It’s been a minute since I’ve posted the jet ski project, so I wanted to give an update.
Here’s the update: Go buy a Jet ski already! One that you have to stand-up on. If you like awesome stuff (which you clearly do because you’re here lol), you’re gonna love stand-up jet ski culture. The more I get involved, the stronger the addiction becomes. It’s a total crap-ton of fun. There are no rules or speed limits. You don’t have to get jet skis aligned & rotate tires lol. The community is super helpful & inclusive. And you get a workout while having a total blast & grooming your tan lol.
We repaired our Kawasaki 750’s hull & prepped it for paint.
The hull had some weak spots, and a couple crack & holes. So we had to fix & reenforce the hull to make it strong, solid, and seaworthy once again. Check out the previous post HERE for the details on all that. It was a lot of tedious sanding, drying-time, and waiting around. Stuff that you had to just chip away at… little by little… day by day. PS: We also covered the fire extinguisher holes in the rear of the jet ski for a cleaner look, it will be covered in Hydro Turf so perfection is not crucial here.
Once the jet ski hull was repaired & strengthened structurally, we used Total Boat’s ‘Total Fair’ to smooth it all out.
Total Fair will smooth out low spots, chips in the fiberglass, and various imperfections. It’s a 2-part mix. Mix it together in equal amounts & it turns into a green putty. Apply it with a plastic spreader, let it harden overnight, and then block-sand it out.
Tip from a friend who’s a bodyman: Roll up a magazine into a tear-drop shape & duct-tape it up. That gives you a good homemade block-sander. We used 120 grit sandpaper to knock it down initially, and then switched to 220 to sand it out.
Next up, we primed…
We get all our paint & bodywork supplies from Total Boat – from the resin, to the Total Fair, to the primer, to the Wet Edge top coat. Total Boat is proven to be durable & well respected in the marine world. Plus, it’s wise to use the same brand throughout the entire paint & body process, so there are no weird/unknown reactions in chemicals that could compromise the finish. Don’t go using auto parts store fiberglass resin on a jet ski… it won’t hold up. We rolled-on the Total Boat 2-Part Epoxy Primer with a 6” roller. Let it dry & harden overnight. Then, it was back to block-sanding to achieve a really smooth/straight painting surface.
Finally… we paint.
Our paint is Total Boat’s ‘Wet Edge’ in their color called Sea Foam. Wet Edge is durable, and it’s able to be sprayed by the Average Joe type of hobbyist. Meaning, you don’t need super-professional equipment to lay it down. It’s designed to smooth itself out as it hardens. In fact, you can actually roll it on with a roller. On a bigger/broader-sided boat, that might make more sense, but on a ski with smaller crevasses, we choose to spray it on. I went to Harbor Freight & bought the cheapest $29 dollar spray gun they’ve got. Tip: Their cheapest gun really does surprisingly well. As we were about to paint, one of my buddy’s buddy’s (who just happens to be an automotive painter by trade) just randomly stopped by. Ummmm… thank you God?? So I lucked out, and he sprayed it for us in about 10 minutes. Amazing.
