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New fella with a few questions...

Arkie

Member
Hi,

I'm a total greenhorn when it comes to airboats... never even been in one. In fact, there isn't an airboat within 2hrs of me in any direction I'm pretty sure. That being said, I live in a place where an airboat would be the ticket, i.e. shallow flats with lots of aquatic vegitation.

I build aluminum boats on the side -I'm a farmer who happens to love boats and be good with a welder. Up until now I have relied on tunnel hulls and mud motors to get me into areas I like to hunt. For bowfishing I build air-assist units consisting of small twin-cylinder gas motors spinning 42"-52" props. These air units are great for our area, but have really caused me to think about building a full-fledged airboat.

I've recently (today lol.) acquired a small, four cylinder Continental motor that has been set up to power a boat. ...problem is I don't know a thing about it and am needing a bit of help identifying what I have. I had a chance to see the motor fire up about a year ago which was the last time it was started -and it had sat a few years before that. It was once mounted on a 1756 Xpress and I was told it performed pretty well on this hull. I'm thinking about building or buying a hull to mount this motor in -I'd just love to learn a bit about it first.

Thanks!
 
Here come the pics... :D


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From what I've read on here I think I have a Continental GPU. It's got a carb on top, 1 Mag, and heads that only accept 1 plug. I don't know the power, year, heck I guess anything lol... The motor has a 66.5" wood prop attached. Also, the Mag appears to be a "slick" brand, while the motor has "Mohawk" cast into it in several different locations. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
 
Looks like you got a pe90 150 hp gpu. You could leave it the way it is and do just fine on a small lightweight hull. If you want to get more hp there are a number of mods you could to get closer to 200hp.
 
Thanks Geneva :)

I guess I need to start another thread about hull sizes, but I'll ask here also:

With the mud motors I'm used to running, a long skinny hull does better than a short fat one. The MMs need around 14' of running surface before the rake to get max performance. With airboats it seems to be different I guess. Are the boats generally shorter for reduced weight, drag, or something I'm missing. I've been thinking about building a 14'18' long hull with a 6' bottom for this motor, seeing how I like it, and then upgrading to a more powerful rig if all goes well.

I'd use the boat for bowfishing primarily, and wouldn't need it to run dry ground. I'd just like a rig that'll push me through 3" of water and then get on step in deep water with a bit of a load. Is it possible? Am I asking to many questions :oops: :)

I'm all ears,
Arkie
 
I would get a 12 by 7 for that motor. Should be pretty nice. I got that motor on a 13x7 and it does good in the water, but if you want a 14 it should still do good in water.
 
if ya look in jdotsons pic gallery you see several shots of one i built last year its bad to the bone go any where with me on it runs deep runs dry pretty fast save your money an get ya a 66 cypress prop it made it come alive ive have an had some really nice boats in my day but i swear the little boat is the funnest ive driven
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Yep, I'd say it's a PE90 and the HP is said to be 150. You should be able to spin that prop to ~2,800rpm I don't know about your propeller, but Sensenich said the max RPM for a 66-36 is 2,880rpm.
These are nice little engines and will perform better with a Holly 2V carb. The set-up looks heavy duty enough, maby too heavy. Try it out and see!
 
Geneva0550":2sfj0g24 said:
Looks like you got a pe90 150 hp gpu. You could leave it the way it is and do just fine on a small lightweight hull. If you want to get more hp there are a number of mods you could to get closer to 200hp.

Besides carburation, what else can you do to get more ponys?
 
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