New Guy taking on a jet jon project

[JJ36]

New to forum. I saw a jet Jon video a few years ago and I just recently move from big Michigan lakes to Indiana rivers. I have had boats my entire life and done most work myself but this will be my first build. I'm going to do my best to read up before I ask a bunch of noob questions. I have rebuilt a rotax 717 before so the mechanical portion doesn't scare but as I have been doing some reading I have some concerns of what I first had designed in my mind. I picked up a 93 seadoo SPX with a yellow 587 and looking for a boat. There is a 1438 flat bottom in the area for 800 and I was wondering one is that boat going to be big enough to handle the weight of the motor and a few guys and gear. Two is that motor big enough to handle the river with a few guys and gear. Let the noob bashing begin.

 

[sjsykora]

I think you should look for a boat with a modified v bottom.Flat bottoms have issues loading the pump.Steve.

 

[Ranchero50]

You can read my build thread and glean some decent info. Personally I wouldn't do the work to an under 48" bottom hull. I stretched my 1448 out to a 1748 and it's an awesome two guy fishing machine. However 3 guys gets tight and performance goes down. Then again, going solo the front end gets pretty light at 45+.

You jet pump inlet is gong to be the hardest part of the build if you go all aluminum. Grafting the glass ski into the aluminum hull has been done with varying results.

 

[JJ36]

Ok so wider boat. Got it. What about the 587? Worth using on a 14' or will not have enough power to handle the river and some hunting gear?

 

[Ranchero50]

There's a member on here who did a 587 and it worked well for slower speed on plane cruising.

 

[JJ36]

Well I have rebuilt the 587 and now I'm going to get started on putting the pump in the boat. I will have plenty of pictures to follow. Suggestions on bonding the fiberglass to the hull?