Reply With QuoteWhy not sell the boat.....the market should be good for what you have and buy a jet......I think you would be $$$$$$$$ ahead. My $.02. Good Luck
TwoSlow, Generally a small block with an I/O is about as fast as a big block jet in the same hull. You might be better suited upping the horsepower and being gentle on the alpha.. If not there are alot of guys selling rebuilt bravo's pretty cheap and there good for 5-600 horsepower in which will take you faster then you want to go in a 21 Ultra.
RD
Why not sell the boat.....the market should be good for what you have and buy a jet......I think you would be $$$$$$$$ ahead. My $.02. Good Luck
Tooslow, You treat the boat like a new one after you pull out eng and outdrive, I would get a intake with a ride plate and shoe.set it back, instead of berk transom adpt. you make a template of cardboard in two pieaces to cover the hole in transom and seal the jet, like a race boat. then trace the card board onto a piece of alum cut it out bolt it to the transom with a lot of silicone. that will give you about the same interior room as you have now, polish your new transom plates or anodize them it will look as if it was made that way. Jim (818)890-1867 cyclone speed & marine
I'm with RD on this one. Bump the horsepower a few notches to see how you like it. Go easy on the alpha and you shouldn't have any problems. If in time you blow the Alpha, then go with the bravo. I can't imagine it would be worth the effort or $$. Unless you go with some serious horsepower, you're not going to get much better than 60mph out of jet. I know, I've got one.
I agree with the above suggestions of making what you have better. The money would be much better spent on a bigger motor and maybe a rebuild Bravo. You'll end up with a better boat for less money. Faster on top too.
RTJas http://free.***boat.net/ubb/biggrin.gif
Ya know, I've never heard someone say that they wanted to go faster, then investigate the possiblillity of going from a prop to a jet in the same paragraph.. Interesting dynamic. This should be a "fun" topic. http://free.***boat.net/ubb/wink.gif
RD
Maybe tooslow is not telling the truth about tired of trolling for rocks with his SD [rings the bell RD http://free.***boat.net/ubb/wink.gif ]and being an ex jetdrive guy ,he wants his freedom back, to roam around shallow waters and the odd rocks.BB / Jet = SB / SD in speed ,unless he really wants to go fast,go BB and SD. He already knows it's cheaper to maintain a jet,even with the extra cost of fuel with a BB http://free.***boat.net/ubb/wink.gif.
Horsepower is certainly one answer, but you guys are putting the cart before the horse, in my lowly opinion.
Tooslow, you gotta figure out where the X dimension is on your boat. If you are going to go to all the trouble of pulling the outdrive and filling the hole to make a jet out of it, why not fill the hole and re-rig it as an outdrive with the X moved up. I had the holes filled in my Spectra jet, and it cost about 600 bucks. Every boat's X is going to be different. And every customer want's something different out of his new boat. So the boat, in a custom shop, will be rigged acordingly. Maybe your boat new, was set up a little conservatly? I have no idea what the best X is for your hull, but it would be worth the effort to find out where it is now and go from there. Find some other of those older Ultras and check them against yours.
Pumping in more hoursepower, as you've found out, isn't always the soultion to going faster. There's free mph's (well not free if you have to have some glass work done) by just setting up the existing equipment the right way.
I also agree with fat rat, it would make much more sense to sell the thing and buy a boat that's already set up as a jet, if that's what you really want. That Spectra I have, I picked up as a bare hull on a trailer. I was lookiing for a boat to build a v-drive out of and it fit the bill perfectly. And it was cheap.
I would not convert your I/O to a jet. I/O's are worth more money. SEll your current boat and buy a jet boat. I have a friend that did this with a 20 foot Carrera and got WORKED.
Brent
Unless you are into masochism, I would think about selling you boat and buying one that is already a jet. A conversion like that is one of those projects that a lot more of get started than ever get finished, and the expense would get way over the value of the boat. If you love long, chalanging projects you may enjoy doing it just for the satisfaction of knowing you did it, But I think its more than most people would want to get into. .02
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