The official "What did you do to your jet boat today" thread.

[BigT51]

Reorganized the head compartment

View attachment 180465

Does that electric fly swatter thing actually work? I bought one from Harbor Freight and the thing never worked no matter how hard I tried, even after attempting to rewire it.

 

[tabbibus]

Does that electric fly swatter thing actually work? I bought one from Harbor Freight and the thing never worked no matter how hard I tried, even after attempting to rewire it.

Quality is hit or miss for sure. This one works. I've fried some wasps with it. I had one at home that never worked.

 

[tabbibus]

Moved my batteries aft and reclaimed tons of space

 

[drewkaree]

Does that electric fly swatter thing actually work? I bought one from Harbor Freight and the thing never worked no matter how hard I tried, even after attempting to rewire it.

I've found this thing to be way more fun than the electric tennis rackets: https://www.bugasalt.com/products/bug-a-salt-3-0-black-fly-edition

 

[johnso30]

Sanded, compounded, polished, and waxed the boat. Took about a month, but finally finished her up this weekend.
Before:
After:

 

[adrianp89]

Sanded, compounded, polished, and waxed the boat. Took about a month, but finally finished her up this weekend.
Before:View attachment 180539View attachment 180540
After:
View attachment 180541View attachment 180538

I plan on doing this in Winter. Any products you recommend?

 

[johnso30]

I plan on doing this in Winter. Any products you recommend?

I had never done anything like this before so I watched a whole lot of YouTube. The guy/videos that I liked the best is https://youtube.com/c/DrakesDetailing, so I was following some of his earlier recommendations: wetsanded with Abralon 1000 pads, compounded with Ardex 600 using heavy cut wool pad on a rotary, compounded with Menzerna 400 and a heavy cut wool pad on a rotary, polished using Menzerna 400 but on a foam pad and a DA, then finally used Jescar’s Powerlock as a wax.

Drake was recommending Starke products for awhile, but pretty sure he was getting some kickbacks from them, and now I think he is pushing something different, so not sure if those are really any better, or if he’s getting kickbacks on those as well. I do like the Menzerna 400, though. It’s a diminishing abrasive, so that’s why it can be used as a cutting compound as well as a polish.

If I was to do it over again, I would not have wetsanded. My boat was fairly oxidized, but I think the heavy cut compound would have taken care of it and the majority of the scratches. Plus, I had a lot of issues with the sanding, which was probably just due to my inexperience. The abralon pads don’t last as long as I expected, so I tried some other pads (on DA) on some larger sections, and also did some by hand along decals, and both of these left deeper scratches that I then spent a TON of time trying to correct. I will only wet sand (the whole hull) again if the oxidation is to the point of being chalky to the touch (ie restoring an unkept boat) and if I do it, I will be removing all graphics first.

The whole project probably took 4 times as long as it should have due to the sanding issues, but glad I did it. Boat looks beautiful now, but also learned a lot and feel a lot more confident in how to do this in the future.

 

[adrianp89]

Did you have any deep scratches? I have some that could be borderline gouges.

 

[johnso30]

I did, and still do. The scratches shown in the second picture were from the cover flapping, and those are pretty much gone. But I have a lot of other nicks and scratches that are still showing. If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail, your probably going to need to wetsand it, or fill-in and correct with a gel coat kit.

 

[biffdotorg]

Very nice work. And it is a lot of work. Nice job!

 

[garyshalfacre]

New boat, so just getting organized with safety kit, fire extinguisher, bumpers, dock lines, tool kit, etc.
Found storage spots for everything.

Checked engine compartment to make sure all hoses and wiring were secure. The bilge pump wires were just hanging loose, so I tied them up. Found lots of fiberglass debris and cable tie cutoffs in there, too. So did some clean up and vacuumed up all the debris.

Added a little pad to the anchor compartment wall to stop the swinging anchor from beating it up.

First launch will be this weekend, so I'm sure I'll find more to do after a few trips.

 

[Dean P]

I had never done anything like this before so I watched a whole lot of YouTube. The guy/videos that I liked the best is https://youtube.com/c/DrakesDetailing, so I was following some of his earlier recommendations: wetsanded with Abralon 1000 pads, compounded with Ardex 600 using heavy cut wool pad on a rotary, compounded with Menzerna 400 and a heavy cut wool pad on a rotary, polished using Menzerna 400 but on a foam pad and a DA, then finally used Jescar’s Powerlock as a wax.

Drake was recommending Starke products for awhile, but pretty sure he was getting some kickbacks from them, and now I think he is pushing something different, so not sure if those are really any better, or if he’s getting kickbacks on those as well. I do like the Menzerna 400, though. It’s a diminishing abrasive, so that’s why it can be used as a cutting compound as well as a polish.

If I was to do it over again, I would not have wetsanded. My boat was fairly oxidized, but I think the heavy cut compound would have taken care of it and the majority of the scratches. Plus, I had a lot of issues with the sanding, which was probably just due to my inexperience. The abralon pads don’t last as long as I expected, so I tried some other pads (on DA) on some larger sections, and also did some by hand along decals, and both of these left deeper scratches that I then spent a TON of time trying to correct. I will only wet sand (the whole hull) again if the oxidation is to the point of being chalky to the touch (ie restoring an unkept boat) and if I do it, I will be removing all graphics first.

The whole project probably took 4 times as long as it should have due to the sanding issues, but glad I did it. Boat looks beautiful now, but also learned a lot and feel a lot more confident in how to do this in the future.

I too followed Drake and his advice. Watched a lot of his videos and learned a ton. Already had the buffer with the wool pad and picked up a cheap DA for $60 and used the Menzerna 2500 after buffing with the 400. After, I applied the Jescar Power Lock +, a polymer sealant, and the boat looks brand new. Jescar and Rejex need to sit for a minimum of 30 minutes before removing (didn't know that). As I said, learned a lot.

Your boat looks amazing. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jetboatjay]

Installed my new Reborn wakeboard/knee board mount. Figured while I was at it I could install the license plate on the new holder I ordered from Amazon… only to realize that the trailer has one built in on the other side! Oh well- it was only 5 minutes wasted ?View attachment 178457View attachment 178459View attachment 178460

Cleaned up the interior today. Treated the vinyl and gave the interior surfaces a wipe down with hot sauce. Need to pull the mats out of the shed still and get those cleaned up and treated.
View attachment 178491View attachment 178492View attachment 178493View attachment 178494View attachment 178495

Hey @suke , how long are your trailer guides? Are those 60" or 48"? I really like the height. Do they stick up above the water at least a foot when the trailer is backed down the ramp?

 

[suke]

Hey @suke , how long are your trailer guides? Are those 60" or 48"? I really like the height. Do they stick up above the water at least a foot when the trailer is backed down the ramp?

they are 60".......they do stick up out of the water a good bit with the trailer backed down at our ramps. Which is actually really nice as I rarely am able to come straight in, normally at some form of a small angle. Guides keep the boat in check while it centers itself on the trailer. I give it a second while it does that, then give it a little nudge of power, and ratchet up the rest of the way.

 

[jetboatjay]

they are 60".......they do stick up out of the water a good bit with the trailer backed down at our ramps. Which is actually really nice as I rarely am able to come straight in, normally at some form of a small angle. Guides keep the boat in check while it centers itself on the trailer. I give it a second while it does that, then give it a little nudge of power, and ratchet up the rest of the way.

Thanks. I was hoping to hear that. We spend a fair amount of time on the river, and the current can sometimes change the approach by 3-4 feet. I am hoping to use these to get the nose in and then let the current push the stern into the trailer guides. Our stern can sometimes float off the side of the trailer before we can ratchet it up due to the currents. Appreciate the insight.

 

[Dean P]

Finally! Been wanting to do this for awhile; in-line mixer to flush engines with Salt-Off.

 

[tabbibus]

Finally! Been wanting to do this for awhile; in-line mixer to flush engines with Salt-Off.

View attachment 181086

that salt life

 

[tabbibus]

As suggested by another member here, who I forget their name, I added a simple on-off switch for the dvsr ground wire cable. Now I don't have to take the wire off every time I want to use the smart charger.

 

[biffdotorg]

As suggested by another member here, who I forget their name, I added a simple on-off switch for the dvsr ground wire cable. Now I don't have to take the wire off every time I want to use the smart charger.

Is this because you have a single bank smart charger? As I have never needed to disconnect DVSR with a dual bank charger.

 

[tabbibus]

Is this because you have a single bank smart charger? As I have never needed to disconnect DVSR with a dual bank charger.

No. It's a dual bank NOCO genius. It has been discussed here on multiple threads. It's even on the manual for the switch I believe. I'll have to look it up again