Gloersen

@skijay - still need to modify the trakker, if it can improved will post photos. The foam block has 4 compression springs arranged in a square within and thin stainless cable running through each to pins on the camera mount base plate. Not sure it helps. Now the carabiner rattles the tracking arm too much. Haven't tried your modification with the shock tube, will have to give that a try.

@matthewbrown - concur, always have struggled riding the ski balanced, tend to excessively bend the rear leg & a relatively straight left leg. Need to use video consistently to implement fundamental changes. 67" A3 - Reflex 29.5"/Wiley 18", 2.505/6.837/.775/9w (dft typo edited) Thanks for posting that vid to evaluate; you're making that green ski look good.

Was recently informed of his accomplished trick skiing talent; impressive!

the '03 SN 196 slowly becoming the training boat. Motor revision & ZO strong thus far. using a dash mounted tablet with direct wi-fi to the camcorder for operation of the video recording, zoom, then subsequent post-set viewing to see how poorly one actually skis; video self-coaching, quite humbling. Obviates the need for a mirror. Revision of the tracking mount or a better product needed. My hunch is on-board video review with a decent screen is commonplace by season's end. End goal; more buoys....

thanks all for the replies; good advice! @Bruce_Butterfield - much appreciated. Was edging out nearly pylon width last summer but having difficulty maintaining line tension; too much load on initiation and since reverted to too many visual cues and subsequently narrow. Today back to looking at the driver and trying to low load edge out until mid-motor box, try to keep the handle in tight, then roll in. Just 28's today, work in progress, but pylon width with a tight line the goal.The ease of the passes was substantial; the space at 1B & automatically the pass is is in the bag. There's an old-time skier here at Victory, not in particularly good shape anymore, skis 1 set 3x/week, runs 35 all the time, 38 50% of the time, says "get up on the boat wide and backside 1 ball dude and the pass is is in the bag"; he may be right. @h2oskidawg - - yes, you're correct. It results from a lack of good lean, handle connection, and lack of chest back away from the handle past the second wake. Upper body comes up, in and over to the inside, can't reach & counter well when that occurs. Like AM states when speed is sensed one needs to do more, not less. Work in progress. Tired of this drysuit crap 65/65 just too cool to skin it.

...the abuse if anyone cares to comment. 1.) Yes, could get up on the boat further prior to gate transition, but having switched to visuals described by @razorskier; gates have become more consistent despite not getting as wide on the edge-out. 2.) Virtually no lean coming out of the heelside buoy which presumably results from not having the chest/shoulders back & away from the handle past the 2nd wake into the reach. How is this remedied? Getting more agressive just results in pulling myself up even more.

Apropos to the trailing vs. leading arm discussion. 2011 article by Rossi; remains salient. Connection - Rossi

@gregy - whatever ECM E-Controls provided. My knowledge base on this is quite limited. If I understand correctly though, without their ECM it cannot be done. If you can find a way many will be interested in your methodology.

@Gregy - that is correct. The existing throttle lever assembly & cable are used. The throttle cable is re-routed along the starboard side of the motor, looped behind the new fuse assembly box, then up along the port side to the newly mounted bracket/potentiometer assembly. The DBW portion is really just from the potentiometer to the throttle body.

@ktm300 - I concur. What you describe (all or nothing) is most noticeable with the thin Reflex liner. Using a thicker Intuition liner, the fore & aft movement is dampened a bit and tip pressure more gradually engaged. I cannot use the strap in either the short or middle position due to too much tip too early; only the lengthiest (loosest) position is suitable. With a bit of trouble (pita actually) one can drill out the rivets from the heel block, then attach a bungee behind the strap and inside the shell using large washers and small diameter stainless machine bolts to remount the heel block being careful to secure it back tightly and then clean up the ends, cover with silicone to protect the shin, etc. This provides a progressive engagement of tip (or at least the sensation of such) until the strap is fully taught.

@Jody_Seal New ARP head bolts sequentially torqued to specs (though 70 ft-lbs on the final) primed the lifters by spinning the oil pump with a flat head bit/extension on a power drill prior to installing the distributor shaft. Adjusted the valve lash to zero then a full clock-wise rotation on the rocker arm nuts (by the method depicted in the PCM manual). Then with an oil can lubed the valve stems & rocker arms as much as possible, hand turned the crank with a wrench a few revolutions. The motor fired up on the first crank and that first minute of operation on the youtube video it did sound very rattly, but by minute 3 sounded very smooth. Hand adjusted the timing to idle smoothness and acceleration; it's actually running and sounding as strong as ever. No leaks yet, oil remains clear, CHT's above the plug from 168-176F on all 8 at idle after running passes at full operation. So far, so good, but who knows it could all fall apart or blow-up! Wouldn't recommend that anyone try it, but it's good winter therapy. @gregy, the '03 Excalibur with MEFI and cable throttle had to be converted to E-Controls ECM with DBW, it involves exchanging the wiring harness, new throttle body, mounting a few brackets to accommodate the transposed throttle cable to the potentiometer, the bracket for the ECM, fuse box, etc. Not too difficult if one has decent photos or another DBW Excalibur to examine. After that, the ZO install is easy. Although in good conscience; I'd have to recommend having a professional do the upgrade, especially if no access to another slalom boat.

full-time onboard video next. cosmetics last; won't gain additional buoys. the '03's 1st year of life took a beating at Swiss; a bit of a utility boat, 650 hrs in one season, but the price was right. the boot on the box is a bit disheveling for sure.

Overall the conversion was not that formidable excluding a few blunders that had nothing to do with E-Controls/ZO. Whether the cost is justified can only be judged by the user. Good to have the TSC2 wake again, now with ZO, fwiw

Yes. So long as the rear Strada not laced too tightly. Used that setup for a season & it was decent. It is somewhat difficult to get the rear toe close enough to the front heal due to the bulk of the Strada shell and the Silveretta release mechanism of the Reflex. Also you may find the heal coming up in the Strada liner during a pass & not settling back. Consider going to a rear Wiley. The wraps can be modified to come down along each side of the ankle instead of crossing behind the Achilles tendon allowing a clean release and something a bit more "secure" then a RTP.

Getting warmer

Pics for assistance in mounting bracket installation. Exchanging the wire harnesses is straight forward. ECM bracket mounting throttle cable/potentiometer bracket mounting. "U" shaped bracket for fuse assembly

@thager - result of user error. I apply Velcro to heel of Reflex to prevent lateral boot slide, had an unrecognized partial Silvretta release from mild tip stuffing but Velcro kept heel in place, felt clicking on next pass, ignored it; big mistake.

Almost complete with the '03 conversion here. Had it been just the conversion to E-controls DBW & ZO; not too formidable. Tim is very helpful & provides excellent feedback. Most of it is intuitive, transpositioning the throttle cable requires mounting the new bracket with potentiometer on the left front of the intake manifold. Pull the trigger.

Intuition. Seems the fit is better and easier to derive consistent buckle application which imho is critical to reproducible results with the Reflex hardshell.

As good as Correct Crafts are, their pylons chew up ropes. We use the old PP switch with the 10.25 section removed to facilitate rope longevity. I was 45 yoa when going over a jump for the first time. The first 2 jumps were great fun, the 3rd...the last.

Correct, @MS posted the link from which I made the the transaction. Jobe Drysuit Seems the same as the O'Neill. Leaks at ankles (but don't use straps) and the LE's get wet. Top stays dry unless one falls a lot. Suffices for the 50/50 stuff we have here.

...to the matrix...anyone can run 11.25 or at least think they're warm.

DBW? Crap load more than just 1 wire for this conversion.