Hello! I'm a new member of the forum, just found it while surfing for parts, photos, etc. What a nice surprise! I'm restoring a 1970 (or so I was told) 18' Hydrodyne. I have so many questions I'm not sure where to begin. My son is presently stripping the old paint down to the gel coat, and we need to decide on a finish. We do cars, so paint is not a problem, but we have not done boats. Any suggestions? The boat has a 302 Ford Mercruiser, which has seen better days, so I'm looking for new power. I would like to re-power with either a 351 or a higher HP 302. Any thoughts on this? My big question is how to convert the exhaust from the stock through-the-prop system to either a straight though-the-hull or a switchable exhaust. I don’t' seem to be able to find anyone who supplies a kit for this, so I was wondering if anyone else had done it. I didn't realize that Hydrodyne boats had such a following. I've loved them since I saw them in the 70's and have always wanted one. Hope to have mine on the water this summer! Any thoughts would be appreciated! Jim Hultman
Hi Jim, Just wanted to welcome you to the site. There are definitely some great people here. Hopefully we'll get your issues taken care of and you'll be out skiing like mad this summer. Very Happy
Welcome Jim, I think that you would have a backwash problem with a through hull exhaust unless you can somehow incorporate the exhaust check valves in it. They are in the Y pipe I believe and pretty low. That might be a problem. The 302 is the lightest of the iron V-8s and I would stay with it, unless you want to convert it to an outboard which is what I did after running the I/O for several years. The I/O hull makes a great outboard, the rear deck is a little different. I like it better. Another interesting conversion would be the chevy LS-1 or 2 they are very light and have big HP. jim
Welcome! Always good to see another fan of Hydrodynes! As far as paint goes, I have had good results with Imron (commonly used on aircraft). It's not a cheap paint by any means, but seems to work quite well on fiberglass. Our team had one of our 20' hydrodynes repainted with Imron around 2001, and it's holding up quite well. The only problems are where it has been scratched through by years of teaching drivers how to handle a twin engine boat that can tow 24+ skiers. I am sure there are others out there that will second add their thoughts. Jeremy
