78 sonic twin berk jet
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78 sonic twin berk jet
Picked up 78 sonic with twin berk jet drives. No power but had olds 403s. Cable pull push steering with tie bar between pumps nozzles. No cabin windows except hatch. Hoping to repower with stroked 350s. Any history or info on model type. Says sonic 24 on the sides. Dark red color, white topsides.
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Get ready for some steering upgrades if you can make it go fast .hope it already has the jc.top mount steering too .you prob saw the one on eBay with twin 454 and berkleley "f" pumps recently ?
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What did it do speedwise with olds 403s back in the day?
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Top speeds are elusive ,I had one in the shop last year that every shop in texas had worked on and just added more problems onto problems it already had .got existing hardware sorted out and went into low '60's with a holeshot on par with a good tournament ski boat .this was with 454's of onknown origin ,possibly peanut port tbi truck motors with Hardin manifolds . This was a 26' sleek
#6
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You need to yank bowls and see what impellers that boat has , you could prob build a couple 377's super cheap and have a 650 hp boat that comes out of the hole like gangbusters .with iron
manifolds .
then you will have money for hyd trim and steering that you will need
manifolds .
then you will have money for hyd trim and steering that you will need
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Agreed. Have a Carlson cv23 with a 460 and predator carb. And a 455 olds in a 21' thaiti. Good idea re 377s . Were many Sonic 24 jets built?
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The odds of finding anybody anywhere who accurately remembers anything useful about that boat or any twin jet with axial flow pumps almost nil . I searched the ends of the galaxy for tips on a 26' with 2 454's and berk f pumps .found the one guy who still had some papers from a similar build almost 40 years ago ,no expense spared for 61 mph .was already there with lots on the table .if the planet's aligou will have a unique boat 60-70 , a holeshot sleeper ,possible bow steer king on shut down
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Picked up 78 sonic with twin berk jet drives. No power but had olds 403s. Cable pull push steering with tie bar between pumps nozzles. No cabin windows except hatch. Hoping to repower with stroked 350s. Any history or info on model type. Says sonic 24 on the sides. Dark red color, white topsides.
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I got my old Southwind Tunnel jet from a guy that had, or still has, a Sleekcraft with 2 jets. His never worked out well. It has been a while but it seems like the main problem is that when the hull tries to air out the pumps cavitate. You end up with 2 screamin' big blocks getting passed by bowriders and you are using 3 times the fuel.
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-you-seen.html
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-you-seen.html
Last edited by Old Navy; 06-23-2014 at 08:10 AM.