# Building a jet jon..Gonna need alot of help.



## EdFast (Oct 28, 2013)

Hello. Let me start by saying you guys have an awesome little forum here.. I Live in wyo and there is not alot of help to be had as there are not many people. I have been lurking for awhile now while gathering supplies and working on my skills. I have had and OB jet for 3 years now but it is just not enough to push my boat the way I want to push it. I was hoping to buy a nice already build jet jon but I missed one on here and have not found any others that I liked. That being said I decided I was going to build one out of my current boat. Long story short I am going to take the 40 hp ob jet off my 85 hewescraft river runner and drop a 96 1050 polaris engine and pump in it. I bout a plasma cutter and spool gun to assist in the job. I just bought 2 jet skis one 1050 and one 780 I figured the 1050 is more hp so I might as well go from there. engine has good compression The pump seems fine but in I am ignorant to what to look for and figured I could rebuild it if need be. I have noticed that many people attempt to retrofit the fiberglass section of the just ski directly into the boat. I run real shallow and rocky waters and have dreams of an entirely aluminum hull? Have any of you done this. Basically I in need of where to start and what not to do. Thanks


----------



## PSG-1 (Oct 28, 2013)

Welcome to the forum! 8) 

If you're wanting an all aluminum intake system, take a look at my boat for some ideas.


----------



## EdFast (Mar 20, 2014)

Ok so I have been snowmobiling since I last thight of this. I have choped the top off the jest ski and gutted the back half of my boat. I see most people use the fiberglass part of their boat and then epoxy them in? IT seems like a strange thing to but if it work cool. How much build time is saved by going this route is there any other reason to stay fiberglass ir is it done just to keep it simple? Thanks


----------



## Ranchero50 (Mar 20, 2014)

I feel a large portion of why folks cobble the fiberglass ski to the aluminum hull is because they don't have the skill or knowledge to do the work out of aluminum. Projects like this are always full of compromises so you really need to decide what this build is going to become and how you are going to go about it. 

For a short term year or two of use don't care project grafting the hulls together can work well. However if you only want to do it once, I would do it out of aluminum. That's the route I went. It required more initial work but has been really trouble free for my use and duty.


----------



## EdFast (Mar 27, 2014)

Cables?? who or where did you guys order longer steering cables? I would like to move everything a bit forward. Thanks Levi


----------



## PSG-1 (May 1, 2014)

Sorry for the late reply, I've had a hell of a time since February. Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis and 3 weeks in the hospital with a week of it in ICU, part of that time being on a ventilator, frontal lobe damage causing memory and other issues. Anyhow, it's going to be a long, slow recovery.

As for your cables, for steering, you should really consider using the Teleflex cc6400 series cable, it has the 5/16 x 24 ends, and is a much beefier cable than the little cc6300 cables with their 10-32 ends. I have seen the 6300 cables bend and/or break from corrosion, torque, and other causes. You don't want steering failures, use the 6400 series cables. This is what they use on factory jet boats like Yamaha and Sea Doo. You will likely need to modify your existing jet ski steering ball socket fitting by cutting larger threads for the larger cable size, as most jet skis use the 10-32 size cable.

For your reverse and other functions, you can use the smaller 10-32 cables. But again, don't do it with steering.

When you order the cable, as an example, for an 18 ft long 6400 series cable, it would read "CC64018".... the last 2 digits are always the length in feet.

I ordered mine through West Marine, but you can order them through any marine outfitter. Hope this helps.


----------



## loosecaboose (May 1, 2014)

PSG-1, sorry to hear of your health issues. I hope you have a full and speedy recovery. Get well soon!


----------



## PSG-1 (May 1, 2014)

Thanks, loose caboose! Actually, I'm doing MUCH better than I was. As the days and weeks pass by, I improve more and more. The good news is that while it did a little bit of damage, for the most part, I'm back to normal, just have to take Depakote for a while, as the brain repairs itself from the damage. I have a little trouble with my short term memory (but then, I had that before the seizure anyhow) as well as ability to concentrate, but that will come back in time.

But all things considered, I'm very lucky to be alive, and not be in a wheelchair, or in a psychiatric hospital...which is where they were planning to transfer me, until a neuropsychiatrist correctly diagnosed the problem, and I went home the very next day.


----------



## PSG-1 (May 1, 2014)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=345636#p345636 said:


> Ranchero50 » 20 Mar 2014, 17:15[/url]"]I feel a large portion of why folks cobble the fiberglass ski to the aluminum hull is because they don't have the skill or knowledge to do the work out of aluminum. Projects like this are always full of compromises so you really need to decide what this build is going to become and how you are going to go about it.
> 
> For a short term year or two of use don't care project grafting the hulls together can work well. However if you only want to do it once, I would do it out of aluminum. That's the route I went. It required more initial work but has been really trouble free for my use and duty.




That's pretty much my assessment on it, as well. While it's much easier to just graft the glass hull to the johnboat, in the long run, going with the completely fabricated design will prove to be more reliable and durable. Also, going with a bolt-in duct (such as a Yamaha XL1200) will allow replacement of the pump if it were ever damaged by a rock strike, etc. With a glass duct, it's more of an issue.


----------

