Boat info needed

Is the 1,300 kg including 330 kg of crew, 30 - 40 kg of gear, 440 kg of water, 410 kg of fuel, plus the beer? If not the jet will be asked to push 22 pounds+ per HP, which is acceptable (at 250 HP), but if serious performance is desired, you'll want a lower number than this, with the low to mid teens being ideal and the high teens okay. If the 1,300 kg is accurate, than your pounds per HP is about 11.5, which is cooking with gas.

 

1300 is just the boat,no fuel or crew and stuff!

 

How good is the chevy motors? Like the 308?
I see mostly ford engines are used as inboards...

 

The previous owner had a 454 V8 in the boat but according to him it was way overpowered,too a point of losing control over the boat..
Unfortunately the motor was removed to get overhauled and then the motor dissapeared along with the mechanic!
So sad that you get people like that

 

302 windsor or cleveland? Which one is better?

 

Cleveland would be my guess... but that's Ford. I'm a Chevy fan. That motor mac needed the motor for his cobra.

Couple of silly questions (I know you want to keep it original) BUT -

How much weight will you lose using an outboard ?
How much will you pay less for fuel over time ?
How much space will you gain inside the hull ?

Unless you go fuel injection with perhaps a management system (fancy stuff) the V8 is going to be heavy heavy heavy on your pocket.

And all that water that you want to haul... you're supposed to be on it, not in it

Keeping the boat "original" would probably not make it worth more, and to say you have a "V8" just to say you have a V8....

Personally I would look for more space in the boat.

 

The 302 was available in only a few places in both formats, though not so common in the USA. Windsors are a more economical engine, while the Cleveland is a bigger and stouter engine. Typically this choice isn't discussed in the 302, but the 351. In fact, the Cleveland 302 is an Australian engine variant, using 351 pieces and shorter crank throw. For the most part finding both 302 or 351 Clevelands are getting tough.

To save a bit of weight, you might consider the 262 V6, which is available in 230 HP, but if you really want to save weight (and blow the budget), an LS is the way to go. You could tool up a Land Rover 285 V8 and with the Buick 300 crank and a modest bore punch, you'll have a 305, for less then 400 pounds (181 kg), certainly capable of 200 - 250 HP. This engine/crank combo can be maxed at about 315 CID and is about as light a V8 package as you'll find.

 

I reckon his fuel flow will be 50% more than a similar boat equipped with a current 4-stroke outboard that runs it around 20 knots. If planning a lot of use for the boat, that ought to be factored in.

 

If you go for that land rover engine you can simply throw the oil on top of it... it will leak in by itself

Now that's efficiency

 

I'm surprised to learn from the net that fuel in South Africa is nowhere near as expensive as many other places.

 

With a currency that is worthless everything is very expensive.

 

we had a 22 ft Hartley ripple with a warm 327 and 3 stage Hamilton jet. it was a good boat but averaged 1 gallon per mile and was a pig to steer at sea until the old man fitted a couple of small bilge keels. that boat ended up rotting away unloved in a paddock because no one could afford the fuel to run it. I had an 18 ft vicalen jet boat which was great fun .it had a 307 and was really good on fuel. you would be better off selling the berkley and converting to outboard on a pod. even an old 225 evinrude will cost less to run and be easier to maintain. you would get over 20 knots even with a 115. the berkley should fetch a good price. used jets are rare and sought after. here they are anyway. jets are great in a smaller boat, but I don't think you will throwing around a 24 ft cabin cruiser like a sprint boat. good luck with it which ever way you decide to go.

 

1 more thing, an underpowered jet is a dog and still thirsty. you will find the 454 it had was probably cheaper to run than a 302. I agree with par about the ls chevs if you keep the jet. the later models are almost big block capacity anyway.