Hey guys, just joined the forum. My brother and I had been eyeing an airboat in the neighborhood for a little while, and we finally stopped by and talked to the owner. Nice old man, ordered a brand new american airboat in late 70s or early 80s, and never put it together. He spent like $20k back then and got the best that was available at the time. It is a 16' airboat with a fuel tank, cage, 383 stroker, fan blade, seats, poly, literally everything but the trailer. Well he is getting older and his project is no closer to being complete, so he is willing to sell. We kind of danced around a price of $3,000 for everything. It sounds like the engine sat in some weather for a bit and then got started "only once" and was seized after like a few seconds of running. The reduction also sat in some weather too but doesn't look too bad. and the poly has all rotted off from 40 years of sun.
Well the plan is to buy this setup as soon as it dries out, maybe a couple weeks so we can get a trailer back there to load it up.
I got a few questions...
The 383 stroker obviously needs some work, but I'm thinking it might not be too bad. We have dreams of running this rig dry, and we don't know much about airboats. Is that powerplant still popular today, would it be worth salvaging since all the parts are there? Would we be better off selling it for something else? If we decide to go, say an LS route, which one is the best for the money? Hoping not to spend more than like 4-5K, would that get a decent LS? Do you just get one off of ebay from a car if you're looking to save money? What else is needed?
How much would poly cost to replace? rough guess, or should we just leave it off and weld the holes closed.
Would a little bit of weather cause issues with the reduction? Also if I decided to go LS route, would we need a different reduction?
The prop is like an old wood one, I was thinking we should go to a carbon?
Sorry we don't know a lot about airboats and have lots of questions, but we're pumped on this thing, and can't wait to get it on the water one day.
Well the plan is to buy this setup as soon as it dries out, maybe a couple weeks so we can get a trailer back there to load it up.
I got a few questions...
The 383 stroker obviously needs some work, but I'm thinking it might not be too bad. We have dreams of running this rig dry, and we don't know much about airboats. Is that powerplant still popular today, would it be worth salvaging since all the parts are there? Would we be better off selling it for something else? If we decide to go, say an LS route, which one is the best for the money? Hoping not to spend more than like 4-5K, would that get a decent LS? Do you just get one off of ebay from a car if you're looking to save money? What else is needed?
How much would poly cost to replace? rough guess, or should we just leave it off and weld the holes closed.
Would a little bit of weather cause issues with the reduction? Also if I decided to go LS route, would we need a different reduction?
The prop is like an old wood one, I was thinking we should go to a carbon?
Sorry we don't know a lot about airboats and have lots of questions, but we're pumped on this thing, and can't wait to get it on the water one day.
