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A worthy project?

Highclass

Member
I got this boat for dirt cheap and it has been sitting a while. My daughter used it as a playhouse (lol) I figure if she likes playing captain maybe she would like to ride in it some day. She's 2 so pretty much would hand me the (wrong) tools. Haha... to the boat...

I think it's a 70s aircat hull. Looked like maybe a turn table? Has continental 4 cyl. Was told the engine would be too small. Think I gotta redo the seating and build cage anyhow so repower? Just looking for advice cause I have never seen a hull like this before. (And it's my first airboat project but have driven a few different styles. Loved the 540 lycoming)

Options (try the continental and pray) or...
Have a 350 Corvette engine that ran but smoked like all hell OR have a chevy 468 that needs to be finished (think it's just a 2 bolt main tho)

What do you fellas think? Go with it or start from scratch (other plan was a custom 2 seater hull gsxr 600+ mini)
I guess the goal would be to run dry with 2 people either way. (We don't carry much other than a cooler)

Tried to upload pics so let's see... :proud:
 

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I have one of those hulls myself and Rich is right it's a very heavy hull. That being said it's also a very fun boat to drive and has a awesome cruise rpm of 1500-1600. Mine is 14' and does very well with the wide deck 180 on it but since the bottom is so narrow I'm not sure how it would act with a heavier engine. It would probably be to ass heavy. They also made a 16' one. If yours is a 16' I think the 16' would be a good candidate for a 0540 or car engine but I personally think the 14' would be to small. Here is a few pics of mine..
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I about gagged on my beer when I first saw this post, been there before. I looked at one of these way back when, in similar or worse case to HighClass's. I did think about it for sure, but I'm glad I passed.

Smuggler,
That is as pretty and cool as it gets, no matter how she runs. That's a Florida postcard for sure, glad someone had the balls to revive one. I would have the damn thing wedged between 2 cypress trees in less than a day.

I think that about sums it up, if you want cool, that's the boat to build, that engine ran it before, why not again? Or sell it to someone that really wants it and build what you want.
 
Thanks for the input fellas! Really cool to see one that works! Just measured the hull and its 14 ft roughly. I saw one somewhere that had a driver forward seating,with seating for two right behind. Looked kinda low for navigating the brambles but I wonder if that would help the "ass heavy" lean with a bigger engine. And I'm pretty sure this particular engine was never really mounted to this hull.(its just sitting on the back and none of the mounts match up!) Found an interesting read on wikipedia about these boats being used in the Nam! Had no idea. Pretty cool history though! Here's the pic i found with pilot forward. Maybe that's the route I'll take with this one.
 

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Thanks! I've had conversations with guys that drove these in Nam. Heard some very cool stories!

No poly just a bunch of Quick Slick. It would be real tough to put poly on one of these due to the bottom configuration. Not to mention the glass is so thick on the bottom that I think that's protection enough.

I'm glad to hear you may bring it back to life. IMO these are a very cool pieces of Airboat History.
 
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