Hi, I'm the proud new owner of this boat. I was out of town on business in my hotel room surfing the net when I saw the ad on Craigslist. The boat had been advertised for 30 days, took a chance and sent him an email, low and behold he responded the next morning and it was still for sale! He said he had a ton of calls from out of town folks but only one person came to see it and he was looking for a bigger boat. I flew home the next day and went to see it straight from the airport, $1500? I couldn't believe it and bought it on the spot. It's very clean with original paint on the sides and hull but most importantly it has a 350 motor! I understand this is rare for the year, it's the original Mercrusier 898 completely rebuilt with less than 40 hours and it runs like a champ. Here are some pictures of it in my driveway, haven't put her in the water yet but plan to shortly. I'll take some of the motor tomorrow when it's light, spent its entire life in Horseshoe Bay on Lake LBJ in Austin, TX
Greg, Very nice! If this is not paint but gel-coat in the condition shown, all the better. If it is a chev 260 hp, you either have a late production 1978 or a remanufactured engine that was replaced. A good complement either way. If you have the original bill of sale from Hydrodyne, it helps a lot with the details of what your boat was built and sold with. An added plus is the batwing trailer which was custom built by Hydrudyne for these hulls. A great boat for a really nice price if there are no gremlins beneath the deck or in the core. Thanks for posting Tom H! KTB-
umm, I don't have the original bill of sale but the title says its a 78 model built in late 77, so now I'm wondering if it is a 350 and not a 305. I'll need to check the S/N and see, anything else to look for? It looks like the gel coat is original on the sides and hull and has been repainted on the top, not perfect but nice. I pulled the outdrive today and replacing the bellows as the exhaust bellow has tore in half. Also pulled up the carpet near the rear and everything is dry and appears to be very solid. Not sure if I want 260hp in this little boat!
Had to go take a picture of the motor (it's 11:40pm here and dark! ). It says 898 on the valve covers, I think the 260hp 350 has 260 decals on the valve covers, is that right?
My 75 i/o had the Hull id stamped in the gelcoat on the drivers-side transombelow the topdeck, you might try checking there (see pic 8 where the 4 inch indentation in the gelcoat occurs). The hull # for the 1975 was CMAS015###75. Couldn't miss it. The add for my 75 is still in the Classifieds and marked as sold at the following links. https://picasaweb.google.com/103493629086672686443/1975HydrodyneTournamentSkier?noredirect=1 http://www.hydrodyners.com/forum/in...drodyne-18-i-o-tournament-skier-amazing.1420/ If you can get a engine Id, there are decoders on the web to tell you your Cu inch displacement. Pictures of the engine might help as well. Also, if it is a 2bbl carb, more than likely a 305. 4bbl rochesters were common with the 350 marine 260 application. I have a full set of manuals but would need the #'s of the carb and engine to dial you in. My 75 18 had a 233 hp 351 2bbl and was a nice power combo, and sipped fuel. Sould not be too scared of this hull with a 350 4bbl 260 hp. The 20 i/o that I currently own is a bit more thursty with the 4bbl and 350 (260 hp) though compared to the 75. Turning in, Kevin-
Kevin, The engine in his picture has a two barrel carb on it...not a four barrel. Could be a 305 like Jim's boat had.
I believe you're right Jim, a 2bb isn't going to produce much hp. I found a beautiful 78' on line with a 350 and it came with a 4bb Rochester carb, pics attached. He said he believed this was one of only 4 boats to leave the factory that year with a 350. He sold it a couple of years ago to someone in WI. I'm sure i'll be happy with the 305, if needed I can always move up to a 650cfm carb for a little more punch!
