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2002 XTI winter refurbish


ROFF

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Well we are fully committed now!    Decided to do a full on refurbish to our Wakesetter.   I picked this up late last summer for a great price and its been a blast having a boat again.  We can have it in the water in about 10 minutes from leaving the house so it has gotten used nonstop this last summer.    So much in fact that I was giving serious thought to cashing it in for a slightly used one with the latest and greatest as all we do now is surf.   But I can't leave anything as it is and theres no way I could keep my wrenches away from even a brand new perfect boat.    Besides,  the cost alone would make me lose sleep.     So here it goes.   Shoehorned it in the garage and we've torn into it.  My son is super stoked to work on it so that alone will make it worth it.    I know this isn't the best surf boat but we've had pretty good results.   Im 200# and surf ropeless on a 4'7" and can almost pop off of the lip.    

The plan is to have new skins done locally.   Replace ALL carpet with new carpet except the flooring which will be a faux teak EVA.  Upgrade ballast system by replacing rear hard tanks with a single sack in the rear trunk and some lead here and there.  This should allow us to run a single external sack instead of 3.  I can live with that.    I will also be replacing the ballast pumps and lines as well as all the fuel system lines.    Depending on how things go Im going to seriously consider a DIY surf system.   Will certainly run additional wiring to accommodate if we don't do it now.

This site has been awesome for repairs and building confidence to tackle this project!!

Please feel free to chime in with suggestions and lessons learned, it will be much appreciated.

Brandon 

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Edited by ROFF
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So with the ballast tanks and fuel tank removed we pulled up some NASTY carpet.    There was lots of nice sludge under the fuel tank on both sides from water accumulation that can't drain or dry.    2 immediate things to deal with at this stage.    The sagging floor and the center hatch.   Not totally sure what I am going to do about the floor but I think it will just be a matter of building it up with glass.  It has to be smoothed anyway so we will see.   Carpet is coming up pretty easy and clean so far.  

Next will be what to do about the center hatch.  Its pretty trashed and with the carpet removed the gap must be filled.   Any suggestions on replacement?   Was thinking of HDPE but being close to the exhaust is one issue, and it is a high traffic area that will have a ballast sack on it so strength is important.   We never use the table so that whole setup will be eliminated.  

 

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Remember that your exhaust is a wet system with water traveling thru it, so it never gets very hot.  I don't know that boat or the floor set up but just an FYI that you can easily touch the exhaust hose with your hands.  I incorporated PVC elbows on my custom exhaust in 2015, and have had no issues at all.

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Yea it’s always been cool down there.     I’ve decided to use some marine grade ply and cross members of 1” aluminum rectangles.  Will seal and glass.   
 

Next order of business is reducing the floor sag.   Think I’ll go with resin and chopped fiber cloth.    Anyone have experience with this?   Any issues with using polyester resin?   
 

Got all the carpet out today and ready to start prepping the floor for buildup.   
 


 

 

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He’s 14.    He likes it.  Keeps him off of the damn computer for a while.  
 

Another thing I did a few month ago was remove the grab rails from the bow.   This was a nice project to get some practice working with gelcoat.   I figured if I screwed it up I could always drill out the holes and put the rails right back in.   

Pretty happy with how it turned out.    Now it doesn’t look like a sailboat.   (I love sailing,  when life says it’s time I will have one).   Taped the bottom of the holes up, filled with a bit of strengthened epoxy but left room for a topper of gelcoat.   Sanded with ever increasing grit and ended with a two step polish.     Unfortunately there were two very thin spots of gelcoat.   Oh well, those will be covered up with some EVA strips from the floor.   

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After a LOT of work getting the carpet out and floors prepped it’s time for MORE work.  
Using Rust-Oleum top coat for a final paint on the floors.    Trying it out in the bow area to see how things go with it.   That’s the primer coat right there and some bondo in the cubby to see how it’s going to work out.  
laying out some glass as well to un-sag the floors some.   

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Edited by ROFF
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23 minutes ago, ROFF said:

which ones?
I read good things about it but I’m open to suggestions.   
 

 

Interlux Polyurethane paints.  I've done a couple projects with that stuff (Brightside) and it rocks!

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This is awesome, we haven’t had a good restore thread in quite awhile. (Apart from those of @TenTwentyOne )

I tore my 99 sslxi apart one winter. I saved some bucks taking the various parts to the upholstery shop a few at a time over several months, I got better price for agreeing to them working on my parts between emergency/urgent jobs. I replaced all my exhaust hoses and fuel lines while I had her apart. 

Keep the photos coming, they will help us get thru the winter.

 

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7 minutes ago, DOJOLOACH2 said:

Why would the floors start sagging if they arent wood? I didnt think that was an issue past '95 or so.

Is it starboard?

My 99 has some places where the floor has sagged.  No wood, either.  Starboard behind the driver's seat.

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The floors are some kind of sandwich with glass on top.     I think being a DD the people traffic is more on the sides.    
 

1/2 gallon of poly resin and some glass today.  Will see how that looks and probably use the rest of the resin.    Decent temps for glassing today.  
 

I’m not going to go nuts trying to make the floor a work of art.   That’s something I typically do at the expense of a LOT of time and $$.    The sag is such that the EVA flooring will easily conform.  
 

I’ve never worked with polyester resin, just epoxy.   Smells nasty.    And this chopped glass looks like my dogs shedding hair!     Much prefer woven fabric but it’s just filler so..

Edited by ROFF
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@ROFF Looks like you are elbow deep in this project.  I hope when my son gets old enough we have a project similar to this to partake in. 

On a side note, one of my buddies has a XTI that developed a front center ballast leak this summer.  Now that its winter he started to trouble shoot the leak, and having a difficult time accessing the bag as there is a dummy floating floor in the ski locker.   Do (or did) you have anything similar?  Do you have any tips for pulling the bag, or floating floor out?  Or do you have any photos of it pulled apart so we can better assess the situation?

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@Joepruncyea I had the center ballast bag leaking as well.   I removed it and patched the leak.   It still leaks a small bit but it doesn’t get used much (kinda flattens the wave).  But since I’m going to have a totally different ballast setup we may end up using it, in which case I will replace it.

feel free to message me and I’ll go into detail about removing it.   It’s not difficult but kind of a pain.  

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Got the floor leveled out more with glass and resin.   Smoothing it out with Bondo now.  Need to suppress the OCD here and not try and make this floor look like a mirror.   

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some holiday progress.   Not trying to win a race.   The big work is behind us I think.    Primer coats done.    Will paint soon.   Ordered some 1” Coosa board for the center hatch.  
 

Major score on Ski-it-again!!   Nautique swim platform from a new boat!!    This is everything we wanted in a new swim platform.     Will need minimal modifications to make it work.   Think we will remove the grab handle/hook to clean things up

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47 minutes ago, Steve B. said:

Roff, did you spray something on top of the bondo? Or, after you've sanded the bondo, it is ready for gatorstep or whatever your choice is?

Steve B.

After sanding the floor smooth we gave it 2 coats of primer.   That’s what’s in the picture.  Going to wait for the Coosa panel so we can fit that.  Then will give a quick sand and then paint.    THEN it will be ready for the EVA.    

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16 hours ago, ROFF said:

After sanding the floor smooth we gave it 2 coats of primer.   That’s what’s in the picture.  Going to wait for the Coosa panel so we can fit that.  Then will give a quick sand and then paint.    THEN it will be ready for the EVA.    

Ahh, thank you. I've been debating this project for the spring.

Steve B.

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22 minutes ago, Steve B. said:

Ahh, thank you. I've been debating this project for the spring.

Steve B.

I would recommend starting now if you can.   My “to do” list kept growing as I disassembled things.   

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