time tonight after work I will start wiring up and installing all my new LED lighting and speakers. Still a lot to be done but so glad to finally be making forward progress.

 

[dabomb6608]

Got some more done yesterday evening.

Fuel pump is wired up to activate with either key. I also got the MOB+ wired up and functioning. Pretty cool little device and super easy to wire up.

I drilled a hole in the dash next to the fuel gauge for my low oil warning light. It was getting dark so didn't get a good picture of it installed. But did get a picture (terrible quality) of the light activated. Should hopefully be plenty bright and noticeable. The light and bezel is completely blacked out when not active so is pretty discrete and doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. I was worried it would look bad or out of place. You can't tell by the picture, but the light is actually in the standard shape of a oil light like you would see in any automotive dash.



That concludes work for the next week. After vacation I still have my LED lighting to install throughout the boat as well as my Kicker 6" speakers (also with LEDs) to wire up. Trying to get a game plan together on running wires. In total, there is going to be 10 LED fixtures to wire up throughout the boat. I have 50' of this wire available. It is tinned copper marine grade 18 gauge black/red colors.



Ideally I would have only one run of this wire going up each side of the boat with any LEDs being spliced in along the way (using weatherpack splices). Hoping I can keep it that simple. They will be all wired into my AUX toggle switch.

Once speakers and LEDs are wired up it will be time for a trip to the car wash for a deep clean/vacuum.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

Nice work. What gauges did you use? I need to replace the tachs on mine and it seems tach options for 3 cylinder engines are pretty limited.

 

[dabomb6608]

Nice work. What gauges did you use? I need to replace the tachs on mine and it seems tach options for 3 cylinder engines are pretty limited.

So the gauges are all Faria Gauges. Just their standard outboard ones. These in particular are the “spun silver” style.

One thing I loved was they had the same exact wiring setup. I guess some versions have a multipac style connection that you have to buy and wire up. But these were 100% plug and play.

The only thing that I guess technically requires wiring is a oil level warning light if you want/need one. The fuel gauges don’t have one built in so. With me installing oil injection back onto the engines I opted to source a LED oil warning light to install. Super easy to install and wire.

 

[dabomb6608]

Had a week off of work due to the current events going on. This allowed me to get all the remaining projects finished up on the boat.

Here are some shots I took of the LED lighting I installed. Pictures do not do any justice to how bright they are!






Very happy with how everything turned out. I also got a couple shots to better show the new oil level warning light.




Went and filled up the fuel tank with its first full tank of straight fuel. Got it for $1.67 a gallon after 30 cents off at Kroger. Aside from reinstalling the rear seat bottoms and some cleaning the boat is ready for boating season!

 

[dabomb6608]

Still patiently waiting for warm weather to get out for the first time this year. Hoping to get a day here in the next week or two to take the boat out. Glad I got everything done on the boat when I did because I am covered up with customer work right now on skis.

With a bit of spare time here and there I have prepped my 95 Waveraider 1100 for the season as well. The past few years this ski has been neglected due to having the boat. But this year I talked our friends who have the place on the lake into selling one of his skis, a Waveraider 701, and just letting me keep my ski there full time to take its place. It is a win/win for both of us. His daughters use the waveventure primarily so won't miss it. Plus he only ran the waveraider occasionally. Now we have a faster version of his ski to rip around on whenever we want. It is mostly stock. Just replaced the intake grate, ride plate, impeller, and steering nozzle with some aftermarket pieces. I've had this ski for 15 years this July! Was my first ski at 12 years old. I've put 400+ hours on it in that time.

 

[dabomb6608]

Took the boat out on May 2nd. Had a slight issue with one of the shifter cables as soon as I put the boat in. Had to do a temp fix to be able to stay on the water. But besides that everything went smooth. I am pleased with the way the port engine is now running after rebuilding the carbs and going with the 115 gram springs. It is very responsive now and has zero bog after a long idle. Will be doing the same change to the starboard motor before the next day out. My favorite part was the reduction of smoke! This was the first time out after installing the oil injection. I can now idle with both engines running through the cove without looking like I am trying to fog for mosquitos. Before I would kill one engine in a attempt to reduce smoke output and it still would put out a plum of smoke. I am curious to see how long the first tank of oil lasts.

I have a new shifter cable on order to hopefully fix the shifter issue. While I am doing that I will also be pulling the carbs on the starboard motor to change springs as well. We've had a cold front the past week so no chance to be out on the water anyways. Hopefully be out again in the next week or two.

 

[the MfM]

@dabomb6608 what are the specs for the fuel pump you added? I’m adding fuel air separators as well...decided to do one for each engine.

I ordered solid state (marine rated) airtex pumps that move 30 GPM @ 2.5 to 4.5 psi. But now I’m second guessing myself.