ok so i am a newbie here and have a question of what is this boat worth. i currently am a marine mechanic here on long island and have a boat in my yard for over 12 years. it's is a 18' challenger thinking it to be around a '74 because it looks just like the one that is listed on this forums classifieds. i had it running 10 years ago but it kept burning out coils so we stopped working on cause the customer did not want to put anymore cash into it. it has a 454bbc with a B&M blower running 2 what i believe to be 600 cfm holleys. boat has basset headers, and a berkley jet just not sure what model jet though. i can find out. boats motor is currently now in pieces because the customer did not want to reshrinkwrap the boat and water got into it. i have everything to put it back together engine condition is not to bad just a quick rebuild and it should be fine. interior has been chewed up a bit by squirrels or a racoon but repairable and the hull was repainted about 12-15 years ago and looks pretty good. how good are these hulls and what kind of speed should i see with about 600 horsepower. gonna offer the guy $500 for the boat, trailer, and everything else. any help or history on these boats would be helpful. thanks, Marty

Everyone that you want to help you is going to ask for pictures... Other than that I can not be of much help sorry.


Sent while on the run, or sitting at work bored

ok i understand i will try and get some pics but i think the hull has been rewrapped by my boss due to he did want to look at a unwrapped boat in our yard or be responsable for anymore damage. basically what i am asking is the boat a good boat by design, are they a desired boat. where were they built and is this the same challenger company that built the 21' boat that has been copied by shadow and superboat that is so popular. jet boats are not very big in my area due to the fact on the bay here in my area we have a very bad eel grass problem and the jets get clogged up. that problem is not always a issue here just in certain times of the year though.

cant go wrong for 500 bucks 

i have yet to speak with the owner but thats what i am going to offer him. no more than that. i don't need another boat that bad.

well after numerous phones call by my boss we finally got through to the guy that owned it and he made a deal with my boss for summer dockage for his new boat and gave us the challenger. my boss then gave me the boat for free. as soon as i can i will try and post up some pics when i get the time to pull the boat and trailer out of the racks at work. the engine is a 454 which needs to be rebuilt but i also got a B&M mega charger with carbs, msd ignition, bassett over the transom headers which i would like to change for just a regular set of Gil type headers and mufflers. dual holley carbs. as far as the pump i am not sure exactly what model it is but it is a berkley. does anyone know a average top speed would be with about 550 hp if i come up with the model of the jet.

I think German1 had a challenger(probably the one you saw in the classifieds) and he would be able to tell you how his ran.  I would imagine it's a good hull and it sounds like you will have plenty of "go fast" to throw at it with that engine.  We still need pics though, send 'em

ok with winter upon us here in NY it's a bit tough to get pics the boat is still under shrinkwrap and stored in a rack at my job. right now i just don't have the time to pull it down and unwrap. but i will asap. i am a bit excited and cannot wait to get this thing together. my friend at the machine shop told me to go ahead and bring him the engine and he will assess what i am going to need to smack it all together. i still don't know what model jet it has but i do know it has a Place diverter system on it. i am not 100% sure about the whole jet thing i am a sterndrive guy and we here in Long Island,NY hardly ever see jets. but i am sure i will become very familiar with it shortly. i was wondering who is the best source for when it comes to me buying parts for the jet and the cooling system because from what i remember the cooling system was really monkeyed up. i remember some sort of crazy valve system for the header cooling and what not. the headers are bassett over the transom and they are obnoxously loud and want to quiet it down a lot how much do the baffles they sell make that better. i would much rather have a set of gil style headers with tailpipes and mufflers but i am going to work with what i have. i appreciate all the help i have gotten from you guys.

ok so today i had 5 minutes to go out and climb up in the rack and cut open the crappy old shrinkwrap and take a peek at the pump tag to see what pump model it has. i came up with a model 12JE. just wanted some input on this pump on what to look for or any type of modifications to make things a bit better, etc. i will be taken the boat out of the rack either the end of the week or next week once i am laid off for the winter and i will post up some pics for all to see. i did notice one thing i wasn't crazy about which was a small animal got into the wrap and tore up the vinyl seats but for free i am not complaining.

ok so here are some long awaited pics. keep in mind that this boat has been under wrap for many years and this is how it looked right after i removed it. if anyone sees anything i should address speak up. the bilge is getting gutted so no need to look there.
http://mail.aol.com/35138-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=30374471&folder=Deleted&partId=1&saveAs=photo.JPG
http://mail.aol.com/35138-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=30374470&folder=Deleted&partId=1&saveAs=photo.JPG
http://mail.aol.com/35138-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=30374467&folder=Deleted&partId=1&saveAs=photo.JPG
http://mail.aol.com/35138-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=30374465&folder=Deleted&partId=1&saveAs=photo.JPG
http://mail.aol.com/35138-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=30374463&folder=Deleted&partId=1&saveAs=photo.JPG

yeahhh you cant link to a picture thats stored in your AOL email account... thats not gonna work. 

C:\Users\martin hiskey\Pictures\photo[1].JPG
C:\Users\martin hiskey\Pictures\photo[1] (2).JPG
C:\Users\martin hiskey\Pictures\photo[1] (3).JPG
C:\Users\martin hiskey\Pictures\photo[1] (4).JPG
C:\Users\martin hiskey\Pictures\photo[1] (5).JPG

ok see if that works

Photobucket.com

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looks like you're gonna have fun.  where'd the motor go? you said its in pieces... any pix of the parts pile?

thats one hell of a reverse cable... it has like a 60" loop off the back.

yeah i am going to be replacing all the cables including the steering cable. does it pay or do they even make a hydraulic steering setup. is it a worth will deal to do. the engine is in boxes right now the blower was gone through and is in a box the carbs need a rebuild, crank has been just done and ready to go. i just took the heads apart and will be going down to the machine shop to work on them so they should be done by next week. headers are a bit rough the chrome is sh-tty and could use to probably replaced. i am far away from that so i will be hunting during the spring for maybe a set. as far as the jet goes i am going to do a rebuild more than likely on that just to be on the safe side. as far as the jet impeller do you set them up just like regular sterndrive propellers at wide open throttle rpm. but overall the boat looks pretty good with the exception of a really good cleaning.

yeah the gel looks nice.  give it a nice waxjob and looks like it'd be done.  did it have a hatch originally?  i see some vent holes on the sides... start a build thread in the project forums once u get going with all kinds of pics!  we love pictures!  congrats and look forward to seeing your build come together.

yeah the gel looks nice.  give it a nice waxjob and looks like it'd be done.  did it have a hatch originally?  i see some vent holes on the sides... start a build thread in the project forums once u get going with all kinds of pics!  we love pictures!  congrats and look forward to seeing your build come together.

the boat was repainted some time ago in imron or awlgrip at my job so yes it just needs a wash and some wax. i don't think it ever had a hatch but the holes you see in the aft deck by the fuel fills are access to the fuel sending units.