Yes it's true! Pontiacs are in boats also!
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18' Hondo V-drive flatbottom
custom one of a kind M/T Pontiac HEMI!!
Here is the run down on this engine.
Block- is a special factory casting made in April '62 for Mickey Thompson. Note the special "M/T" cast into block. This block has a solid lifter valley, 4 bolt mains and 3" main journals.
Crank-The 4 3/8" stroker crank that had been with the motor since '62 was found to have stress cracks. I located a "990" 421 SD forging, had it welded and machined to fit into the 3" main block. This reduced the stroke to 4" and the displacement from 460 to 421.
Rods- The original M/T alum rods were replaced with a custom set of Crower steel billet rods
Pistons- currently has a custom set of Pontiac HEMI blower pistons made by Arias
Here is the bottem end assembled and ready for its oil pan
Rings- are Total Seal
Pan- custom marine 14 quart pan
Here is the short block fitted into the hull
Valve train- cam- Engle Pontiac HEMI special grind, Lifters- Isky, adjustable pushrods, custom made billet rocker stands. Timing chain replaced with Pete Jackson gear drive.
Heads- M/T alum HEMI Pontiac. Carefully machined to fit orings on the intake side. This eliminates the need for special gaskets.
Intake- M/T magnesium HEMI Pontiac
Blower- serviced by Mooneyham, polished as well
Injectors- Hilborn injectors set up and flowed by Dale Emery
Headers- custom one off made for this HEMI Pontiac
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'74 Rogers 18' jet
This boat was purchased in 1992 less engine and in need of full restoration. After, paint, int, locating Pontiac marine engine mounts, building a custom set of Bassett twistie marine headers to fit a Pontiac engine, and more. It was then used extensively throughout the 90s on the local lakes and Colorado river with various 428 and 455s.
In the last few years, the hull has been extensively rebuilt and upgraded further including stringers, fuel tanks and moving the drive location further back. The boat was stripped and flipped over for a 'blueprint' job
This boat features a fully blueprinted Berkeley jet drive with large, HD shaft and AAA series stainless impeller, place diverter, ride plate and much more.
Here it is being fitted to the hull, drilling the holes for the mounts, etc. 2nd pic show Jetaway installed. Note the size of the oil pan. Headers were originally bbc. In the early 90s I modified them to fit "D" port Pontiac, in 2000 modified them further to fit round port heads. Front cover is a vintage Edelbrock, rear is a Nicson.
541" Build up
A special engine is currently being prepared-
*Block- KRE- MR-1 with 4.375" bore. This block also has a 4 bolt main front cap
* Crank- Crower Billet with 3" mains, center counterweights and 4.500" stroke
* Rods- Crower steel billet
*Pistons- Ross custom design for application
* Oil pan- custom built by myself
* Oil pump- Titan billet georotor design
* Heads- Custom Edelbrocks with 115cc chambers
* intake- Modifyed M/T blower type
* Blower- Mooneyham 14-71
* Gear drive- Milodon
More to follow
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Ron Watts 1980 Record 7 jet boat.
This hull design was made for about a year & were a good fast hull design with full stringers. The boat now resides in central California and features a ride plate & shoe, a blue printed Berkley pump with stainless B cut impeller, a Place Diverter with changeable diameter nozzle inserts, and a Drop snoot. The bottom of the hull has been reworked & speed coated. Power came from a 454 chev but Ron, dumped it and replaced it with REAL PONTIAC POWER that comes from a 73' 455 with 4-bolt mains and is bored 30 over with forged flat top pistons, 525 solid cam by Ultra-Dyne, Ported #62 heads that flow 247cfm, a stud girdle, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and 850cfm Holley. This motor will soon be replaced with an Aluminum 540cid Jim Butler motor.e in central California & usually go to Lake Berryessa
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The Tuttle Family's '70 Beismeyer flattie
This boat is full of custom fabricated parts built by Wally Tuttle. I have always admired the Tuttle family's skill in building and designing their own parts. They built billet Pontiac valve covers years before anyone else did! They also custom built their own 2X4 sheet metal tunnel ram and stainless headers for this boat among other things. Years ago, they built a Mazda pickup with a N2O injected 428 with 400THM and 3.90 gears! a wild ride for sure!
1970 BEISMEYER 18' V-Drive w/ a 455 PONCHO .030 over & features a Nunzi cam, Lunati roller rocker. The heads are 670 castings with a compression of about 11 TO 1. It has a custom sheet metal tunnel ram & dual Quadra jets, a cheater N2O system. also feature his own custom make billet valve covers and stainless steel headers plys a carb scoop made out of a vintage fuel injector.
THE GEARBOX IS A CASALE UNIT WITH 37 % OVERDRIVE. THAT MUCH GEAR LIMITS THE RPMS TO ABOUT 6000 . WE FIGURE THE BOAT WILL RUN AN HONEST 95 TO 100 MPH. I WISH WE HAD A DOLLAR FOR EVERY CHEVY WE BLEW OFF WITH IT.. HA HA.... WITH A NAME LIKE "RAT TRAP" ON THE SIDE IT HAS TO RUN.
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Dil Brandow's
1976 18'
6" DiMarco
Based in southern California, this 1976 DiMarco Hotboat measures 18'6" and has a new 550hp Pontiac. Other features include a Casale 18% V-Drive, 11"x16 2 blade prop, cav plate w/pedals and lockout, everything is polished and chromed, steel braided lines, Autometer gauges, new battery, TRW, Ultradyne, Edelbrock RPM, Demon 850,Holley, Dooley oil pan, Rewarder step headers, Cloyes, Melling, ARP, Harland Sharp. Dil has reported that he has now sold this boat and is building a blower motor for his '66 GTO! It is featured here , check it out on my "Friends Street Cars" page.
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Boats are in another world, if you are into building engines and fast cars a boat project may humble you. Boats can be more fun than you can imagine if you haven't experienced them. But, it can be challenging, a boat engine ( or marine engine as they are known) lives in a very different and much more demanding environment with long periods of wide open throttle under intense load. To a marine engine, a series of dyno pulls would be a cake walk compared to a day or week end of hard use at the river or lake. The motor freewheels when it comes out of the water, kinda' like holding in the clutch wide open in a car over and over again! Then, it is back to severe load when the boat slams back into the water. While water temperature remains very cool because of a fresh water source, oil temperature, something most car guys never even think about, can go nuts leading to engine failure and that not only means an appointment with your banker but, also, time to get out the paddles and row to the boat ramp (not fun). This is a situation a car never sees.
Don't be discouraged though, my Pontiac jet boat is an absolute riot (ask anyone who has been in it)! A no holds barred white knuckle thrill ride that a car cannot give. Also, there are no speed limits on the water and you can take friends along too! There is skiing and wakeboarding too! Those are things you can't do with a race car. More on this later.
A short pause for a picture at the Lake Havasu sand bar (AZ-CA border)