installing sponsons

[Rodney Leopard]

trying to install sponsons on 93 sp and for the life of me i cant get the foam out,am i gonna have to totally destroy the foam and just replace it or what? thanks

[Technical Support]

A keysaw works well.

[Bill O'Neal2]

A keysaw is very messy. Try a hot knife to cut sections out, then glue them back in when you finish installing the sponsons.

[dnoel]

Aye, a knife/saw will work, but a hotknife will be a MUCH better solution.

It took me over an hour to hack out the foam when adding a pair of Beach House's to my 97 GSX and I'm still digging little pieces of foam out of my bilge.

I don't have a hotknife, but I'm planning on using a blowtorch to heat up a hacksaw blade or something when I put my sponsons on my 2003 XP. It's not a fun project... I've had the sponsons for my XP for a month or 2, but the prospect of being burried in the engine compartment getting fiberglass in my hands and arms again is just not modivating.

[Bill O'Neal]

You do not need to remove the foam on all later models that have the holes through the foam for the bolts that hold on the sponsons. I think they started putting the holes in the foam about 1996 or so.

[dnoel]

I think my 97 had holes in the foam, but it was easier to hack the foam out. If I remember right there were alignment issues. Even the holes that were lined up, trying to get a nut threaded onto the bolt using just a socket on something you couldn't see was dam near impossible for me.

On my 2003 XP I need to put a 1 foot backplate on, so have to chop all that out and can't even consider using the holes in the foam.

[Bill O'Neal]

Yes, installing a backing plate does require removing the foam.

But, when installing sponsons without backing plates, using the holes is really not that hard to do if you have the proper tools to do it with.

I use a very long 1/4 inch extension, a deep socket and some electrical tape to hold the tools together and keep the nuts in the socket.
I use a long phillips screwdriver to put the washers onto the bolts, by sliding the washers down the screwdriver shank and onto the bolts.

Although I have done this alone quite a few times, if someone is around, they can be of assistance in holding and tigthening the bolts.

It helps to read the BHE instructions that come with the sponsons, then be a little creative. Air ratchets are a big help too.

I often tease my mechanics by telling them that they need to be smarter than the bolts and nuts that they are trying to install [img]smile.gif[/img]