Old school jet-boats, anyone into them? Looking for some info and guidance

[yellowK20]

So I really dig the mid 70's jetboats with all the Metal flake paint and Chromed out bigblocks , tuck and roll interiors ect . A few of my buddies up here have them and I have built a few motors for them and spent some time on the water .

When I was in New Mexico we spent quite a bit of time at Elephant Butte lake , and the occasional trip to Havasu , seen a bunch of really cool boats with painted to match trucks and trailers .




So I kinda want to do the samething with my 79 crewcab



I did some horse trading and ended up with 74 Tahiti 18ft with a Berkley Jet







Its set up for a BBC , but I also got a motor plates for a Big Block Olds, Big Block chrysler , and 429/460 Ford.

Most likely it will be GM or Mopar powered and painted to match the truck .

 

[ryoken]

neat... KTM does jetboat schtuff......










I do boat stuff daily.. I play with mostly Hamilton jets tho... Ultra's on occasion...

metal flake isn't really my cliental

.

 

[The Griff]

I see something large, German, and diesel powered back there.

 

[ryoken]

I see something large, German, and diesel powered back there.

yup.....

pair of twin turbo, common rail 12 cylinder Mann's...... that was a sick repower... I would install those by myself repeatedly at 5 am during mock up...

 

[The Griff]

Damn, I don't know much about the MAN stuff outside of their truck division.

They're regarded as some of the finest road going diesel engines in existence.

 

[yellowK20]

neat... KTM does jetboat schtuff......










I do boat stuff daily.. I play with mostly Hamilton jets tho... Ultra's on occasion...

metal flake isn't really my cliental

.

I have done some Hamilton jets , pretty popular with the Commercial salmon and herring fisherman in western alaska as the jets let you go right over the top of set nets without getting caught up in the prop .

Boat work sucks , I commend you for being able to do it !!! Cramped quarters and smelly bilges are not for me. it does pay pretty good though during fishing season outfits practically beg guys to come out and spin wrenches ,

 

[ktmoutfront]

I haven't had a jet boat since, well, the early 80's. A lot of fun to drive and easy to work on. Suck stuff in is the killer. But everything is easily accessible. Juat don't panic and back off of the gas to turn.

V-drives are my thing. Much more efficient. I was just talking to Eileen tonight about going to pick mine up in
Lake Havasu.

All of the information you could ever need is here. "CK5" of the boat world.

http://www.performanceboats.com/jet-boats/

Mine.

 

[runamok151]

It's funny you posted this tonight. I was listening to some jet drag boats running on the nearby creek a little before sunset tonight. They're about 4 miles away but the sound of 1000+ hp at WOT through open headers tends to travel pretty far.

My uncle had a 19' Eliminator for years w/ a 650 hp 454 through a berkley drive. It was an honest 95 mph boat and he always kept it interesting when he took us out waterskiing. He'd stand it up on the nozzle at the hole shot and his son Tony and I were the only two w/ the strength to hold on long enough to actually get up on the skis. He had a 850 hp 460 he built to put in it, really wanted the 100 mph, but he sold everything when my aunt got sick.

 

[snowdriver]

Those low profile jet boats cool factor is through the roof,but they kinda scare me,stick with my 21foot blue water montecarlo

 

[ktmoutfront]

I love sitting on the water at 70mph.

 

[yellowK20]

So I ordered up some stuff today from glenwood marine and basset headers , made the decsion to go with mopar big block that came out of the power wagon I just rescued .

Its a 71 440 block with 426 wedge heads , it does run but I think I want to put a stroker rotating assembly

 

[Bowtie85]

Subscribed for awesomeness.

Don't own a jet myself, just an old Banshee mk2 w/100 horse O/B on er. It's painted to match my k15.

 

[yellowK20]

Subscribed for awesomeness.

Don't own a jet myself, just an old Banshee mk2 w/100 horse O/B on er. It's painted to match my k15.

View attachment 208217

Man I bet that little thing scoots!

 

[Bowtie85]

Man I bet that little thing scoots!

It's a 15 footer, with a rotten and water logged transom/floor/stringers it would cruise along at 38-40mph gps.

Hoping with the rebuild I gave the hull and a 4" static jack plate I can get it up to 45-48mph.

Nothing super fast, but fast for a tiny little boat.

 

[diesel4me]

I like this "jet boat"...thing takes some horrible abuse !..

 

[yellowK20]

I already have a Jetboat for running the rivers up here , Its a Phantom Sport Jon with a 300hp FNM Diesel Its great boat for hunting up here . The new boat is purely about looking good and going fast lol

This is the type of river running we do:

 

[ktmoutfront]

How shallow can that boat clear.

 

[yellowK20]

How shallow can that boat clear.

It will run on a damp washcloth, mine has UHMW bottom so it glides right across most things . Dont get me wrong I have had it stuck bad a few times but I have a warn ATV winch and a couple rock bars to use as anchors to get it out .




This was back in 2009 when I bought it, it had a 240 hp Optimax 2-stroke but it was super hard on fuel

 

[yellowK20]

Back from the dead , so not much to update My boat is stuck in body shop purgatory

The engine is built , 543 stroker big block mopar . I sold the 426 max wedge heads to a collector and bought a set of 325cc Indy cylinder heads . I still need to find a tunnel ram and linkage to work with Edelbrock 800’s made to look like carter AFB’s

If the boat ever gets done with paint the next step will be upholstery .

 

[wasted wages]

And now for something completely different......