chevy or ford !? what size?!

[mikey-jones]

I am looking for some opinions on a motor that will be going into a 1970 tahiti schuster 16' with a bayjet.
ill go with chevy or ford just trying to figure out what motor everyone thinks is best for this hull.

[Lightning]

Here we go again..... :D

[jrau]

depends more on budjet and if you want to spend time looking for parts. chevys lots of wore out rebuildable parts plus aftermarket comany's cater to them, making parts cheap. ford if you spend the time looking for the right parts, do your research and want to spend the extra money you will not me disappointed.

[mikey-jones]

sorry :D

[MikeF]

I don't want this to sound too negative but here goes. Whatever motor mounts you have for the hull put a $300 engine in it from a junkyard (make sure it works or at least turns) and run the crap out of it till it breaks......then put another $300 engine in it. That would be the least expensive way to go.
I am assuming that it's not going to be a race boat. Just a boat to go have some fun in. It can get costly if you go the full race (let alone partial) route. Enjoy! wink

[mikey-jones]

well i guess i should put it like this , what can this hull handle. from what i understand i dont think i should try to go to fast in her. for example my moms garage has a chevy 482 and a chevy 540 sitting in them that her boyfriend built for his car but i doubt i should throw them in this boat so my question probably really is, what can this hull handle

[MikeF]

Tell you what, I'll send you 3 $300 engines for that 540 you got wink :D :D

[mikey-jones]

sounds like a deal to me mike, now if i could just find away to get past my moms dog, strap that 540 on my back and get away , we can get this trade goin.

[hoolign]

put the block on a dolly,tie the dog to the dolly,take 1 cat..see where
i'm headin here,instant tow truck :D

[mikey-jones]

ill tell you what hoolign, ill give you the address you try first, if your successful ill go back for the 482 lol :D

[hoolign]

put some viagra in his scooby snacks and he could push it out of the garage :D
jungle boy seems to have the dogs "trained" fairly well,he might help eek!

[S/C Rebel]

I don't know that hull, but a 16 footer sounds like a great candidate for a pumped up small block Chebby. Lots of options here, 355,383,396,406... And parts galore. If you go big block you won't be disapointed with the big Chev or the 385 series ford (429/460). Thats my 2 cents.

[spectras only]

I'm with S/C on this one. A 16 footer doesn't need a BB. Build a 350 or a 383 stroker .It would be plenty :) ! If I had a Donzi sweet 16 I would build a 4.3 with a small S/C wink

[old rigger]

mikey-jones,
go with as much HP as you can afford. The very first v bottom, jet drive, was your 16 Tahiti. It ran a 425hp, 427 Ford with a Berkeley pump. I can't remember the exact speed it ran but it was somewhere around 68 or so. Back then, only the nozel stuck out past the transom, the rest of the pump was mounted inside the hull.
The problem with the 16s bottom is not going fast, it's getting off the gas. That deep entry nose has a bad habit of bow steering, throwing people out of the boat, through gunnales, on top of engines. Not a good thing.
I'd be more concerned about that Bayjet you have. Jim Brock at Cyclone marine has some parts if you need them (and you will).
By the way, the standard motor for the the 16 Tahiti Jet when new was the 455 olds. The upgrades being the 427-454 Chevys and the 427-460 Fords.
I think building a SBC for it is a great idea too. 'Bout the cheapest thing on the planet.
[ September 06, 2002, 10:58 AM: Message edited by: old rigger ]

[spectras only]

Hey OR, still lurking? wink [QUOTE]Originally posted by old rigger:
the standard motor for the the 16 Tahiti Jet when new was the 455 olds..In the early 70's there were 455 Olds everywere .I guess if the tahiti is nose heavy ,you need an anchor like a BB in the back for balance :p Almost all the sidewinders I saw ,had them.They were fast in those days for sure.

[mikey-jones]

thanks for that great info old rigger i knew you would come through for me :D . about the bayjet , whats the deal with this jet? is it a bad idea for me to keep it? when i got the boat it had a berkley that had a bad knocking sound, i didnt know at the time but it was the trust bearing goin out. so the first time i got the boat on the water about 2 seconds of WOT and that bearing finally went out completly looked like everything inside was trashed so i junked it and picked up this bayjet off some guy for 150$, and i dont know much about it at all.

[1HOTGMCJET]

Hey mikey - so am I to understand that you currently HAVE the Bayjet, but haven't installed it yet (and hopefully haven't attempted to modify the hull)? If that's the case, get yourself another Berk (there's a LOT of them out there), it'll save you a LOT of work and headaches from what I've heard/seen.......Best of Luck! :D
P.S. I'm building a 454 for my 16 footer that should come in somwhere around 500-550 HP, should run pretty well - have I been BAAAD???? LOL :D :D :D
[ September 06, 2002, 01:04 PM: Message edited by: 1HOTGMCJET ]

[mikey-jones]

heres the deal 1hotgmcjet i payed 800$ for the whole boat in 98' took it out a week after i bought it and the bearing when out in the berk. i picked the bayjet up about 2 weeks later and never got around to installing it. kinda just lost interest in the whole boat thing. it was my first boat and when that happened i was kinda pissed. so around about 6 months ago i figure hell i got this boat sitting here wasting away, all my friends got boats so i should get mine goin, so after working all summer on her and completly goin through the whole boat shes back together and the only damn thing i didnt get was a jet, so i figured hell ill throw the ol' bayjet in there. so to get to the point i dont plan on it being in the boat for to long. but would still like to know some info on it. thats my story and im sticking to it. :D