74Squirt
07-20-2006, 02:32 PM
Alright fellas, this is what I have. It is a '74 Universal Eagle jet boat that was my grandpaws. He bought it in late '78 or early '79 and is the 3rd owner I believe. Philip Percival built the boat in Memphis, Tennessee according tot he sticker. It is a wood framed boat with hand laid fiberglass all over and it heavy. Powered by a 455 Olds with a Berkely jet.
My grandpaw is dead now and has been dead since '92, the last time the boat saw sunlight was July of '92 until yesterday. I pulled it out of the barn and cleanbed up on it alittle and looked it over. It is in pieces because in that last outing he blew the motor, but got it rebuilt, stuck it back i nthe boat then he passed. Everything is there except the seats and seat frames ( they got hauled off or burned or soemthing ) but it is all in the floor wrapped in plastic.
I have been told by my uncle that Philip Percival built 1 boat a year from '68 to '78 or somewhere along those years. He was a woodworker by trade but built 1 boat a year as a hobby. All the boat he built were similar but the '73, '74 and '75 were identical. He says that at one time Jeryy Lee Lewis the famous country singer had the '75, because my gpop and this Philip Percival guy talked o nthe phoen about this boat and that Philip told my gpop.
Basically I would just like any info out there on this boat or any of the uinversal Eagles. I really want to get in touch with Mr. Percival, but I cannot find that name anywhere in my searches. I have old pictures fro mthe lake and stuff on what the seats look like but someone is always sitting i nthem so it's hard to tell. The little 1x4 braces are still i nthe bottom of the boat but that's it. My uncle says the seats were redone in the mid '80s and new frames were built but the woodworker had the old ones to go off of and said it was still really hard to do. Appreciate any help. FYI - the first the letter in the ID # are UML.
My grandpaw is dead now and has been dead since '92, the last time the boat saw sunlight was July of '92 until yesterday. I pulled it out of the barn and cleanbed up on it alittle and looked it over. It is in pieces because in that last outing he blew the motor, but got it rebuilt, stuck it back i nthe boat then he passed. Everything is there except the seats and seat frames ( they got hauled off or burned or soemthing ) but it is all in the floor wrapped in plastic.
I have been told by my uncle that Philip Percival built 1 boat a year from '68 to '78 or somewhere along those years. He was a woodworker by trade but built 1 boat a year as a hobby. All the boat he built were similar but the '73, '74 and '75 were identical. He says that at one time Jeryy Lee Lewis the famous country singer had the '75, because my gpop and this Philip Percival guy talked o nthe phoen about this boat and that Philip told my gpop.
Basically I would just like any info out there on this boat or any of the uinversal Eagles. I really want to get in touch with Mr. Percival, but I cannot find that name anywhere in my searches. I have old pictures fro mthe lake and stuff on what the seats look like but someone is always sitting i nthem so it's hard to tell. The little 1x4 braces are still i nthe bottom of the boat but that's it. My uncle says the seats were redone in the mid '80s and new frames were built but the woodworker had the old ones to go off of and said it was still really hard to do. Appreciate any help. FYI - the first the letter in the ID # are UML.