Caincando1

Splish, splash I was takin' a bath...good info guys.

Brian

JUSTONCE

Excalibur 24

tripps

Hey Chatim,welcome to OSO and your not gonna believe this,about 1979 i was working at McBetts racing engines as a cylinder head guy,doing everything cylinderhead related and i remember doing the heads for Charlie M. McBetts did a very good job building BBC's cause they did stock car motas and drag racing engines,had very talented machinists and knew a few tricks to do to a BBC engine to make XTRA power. I remember when John and Mike,the owners tell me that he had won and as a team we all felt good about it. After that the Satisfaction boat had some built also. How cool to talk about this 25 years later!! And geuss what kinda 24 ft boat i had,a BANANA boat,listen to this story! My friend had a red one about in the middle 8o's with a bbc and trs drive,some how he broke the front of the hull,took it apart and gave it to me! Then i had a deck only,where do you find a bottom only??? I did at Nichols pt marina in oakdale NY,it was a i/o hull,very well rebuilt wit full length stringers and beautifull transom knees,perfect for a bracket!!I put a 200 merc on it after putting the deck on and alot of work,ran great,broke it,put on a v-8 and had 8 years of fun and sold it to my buddy who still has it,and my other buddy has a black one with a v-8 also,still,but it was a great boat,but i went bigger with a 30 Velocity with tripple mercs a 81 version and it has very similar lines from the deck up and windshield assembly had enough? Tripps

Chatim Racing

Tripps:
Thanks for the welcome. Small World!! Yes I remember McBetts Engines very well and John Betts. My dad always spoke very highly of you guys and had a lot of respect for your engines. I was at that race in CA in '79 (I was only 12 then) and it was awesome. I think John Betts was there too?? McBetts also built us a couple of car engines for our IMSA race car too in '89 or '90??

Glad to hear that you had a Banana boat too. My dad has one of the original ones with a built 350 and TRS which I think was the best setup - weight/distribution/power-wise.
That's an amazing story about having the deck before the hull. I have one too - bought a 1988 hull and deck and cut the back seat out and slid it backwards to give more room in the cock-pit. Got an Armstrong bracket w/ swim platform and w/Yamaha 225. It's fast but not as fast or as stable in rough water as my dad's boat. Both boats have all the usual stress cracks around the front corners of the cockpit. My dad had to replace his aluminum gas tank a few years ago - I'm lucky - I have a stainless tank.

Don't know if anybody is interested out there but I have alot of early media on the banana boat - like the original brouchere etc. I could make copies and send to anyone interested...send me a PM if so. I have to upgrade this account too I think so I can maybe post what I have. I can also post pics of my boat so you can see what I did with the back seat...

Air Dog

Hello Chatim,

I was begining to think I was the only guy in the world with a 24' Banana Boat.

I am the proud owner of a 1989 Banana, "outboard version", that I have been restoring for 4 years now.

I am in the process of moving the rear seat back to allow for more cockpit room. I would love to get some guidance from you since you already did it.

Thank you for the detailed story about Banana history. We have all been kind of guessing until this point.

Chris

whirlwind

Guys,I posted a reply to this thread but sent it to the new thread section with pics,please read it,about a boat I used to own,and now years later my son just bought it. Dave B

heatbuzz

So how many Bananas total were made? I heard they only were made for about 10 or 12 years, for the public not just as race boats. 1980 to about 90-92. I have seen about 15 mostly in New England. One was a center consold set up for fishing. Last year I almost boat a 1987 with twin bridgeports went down with the money but for some reason I walked away from it..( it was a good deal too.)My brother has an 88, and it is an awsome big water boat. Though he sold out and put Cigarette stickers on it...He should be proud its a BANANA.

Audiofn

I will try and get in touch with Biggus and get him to post up. I believe he owned for some time Hells Bannana #666. Man does that boat have some scarry history

Jon

Biggus

iTrader: (1)

Yes, I had bought "Hells Bananna" #666 as an insurance salvage project after the fire. It was a long term project, it took me close to 4 years to finish.

It was the only twin stern drive 24 Bananna ever made and man, was that a tough little boat. It had a pair of blown small blocks with TRS drives. It was amazing how rugged it was. One time I hit a floating telephone pole at WFO and nothing happened to the boat!

I sold it back in 1996 to a kid from Winnipesaukee. I'm sure it is still running aound somewhere.

I also had a 24' Superboat with a twin turbo Gale Banks BBC and the Superboat was a totally different boat altogether. The Bananna was a wider beam and a non skid flat deck. The Superboat was a 7' beam and a rounded deck.

Someday I'll get my scanner working and post up some pics of the Hells Bananna.

Kurt

heatbuzz

I'm not sure, but I thought I heard that Hells Banana hit something on Winnie and when down to the bottom?