Howard 2” runner bottom restore

[SoCalZero]

I have been meaning to make this post for a quite a few years now. Here we have a 1976 Howard 2” runner bottom(Brendella splash) that my dad bought so we had a boat for Lake Powell while the other one was getting re-gelled. This was a “one season” boat that was supposed to be out of the picture as soon as my dad other boat was complete. Everyone loved the boat so it stuck around. We took it everywhere and even met the original builders at Lake Perris as we got kicked off for noise. They gave us a brief history that it’s name was Rat Poison, was powered by a blown small block and it had a issue staying planted in the water
Years passed by and the boat was taken apart for fresh paint and to switch to a Chevy. After it was painted it was put on the back burner and neglected after that.
Years passed and I was going to put it back together but I found that the floors had some stress cracks and the rainwater got to soak into the wood.
My cousin ended up buying it off my dad along with a pretty much fresh 509ci Chevy. The boat went to Mel’s and a few grand later there was new floors and gel. Bottom was trued in the driveway with a lot of sanding and finished with graphite paint. All the work was done by my cousin and brother with the exception of the anodizing and Mel’s work. Came out really nice. Here are some pictures that I have of the build. I’ll add more as I find them.

 

[SoCalZero]

 

[oldschool]

Looks bitchen. Cool project. I guess I should have waited for the rest of the pics, that turned out bad ass.

 

[SoCalZero]

Here’s a video of the engine running. Excuse the jet boat headers.

 

[BassLakeCruiser]

Did he ever put the tiny cavitation plates on the outsides? Looks like the cav bar is set up for it.

 

[SoCalZero]

Did he ever put the tiny cavitation plates on the outsides? Looks like the cav bar is set up for it.

Yeah they are on there. The far right turnbuckle would always bend when it was ran hard.

 

[RiverDave]

This is your Lake Powell boat?

 

[SoCalZero]

This is your Lake Powell boat?

Haha. Yeah. This was the early 90s when my dad picked this up and took it to Powell. We pulled it behind the pontoon that we rented. It was used for fun rides but used mostly for skiing. The first picture is at Powell in a really nice, protected cove we found.

 

[lbhsbz]

This is your Lake Powell boat?

We did 2 weeks on Powell with a 15’ regatta when I was a kid.

Back then, you also didn’t need 200+ hp to tow a skier.

 

[BUSTI]

Badass! love it. great job!

 

[coolchange]

Nice float! Ya I said “Powell?” Too.

 

[SoCalZero]

Here’s a few more pictures and couple videos.

 

[BigRedBryan]

Here’s a few more pictures and couple videos. View attachment 1039965 View attachment 1039967 View attachment 1039972
View attachment 1039973
View attachment 1039974

Awesome build, but why are 2 fuel pumps needed?

 

[SoCalZero]

Awesome build, but why are 2 fuel pumps needed?

Those pumps are known to fail. Both pumps feed into a block and feed the carb from there. If one fails you have the other pump feeding still.

 

[oldschool]

Those pumps are known to fail. Both pumps feed into a block and feed the carb from there. If one fails you have the other pump feeding still.

Why not a mechanical pump?

 

[SoCalZero]

Why not a mechanical pump?

No fuel pump port.

 

[SoCalZero]

Before pictures of the floors.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

This is a cool thread nice job!!