my first project 73 kona

« **on:** August 13, 2011, 12:41:57 PM »

hey guys. New to scjb and pretty new to jet boats as well. I picked up a 73 kona about 3 weeks ago for a new project. its got the 455 olds with edelbrock carb and logs. motor is pretty stock otherwise ( according to previous owner). i took it out 2 weeks ago to havasu and the thing ran bitchin. did have a heat up problem going through the channel but what can you do with all that moss. anyway im looking to start making the boat into my ideal boat. i took all the seats out yesterday as they were ripped and torn and the wood was completely rotted. im going to change pretty much everything over, guages, wheel, seats, color, and of coarse paint the motor

. im looking for some ideas on all this stuff. also i need some swim steps for the back of the boat. i'll post some pics of what it looked like the day i got it and you guys tell me what you think please. thanks. i heard that the kona's were pretty popular boat in the 70s

« **Reply #1 on:** August 13, 2011, 12:43:31 PM »

pictures

« **Reply #2 on:** August 13, 2011, 03:13:34 PM »

Welcome to SCJB

« **Reply #3 on:** January 12, 2012, 02:44:18 PM »

new seats !

« **Reply #4 on:** January 12, 2012, 03:06:02 PM »

thanks man. i was just looking at your project thread trying to get some ideas for mine. im taking the motor out this next week to freshen up and dress up. any ideas !

« **Reply #5 on:** January 12, 2012, 07:59:01 PM »

Welcome to the boards, nice looking project.
The Kona's are cool boats. You will have fun with it. With a bit of work and good bit of power, they can be made to run pretty fast. The second time out after My resto I saw 86.6 mph on the hand held GPS, I had to keep lifting due to fairly dirty water. I know that with some more hardware changes and some more tuning, that it had more in it. I had alot of fun building mine!
Here is a link to my build and a couple of pics to get You motivated.http://www.performanceboats.com/jet-boats/10678-73-kona-resto-build-ii.html

« **Reply #6 on:** January 13, 2012, 11:17:19 AM »

wow man thats a really clean boat. i hope to have mine lookin half as good as that. im only 21 and dont have a lot of income but harrd work will hopefully pay off. i have a couple questions if you dont mind. my biggest thing right now is a spot to mount my battery. the guy before had it on a little plate right by the logs on the right side with a bungee cord hold ing it down. $:-\$ i saw how you mounted yours but it slopes down as you know, so did you level it somehow ! are you running a single battery or dual. also im gonna be getting it ready for paint. do i just start sanding it down little by little. theres no gel coat on it its more of a rough surface. i just ordered a bunch of stuff from cp performace to make it look nice with guages and anodized stuff also some stuff i needed like a bilge pump and electronics. any info would help aa lot. i will definately have your thread locked in my computer ffor help. great job on your boat again man

« **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2012, 05:14:09 PM »

That was a nice boat till an illegal hit it and then ran from the scene...On the batts I did a simple diamond plate custom tray on both sides

« **Reply #8 on:** January 13, 2012, 10:05:15 PM »

Welcome, I grew up around this Kona and almost bought one myself. Good boat, there are a bunch out there for ideas on paint and interior. Keep the progress pics coming and ask any questions along the way.

« **Reply #9 on:** January 14, 2012, 08:17:54 AM »

hey guys. thanks for all the welcomes and advice. sorry to hear about hals kona. will he be building a new one ? i got some stuff done yesterday on it. got the seats out, side molding is all off and managed to get the logs off the motor. none of those bolts were tight which concerned me. looks like all hoses need to be changed as there melted and cracking. i was thinking of building two trays for the batteries and leveling them with big bolts so i can adjust them. my question is mounting them. do i mount them with screws down in the bottom or all the way against the back like a side mount ? i bought a dual battery switch the other day to control the batteries so im not left stranded in the middle of the lake with a dead battery like last summer. yesterday while taking off the molding i noticed theres a split in the boat all the way around. is that normal ? ill be working on it most of the day and getting more pictures up. i think since i have it torn down im going to replaced the carpet and take a look at the wood. might as well go big or go home.

@hauls balls that boat is the exact color mine used to be and same with the seats. it looks bitchin when people keep it clean and taken care of

still need some ideas on how to sand the boat down and a good place around here to get it painted. anybody know someone who paints ?

thanks guys

« **Reply #10 on:** January 14, 2012, 09:17:28 AM »

Quote from: Havasukona455 on January 14, 2012, 08:17:54 AM

@hauls balls that boat is the exact color mine used to be and same with the seats. it looks bitchin when people keep it clean and taken care of

That boat belongs to my folks and it now lives in Havasu, we just took it out over the holiday on the lake and it looks and feels like it just came off the showroom floor.

Don't over look the fuel tank, since you have it stripped down you might want to pull the tank and check it. They split around the hull is from the manufacturing process, that's where the top and bottom we matted. They don't usually finish the outside since they add the rub rail all the way around, some guys will remove the rail and have the hull capped which is having the gap finished and smoothing the out the line. As for the battery mount, I just relocated mine to the gunnel area outside of my stringer. I will snap a pic when I get a chance for another idea.

« **Reply #11 on:** January 14, 2012, 09:26:30 AM »

I know you are trying to keep a budget but you will appreciate gel coat more than paint, we have rebuilt a few boats and automotive paint can be delicate when climbing in and out of your boat. Gel coat is very durable, but can be expensive to have done. JMO

« **Reply #12 on:** January 14, 2012, 10:20:58 AM »

yeah i thought about the gas tank as well. probably start pulling that today. ive been talking to a few people about paint and there all telling me that paint will cost three times as much as the boat is even worth

there suggesting looking around for a hull that is painted already and transferring my parts into that boat. what do you guys think ?

« **Reply #13 on:** January 15, 2012, 10:29:58 AM »

I'm not sure what paint or gel is going to cost but I know it's not cheap. This is all up to you and how far you want to take it, you can probably find another hull in better shape and come out cheaper in the end( "cheaper" is a loose term when talking about boats). Are you really into this hull? Depending on your budget you can build it for this season and keep an eye out for another hull to swap into.

« **Reply #14 on:** January 16, 2012, 07:59:23 AM »

took this off to polish up and replace water lines. it was pretty bad but i enjoy making things like this look new again. safe to say everything i can will be polished on this motor when finished.

what exactly is this ? i know its a plate for the water into the block but when i pulled this off, nothing but rust. i need a new gasket for it. anybody know what is called so i can get a new gasket for it ?

@yourmom. i like the way that looks with the diamond plate but my hull slopes down in the back so my batteries would be aat an angle. I want to come up with something to make them level like an angled piece to put down in the corner to level it.

@haulsballs. i think im just gonna fill the small holes from the rub railing sand it down a little and primer it for this season and maybe look for a painted kona for next year just to swap out with. i thinking of some wet sanding to get it smooth then a primer and be done. my main focus for this year is going to be the motor and jet. i have a berkley jet pump but needs a rebuild. it squeeks at idle so im thinking it needs to be rebuilt.

thanks for all your info guys i really appreciate it. i will keep the pics coming and im sure i will have more questions along the way

« **Reply #15 on:** January 16, 2012, 10:07:11 AM »

That's your water pump cover, in a car there would be a water pump in that location instead of that cover.

Rebuilding your pump is always good insurance if you don't know when it was done last, you may even see more performance out it with fresh components. I did mine last year and it feels a hell of a lot better. I have the socket for the impellor and a few other tools if you ever need help tearing it down, but it's definitely something you should do yourself and save some coin.

« **Reply #16 on:** January 16, 2012, 01:31:33 PM »

okay cool. thanks man. im gonna tear the pump down today and check everything out. also i was thinking of painting my jet as its a little rough and needs it. will regular spray paint work on it or should i not even waste my time ? maybe getting a deal on another olds motor in better shape then mine and better parts. so if anybody wants my motor it will be complete ready to go (except carb needs rebuild ) with logs and transom exhaust. anybody wants it ill let it go cheap

« **Reply #17 on:** January 16, 2012, 10:21:10 PM »

Use appliance paint on the pump housing and other parts, you can grab a can or two from Home Depot. It's stronger than regular spray paint, plus it's cheap.

« **Reply #18 on:** January 16, 2012, 11:11:04 PM »

X2 on the appliance paint. Cheap and works well.

As far as mounting the battery, I think Ralph Brunt had a thread were he mounted a tray on the inside of the stringer, which came out real nice. You could build a level platform on the outside of the stringer, glass it in and then mount a tray to that.

How bad is the gelcoat? It might just need to be wetsanded. Some guys have really brought the shine back to a boat by just doing that.

The split down the side where the rubrail goes, is normal. It's called capping the hull when that area is filled in. But most guys grind it out a little and lay glass down.

What are your plans for the boat?
The kona is a good hull. There are other hulls out there that are faster and handle rough water better. That is probably the reason guys are telling you to not put too much
into this hull. If you dump a lot of money and time into this hull, you might be disappointed if you try to sell for what you got into. But then again this is true with all boats

.

If you do a search, you'll find answers and ideas to what you've asked plus, most any question you got.

Good Luck. And good job posting pics. We like pics

« **Reply #19 on:** January 18, 2012, 07:57:10 AM »

hey guys. Got some more parts yesterday

got some really nice rewarder headers with water lines, new throttle cable, new exhaust gaskets, and a comp cam 490 lift

thanks to jim at cyclone speed and marine for the parts and definately the advice ! great guy.

thanks for the info troller dave and haulsballs. Im gonna go grab so paint today for the jet and maybe get to it today. tomorrow the motor is finally coming out ! ive been told many times that boat stand for bring on another thousand. i can see that is more then true. im thinking of capping the hull ? is it hard to do ? im gonna look at that thread today and get ideas for the batteries and some ideas on motor set up.

thanks again guys. i will definately have some pictures up today of all my goodies

« **Reply #20 on:** January 19, 2012, 05:38:46 PM »

finally got the motor out today

noticed a lot of cleaning and maintanence was not the previous owners thing. also making things work, instead of doing it the right way was not in this guys mind. oh well this is a project right ? got the motor out and sending it to the shop on tuesday. Im gonna replace all of the hoses and lines as the look worn out and dry. as i was pulling the startor off it slipped out of my hand from the grease and fell right on the floor cracking it

so guess i gotta get a new one.

hopefully my parts show up today or tomorrow so i can replace my guages and all that. gonna start color sanding this week and see if i can bring it back. gotta attach the pump as well and replace the wax ropes on the shaft.

Got a lot to do but plentyy of time

i will be posting a lot of pics as well for advice. also if anybody wants or needs a set of logs with transoms all the way out let me know. getting rid of them.

some pics of pulling the motor. first pic is with the headers, just had to see them on

« **Reply #21 on:** January 19, 2012, 08:34:12 PM »

How about a couple pics of the gel or maybe just the trouble spots. I was told that my boat needed paint when I brought it home but a weekend of wet sanding and polishing made the original gel come back and look great.

What's the plan for the engine? Refresh or are you going to add a few more horses? A fresh pump and reliable motor are always a good combo.

« **Reply #22 on:** January 20, 2012, 10:52:23 AM »

ill take some better pics of the paint today. its not a gel coat its a rough surface paint. kinda like it has grit to the paint so if your walking on it you dont slip. theres about three or four spots where its really light and damaged compared to the rest of the paint. i was told it was a popular color in the day. a rootbeer brown with a red flake.

As far as the motor, its going to be all gone through be the same guy that built my dads 406 sbc for his camaro. I bought a cam for it but its only a mild cam. 280 to 108 on a 490 lift. i believe stock is 450 or 460 ?? not sure on that though. im gonna have him set the motor up for that cam. so new lifters, valves, springs and decking everything. i think im gonna paint the block, black with everything else a chrome or satin finish. what do you guys think ?

Ill post some more pics today and maybe get down to wet sanding with a 3000 grit. still waiting for my parts from cp performance

« **Reply #23 on:** January 20, 2012, 12:53:18 PM »

sounds like a great project! i always liked red on my olds engines.i have a 74 kona.

« **Reply #24 on:** January 20, 2012, 03:54:11 PM »

Quote from: ka0tyk on January 20, 2012, 03:00:39 PM

engines should be black. everything else should be polished.

I like the engine black but just remember that polished=polishing and chrome will clean up much easier. Sounds like you have a lot of work to do, hope you can get this thing thrown back together for the season.

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