Goatcher's 1993 Pro Mod 550

rowdy925 · 03-05-2010, 02:56 AM

Hi Harry!
I just purchased Harry Goatcher's 1993 Pro Mod 550 complete, however in pieces. Everything looks pretty good and with some light restoration it looks like this thing could be a real runner again. From what I hear you used to be one of the top guys over at Westcoast...that being said I have a few questions for you. First I am concerned with the carburetors as they are round bodies...but I think it was Ed Miller who said that round bodies are the only way to make a hopped up 550 like that run right, as they were designed around round bodies. What is your opinion on that? Rebuild them or toss them and get SBN's? Also I am not sure if these carbs have special mods, but odds are they do. Since this ski is in pieces I do not know how to run the water lines and were or even if I need any type of restrictor in the water lines to achieve max RPM. My only other issue is internal components...I need to rebuild the crank assembly. Who would recommend to do this? I was thinking only a Falicon crank could stand up to the demands of this motor, but maybe you have a better suggestion. What's rods and bearing should I use as well? If you have any special insight or could tell me anything cool or special about this boat it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a ton in advance!

Group K · 03-09-2010, 11:53 AM

A neat find... but you have alot of work in front of you. There is no jetting data for SBNs on the early 550s & and you may encounter clearance issues with the bodies. Actually, the round bodies could work pretty good. I would recommend fitting them them with rubber tiped float needles, and make the linkage as positive as possible.

For the crank, I would try to find as new as possible "3011" crank (the stock crank from a 440). The 3011 cranks were superior in every way to the 550 cranks (which had "forged-on" crankpins).

On the cooling ... there were so many variables, I'd have to have the boat in front of me to recommend anything.

Respectfully, Harry Klemm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowdy925

Hi Harry!
I just purchased Harry Goatcher's 1993 Pro Mod 550 complete, however in pieces. Everything looks pretty good and with some light restoration it looks like this thing could be a real runner again. From what I hear you used to be one of the top guys over at Westcoast...that being said I have a few questions for you. First I am concerned with the carburetors as they are round bodies...but I think it was Ed Miller who said that round bodies are the only way to make a hopped up 550 like that run right, as they were designed around round bodies. What is your opinion on that? Rebuild them or toss them and get SBN's? Also I am not sure if these carbs have special mods, but odds are they do. Since this ski is in pieces I do not know how to run the water lines and were or even if I need any type of restrictor in the water lines to achieve max RPM. My only other issue is internal components...I need to rebuild the crank assembly. Who would recommend to do this? I was thinking only a Falicon crank could stand up to the demands of this motor, but maybe you have a better suggestion. What's rods and bearing should I use as well? If you have any special insight or could tell me anything cool or special about this boat it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a ton in advance!

rowdy925 · 03-09-2010, 12:08 PM

Thank you for that insight...I'm going to stick with round bodies as they are heavily modified. I'm going to have to do some searching however for the 3011 crank but I have a PJS rebuild kit that I can match it with and send it off to Falicon. I noticed a few things about this motor however...the carbs are not blended to the intake and the cases are totally untouched other than the pulse fittings that were tapped in. Is this correct? I figured the cases would be matched and blueprinted at least and the carbs would be matched to the intake. The carbs hang a pretty good bit into the intake manifold, but both are heavily modified. The porting on the cylinder, both manifolds and carb mods are primo however. Should I finish what was started or leave it alone?

rowdy925 · 03-09-2010, 12:16 PM

Is there any reason this boat didn't have a titanium or aluminum driveshaft? I was thinking about swapping it but I don't want to mess up the dynamics of the ski.

rowdy925 · 03-10-2010, 03:46 AM

Did Westcoast run the front mount ignition on these boats in 93' or was it KV total loss? This one came with the KV set up...

Group K · 03-10-2010, 11:40 AM

Rody,
I left Westcoast in 1990, so I never saw a front ignition installed on a working boat...all the W/C boats I saw just had regular KVs. I'm not surprised to see the stock shaft, the ti shaft made the boat lighter overall, but didn't improve acceleration much (as a light flywheel does) because the small diameter of the shaft has so little inertia. I wouldn't bother with the case matching, but removing steps in the inlet tract is a good idea.

Respectfully, Harry Klemm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowdy925

Did Westcoast run the front mount ignition on these boats in 93' or was it KV total loss? This one came with the KV set up...