O'Brien World Team 1990 - 770 binding repair / replacement

[worldteamaus]

My beloved 1990 model World Team has a broken front foot binding mechanism. The pin that locks the adjustable front foot piece onto the ski no longer stays engaged. It looks like the spring is no longer driving the pin into the closed position. I don't quite know how that happened - I did let another skier use it just prior to it breaking, but on closer examination it looks like there's a bit of rusting of whatever made the linkage between the pin and the spring (rather than the other skier being too harsh on it !)

 

I managed to Google an old copy of Ski magazine from Jan/Feb 1990 which shows my ski on page 238 and details on page 239.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=5h02AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA239&lpg=PA239&dq=world+team+kevlar+770&source=bl&ots=VoNhry6Gd3&sig=GWGuBRg4gYRbrHbSfL7LN9qE3XI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BzidVe7nHMq4-QGi372QBQ&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA

 

and this lists it has having a "770" front adjustable binding. I can't find any identifying marks on my binding, but it looks to be the same (as best as I can tell from the black-and-white picture)

 

So now the serious questions:

 

1. Is there any chance that someone has spare parts for a binding this old ? If I can just get the pin mechanism sorted out, the rest of the rubber, etc seems to be in good condition.

 

2. What sort of current binding might be compatible with this ski ? I'm mindful of new bindings having different mounting hole configurations, and don't want to be drilling my old ski in places where it's not designed to have holes put !

 

3. Does anyone have a parts list for this binding ? Maybe it just needs a simple circlip or similar to engage the pin on the spring ? I just don't know enough about this to be sure !

 

I dearly love this ski. When I started cable water skiing in Australia, this was what I rode - I loved the way it whistled on the wake-free cable lake with my weight on it. When my parents got a ski boat, I just kept on using it. Nowadays, I really only ski once a year at scout camp (when teaching Water Sports merit badge), unless I happen to meet someone with a boat that I can get a few runs behind. For this reason, I really don't want to buy a new ski if I can repair my beloved World Team !!!

 

I've attached a few photos which hopefully show the ski, the binding mounting, and the underside of the binding with the pin and spring locking mechanism.

 

Thanks

J

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mikegile]

Call Darren at Wileys. 206-762-1300.

If anyone is going to have it, he will.