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So this thread is coming in a little late as I've just about completed this build but I figured I would go ahead and give a little story of what's been going on in my garage over the last several months (and truth be told, the last couple of years-). So sit back, pop open a brew or pour a healthy cocktail of your favorite vodka (mine it Titos), and hopefully you'll enjoy the story. I'll be adding to it over the next few days..
For the longest time, I've wanted to build an ÔÇ£all out, no holds barredÔÇØ superstock Pro 785 that would be competitive in the IJSBA or Pro Watercross circuits. I've owned and gone through several Pro 785s, my first being my 1998 I bought back in 2008. She has gone through many engine builds but currently seems to be holding together quite well (see latest build thread in my signature). The second was a ÔÇ£grudge racingÔÇØ 1997 I bought a year or so later that had a Sharps Marine bored and stroked out 785 motor to a whopping 1010 cc monster. Unfortunately, this ski has been decommissioned but I still have all the parts and pieces to maybe one day make it run again. My third was a ÔÇ£pasture princessÔÇØ I bought in mid-2017 from a fellow racer, which ended up being a pre-production hull that had a ton of goodies. Currently this project is on hold due to the extensive fiberglass and gel coat work I still need to do. My fourth and final (yeah, right!) 785 is this damn near mint 1999 I bought from a racer in Nebraska, which is the backbone of this build.
To further the background on how I got here, after I bought my pre-production 1997, I spent quite a bit of time and effort to get it running. If you check out my thread on that boat, you can see that it was pretty trashed from sitting around for years outside and uncovered. After a couple of months and a ÔÇ£fewÔÇØ dollars later, I finally got it running and she ran fantastically pulling over 8100 rpm. Unfortunately, the boat suffered from the typical major leaks at the bond line. I decided to split the hull and do some work to get the top and bottom halves looking pristine. Well, as we all know, life gets in the way and the project was taking extremely long to complete. The 2019 race season was fast approaching and there was no way I was going to be able to finish the hull in time. I decided to look around for a nice '99 or '00 donor hull for my newly ported engine-and social media came to the rescue. I connected with a racer in Nebraska on Facebook who had a '99 for sale. The motor in the hull had snagged a ring in the MAG cylinder but I did not care since I would be using a completely different motor. As soon as the boat got to my house, I started to tear into it-a little greasy but overall a very good condition ski that will be a fantastic starting point for my new build.
For the longest time, I've wanted to build an ÔÇ£all out, no holds barredÔÇØ superstock Pro 785 that would be competitive in the IJSBA or Pro Watercross circuits. I've owned and gone through several Pro 785s, my first being my 1998 I bought back in 2008. She has gone through many engine builds but currently seems to be holding together quite well (see latest build thread in my signature). The second was a ÔÇ£grudge racingÔÇØ 1997 I bought a year or so later that had a Sharps Marine bored and stroked out 785 motor to a whopping 1010 cc monster. Unfortunately, this ski has been decommissioned but I still have all the parts and pieces to maybe one day make it run again. My third was a ÔÇ£pasture princessÔÇØ I bought in mid-2017 from a fellow racer, which ended up being a pre-production hull that had a ton of goodies. Currently this project is on hold due to the extensive fiberglass and gel coat work I still need to do. My fourth and final (yeah, right!) 785 is this damn near mint 1999 I bought from a racer in Nebraska, which is the backbone of this build.
To further the background on how I got here, after I bought my pre-production 1997, I spent quite a bit of time and effort to get it running. If you check out my thread on that boat, you can see that it was pretty trashed from sitting around for years outside and uncovered. After a couple of months and a ÔÇ£fewÔÇØ dollars later, I finally got it running and she ran fantastically pulling over 8100 rpm. Unfortunately, the boat suffered from the typical major leaks at the bond line. I decided to split the hull and do some work to get the top and bottom halves looking pristine. Well, as we all know, life gets in the way and the project was taking extremely long to complete. The 2019 race season was fast approaching and there was no way I was going to be able to finish the hull in time. I decided to look around for a nice '99 or '00 donor hull for my newly ported engine-and social media came to the rescue. I connected with a racer in Nebraska on Facebook who had a '99 for sale. The motor in the hull had snagged a ring in the MAG cylinder but I did not care since I would be using a completely different motor. As soon as the boat got to my house, I started to tear into it-a little greasy but overall a very good condition ski that will be a fantastic starting point for my new build.
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