I'll bet the true HIN is molded into hull hidden behind the metal tag.

I don't think anyone was using that style deck back in 1971, either.

Probably a case of lost title or high overdue DMV fees, so they swapped title's with another boat, or , worst case, trying to cover up the HIN of a stolen boat.

That is the same Mercury steering I have. I will try to get down to my storage today or tomorrow to check the length.

The JE pumps came stock with a "cavitation plate" which in a JE is often mistakenly called a "ride plate". They are MANDATORY on the JE. Since yours is missing, I would start by acquiring and installing the stock cavitation plate and rechecking operation.

If you are talking about separating the ball joint, that style  does not come apart. You need to remove the nut and pull the stud out of the pedal arm, then unscrew the other half from the cable. There is another style of ball joint that does come apart. It has a spring loaded sleeve that keeps the ball in the socket.

Looks like your Sprint has the narrow stringers---1x instead of 2x  material-- That is pretty rare. I suspect the pump setback may be factory as the only other narrow-stringer Sprint I know of also had a factory setback. That boat is owned by Jim DeBoard who posts as Howler439 over on Performance Boats. You might want to contact him and compare notes.

Could we get a pick of the transom just below the pump as well as a shot of the bottom going forward from transom.

Oldsquirt---another Eliminator Sprint owner

That Hull ID number was issued by the state of California for a "home built" hull. That is what the "CFZ" portion of HIN  indicates. Likely done for lack of proper paperwork and no visible ID number. If the boat has been repainted the HIN was likely filled in. I have no idea what hull that is, but it might be easier to ID if you rotated the pics so they were upright.

Nate, define "stock". BBC pans come in two common depth ranges.  "Stock" automotive pan is shallower then "stock" truck. Truck pans will not work. What is the pan rail-to-bottom of rear of pan measurement?

I think I agree with you, but I couldn't quite make out the post...

While I agree, I think there may be something wrong.

You're a better man than me if you could decipher that ...

GT

I had to read his description a couple times, but came to the conclusion he has water entering engine at the t-stat housing and exiting from the water pump plate. If so, his temp gauge(assuming it is in the manifold water crossover) is reading temp of preheated water entering engine, rather than exit water temp. I would hate to see what the actual exit water temp is in that setup with 160 as the incoming temp.

That looks like the American Turbine trim. Check it out under products--> performance parts at http://www.americanturbine.com/

finally got the motor started and went to hook up the water to run it and check timing. hooked the hose up to the water line and it floods the motor    no idea why it did that. when running it with the hose before pulling the motor it worked fine. anything different now that i am running stacks and not through the transom ??

You should probably start by describing how you have the system plumbed.

Hmmm might have to go scoop that up.

Don't waste your money unless you plan to use it for mock-up in a car or truck. For mock-up in a jet boat, they are virtually worthless as there is no crank centerline to reference.

Both Rex Marine(rexmar.com) and ARS Marine(arsmarine.com) list double drilled bowl and nozzle gaskets on their websites. Being in Kansas, you are close to Hi-Tech Performance. Although not on the website(hi-techperformance.com), I would expect Duane would probably have them, also.

When you install a loader, it's not a case of "bolt it in and you're done", especially if you are buying an "off the shelf" , "one size fits all" loader. You also need to see where the leading edge of the loader is relative to the keel. In most cases they will hang down well below.  You really need to trim the ramps back to get the desired balance between better loading of the pump and , for lack of a better term, "drag"
from the ramps.

Ray, your case is a prime example. The 500 rpm drop indicates that your pump is not loading very well without that loader. However, the fact that the boat feels like the tail is stuck to the water indicates the ramps hang too low. You should have cut them back a little at a time to find the proper balance. I have no doubt you would be gaining speed with a little trimming.

For the record, here's my story. Eliminator Sprint with a delta pad to which the previous owner added a small "bubble" ahead of the intake. Pump has been machined for shoe and rideplate and has a diverter.
Ran a pretty consistent 80mph at 5400rpm with a rock grate. Borrowed a friends loader and and saw a gain to 85 mph. Purchased a custom loader from Jack at MPD. At the same time, I acquired an Edelbrock QuickData and set it up to measure upper and lower intake pressures. With the loader installed "as-is", I saw 82 mph. Negligable rpm change. Upper pressures were way higher than the lower. Clamped the loader in a mill and moved the leading edge back 5/8"(which only raised it about 1/8"-3/16") and beveled the edge same as it had been originally. Again, saw 82. Rpm dropped about 50, pressures didn't change much. Took another cut on the ramps. This time I left the trailing edge of the bevel just in front of the access hole for rear mounting bolts, probably about another 5/8" shorter ramp. This raised the leading edge about 1/4". This cut took my speed to a consistently repeatable 89+ mph. Rpm was now 5200-5250. Upper pressure was still higher than lower but the lower was coming up compared to earlier tests. With a little time spent on ride plate angle and diverter angle, got it to 90.4mph (90.6 with header water off and Basset header mufflers removed). Loader has been cut back again and ready for another test but boat has not been back in the water. So to summarize, switching from a rock grate to a loader gained me 2mph. Trimming the loader ramps gained me another 7 for a total gain of 9mph. I have no doubt that the additional untested cut will bring a little more speed.