Does Mike still own the boat, or did he sell it to someone else (who is now trying to sell it?)?
Ahh, I remember the good ol' days circa '95 to '96 or so, when Realjetboats.com was just getting started. Back then, it was THE ONLY jet boat site on the 'net. ***boat didn't even have a site back then. Mike's site was the sh*t.
Remember Mike's old Kona project boat? Whatever became of it?
SteveM.
Ah yes.........mammarys
I can't say for certain Steve, but it looks as though it's about to change hands for the second time since Mike had it. Scottsdale (the first seller on ebay) is a long way from Glendale. Also looks like the current seller is Nor Cal. I haven't talked to Mike since last year.
The Kona sold around the time he picked up the PC. One of the gang saw Mike's ol yeller (the Kona) a few years back. It still looked pretty good from what he was saying.
Does anybody know the hull weight ??
It was laid up as a lake boat and pretty heavy I believe, but I couldn't tell you how much. Nice solid boat with some really nice gelwork. It had a few problems but nothing that someone couldn't fix with little money and some sweat.
Bump strip was coming away around the bow and had one edge that would cut the dog shit out of you if you weren't careful (ask me how I know). The seat frames seemed pretty solid and probably the foam too. Definitely was in need of some vinyl though. It wasn't completely shot but was beginning to crack in places (just like mine).
The motor was pretty tired and at the very least probably needed rings and bearings, but if it were to be torn down, a complete rebuild was no doubt in order. I know he was battling a bad miss at higher rpms just before he decided to sell it. He never dug into it so there's no telling what it was. Carburation, ignition, valve train? He was running the Chevy bowtie aluminum heads. I think prior to that, he had some broken valve springs, changed em out and it ran better for a couple outings, then the problem returned. I'm not sure if the springs he put in were matched to the cam he was running though. Maybe someone has done a rebuild since then.
It was setup pretty well though. Running I believe 86 mph and change at Firebird with a pretty tired motor. I remember he had to have the diverter trimmed up pretty high too. It's possible that with some more setup trial and error, it could've gone faster?
Ahh, I remember the good ol' days circa '95 to '96 or so, when Realjetboats.com was just getting started. Back then, it was THE ONLY jet boat site on the 'net. ***boat didn't even have a site back then. Mike's site was the sh*t.
When I first bought my Placecraft, we where at the lake and a guy walked up to me and said "I have one word for you - realjetboats dot com"
I think I saw a video of that boat a couple years ago at the big block spanking party. He was the one doing the spanking though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY9LuOiATe0
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