Thread:

Seeking Wisdom

Hello all!, I am new to the forum and this will be my 1st post. My name is Travis, I recently purchased a 74' sleekcraft 17' with a sbc350 that was taken out of a van, and a berkeley 12jc. When i purchased the boat, the guy gave me another impeller and told me it was for a BBC. My problem is that when on the water, my boat tops out at about 35mph at 4,000 rpm. I replaced the intake and carb with edelbrock performer parts, new distrib, new plugs, and am still having the same problem.

I have aquired a BBC 454 out of a winebago, that i have though about trying to put in the boat, but am missing the exhaust logs for a big block. Also I think id rather have the small block just bc of gas consumption, and i dont need a 1/4 mile boat. Im looking for a top speed around 60MPH, somthing that will pull a skier and a couple friends around the lake.

also, at 3/4 to 4/4 throttle the boat sorta chokes out and stops accelerating, does it need a high volume fuel pump with that edelbrock?

what do i need to do to make this boat work like it should? what impeller should i be using? how do i distinguish between the impellers? if and when i take my pump apart, what should i look at to see if it needs to be repaired? should my motor have an exposed flywheel? where can i find a bell housing that will work with the drive line? does my small block need a different cam for marine application? how about heads ( i have a set of 80's corvette 305 H.O. heads that im told will give me more compression, should i install these?)?

thank you everyone for your future responses. i will be checking back frequently!!!

p.s. Ive wasted about 5 trips this season to the lake with a boat that doesnt work... please someone shed some light on this bc i obviously dont know what im doing.

what should i look for? and how do i tell what impeller i have? what markings should i be looking for?

what do i need to "inspect inside the pump"

ok, so lets say the guy i bought the boat from didnt know what he was talking about, and left the wrong impeller in it. How would i take apart this pump correctly, inspect it, and put it together with the "A" impeller? would i need gaskets? or can i just use some form of gasket making goo? is the wear ring in the picture ok? it looks kinda yellowish, but no nicks or rub marks of any kind on the impeller or the wear ring that i have.

Also, im really concerned about my open flywheel, if the boat takes on ANY water, it hits the bottom of the flywheel and gets flung all over the engine, eventually causing it to stall or quit starting all together. where do i need to go to purchase a cover/bellhousing for this application? if my starter gets wet, i am at the mercy of the lake and weather untill it dries out and will start again. This posed a problem when i was trying to operate my boat in 30 mph winds lol.

as far as the pump is concerned.. im under the impression that it works fine... it takes off out of the water and gets on plane with no problem... just runs out of steam.

Ive had a wear ring and a bearing go out in a jetski, and i know what it feels like when u hit the gas and the pump wont grab water... but the boat does not show any signs of this...

pics as requested

ive been wondering what it is..but the rebel was the closest thing i could find to the size. the windshield was breoken, but now fixed and re-installed... just doesnt wrap all the way around like it originally did. thank you for the compliment... i thought i bought a piece of shit! lol

Originally Posted by Cas

The engine very well may not have enough power to overcome the load the water is causing in the pump. Either the power curve of the engine needs to be matched to the pump or the pump to the power curve of the engine. There may not be anything wrong with your pump or the engine other than they are not compatible based on the power available.

How do i get my power curve where i want it? where do i want it? this should just be cam swap right? im scared to take apart the pump, it doesnt leak or make funny noises... but i will if need be... i would like to test this boat again this weekend, really need to get it going.