Hi Guys!

I am brand new to the forum and needed some advice. I just got a jet boat last summer and it needs some motor work. It is a Baja 190BR with a 350 Chevy (although the tag on the engine says 454, it is not a big block). The motor is pretty tired, it has low compression and it doesn't have much kick anymore. And now on top of it my jet pump (which is a Berkley 12JE) has started growling so I pulled the boat out of the water to avoid causing more damage. Also, before it started making noise I suspected that it was not efficient anymore. This tired 350 was able to spin the "A" impeller to almost 5000rpm. According to the Berkley impeller chart it would need some real HP to do that kind of RPM. I have all the maintenance records for the boat since the early 90's. The last owner had the jet pump done about 8 years ago. So I imagine it is time for it to be rebuilt.

Any info you guys can give would be awesome!

- I want to build the 350 while it is out of the boat. My goal is around 400HP. Will the normal 2 point engine mount (which connects to the standard motor mount points on the block to the stingers) be okay for that horsepower limit?

- Do I need forged pistons? I want to do this on a budget so the less forged hardware would be nice on my wallet.

- For this level do I need to do anything to the cylinder heads? Such as different valve seats?

- What intake would be recommended? Single plane or dual plane? Any recommendations on Camshaft specs or cylinder heads?

- For this power what impeller would be best? I think a "B" or a "B/C" would be best. Most of what we do is cruise and blast around. What about adding an inducer?
 
- When rebuilding the pump should I use normal wear rings or stepped wear rings?

Thanks guys!