Articles
   
       
Pics/Video
       
Wake 101
   
       
       
Shop
Search
 
 
 
 
 
Home   Articles   Pics/Video   Gear   Wake 101   Events   Community   Forums   Classifieds   Contests   Shop   Search
WakeWorld Home
Email Password
Go Back   WakeWorld > Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles

Share 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 7:55 PM Reply   
Sold my 01 X-Star and got super obsessive for about 10 days and picked up a new project. Kids and wife are really getting into surfing so that was one of my main objectives, plus the ability to turn a profit as a reward for some hard work and innovation.

Found a 2005 V-Ride up in Sacramento and picked it up. Had been used in salt water and the trailer was thrashed. The seller had also picked it up as a project with a blown engine and dropped a brand new $5,000 motor in it, along with replacing the starter, alternator, pumps and ballast pumps. He got to a point where he ran out of interest, or energy and now its my turn. Here are some pics from before.

-Since I was in Sac I had to hit Wake Island.
Attached Images
    
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 8:01 PM Reply   
I budgeted about $2,500 for projects and repairs. Here is a partial list.

Freeride Tower $1,650
Surfgate $400
Remove hard ballast tanks and add two 800# bags in the rear $280
Board Racks $150
New Blower, hose and chrome vents $100
Had to grind, strip, sand and repaint the trailer. (Lots of time and about $100)
Lifters for the rear hatches. $40
Install of stereo (Tower speakers, amp and sub yet to come)
Skull Shifter knob $12


Still to do...
Wedge $660
Bimini $550
Stereo Upgrades $550

Maybe...
Window tint ???
Heater $150
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 8:19 PM Reply   
Here are some pics from the surfgate install. Ended up costing about $400

Parts list and cost for the surf system. (Includes Shipping)


Lenco actuators from eBay. $200
Two 18x12x1/2" Lexxan sheets $88
Hinges $30
Stainless steel screws, nuts, washers and bolts $50
Wire harness $26
Car power window switch from eBay $8.

I want to give credit to my fellow wakeworlders for previous posts showing how to build this system.

Made some cardboard panels first to test out angles. There were some interesting angles and spay pockets to figure out. Also I didn't want it to push down below the plain of the boat too much, also staying up so that it didn't interfere with normal operation.

After the carboard I made some plywood ones and tried it out. Looked fine on the boat, but I headed up to Nacimiento and both sides failed super quick. (The screws didn't work) needed bolts.
Attached Images
       
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 8:26 PM Reply   
For switches I decided to go with some power window switches I found off of eBay. Found a nice place to mount it above the throttle for quick and easy use.

Made a wire harness, cut the hole with a box cutter and wired it up.
Attached Images
      
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 8:30 PM Reply   
After some experimenting I adjusted the angles of the surfgate and made my cuts in the Lexxan. Drilled the holes and mounted it up. Then used my angle grinder to smooth the edges and corners. Here's some more pics.
Attached Images
    
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 8:43 PM Reply   
Before I get on to that I also switched out the tower, painted the trailer, had to pull the windshield to change out the front speakers (Its way easier to pull the 3 screws from the front and 3 from the side and remove the whole thing as one piece, than it is to disassemble the windshield. (I tried both methods.)

By the way, I still have this Skylon Swoop tower for sale $800. if anyone is interested.
Attached Images
       
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 8:48 PM Reply   
Also had to find a new place to mount the perfectpass motor (ended up drilling a mount on the intake manifold head where it should be drier) Had to wire up a new harness for the perfectpass because the old one was corroded. Replaced the paddlewheel for perfectpass too. Last, I had to disassemble and clean the throttle body and increase the spring tension on the intake because with the perfectpass cable it wasn't closing all the way and caused it to idle high.
Attached Images
   
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 8:55 PM Reply   
So its been a month of buying parts, installing them and testing them and yesterday I finally go to ride!. Let me say that I couldn't be happier! The new engine is super smooth and has tons of power. The surfgate system worked awesome and I love the controls. My wife is my driver and she had no problems operating it and dialing in the wake. The boat turns on a dime, takes off super fast. Love the look and feel of the tower as well. The wake is Soooo much longer and cleaner than my X-Star. The surf system looks, feels and functions super smooth and you immediately see a huge difference in the wake. Here are the pics of the surf wake.
Attached Images
          
Old     (Walter)      Join Date: Apr 2012       10-18-2015, 9:05 PM Reply   
Wow! Good job, that's a bunch of work you did, how long did all that take you?
Old     (501s)      Join Date: Feb 2010       10-18-2015, 9:08 PM Reply   
From start to finish that is very impressive and that wave looks amazing. Well done.

Hard work goes a long way!
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-18-2015, 9:22 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter View Post
Wow! Good job, that's a bunch of work you did, how long did all that take you?
Bought it on September 11th. (So just over a month) My plan is to add a wedge, cargo bimini and stereo system, but for cash flow I'm waiting on those until I sell the Tower $800, Bimini top $400, and hard ballast tanks $300. Thanks Walter.
Old     (downfortheride)      Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: SLC, UT 5600'       10-19-2015, 8:16 AM Reply   
Rob ~ Grade A as usual. Never mind seeing a project boat show up that you are tackling.
Old     (fouroheight68)      Join Date: May 2006       10-19-2015, 8:45 AM Reply   
Nice! I saw that on Ebay back in september, anf the boat was in my town. Good to see someone is fixing her up. What did you get her for if you dont mind?
Old     (shawndoggy)      Join Date: Nov 2009       10-19-2015, 9:38 AM Reply   
Fabulous work. Really like the window switch idea... seems pretty intuitive.

That tower tho... was there something wrong with the skylon? That new tower is just ... well... I mean.... nevermind.
Old     (davez71)      Join Date: Oct 2007       10-19-2015, 11:03 AM Reply   
Great good. Always like looking at the work you put into the boats. Why switch the towers? The Swoop tower was a great one....
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-19-2015, 12:02 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by davez71 View Post
Great good. Always like looking at the work you put into the boats. Why switch the towers? The Swoop tower was a great one....
Nothing wrong with the Skylon Tower, other than some of the bolts being pretty stuck due to age and salt. The feel of the old tower didn't do it for me. I feel like it hides the lines of the windshield and doesn't flow smoothly. (Like I mentioned the Skylon is for sale, so hopefully it goes on to have a great life. I guess its just a taste thing. I did the Freeride tower a few years back on a Tige and was impressed. Very solid and completely quiet. Plus its similar to the newer malibu's. I strongly kicked around the idea of an Apex tower, but in the end decided against it, as friends and family voted it down.(Pic below, but I would have stuck with black)

I really dig the tower I chose and when the time comes I think it will help with resale and while its not OEM, (I looked and couldn't find one) I think it really looks great on this boat.

Boarder85- I don't mind sharing what I paid, text or pm me. 801-404-3744.
Attached Images
 
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-19-2015, 12:07 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by shawndoggy View Post
Fabulous work. Really like the window switch idea... seems pretty intuitive.

That tower tho... was there something wrong with the skylon? That new tower is just ... well... I mean.... nevermind.
The window switch is awesome, and yes, very intuitive, pull back to extend and forward to stow, would hate to accidentally push these out while going fast and damage something. Also kids tend to push more than pull so pretty kid friendly. We found the right amount of extension was about 2 seconds of switch time, maybe shorter and about 15 - 25* of extension.
Attached Images
  
Old     (bjeremi)      Join Date: Mar 2006       10-21-2015, 6:50 AM Reply   
Very nice work on the surfgate! Wish I had the skill set to get that knocked out.

Agreed with above though. Really dug those swoop towers.
Old     (seth)      Join Date: Sep 2002       10-21-2015, 10:37 AM Reply   
Rob are you up in Paso Robles now? I thought you were in Utah but that is Lake Nacimiento.
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       10-23-2015, 12:24 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by seth View Post
Rob are you up in Paso Robles now? I thought you were in Utah but that is Lake Nacimiento.
Seth, we moved to Atascadero about a year ago. Loving the longer riding season and no winters. Naci is a great lake. Can't wait to see it with more water.
Old     (seth)      Join Date: Sep 2002       10-25-2015, 6:10 AM Reply   
Nice! Have you been to VS Marine yet? My good buddy Shawn Wilson manages the shop, tell him I sent you! See you on the water!

Reply
Share 

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 8:50 AM.

Home   Articles   Pics/Video   Gear   Wake 101   Events   Community   Forums   Classifieds   Contests   Shop   Search
Wake World Home

 

© 2019 eWake, Inc.    
Advertise    |    Contact    |    Terms of Use    |    Privacy Policy    |    Report Abuse    |    Conduct    |    About Us