First up, thank you everyone for your help so far, I really appreciate it.
Boat: 1984 Jack Keaton 18-J
Engine: Ford Hardin Marine 460 (7.5L)
Pump: Berkeley 12JE with place diverter
Backstory:
My father-in-law purchased this boat new in 1984 while living out in California. He has had it ever since for rec skiing/boating purposes. He is now retiring to FL coast and the boat is not a salt-water boat. He has graciously given the boat to the my brother-in-law and me. When I received the boat (2020) it had 290 hours total. My father-in-law indicated the engine was rebuilt about ~50hrs ago (unknown specs of internals/changes/etc though) as one year he forgot to winterize and ice caused internal damage. After the rebuilt, he used it for a year or so and then the boat sat for 7-8 years as the kids went off to college.
Today:
Thus here we are today where I am trying to get the boat back into run-able shape to enjoy once again as my wife and her siblings once did. I have never worked with a large carb before, distributors/timing, any big block engine, or any real jet pump besides jet-skis. There isn't that much data on these small batch boats in terms of diagrams/etc but from reading on here it seems most of the boats of this era were relatively the same which has helped a lot. The name of the game in terms of trying to get this boat back operationally reliable has been see if anything is salvage/rebuild able. Unfortunately almost everything so far has been replace with new (which can be hard to find replacement marine rated parts for such old engines/boat) which I guess is given on something almost 40 years old...
Engine:
Ford 460, I have no idea what was replaced during the rebuild, cam size, etc. For all intents and purposes I am assuming stock hardin marine 460 rated at 320hp at 4600 rpm (8.35:1 compression). The engine is in a enclosed engine bay with through transom exhaust, so no large blowers/open air headers/etc are in the future. This is mostly just a rec ski boat. Intake is a edlebrock dual-plane (not sure if factory or not), exhaust is factory.
Carb:
I went with a Quick-fuel M-600 CFM (4160 Holley basically with vacuum secondaries). When I received the boat it had a Holley 670 4150 street avenger carb. You can guess how well they lasted in the elements and from sitting. I at first was thinking I would just rebuild it and add some J-Tubes but the metering blocks were cracked and the body had internal cracks. Some might argue the 600 CFM is a little small but I plan on keeping the 460 mostly stock and at only 80% efficiency at 5000 rpm which most calculators suggest ~570CFM, 600CFM seemed fine. I am still learning all the tuning dynamics, luckily the quick fuel make is a little bit easier than stock holleys.
Ignition:
It had the original distributor on it which had a pertronix ignitor on it that replaced points at some point but I realized later the shaft, bushings, springs (unknown specs) were worn and decided to just buy a new one. I went with a pertronix 3 distributor which also a rev limiter to help with any over-reving if air-borne. Currently running 12 degree at idle (~950 RPM) and (12+20) mechanical advance only all in 32 degrees at 3000 rpm. I may try to push this to 34 degrees. Surprisingly the manual says to run 40 degrees full advance at 4000rpm but that was during leaded gasoline days and I am afraid gasoline these days isn't up to same standards and would ping at that much advance. I replaced plugs and wires of course, gapped them to .045", factory spec is .035" but distributor says I could gap them +.010" higher. Seems to be running fine.
Fuel Delivery: I was able to run the boat fine on a water hose on the trailer, took the boat out for its first maiden voyage in 7 years, boat ran like crap. Come to realize the factory molded body in fiber glass tank was leaking and had a ton of crude/water. Luckily I put a on a new fuel-water separator and some in-line filters which minimize crud to the new carb...I did end up taking new carb apart to clean it out and replace some gaskets as safe measure. I ended up having my father-in-law friend custom fab a new aluminum 27 gallon fuel tank (original was 30 gallon). Once I installed the new aluminum tank (I used composite anchor ports to hold it in place rather than fiberglassing it back in), replaced fuel lines (3/8 A-1), new fuel gauge/sending unit, filters. Still running original carter mechanical pump, seems alright maybe a tad weak. Currently looking to find a replacement. At idle PSI is not steady but bounces between 3-5PSI, at rev, PSI reads about ~5.7 PSI.
Pump:
I am still running the original A impeller pump 12JE, I have no idea if it has been rebuilt or any service work besides fluids. I replaced the bowl fluid and some of the bowl seals but I haven't dug deeper into the pump. The impeller seemed to look fine with no major gouges or anything. I did install a new place diverter with hydraulic controls and a large rudder for low speed maneuverability and to assist with skiers who are more likely to pull the back end around without one. I modified the place diverter hydraulic controls to use two relays instead of their aftermarket diode kit which seems allows me to move the pump quick with up/down steering wheel mounted control.
I have been able to hit 5000rpm which seems a little high for a stock engine (I say this because horsepower chart for A impeller at 5000 rpms is like ~370hp) but I don't notice any cavitation. I was able to hit 65mph (GPS) at 5000rpm (I verified original tach is accurate with a digital backup tach also). I didn't really expect to hit 5000rpm so maybe engine isn't stock or pump tolerances are slightly loose.
Body: Replaced steering, throttle, and bucket cable. New steering wheel, new rear-view mirror. The floor was rotted and foam was water logged. I ended up having a local shop rip out the main floor section, that stringer section and floor replaced with composite and re-foamed. Cutting out the molded in fiberglass tank I did myself and a even a little bit of fiberglass work attaching composite anchor points for the new fuel tank. I was surprised to find the molded in fiberglass tank was literally part of the body, not extra liner or anything...Overall the paint is original and okay shape (lots of heat/spider cracks but she looks pretty good from 10 feet away), I may vinyl wrap the boat at some point vs cost of new gel-coat. Back bench needs re-upholstered in one spot but for now the seats are good enough. I did rip out the original carpet and plan to replace with new carpet once I get all the mechanicals in check, cosmetics last of course. This boat came with a factory pump cover that also serves as re-boarding step. The factory cover didn't fit the new diverter linkage/support so I made some minor cuts/modifications to keep it still usable. Last I re-wired almost everything, added some usb charging ports, fuse block, new bilge, blower motor, and replaced all the lights with leds.
I know I wrote a book, but just wanted to share some of my experiences as a noob and first-time doing a lot of this. Pics below
