Jet Boat advice

[kylesbds]

I have a chance to get a '79 Bahner jet boat for a smokin deal but Ive never had a jet before. I've just always had whackers so I don't know much about them. It has a 454 chevy that has one dead cylinder and a Berkley pump but it doesn't have a place diverter or jetovater. Interior is ok no rips, gelcoat is decent could just use a wet sand. The boat is all original nothing has ever been messed with. It just needs a lot of tlc so I'm thinkin this could be my winter project, I want to try rebuilding this motor myself(my first time). The guy is willing to part ways with it for $1200. Just looking for any advice from those who know about jetboats. Thanks

[Outlaw]

Sounds like a deal to me..

[CP Dad]

Check the hull for stress cracks real well and take a peek at the trailer for cracks. Tandem or single? Full length stringers? Motor might just have a bad valve or something. Sounds like a good deal to me. Even if you spend 1500 going through the motor, that would still be a good deal for a good running jet. Just my opinion, but I'd jump on it.

[kylesbds]

Tandem axle trailer no cracks that i saw but it definitly needs paint, bunks, and wiring. Boat is full length stringers I'll try to get a pic. And can you add a place diverter to any berk jet?

[Jetaholic]

Tandem axle trailer no cracks that i saw but it definitly needs paint, bunks, and wiring. Boat is full length stringers I'll try to get a pic. And can you add a place diverter to any berk jet?
Yes you can.
BTW your sig pic kicks ass :D

[jet4fun]

as long as its not an olds... you're good

[Jetaholic]

as long as its not an olds... you're good
Out of curiosity...what is your engine of preference?

[jet4fun]

subaru

[Heatseeker]

Sounds to me that you've found a pretty fair deal, providing that the hull is sound. I've heard lots of stories regarding Bahners. Most are great hulls, but some have had serious issues staying together. You may want to find someone with experience with these hulls take a look at it first.

[jetboatperformance]

Bahners are Great boats IMO My personal Fav of all the hulls I've owned was My 85', basically the same (setup as the one your looking at ) Tom
BTW I've always found this note from the MIC web site curious...(BAHNER KICKED OUT OF BOAT SHOW 02/88:) heres the link http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic_search_results.aspx
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r319/jetboatperformance/Misc/Resizeof100_3983.jpg

[old rigger]

Rodney Bahner was one of the worst boat builders I've ever seen. His early stuff, like the one your looking at, was ok, nothing special. The smartest thing he ever did was to splash the Rogers bottom as the platform for his brand. But his later hulls from '84 on, the ones he was trying to build while in hiding and trying to keep his ass from getting blown away, were total, 100%, without doubt, the biggest pieces of crap ever set afloat, if they would indeed float.
I had the unfortunate pleasure of of being incharge of doing the repairs of his 'boats' while I was GM Advantage back in the day. The owner of Advantage was Rodneys best friend and when Bahner couldn't be found to do any warranty work, or to finish rigging a boat, or to finish carpeting a boat, or to finish doing anything to to his boats other than to grab the money from the customer, we had to do it. We had to deal with the monumentally pissed off owners who wanted to know why their brand new boat had no bulkheads in it and why the flimsy decks were cracking all to hell, or why the engine almost looked like it was a used that had been painted to look new and why did it have old manifolds on it, or why was my boat ordered with a JG Berk has an old C pump in it. Fuking nightmare from hell.
I wouldn't ride in a Bahner much less buy a used one. But that's just me. :D

[Xerophobic]

Rodney Bahner was one of the worst boat builders I've ever seen. His early stuff, like the one your looking at, was ok, nothing special. The smartest thing he ever did was to splash the Rogers bottom as the platform for his brand. But his later hulls from '84 on, the ones he was trying to build while in hiding and trying to keep his ass from getting blown away, were total, 100%, without doubt, the biggest pieces of crap ever set afloat, if they would indeed float.
I had the unfortunate pleasure of of being incharge of doing the repairs of his 'boats' while I was GM Advantage back in the day. The owner of Advantage was Rodneys best friend and when Bahner couldn't be found to do any warranty work, or to finish rigging a boat, or to finish carpeting a boat, or to finish doing anything to to his boats other than to grab the money from the customer, we had to do it. We had to deal with the monumentally pissed off owners who wanted to know why their brand new boat had no bulkheads in it and why the flimsy decks were cracking all to hell, or why the engine almost looked like it was a used that had been painted to look new and why did it have old manifolds on it, or why was my boat ordered with a JG Berk has an old C pump in it. Fuking nightmare from hell.
I wouldn't ride in a Bahner much less buy a used one. But that's just me. :D
tell us how you really feel! :D
(I have nothing useful to add, just found this post funny lol)
Cheers

[RetroBoats]

Oldrigger sent you a PM....
Did Bahner lay-up the boats himself or did he have someone else do it ?? What type boats did he build ??

[QuickJet]

I had a '79 Bahner and I loved every minute of it. I had a melllow 454 with a stock pump and the thing still ran 83 mph. Pretty good for a heavy hull and an RV motor.

[jetboatperformance]

I had a '79 Bahner and I loved every minute of it. I had a melllow 454 with a stock pump and the thing still ran 83 mph. Pretty good for a heavy hull and an RV motor.
Mine ran strong (75+) no stress cracks, was in excellent shape when I got it (3rd owner) everything intact ,nice original interior,excellent handling and was one fine quality piece! No regrets Tom
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r319/jetboatperformance/Misc/MVC-003S.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r319/jetboatperformance/Misc/1484110-R1-023-10.jpg

[76 Bonneville]

I've always been on the outside looking in, but I even heard stories of boats taken in on consignment sold and the cash disappearing. Others who lost their deposits. I didn't know about the light layups as old rigger pointed out, but that sounds par for the course. My nephew was looking at one and I told him because of the history of Bahner's bussiness practices and lack of ethics I would never own one and discouraged him from buying it. I'm not very high on the morality ladder but knowing the little that I do know I wouldn't buy it. There seems to be a lot of good deals starting to pop up and if you go with a quality name custom you'll get some return when it comes time to sell.