New boat thoughts

[Edrowski]

Hello everyone. I've been on the search for a new boat for a while now and came across what I think is a steal at 2000$ It's a 84 California ski boat with a 455 olds installed. It's jet propelled and was recently painted and waxed. He said he has replaced numerous parts here and there with a full tune up. No rips in the seats and floor is solid. It has a ski pole installed on it. He stated no problems and is willing to meet at the lake for a test run. Is there anything I should look out for on these types of older boats. Will the big block olds eat my wallet alive in gas? Half of the usage will be just blasting down the lake and the other half I'm looking to pull skiis wakeboard but mostly tubes. Will the jet cause difficulties with these activities? Keep in mind I'm only 19 so I can't really invest more than 2-3k on a new boat. Thanks in advance everyone

 

[kmarine]

Sounds like the owner has much invested and most likely modified this machine. The 455 olds is a large power plant, but my concern is that he just threw an old big block motor from an old car or did he build it from bare block with marine parts. Sounds like you are getting a lot for the money my concern is that it may be a money pit down the road. Condition is the issue here. If you like the boat and it was garage kept without soft plywood issues you may have a good time with minimal investment. every machine new or old has some risk of ownership.

 

[jbcurt00]

In your other topic about buying a used boat, yoi indicated you wanted to tow at 40mph, is that still a priority?

What happened w that prospect?

Water tested the jet boat?

 

[ondarvr]

These boats were popular back in the 70's and early 80's, loud, gas guzzling and fast, they have flat bottoms and pound like crazy, you can ski, but the wake won't be good for anything else, and the jet will be a bit odd to ski behind. Parts are probably a bit tough to find because of the age, both for the motor and the pump.

​They tended to rot away, so having a solid floor might be true, but below that could be in bad shape, same with the motor mounts and transom.

 

[Edrowski]

In your other topic about buying a used boat, yoi indicated you wanted to tow at 40mph, is that still a priority?

What happened w that prospect?

Water tested the jet boat?

40 isn't really a priority, I've come to realize it's more about how the boat is driven more than straight up speed. Id just like to be able to have the power to sling the bigger riders off.

With the other boat I think the 3.0 would probably have trouble getting on plane with 2-3 riders in the boat plus 2 tubes or whatever I'd be pulling. Plus I'd like to listen to the big block roar down the lake

I haven't tested the jet on the water. I'm trying to get opinions on if it would be a good investment before I Set everything up and make the drive out there.

 

[Edrowski]

These boats were popular back in the 70's and early 80's, loud, gas guzzling and fast, they have flat bottoms and pound like crazy, you can ski, but the wake won't be good for anything else, and the jet will be a bit odd to ski behind. Parts are probably a bit tough to find because of the age, both for the motor and the pump.

​They tended to rot away, so having a solid floor might be true, but below that could be in bad shape, same with the motor mounts and transom.

I'm not sure what kinda model boat this is but judging by the pictures i don't think it's a flat bottom. More like a v hull. Would that maybe make a better wake? I'm not sure how to upload a picture of it

 

[ondarvr]

I'm not sure what kinda model boat this is but judging by the pictures i don't think it's a flat bottom. More like a v hull. Would that maybe make a better wake? I'm not sure how to upload a picture of it

​It could have more of a V hull, most of the jet models were flat though. Pics would help a great deal, use photo bucket

 

[Edrowski]

I think I found how to post it

 

[Scott Danforth]

jet boats get horrible fuel economy - about half of what a prop driven boat gets. the 455 olds was a popular jet boat motor. depending on where you are, parts and service are still alive and well in some areas where jets are popular. you will need to learn to service your own stuff as well if budget is tight simply because one good service and you can easily eat $2k. when was the last time the pump was serviced? which impeller is in it?

they are a blast at WOT and they will suck up ropes and things near shore. nothing sucks worse than sucking up a dock line that came off a pontoon boat in the middle of the lake....other than maybe the bungee cord with the hooks wrapping around the impeller shaft and beating the pump to death. you need to watch the ski rope as well, because you can suck that up too.

unlike todays smaller jet boats or jet skiis, I wouldnt tube behind an older jet boat and skiing is mediocre at best because the wake is not that great. if tubing is a desire, you may want something that has good response and manors between idle and WOT and doesnt shoot a rooster tail into the tubers face.

 

[ahicks]

A standard ski rope is 75', which often leaves you skiing on bubbles directly behind the boat, which feels like mush (no fun). For jets, it's common to go to a 100' rope to get into a solid wake.

That's a pretty good size boat compared to many jets, and it may struggle more because of that to get on plane, which leaves a skier struggling as well. This will not be your favorite ski boat. Tubing will be better as you don't have to hang on so tight while being dragged behind the boat, waiting for it to get on top.

These boats make a lot of noise, but really don't go anywhere (kinda like some motorcycles), and they have a terrible hole shot. The jet pumps don't start working well until they have some pressure being fed into the intake side of the pump. At a standing start, there's going to be vacuum on the intake side of the pump.

Speaking of the pump, there's a wear ring around the outside of the impeller. Running the boat in shallow water sucks up a lot of sand on occasion, and as you might imagine that's pretty hard on the impeller, AND this wear ring. Excessive clearance here, between the pump and the impeller, can cause TERRIBLE low end performance (even worse than normal) - to the point the boat doesn't have enough poop to even get up on plane. Other than the more normal things to watch for (rotted wood motor mount stringers, transom, and floor boards) THAT would be my biggest caution regarding a 2000 dollar jet boat.