DW

Fun experiment - pop the cover off your crank mounted Johnson / Sherwood raw water pump squirt some water in the housing, start and run the engine for a short bit, shut off and watch the impeller turn backwards just before it comes to rest. Why did I do that, I wanted to fire the engine in my shop and was going to pop off the impeller but it was being cranky so I thought heck just squirt some water in there for lubrication and noticed what happened. I was surprised how little of reverse rotation flipped half the blades. Pretty sure a Jabsco side mount won't do that as the six blades are much stiffer than the Johnson ones. Obviously it does not matter since there are thousands of these things working just fine but it does make you think not to ignore it as a maintenance item. Chris' comment on oil filter check valve is important for the inverted filter setups.

Prior to adding signage or additional floating marking buoys, verify particularly with state regs but also any HOA regs that become part of the lake usage. You don't want to create a bigger issue than you are experiencing now. Good luck, it is a tough nut to crack. Fish seem to hang around or under any structure that provides shade which includes slalom buoys so fishermen tend to migrate to rather than from our beloved patch of water.

Pump probably needs a throttle burp to prime it. Just as easy to fill from top.

Food for thought - that section of the boat more than likely gets the most water dumped on it from platform ingress at the end of your set. If you plan on using marine plywood I suggest sealing it, treat it as a core material and cover with epoxy resin and cloth mat (carbon or fiberglass). I do not subscribe to the just a few pounds has no effect, it does. You wouldn’t feel the wake is better with low fuel (transom tank) if weight was irrelevant.

Most vehicles (cars, boats) use a very similar fuel pump in a cannister. If you are willing to dig in, the pump is much cheaper than the entire cannister since it is pretty much a very common part and lots are made. The stuff in the cannister rarely fails. A word of warning from experience - given lots are made, there are sub quality options available, specifically in my case on a pick up truck, an Airtex brand pump which failed in 6 months. Recommendation - go with known quality brands such as Bosch and Delphi.

@BraceMaker - I assume I am missing the part where you lock the steering wheel when the auto steer is engaged. If you don’t how do you account for the degree of freedom or are you assuming the servo will be fast enough to compensate? If you throttle up an engaged PP, the speed does ramp up before correcting itself.

Another spot to check with your temp gun is each side of the intake manifold water passage leading in to the tstat housing. You might find a split across each side, you can also check which side incorporates the water temp and / or alarm sensor.

How to be in sync with your skier and ‘spot on’ with those sure path numbers: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0nqekm87uTY

My approach was one of weight reduction, so I made a panel using a foam core and wrapping in carbon fiber. I added a rib on the underside to add stiffness. Cut the weight in half. I did same with platform, finished item is just under 10 lbs w/ brackets. You can do similar and use marine plywood as the core. https://www.boatoutfitters.com/coosa-composites-board?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADyfhhcizCV88wUyuYODzN4ekhFKG&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8--2BhCHARIsAF_w1gxt-jXE1YtRQjmzI0b3cnNHckH6KXAdwKeIXwKCRq2thkWN8OPgLwsaAmSXEALw_wcB

Maybe this will help, appears simply a wing position option: https://pdf.nauticexpo.com/pdf/goode/slalom-water-ski-technical-manual/26724-5085-_12.html If the fin looks different, look up slot fin and see if there is some info for that.

Or look at it from being on a private ski lake and your only driver option is someone who is not that skilled, nervous to pull you through the course or 'in training' and planning to abandon the training wheels down the line. It does not take long to dig up comments of driver despair from skiers. Kudos to continued R&D.

@On_edge - my question was more geared towards 'Will my current PP system end up on Ski-it-Again when I purchase this one v. I buy x,y,z to integrate with the existing system' (ala Z box as an example).

3 boys aged 7 > 12, I see a lot of low cost labor there, maybe as hard as herding cats, but certainly lots of energy to help rip out carpet, buff the hull, learn new skills (fiber glass work) and hand dad tools with learning and family bonding opportunities. Good luck.

@RAWSki By getting you to do it 😅😆

What is needed for boats already equipped with PP and/or don't have an extra hole for another display or want an extra display.