Wasn't too bad for its age. It had quite a bit of oxidation on it. Some spots felt like a very fine sandpaper. The clay took care of that rather quickly. I was contemplating color sanding it, but decided against it after I saw the results.

Looks like that motor has an AC Delco oil filter on it. If so, that means the prior owner probably did his oil changes at the dealer.

Looking to convert my boat from hydraulic to manual and I need the manual controller to mount to the stringer. Let me know what you have.

From reading all the replies so far, it sounds like the general consensus is that having a gauge is a matter of personal preference. Cutting a hole and wiring up a gauge is a pretty simple task. However, as I stated before, only the left tank has a sening unit and by the looks of it cannot be seviced unless the tank is removed. I think it would be pretty pointless to go thru the trouble of getting that sending unit to work and not be able to read the level in both tanks. The way I see it, I have 2 options: A) Remove both tanks and run wiring for two senders then install a 2 way switch. Or B) Carry a stick in my boat and manually check the fuel level. I don't know what's involved in removing and reinstalling both fuel tanks, but it doesn't look easy. This is something that I'm going to have to think about for a while. Thanks for the replies.

I recently purchased a '78 Rogers Bonneville and it lacks a gas gauge. From what I can tell, it looks like it never had one. I spoke to someone who knows about these boats and he said that some were built w/o gas gauges. Interestingly enough, the left side tank has a sensding unit and I see some wires. It lloks like the tank needs to be removed in order to access the sending unit and there is room on the dash for one more gauge (need to cut a hole) My question is: Is a lack of a gas gauge normal? Is it worth it to go thru the trouble of installing one? Most people that I've spoken to say that their boats have gas gauges but most of the time, they're not really that accurate. Any thoughts?

Ya, I was suprised also when the lady told me that the trailer needed to be inspected. Maybe it's because I'm transfering it to my name? anyways, I checked the locations that GT mentioned and there is nothing there. Looks like the dumbass that replaced that section of the trailer didn't notice that the vin was there. I'm just gonna take the thing in on monday and see what happens. The trailer looks old, so maybe the inspector will look at the title, see that it says 1978 and send me on my way.

Fixed it for you Ron! 

Good looking sled! Whats wrong with the pmp though?

Ray

The guy I bought it from told me that he sucked something up into the jet and it started making a loud noise. He got an estimate for the repair and decided to park it. I believe him on this. The trailer and boat registration both expired in '07 (the same year he bought it) When I got the boat home, I started it and verified that the jet makes noise. A friend and I partially took the jet apart and we found a baseball cap in it. We think that he continued to drive the boat with the baseball cap in there as opposed to shutting it down and getting a tow.

Left side

A few more pics

Just registerd today and thought I'd check in to say hi. Last month, at the age of 36 I purchased my first boat. I've been looking at boats off and on for 7 or 8 years but never was serious enough to buy one. I finally found the perfect boat and I decided to pull the trigger. It's a 1978 Rogers 19 ft. with a very patriotic color scheme and it is in really good condition. It has that classic jet boat look that I admire so much. It has the original gel and interior. At some point it was updated with a sound system and hydraulic place diverter. The BBC was rebuilt a few years ago and runs strong. I don't like Demon carburetors, so one of the first things I did was to install a Holley 750 on it. The old Morse steering cable was siezed so I replaced it with a TeleFlex unit.  I also had to do a ton of work on the trailer and I'll be done painting it as soon as the weather improves. The Berkeley jet was damaged by the previous owner, so I will be having that repaired as soon as funds are available. I restore classic cars for as a hobby, so I am mechanically inclined. However, I'm no boat expert but I luckily have friends who know their stuff that have been helping me alot. I've learned a ton in the past few weeks already. I've been reading the forums here and it looks like there is a vast amount of 411 on this site. Hopefully my pic posts.