07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

[skidooseadoo83]

So i did a major overhaul on my 07 VX deluxe, and here it is for anyone maybe contemplating a project like this. It is a big undertaking but can be done. This was my first experience with fiberglass and it didnt go too bad, definitely learned a lot. This thing was trashed when i bought it, and i dealt the finishing blows. 30 miles up a river in the middle of no where Alaska i had to drill a hole through my drive shaft coupler and drive shaft to stick a bolt through it so i could get home, it totally stripped out the threads on the aluminum coupler when i sucked a rock. Also, the hull was leaking badly. Things needed replaced/fixed- drive shaft coupler, drive shaft, bearings, impeller, sponson (hole in it) intake grate (missing a bar) hull needs re-fiber glassed, broken mirrors, stator housing, impeller housing trashed, missing rear trim. Upgrades- aftermarket impeller, scoop pump intake, pump shoe seal kit, aftermarket air intake filter, aftermarket adjustable sponsons, remove water box and install straight pipe exhaust, replace mirrors with cleats, and speakers system. This all took me about a month.


Started with the easy stuff, sponsons first.


cant tell from teh outside its totally f'ed inside.

Chewed impeller and stator fins.

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

This is the hole drilled through the coupler sleeve and drive shaft. Did this with about 12 cordless drill batteries and a guy that had a cabin with a drill bit sharpener and about 5 of the same side drill bits, took almost 3 hours. Stuck a bolt through it, and ended up sheering it twice that weekend.

Pullin the engine


Do not, under any circumstance, loose one of those plates! I lost one... it was really just hiding way back in the hull, i swore there was nothing back there.... anyways, this plate DOES NOT show up in any yamaha parts breakdowns. I spent several hours on the phone trying to get this part.... and they kept sending the rubber part of the mount.... finally i made a replacement out of a plate and shim stock the exact width of the others... important for engine shaft alignment.

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

Did a leak test with everything out, wasnt sure if the mush spot in the hull was the cause of all the water leaking in or if it was the problem with the metal bearing mount plate to hull bond. Turned out it was just the mush spot, i ordered a new plate just in case.

The before pic, you can see some already attempted gel coat fixes by previous owners. Pretty beat up.


Ground down to good stuff. After doing this once, i def should have just ground it out in a circle, with even rise in elevation up all sides, would have ended up with a smoother finish. Lessons learned.

Its a little unsetling grinding holes in the bottom of your waverunner....

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

Cardboard backed to match the contour of the hull. Its important to make sure you have the correct epoxy, that will bond to whatever material your hull is. Although my profession is being a mechanic, I learned everything im doing with the fiberglass on youtube, lol.

Marking out sheet templates.

I alternated layers, but only used two layers of the loose woven sheets, i cant remember but in the end i think there are about 8 layers on the all the way through spot. Its way stronger than it was before.

Got the first layers down.

While that was curing, i pressed the old bearings off the drive shaft. BEFORE YOU DO THAT!!Make sure you use a set of calipers to mesure from the end of the shaft to the face of the bearing. There are no shoulders or marks, you must set the new bearings at the same distance or your coupler will either be too close or too far away from the engine. This is very important. Also, dont forget to put your seal on before pressing the new bearing on.

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

Correctly finishing each cured layer of fiberglass is also really important or they wont bond together properly.

So once I got the deeper spots filled in, i covered it with more complete woven sheets. This added tons of strength.

Another look at the shaft bearing assembly, putting the new damper on. Everything right there is brand new. The old bearings weren't bad, but after all the vibration i figured I should just do them while im in there.

Both trailer bunks were also broken, made new ones.

Used some filler once I had the final glass done, fill in any low spots. Again, finishing between layers, very important.

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

Smoothed out the fins on the stator housing best I could, Just ordered a new one with an impeller housing as well last week. That will by the final two things and I can consider it %100 restored

New impeller.

Painted. Again, gotta get the right stuff or it wont bond.

New intake with shoe seal kit.

Glad that is over with.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

Nice work. I think its time to open your own PWC repair shop. Hey while the engines still out, how about dropping the new 1.8 liter in there and turning it into a VX-R !!! Would be a heck of a sleeper ski !!! Good luck.

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

Puttin the engine back in. You can see the broken mirror mounts replaced with cleats.

First ride. I never saw over 54 mph on the speedo since i owned it. I know the dash speedo isnt as accurate, but comparatively, i almost hit 70 mph on this ride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOE5G4QRZJ8

And then on that very first ride... very end of the day right at the launch, got in the swell of my buddy and sucked rocks in the trough. Totally destroyed my new impeller.


Replaced that and added these speakers. Not a bad little system, you can hear it when you are at speed.

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

Thats was all last season. This season, just ordered the stator housing, impeller housing/liner, rear trim piece (forgot to rivet it back on, just set it on there... gone the first ride, lol) speedo pick up repair kit, my wheel fell off, and thats it. No more money into the ol VX.

 

[skidooseadoo83]

Re: 07' Yamaha VX 110 Deluxe Major Overhaul

Rooster, my buddie has a VXR, he rides with me a lot. That thing is way faster then my VX.