POS or GPB? Opinions from the Peanut Gallery needed!

[Old Charger]

Alright, here's the deal... Got yer readin glasses on?
Bought my first boat March of this year. 1977 Charger 21' Mini Daycruiser. 350 Olds (advertised as a 455), Jacuzzi YJ-B. $3000
Here's how the boat stands today:
1. Rebuilt the 350. New main and rod bearings, pushrods, lifters, rings, HV oil pump, and gaskets. Honed cylinders, engine is solid, but still a small block. Plagued with what I think are carb and fuel pump problems.
2. Jacuzzi is pretty shot. Cavitates big out of the hole, porpoises like crazy. Needs AT Energizer kit for me to be happy.
3. Hull has some spider webbing due to stress cracks and some minor chips on the bottom due to the yahoo before me beaching at like 50 mph! Needs paint/gelcoat.
4. Interior sucks. Needs full replacement like yesterday. Vinyl is starting to separate at the seams and everytime you use the boat, you have to vacuum up all the wood chips that fall out. Floor is OK, except the mounting brackets for the interior have pulled out of it.
Its been a fun boat. You can ski behind it if you've got a wide tipped ski and you try really hard. I like the deck design, kinda unique, wish I had pics to post. But I've hit the turning point. If I put anymore serious money in to it, I have to keep it. Or, I sell it now and try to come up with some cash for a better boat next year.
Is my ride a piece of s..t, or a good project boat?
Opinions are needed! Cast yer vote now.. Is my boat the weakest link?
[This message has been edited by Old Charger (edited August 18, 2001).]

[BLOWNDRAGBOAT]

DUDE!!!!!!! Sounds like a pretty neat boat. However, don't try to make it do what it wasn't designed for. It will never nor was it intended to be a nasty speed demon but I bet its a blast to drive the rougher the water gets. IN MY OPINION, I would sell the olds motor and get a crate 502 and do the minor changes to it for reliability. I have a customer who wanted a 502 in his jet. He already had the motor and didn't want to spend much more than to toughen it up and install it in his daytona. We changed the freeze plugs and installed severe duty S.S. valves on the intake and inconal on the exhaust side. It was the carb version rather than fuel injected so that was pretty easy. So far he has put about 400 hours to date without any real problems. Not bad for an inexpensive and complete engine. When he blows it up (JETBOATS ARE HARD ON ENGINES) and he will, we will rebuild it and apply some tricks of the trade to strenghten the bottom end. This in my opinion is a good way to go if your on a budget. Bottom line is you need ALOT of torque to get your boat moving. A big block with big cubic inches will do it. As far as your pump goes, I would start with a rebuild and blueprint which can be done pretty cheap. I would install a load impeller. Try it first to see the results. You may or maynot need a place diverter or just a wedge to get the boats ride attitude correct. So many people go with ride plates,shoes,rideplates,droops ect..Most people over throw all this stuff on all at once instead of trying little things one at a time. Often spending way more money than they really needed to. Make sure you don't have any hook in the bottom. If you tighten up the pump and install the load impeller as well as installing a torque motor than I think you would be REAL surprised. Than tweek the pump in little steps to achieve your desired holeshot and overall boat performance. JUST MY SUGGESTIONS. If I can help furthur please email me at Blowndragboat@yahoo.com I would be more than glad to help.

[77Spectra]

I would start with something you really wanted in the first place. Find you a good boat with a big block. There are alot of good deals out there. Some people park there boat for stupid reasons. One was parked cause a mechanic told him it needed to be rebuilt. I bought the boat and all it was was a stupid coil wire was bad. Anyway look around and ask the crew here about what you find. Buy now, sell what you have in April.

[jaqquuuz]

FOR SALE

[Havasu Hangin']

I went down this road on my current boat a couple years ago, and since I am a charter member of the peanut gallery, I'll put my 2 cents in:
1. Sounds like the 350 just needs a little more TLC on the fuel side. Estimate- $400 and a weekend. Or, you could go down the 502 road.
2. Can't help you here.
3. Around $2,000 (depending on prep) and a couple months.
4. Around $1,500 (depending on wood) and a couple weeks for the interior. The floor is a concern (I had a chair pull out right before I learned the floor was shot), and probably should be replaced while you have the interior & pump out. If you plan on keeping the boat (which I assume you are if you are spending the money to restore it), the floor should be done.
So, to summarize, I got you at around $4,000 without the pump and floor work. There are always a few charges you don't anticipate, and it can be done over the winter. Let's say $6,500+ to be safe. Now, what will you have?
Pros- A 50MPH(?) 21' older boat that looks & runs new. No boat payment. Cheaper insurance. Pride- a "head turning" older boat.
Cons- It will still be an older, heavier boat than by today's standards. Also, it will always be harder to to find parts, and little areas (electrical, cables, etc. will need TLC down the road).
Perhaps you should look at what you could sell the boat for now, plus the $6,500+, and ask yourself what you could get for it? Another 21'? Like 77Spectra said, there are some good deals out there.
Or do it yourself...it seems my boat is never done. It's a journey...I will never get to my final destination.
Ok, I'll shut up now... http://www.goldenplasma.f2s.com/forum/smilies/happy25.gif

[Bubbledeck2]

I'll tell you what I think you want to hear anyways .. sell it.
You could easily spend 10K fixing it up the way you want it, then you'd have 13K in a 6K boat. But if that's what you really want to do and money is not an issue and you're married to that boat, then keep it.
I don't even know if my opinion is worth .02 heheh

[riodog]

So, at this point in time you've already put some money into a motor that you will want to replace anyway because as my esteemed coharts in crime have already told you, in a jet boat "a smallblock don't get it"' so then you're looking at a bigblock, then no doubt, you won't be happy with the pump and want to replace it, and on and on. Put it back togather, polish it up and sell it and start over with the basic " hard parts" in a hull that you'd be happy with if you had to keep it for the next 10 years and go from there. If I had the money that I've blown on a number of boats over the years trying to piece togather what I envisioned that boat to be, I'd give it to you and you could probably go out and buy yourself 2 or 3 new boats.

[triple x tx]

get a case of beer go to the lake and laugh at everyone with no boat