Hello im new to the forum and wanted to say hello. This is my first boat and its a 1971 horizon. I purchased it in long beach from the original owner. it had been in his garage since 1995. He stopped using it at that time because all of his kids moved away and he said he was just old to use it. it has an olds 455 which was rebuilt in 94 along with the jacuzzi wj. I pulled a head off and sure enough there were still cross hatching in the bores. The original gel coat buffed out really nice. The boats name when i purchased it was "eight bottle six pack"...A nod to the owners love of a soda called bubble up. I towed the boat back to phoenix, put a battery in and sprayed the carb with some brake cleaner and it fired first time. I took it out on the water 2 days in a row to make sure all was in order then decided i wanted to make it my own. I painted the top of the boat and then had a friend upholster it. Ive read alot about jet boats and realized i needed to be able to throw roost so i added a droop snoot and place diverter with hydraulic controls. I named the boat bubble up as a nod to the original owner. As a mechanic that dabbles in paint it took me 3 days to lay everything out and get it painted...everythingfrom from silver, creme, candy orange, purple, and teal are in there along with some pearls...a buddy upholstered for me and only charged me for materials just because he loved the story of the boat so much. From what ive read most people think these boats are ugly but honestly i didnt know the difference between and ugly one or a good looking one. From a performance stand point im pretty much at the boats maximum potential without opening the motor. Ive acdtually started looking for a BBC and recently bought a berkeley pump that might make it into it a later date or I might just start looking for a hull here in phoenix thats missing a motor and pump. I havent got a chance to gps it but from what ive read it should be doing about 50 on the water. When i purchased it my idea was that at worst if i didnt like boats i would have a BBO for my 71 cutlass but im having a blast with this little fella....add to that im in it about 1800 at this time and its a win win situation. Im on the water saturday and sunday every weekend...ive found that saguaro lake out in mesa has the best conditions for my boat....and im able to open it up a bit out there without risking life and limb. Hope you guys like it and again...hello to all
