Interesting piece of Sonic history.....
 

They're calling it a 25' but has to be a 24' like mine.
A '78 though. Maybe the oldest I've seen yet. Different deck then mine too I think, or maybe just windshield.
Twin I/O's w/Stern Power drives. Always thought those looked cool but must not have run well since they're long since gone.
Boat would have to be a pig too w/that much weight (transmissions) that far forward in that short of a hull.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Holy blower scoops!!!!!!! Wtf is the old gal hiding under there

That is definately a "pass on it" mess. The 28's with twin BBC were too stern heavy and didnt ride well. That has to be an even worse example. Besides looks like it sat uncovered for a long, long time. Way too much work, antiquated parts and drives, hull etc. Much better opportunities out there to bring back than that boat IMHO.

These Sonics were made from the old 24' Donzi Doral & Spitfire hulls Like I have now. If it's been left uncovered there may be transom & stinger rot. My Donzi had 350 Chris Craft engines with heavy iron log manifolds. The weight of this 8' beam big block hull should not be the issue. Whats under the fiberglass engine bay liner now thats scary.. :party-smiley-004:

How the hell do you shove 2 big blocks with room to work with in a 25ft (24)? boat? That is crazy!

Love the hose adapters at the water neck. I've seen twin 350's in a 24 but that's crazy. Twin BBC's!!

Yep. Would be an absolute turd IMO.
I am on my 2nd 24' Sonic twin O/B and the hull is in deed from a Donzi. It's a liner boat though and the stringers are glass box's and part of the liner. Hull and deck are foam core. When Mr. Ross was building these boats he did a hell of a job. I've been all over the inside both of mine and the glass work (even under the liner!) is A-1.
Only mistake they made was glass the aft seat base to the inside of the transom to act as knee's for the loading from the O/B's but they tabbed them in to the foam which de-lam'd from the base and let the transom's flex. Every O/B will have cracks where the side decks transition to the transom cap due to this.
There was another one in Northern Ohio w/twin TRS's and big blocks I think. Was for a sale a couple yrs back. I sent the guy a message to ask him how it ran but never got a reply. Very well done version though.
Here's a picture of how well they fly w/twin O/B's and can't see one with I/O's being much fun based on C. of G. and weight.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...xs/atspeed.jpg

Gary where is the wheelie picture you have? Get 80mph out of the new one yet?

Hey Charlie.
 

New boat hasn't been over 70 yet. Been fighting multiple Gremlins since the re-do.

Here yah go :drink:

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...nicwheelie.jpg

I think that was the year I pulled my motor apart in the parking lot and raced it the next day.

No but you can drop 800hp in an I/O one :lolhit:

No doubt about that.
 

Don't think I've seen one done proper though??? Don't get me wrong, I think about jumping ship every time one of my motors pisses me off which is quite regular. Always ends the same though.
I do home work, math, look at logistics, talk to I/O running friends check finances and then remember why I run O/B's.
My old 24' Sonic ran dead nuts on 80 GPS w/stock twin 250 V-6 O/B's with warranties and I didn't have to give up the aft 6' of the boat for them.
It would probably take 700 HP's or more to run the same with an I/O in this boat? You'd have 5 times the money in that drive train than what I had in my motors and less boat to boot.
One of the smartest things I did when I bought my 1st 24' was to do the math. For what I wanted to do I kept ending up at 24' - 25' and twin O/B's. I knew any bigger and the O/B's would stop working (speed wise), I'd need a bigger truck to tow with, more PIA to single hand which I do a lot of, stops working at the smaller/inland lakes etc, etc.
I can see a twin I/O 30' in my future at some point but while I can build motors (O/B's) from scrap parts at next to nothing ......that's tuff to walk away from. I think I might have $2K in these two motors that should make 260 - 270 HP's per and turn 7500 when I want them to and have box's of spare everything. Remember too, that $2K is drives and transmissions too.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...edpaint005.jpg
Charlie I think you're right. I just saw pix's somewhere of you on the ground with Yamaha guts scattered all around you ;) Seem to remember something about an exhaust can being opened up w/a hammer :lolhit:

I seem to vaguely remember a power cord and multiple power tools. That boat ran well at the drags.

I so agree...inexpensive for a 200 Johnson, big carbs, shave heads, port timing and throw a few useless parts away and presto 300 hp for next to nothing in a 400 lb package.

I have more money in one drive than I did in all my outboard boats combined.

Its easier than than you think. If the engine bulk head is like my Donzi Doral it's removable, look at the pic of my Donzi's engine bay with small blocks. Big blocks are tighter but workable. As I have said it's a 8' beam hull, the standard of most offshore boats. But if you want to see tight a 27' Magnum with big blocks, or my 24' Cobra with twin 302 H&M Fords that has a 7' beam, now thats tight. :eek:

can't believe this boat is already at $900 and still 5 days left

Calm down Gary...im just bustin balls bro :D

No worries Mate : )
 

Didn't take it personally. I just find that many do not know the advantages that O/B's have in certain situations and if taken advantage of.

On twins in small boats, I have been impressed w/the older 24' Formulas I've looked at. Mostly small blocks of course but tons of room for a small boat. That's one of my *****es with I/O's in the small boats I can afford to operate. Have to pull the motors to do much of anything.

I think the main advantage of a big block (other than reliability if your comparing to a 2.5 :D ) is rough water balance. For example, in the class i race in theres a 30 foot Superboat with 2.5s right on the transom. In calm water hes just about unbeatable, he turns and accelorates better than any of the big block boats. But in rough water he cant keep the boat in the water. Nose points straight up. But your certainly right on the use of every hp, a 27 Kryptonite with 280s on it ran just over 100 if I remember right. With a good setup it takes around 800 HP of a big block to get ya there.

Yep, agreed.
 

See it in videos all the time. Took me a while to figure it out but is basic physics. Objects fall @ same speed regardless of weight but the heavier one accelerates faster.
C. of G. of a single I/O being farther forward helps it stay more level when it drops Vs 800lbs of motors hanging on a stick w/the O/B's.
I punish tabs on both my boats to compensate. The new one has Keikhaefer's but I exploded two Bennett rams on the old boat. Second one was even their dual ram, "Sport Tab".

2.5's get a bad rap for their longevity but most are modified to the 9th degree.
My thing is what you can do w/stock power on a smaller V compared to an I/O. Everything I looked at (meeting my needs) comparable, in my price range ended up being 65 mph boats and were boring to drive. I like being rewarded for my driving ;)
Biggest allure for the Sonic to me though is the cabin as we weekend on ours :drink:

Hes got big tabs, just too much weight back there. I hear ya, I love my 2.5!

Here is a I O Sonic I raced against back around 1988 in APBA A class, it rocked.

Veryyyyyy........
 

Coool! Single or twin?

Twin stock 300 hp small blocks Chevy's running at 70+ speeds.

Wow.
 

Thats impressive. Would have liked to have seen that.
I like the idea of the small blocks in the smaller boats. It would be fun to build a couple of the all aluminum small blocks and drop in.
I think you could probably get what, 500 reliable HP's per??

I heard they raced some O/B's too but never seen any pix's have you?

500 would be easy, and some really nice motors

When I worked at Performer in the early 90's we built the same boat, one of them we built "Special" to beat Reggie in the Rudee Run, a 200 mile race from Hopewell Va to Va Beach & Back. The boat we built had twin "Staggered" 540's and #4 drives on boxes. it ran 114 mph with the tabs down, if you lifted the tabs it would start porpoising and jumping out of the water (On Glassy river water) at 90-100 mph it would jump a 100'+ (distance, Not hight) repeatedly until you put the tabs down. Fun Times :)

When you really need to make a heavy boat go fast, big blocks are your friend :D

In a .....
 

24' :party-smiley-004::eek:

Have been thinking....
 

that might be a fun project in an old school 30' Velocity which is on my short list for that 30' I/O boat. Wouldn't have the mid range torque that big blocks would and not sure how that would equate at a 3500 RPM cruising speed but every where else I'd think you'd have a winner.
I think they set a record back in the day w/small blocks into the 80's.

Here are a few O/B from back in the day..

No but once they get all wound up that boat would move! Let me know when you build that :)

H2O, awesome shots, Thanks! Only other shot I've EVER seen of the BZ II besides the ones I took. It was at the Strohs Grand National at Cedar point Ohio in the early 70's while my parents docked a cruiser there.
I remember that thing being way over the top. Think I was 15/16 at the time.
Believe it was aluminum? Very unique design and then 3 or 4 Chrysler Stackers?? I followed them around in my home made 8' hydroplane w/a baby Merc w/open pipes on it ;) Pretty sure I had wood at the time.

FF2, day after I hit the lottery. I keep lookin/thinkin a 30' something next. I figure if I stick with O/B's that puts me into the mid 60's maybe 70 w/new D.I. 300's or go I/O and let finances dictate what and how far. Had a favorite Checkmate dealer in the day that was famous for selling boats w/stock power until going out of warranty. Get the right drives etc out of the box but save on power until you can afford the upgrade.

Gary, have you ever ran a water tank in the nose on your Sonics?

No I....
 

haven't Shannon. Thought about it though. Have the perfect place too. The good folks at Sonic built both my boats w/anchor lockers but not accessible from the deck?? Keep trying to think what I can store up there that I won't have to crawl over my V berth w/wet/sandy shoes to get???
Be an easy experiment to try. Figure out volume of water that locker would hold, convert to lbs and throw in an equal amount of weight.
Hummmmhhhh.......

FastFun,
I agree with your statement. Dual OBs on V-hulls are fast but are hard to run level in the slop.

Here is a well balanced dual OB running good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQUeP...layer_embedded

At a 1975 race on lake St Clair BZ II was entered in he made a wong turn and we did not see him until two hours after the race, might have lost in Lake St Clair's Bermuda Triangle. :eek: That boat had it's own sound with it's O/B straight pipes, It sounded like a bee hive.:picard1:



QUOTE=Twin O/B Sonic;3603005]H2O, awesome shots, Thanks! Only other shot I've EVER seen of the BZ II besides the ones I took. It was at the Strohs Grand National at Cedar point Ohio in the early 70's while my parents docked a cruiser there.
I remember that thing being way over the top. Think I was 15/16 at the time.
Believe it was aluminum? Very unique design and then 3 or 4 Chrysler Stackers?? I followed them around in my home made 8' hydroplane w/a baby Merc w/open pipes on it ;) Pretty sure I had wood at the time.

FF2, day after I hit the lottery. I keep lookin/thinkin a 30' something next. I figure if I stick with O/B's that puts me into the mid 60's maybe 70 w/new D.I. 300's or go I/O and let finances dictate what and how far. Had a favorite Checkmate dealer in the day that was famous for selling boats w/stock power until going out of warranty. Get the right drives etc out of the box but save on power until you can afford the upgrade.[/QUOTE]

Neat boat, but I heard that it is not faster than a speeding bullet:party-smiley-004:

I dunno guys, it's a pretty neat looking boat... I like the lines... and those drives and props are pretty badass looking.

Anyone....
 

know anything about those Stern Power drives??

Shannon, killer video. Had forgotten about it.

Cool looking, not real strong, very outdated...in a nutshell, id rather have volvos if you wanted to stay "old."