Pump advice on Beisemeyer project

[Chris J]

I tossed this question out about a week ago, now I have the boat and more details. The Beiesemeyer hull I picked up is a heavier layup and won't be used for racing, just regular family stuff. It'll have a 400hp 468 bbc from my old boat.
New boat has a Jacuzzi WJ. It looks good, spins freely, and impeller is ding free. It does need the following.
1) Hand hole cover (ANYONE got one for sale?)
2) Intake grate.
3) $170 nozzle from PDC to install my Place Diverter.
Old boat has a stock Berk 12JC with above Diverter. Both pumps are ready for a rebuild so thats a wash.
Here lies the question After spending $300 more on the Jacuzzi will this be a good pump for a mild boat. Or is the Berk a much better pump and worth the effort needed to install a new intake in the boat.
PS. I looked at the energizer kits these seemed to be more race oriented. Are they really needed on a WJ? Isn't the WJ a mixed flow pump already?
Thanks
Chris

[BrendellaJet]

Chris, I will let you know what I have been told by Jack at MPD. If anyone here doubts it, call him and ask him yourself. A jacuzzi 12WJ is a mixed flow pump. With a little bit of detail work, the Jacuzzi WJ can be just as good as a fresh berk. I have one and my boat ran great before I took it apart. I think the problem with the WJ is that the mis-informed think that only the more common name brand pumps are good. Keep your WJ, it will work fine, just make sure you go through it to check everything out(bearing, wear ring clearance,both sides of impeller, bowl vanes.) With that said, all should note that if I had a choice between a berk boat versus one with a WJ, I would probably choose the Berk, but with the cost to retro-fit the new intake on a mild boat, it simply is not worth it, unless you have $$$$ to burn, in which case, you can send some of it to me

[Chris J]

Thanks for the advice. Anyone got a used hand hole cover for sale reasonably priced?

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

Chris I have had both jacuzzi and Berkley pumps. I have a jacuzzi yj now. The main difference I noticed is the attitude. The jacuzzis are much easier to control at low speeds but do not have the top speed of the berkley. It's all in what you plan to do with your boat. If your looking to drag race go for the energizer. If you want a all around good handling lake boat stick with what you have. Both are great pumps. The jacuzzi's do tend to run longer without maintenance in my opinion. The wear ring on the berks have to be replaced every other season. hope this info helps

[Floored]

I have jac wj in my biesemeyer jet w/455 olds and it works great. will hold plane at 1600 rpm and tows skis and wakeboards great. 4 yrs on it so far and couldn't be happier. Biesemeyers ROCK

[Chris J]

Thanks for the advice. I called Jack last week. He said having the stock impeller reshaped would be the only real mod needed to make this a good pump for a mild boat. I found a hand hole cover for $75 (ouch) so I moving forward with rebuilding the WJ.