Yes it's true! Pontiacs are in boats also!
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Ron Watts 1980 Record 7 jet boat.
This hull design was made for about a year & were a good fast hull design with full stringers. The boat now resides in central California and features a ride plate & shoe, a blue printed Berkley pump with stainless B cut impeller, a Place Diverter with changeable diameter nozzle inserts, and a Drop snoot. The bottom of the hull has been reworked & speed coated. Power came from a 454 chev but Ron, dumped it and replaced it with REAL PONTIAC POWER that comes from a 73' 455 with 4-bolt mains and is bored 30 over with forged flat top pistons, 525 solid cam by Ultra-Dyne, Ported #62 heads that flow 247cfm, a stud girdle, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and 850cfm Holley. This motor will soon be replaced with an Aluminum 540cid Jim Butler motor.e in central California & usually go to Lake Berryessa
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The Tuttle Family's '70 Beismeyer flattie
This boat is full of custom fabricated parts built by Wally Tuttle. I have always admired the Tuttle family's skill in building and designing their own parts. They built billet Pontiac valve covers years before anyone else did! They also custom built their own 2X4 sheet metal tunnel ram and stainless headers for this boat among other things. Years ago, they built a Mazda pickup with a N2O injected 428 with 400THM and 3.90 gears! a wild ride for sure!
1970 BEISMEYER 18 FOOT V-DRIVE POWERED BY A 455 PONCHO .030 OVER. WE RUN A NUNZI CAM AND LUNATI ROLLER ROCKERS. THE HEADS ARE 670 CASTINGS . WE FIGURE THE COMPRESSION TO BE ABOUT 11 TO 1. IT STILL HAS THE SHEETMETAL TUNNEL RAM AND DUAL QUADRA-JETS AS WELL AS THE CHEATER NITROUS SYSTEM WITH NO JETS.(280 H.P.) OTHER ITEMS ARE BILLET VALVE COVERS , STAINLESS HEADERS , AND A GREAT CARB SCOOP MADE OUT OF A VINTAGE FUEL INJECTOR. THE GEARBOX IS A CASALE UNIT WITH 37 % OVERDRIVE. THAT MUCH GEAR LIMITS THE RPMS TO ABOUT 6000 . WE FIGURE THE BOAT WILL RUN AN HONEST 95 TO 100 MPH. I WISH WE HAD A DOLLAR FOR EVERY CHEVY WE BLEW OFF WITH IT.. HA HA.... WITH A NAME LIKE "RAT TRAP" ON THE SIDE IT HAS TO RUN. WE ARE SELLING IT FOR $6000.00 OR WE MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN TRADING FOR A DRAGSTER CHASSIS OF SOME SORTS FOR THE SAND.
Interested parties contact me through my email and I will forward it to the Tuttles
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Dil Brandow's
1976 18'
6" DiMarco
Based in southern California, this 1976 DiMarco Hotboat measures 18'6" and has a new 550hp Pontiac. Other features include a Casale 18% V-Drive, 11"x16 2 blade prop, cav plate w/pedals and lockout, everything is polished and chromed, steel braided lines, Autometer gauges, new battery, TRW, Ultradyne, Edelbrock RPM, Demon 850,Holley, Dooley oil pan, Rewarder step headers, Cloyes, Melling, ARP, Harland Sharp. Dil has reported that he has now sold this boat and is building a blower motor for his '66 GTO! It is featured here , check it out on my "Friends Street Cars" page.
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Boats are in another world, if you are into building engines and fast cars a boat project may humble you. Boats can be more fun than you can imagine if you haven't experienced them. But, it can be challenging, a boat engine ( or marine engine as they are known) lives in a very different and much more demanding environment with long periods of wide open throttle under intense load. To a marine engine, a series of dyno pulls would be a cake walk compared to a day or week end of hard use at the river or lake. The motor freewheels when it comes out of the water, kinda' like holding in the clutch wide open in a car over and over again! Then, it is back to severe load when the boat slams back into the water. While water temperature remains very cool because of a fresh water source, oil temperature, something most car guys never even think about, can go nuts leading to engine failure and that not only means an appointment with your banker but, also, time to get out the paddles and row to the boat ramp (not fun). This is a situation a car never sees.
Don't be discouraged though, my Pontiac jet boat is an absolute riot (ask anyone who has been in it)! A no holds barred white knuckle thrill ride that a car cannot give. Also, there are no speed limits on the water and you can take friends along too! There is skiing and wakeboarding too! Those are things you can't do with a race car. More on this later.
A short pause for a picture at the Lake Havasu sand bar (AZ-CA border)