SoCal Jet Boats
Discussion => The No Wake Zone => Topic started by: shawn8696 on July 08, 2008, 04:32:37 PM
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I'm new to the jet boat scene and have found a pretty nice 20 foot 78 Mariah jet boat. I've looked all over the internet and can't find much info on them and was just curious if they are a good boat to build. If I buy it I will be putting my old drag car motor in it which is a 496 with about 650 hp and a buttload of torque I realize I will probably have to go with a stronger driveline eventually but right now I'm just looking for a good foundation to start out with, would this be a good hull for the build?
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I did a little searching and only came up with a couple Mariah jet boats listed. One was a 21' day cruiser similar to a Spectra or a Sanger. The couple of 18-20' jet boats I saw looked a lot like a Hornet or Liberty hull which is a very good hull design. The main thing is to inspect it carefully for soft or rotting floors, cracks or damage that will delay you getting it done.
The other thing that concerns me is the use of a hot rod street car engine in a jet boat. Because of the jet boat cooling system (cold fresh water) it is best to have an engines machine work set up for a jet boat application (more piston to cylinder wall clearance to start).
There is a lot of good information on this site about what to do when building an engine for a jet boat.
Welcome to the site and enjoy the ride ;D
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The bottom of the boat . Make sure it is as straight as possible . If it has a huge high or low spot , you'll probably get hurt and not to mention not go very fast .
-beerjet-
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I had one 1978 18 foot had a dominator pump droop c impellor,it porpused real bad at higher speeds so I put trim tabs and all that went away and gps at 88 with two people.It was a good ol boat.