I lke simplicity, hence the FZ1..... so i found this boat..... 1978 Ranger 20' open bow with a bimini top. It has a Ford 302 with a 2bbl and a volvo penta sterndrive. It's not gonna chase anyone off the lake but it's been pretty reliable. I'm planning a trip to Laughlin in early October (after the crowds are gone) and we're probably gonna launch at lake Mohave. A little too shallow on the river there for a prop. I think Todd may have sold the T-Ace....... he's moved on to the next big thing. I saw the T-Ace at the Rock Store last year... Beautiful bike!!

Didn't mean to Hi-Jack this thread.......

Danny

Oh yea, I forgot, I registered my Mach 1 and trailer yesterday.

Oh yea, I forgot, I registered my Mach 1 and trailer yesterday.

and what the stolen paper work was good, So your ok now. That good

lucky you, so sunday to the lake?

Congrats!! 

Special thanks to my "rigger" Plesh 

You sure you got that spelled right ******?

You sure you got that spelled right ******?

dont be mad that I know how to get my hands dirty.

Yep, he got a lot done to my boat for me! 

I didnt want to say it, but it took a outboard guy to do it.

  Better check everything, I smell SABOTAGE !!

Missed you Sunday at the lake.  It was real windy though so spent most of my day on the beach.

I never showed up on Sunday. I didn't check my flockin calender so I was put in the doghouse real early in the morning...

I got the hydraulic Place Diverter to work on the Mach 1 today. Here's a copied and paisted post on it (with a few edits).

I called Tom at Jet Boat Performance. We shared probably 8 phone calls between us, he'd tell me what to do, I'd do what he recomended, I'd call him back, he told me what to do next, etc... all of this free tech advice while Tom is trying to run a business was purely unexpected by me and way above and beyond Tom givng a fellow boater a hand. Long story short, we got it working!  Tom you are a really cool person, a great help to me, and I owe you more than just the first round!   

Thanks Tom!

Honestly, I'm not sure what was wrong with it! LMFAO 
A combination of problems actually.

First the thing was low on fluid. Filled it up with ATF fluid. They now sell ATF fluid that works for both Mercon and Dexron 3, amazing.

Tom told me to loosen the solenoid's (I think that's what he called them, 4 round devices in the pump) up a little bit which I did but it still didn't work. They were extremely tight and required me to use both hands to loosen 3 out of the 4. Tom said they should be one hand "snug" tight.

Next it made a whining sound but nothing moved, so I disconnected the lines at the slave, put the lines in a bucket and operated the Diverter's switch to see if it pumped fluid out of the lines. It immediately pumped fluid out of the lines for "down" but took it several seconds to pump fluid out for "up".

Next I used my hands and moved the Diverter up and down (with a towel wrapped around it is better than the way I did it) and I saw light pink fluid shooting out of the hydraulic ram. I worked the hell out of the diverter by manually moving it up and down to get all that water/ATF mixture out of it. I hooked the lines back up to it and refilled the pump with fluid.

Diverter moved up but wouldn't move down. So Tom had me loosen up those 4 solenoids again and just like majic the Diverter started working.

I know that doesn't "read" like 8 phone calls, honestly I didn't count the calls, but there had to be at least 6 calls and you have to understand that I didn't/don't have a clue as to what in the hell I'm doing.

I worked on the Mach 1 a little bit today. I hooked up water to it and found two small water leaks. The alternater isn't charging the battery. I fired up the engine and set the timing at 36 degree's total, shut the engine off, tried to re-start the engine and broke the starter's nose. I then replaced the starter and found the initial timing to be at 20 degree's when I set the total timing at 36 degree's. I brought down the initial timing to 10 degree's.

Eninge sounds OK but it's running rough and a friend said he saw some flames shooting out the exhaust. I'm thinking I've got a vacuum leak somewhere... I really have no clue... I'm out of patience so I'm going to get back on it tomorrow to see what I can flock up next.

I'd try a different distributor if possible.

It sounds like the distributor might be binding or doesn't have enough advance dialed into it.  If it took 20 degrees to get a total of 36 your only getting about 16 out of the distributor.  The distributor should have about 20 built in.

The distributor is an HEI with an aftermarket coil on it. The more I think about it, the more it sounds like a vacuum leak to me. It "idles" at 800 RPM and is really rough and lopey, maybe it's just the cam's profile that makes it that rough and lopey... but I think it should be able to idle lower than 800 RPM. Shouldn't it? If I lower the idle below 800 the engine dies.

What is a good starting point for a BBC on it's initial timing? If I can't get it to run good at idle it will run worse at higher RPM's I would think.
What kind of spray can I use to find my possible vacuum leak (i.e.: carb cleaner, WD-40, etc...) that won't stain my carb or my aluminum parts?
When I started it after getting it from the engine builder it ran smoother and had zero "lag" when the throttle was pushed, it seems like the more I run it, the worse it gets both on how smooth it runs and now it has a serious lag (allmost dies) whenever the throttle is pushed... something is self-destructing... besides myself self-destructing.