Posts
8029
Joined
10/31/2013
Location
PA
US
Edited Date/Time
9/3/2020 2:15pm
I always wanted a good running flat. My cousin had one, and he ended up passing away a few years ago. His boat was still around, but sat outside for years uncovered...It was offered to me for free, but it was too far gone.
So I found this, a 1975 Biesemeyer ski deck. This boat was sitting near my house for nearly 20 years....And I never knew it existed. I even dated a girl that lived a few houses down from where it was parked....drove by the open garage it was sitting, under cover, hundreds of times. As you can see by the before and after...it was rough. I bought it in September of last year and have had it on the water for a bit over a month. Seats are are being reupholstered over winter...I had a time constraint this year.
I built it to be a hot lake boat, not to race. If you build a race boat, you have to spec it to the class you want to run and that gets pricey. So I built it how I wanted, without worrying about a rule book.
427 big block Chevy, solid roller valvetrain (260/268 duration @0.050" and 0.703" lift int/exh), rectangle port iron "840" heads with an old school port job, forged crank, rods, JE pistons, 10.5:1 compression for pump gas, etc. Got a big single plane intake with an 850 Holley on it for now....currently a little undercarb'd. Going to a tunnel ram setup next year (one from my cousins original boat)...and eventually a Kinsler stack injection setup. Got a tall deck Chevy block laying in wait if I ever get the urge to go real big power. With the conservative timing/jetting I have in it now, it should in the 550hp range...should make 600hp with a more "on edge" tune.
I am just learning to drive one of these things, so I have been taking it slow. Learning to fly the boat with the down pedal is a bit tricky, but I am getting more comfortable. Got 86.4 MPH on GPS (may have been faster due to slow update times) at 5600RPM. It should rev to 7000RPM or so at peak, so over 100MPH is in the cards for sure. I have had outboards over 100MPH....But, this is a different animal. Enough rambling, here are a few pictures....
So I found this, a 1975 Biesemeyer ski deck. This boat was sitting near my house for nearly 20 years....And I never knew it existed. I even dated a girl that lived a few houses down from where it was parked....drove by the open garage it was sitting, under cover, hundreds of times. As you can see by the before and after...it was rough. I bought it in September of last year and have had it on the water for a bit over a month. Seats are are being reupholstered over winter...I had a time constraint this year.
I built it to be a hot lake boat, not to race. If you build a race boat, you have to spec it to the class you want to run and that gets pricey. So I built it how I wanted, without worrying about a rule book.
427 big block Chevy, solid roller valvetrain (260/268 duration @0.050" and 0.703" lift int/exh), rectangle port iron "840" heads with an old school port job, forged crank, rods, JE pistons, 10.5:1 compression for pump gas, etc. Got a big single plane intake with an 850 Holley on it for now....currently a little undercarb'd. Going to a tunnel ram setup next year (one from my cousins original boat)...and eventually a Kinsler stack injection setup. Got a tall deck Chevy block laying in wait if I ever get the urge to go real big power. With the conservative timing/jetting I have in it now, it should in the 550hp range...should make 600hp with a more "on edge" tune.
I am just learning to drive one of these things, so I have been taking it slow. Learning to fly the boat with the down pedal is a bit tricky, but I am getting more comfortable. Got 86.4 MPH on GPS (may have been faster due to slow update times) at 5600RPM. It should rev to 7000RPM or so at peak, so over 100MPH is in the cards for sure. I have had outboards over 100MPH....But, this is a different animal. Enough rambling, here are a few pictures....
Nice job!
The Shop
I do not have a good picture of the prop, this pic is sourced from the internets...same basic principle. 2 blade, 11" +/-diameter and turned big RPM. My v-drive has a 22% overdriven gear set, meaning that when the engine is at 6000 RPM the prop is turning at 7320 RPM. They make all kinds of different props and gear ratios.
The boat is "trimmed" with the left foot. Push down on the pedal to move the nose down, release the pedal to let the nose up for more speed. It moves the cavitation plates out back...and not as much as you would think, 1/8th of an inch is very noticable. Learning to run the plates is the key to these boats...
With the pedal, I don’t remember much, but I do know he would use that pedal to launch and the damn boat would jump out of the water like nothing I have ever felt. Something about bringing the rpm’s up with the pedal down, then hammering it and letting the pedal go. Good times. I hope to build one like you one day.
Oh man, my best friend is a huge flatty fan and has had probably 5 over the years. I wish I had some pics of his old boats. His current ride is this daycruiser with a 500 inch chevy with a 10/71 and a turbo 400 inline v-drive. It will run 120 at 5000. I'm not a fan of going that fast on the water at all. Especially in a small flat bottom. Going that fast in something so short scared the shit out of me. No that's not me in the pics. He is 6'6 330, so you can imagine him trying to fit in a 17 foot flatty. 😂
Suck My Wake!
Pit Row
Great eye on the tach. It is a Jones/Motrola mechanical setup, and the telltale still works. It records peak RPM and has to be reset with a key.
You may have noticed that the engine is driven off of the front of the engine in this boat. Circle track boats run a RH rotation prop for better left corners, consequently you have to drive the engine off the snout. The flywheel is an old cast aluminum Scheifer wheel from the 60's.
Thanks for the kind words guys.
I have never been a boat person, but I saw a beautiful wooden sailboat when I was at St. Maarten several years ago, and thought it was cool. Then last year I went sailing a couple of times with a coworker, and now I'm seriously considering building a wooden sailboat from scratch, but not in my basement, like Gibbs.
More evidence that I have been mercifully spared from the ravages of intelligence.
- Yes, I've been eating them for six or seven weeks now haven't got sick once.
- Probably keep us both alive.
https://youtu.be/tBxAzPby8Qg
" ... why yes Dottie we just got moved in ... uhhh huh ... yeah right on the water ... oh yeah Harold isn't home yet... some people are unloading their fishing boats ... shiny things they are .... yeah ...hang on Dottie ....
OH MY GAWD ! ! ! 😨 "
👍😉
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