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  1. #91
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    Pancho,
    Let's see here if I can get a photo posted. If this works, it's a photo of my 18' Silhouette. The picture shows the hull's original red metalflake and white gelcoat after I stripped four different coats of paint off of her!
    A previous owner sanded the metalflake, so I'll need to re-finish her, although she doesn't look too bad in this shot.
    The original Vance trailer came with it, and I have totally restored every piece to the trailer.
    This is the ski boat, the one that's getting the Holman-Moody 406 Ford.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_0367.jpg  

  2. #92
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    Hey Panch!
    Beers are on me! I got a photo to attach! Hell is freezing over baby!
    O.K., now that I got over that deal, let's see if I can shoot a photo of the Mortician's engines. The entire boat is going to come apart after I finalize all of the installation. Restoring a boat that someone else built, and that that someone isn't with us any more requires a lot of "reverse engineering" from photos and fourty year old memories.
    Here's one for you Chevy Faithfull out there.......try TWO 327s INLINE, LINKED AT THE CRANKS, HILBORN INJECTED ON NITRO/METHANOL MIX!
    The shot in front of the garage shows the headders in mock-up, before they got welded and coated. (That's the ski boat behind it in the garage)
    Spike
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_1847Mortician engines.jpg   Mortician 002.jpg  

  3. #93
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    Here's One,
    This is from my file.
    The group shot is a photo taken in fron of Stevens Boat Co. in the early sixties. The sign says .."Fast ski boats, SK Boats, Drag Boats"
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Stevens Factory.jpg  

  4. #94
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    The Stevens Hydro,
    Stevens didn't make a lot of these, but they're cool. It's basically an 18' Silhouette deck,on a hydro styled hull.
    This one is mine, a blown gasser from '65, owned and raced by Bill Dirksing originally.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_1846hydroengineandmach1.jpg  

  5. #95
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    Very cool stuff there glad you got the pic thing figured out

    I have a 17ft open bow fish/ski in our backyard lake and it sure is nice to have a running and reliable boat to play with when the hot rod gets frustrating just gas up fill the cooler and get out on the water with no hassles.

    Is the hydro a running deal? looks intense

    I have an Aunt in Cali that i sent this link to and she said there was a local band out there she used to go watch and there was a Spike Morelli in the band,coincidence

  6. #96
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    Heres a pic that was sent to me dont remember who`s shop maybe Miller
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 278.jpg  

  7. #97
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    Pancho,
    Tell your aunt that, yes, I am the same Spike Morelli. I am one of the original founding members, and lead singer for Lil Elmo and the Cosmos from late'72 thru '97, when the group started to break up. It's amazing how solid our fan base still is.
    Most boat people however, know me as Spike, who's into Stevens Boats, and that's great , I am into boats.

    About the hydro, you bet it runs, like a watch. The blown,injected 398" Chrysler Hemi was originally built by the late Dave Zeuschel. It puts out between 800 to maybe1000 horsepower on gas, depending on the tune. Stuart Hilborn himself autographed the injector scoop at an awards ceremony. Both the hydro"Too Much" and the "Mortician" are built using all of the original, refurbished hardware too.
    I've been to Miller's shop, I can't tell if it is,but doesn't look like I recall. Jim Miller had wall to wall boats that he was working on when I was there. I hope that it's in the cards to have him re-do the Mortician's deck.
    Talk about wood decks, how about that picture I posted of the boats in front of Stevens' shop. Harlan Orrin sent me that photo. The wood deck in the foreground is his work.
    Although I own two legitimate drag boats, with the Mortician having set 5 World Records, custom ski boats are the most fun. The 18' Stevens Silhouette (the red and white one) will ultimately get the most use.
    My family's been boating since around 1960, and I've driven friends outboards, stern drives, jets, and what have you. For me, I've always loved the feel, the sound, the looks of a hot v-driven inboard.
    Wouldn't it be great, if other passionate Stevens owners, people I asume to be like ourselves, would someday all meet at a lake somewhere, for an annual Stevens Boat get together, like you used to see in SHOT BOAT magazine? ( "the only magazine that mattered" to them......
    Spike

  8. #98
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    May 2005
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    Hey Spike That is so cool two in-line 327's
    Thanks for sharing the pictures.

    V-king jet boat
    Seadoo speedster 200 310hp
    Hole shot http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...t=MOV00922.flv

  9. #99
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    Spike thats cool about the band deal!

    Thats neat about the hydro and its history must be an explosive and white knuckle ride just how i like it

    I could see a Stevens get together down the road something that would probably start out small but grow over time.

    Were you signed up on v-driveboat.com before the server was changed this winter? There is always something popping up about stevens it seems. New owners often find their way there and seem to come from all over the country. I`m sure there are members that know you but also alot that dont your membership would be appreciated by all.

    I was gonna post the pics you sent me but maybe you would like to,heres the link to new members hope to see you there.
    Kenny

    http://www.v-driveboat.com/vweb/forums.php

  10. #100
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    Pancho,
    I don't think I ever posted anything on v-driveboat.com.
    I did post something on ********************, talking about Tony Marichich, and his SK boat " Suddenly" a while back, but by and large, I don't surf all the boat sites.
    Lately, I've just been here. You can post any of the pictures if you like elsewhere. People might enjoy them.
    Eventually, with a Stevens website, I'll be there, and people who want to talk about a Stevens they have,(or had), or talk parts or tech, can do their thing there.
    You'd be suprised, that although you hear lots of guys talk about their Hondo or Sanger or whatever , there's twice as many people out there with a hot Stevens.
    Spike

  11. #101
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    Hey Spike i agree on the amount of Stevens out there i think most just lurk cause its not a show/10 second boat and the net seems to bring out the braggerts and alot of one upmanship,too bad not everyone needs to go a hundred.
    Hope you reconsider on joining i`m sure lots of peeps would enjoy your knowledge and history.
    Heres a couple of pics sent to me by a friend of a Stevens that lurks in the NW,looks like someone went all out although not period correct a nice looking boat none the less
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails scan002.jpg   scan002_1.jpg  

  12. #102
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    Pancho,
    Now there's a hull style I don't see many of any more. That's a deep v-bottom. It also has adjustable plates. My guess is that it rides pretty good in rough or choppy water.
    Interesting trailer, looks completely custom made.
    Note the polished aluminum exhaust port plugs at the back of the hull. Like I said, if the Stevens wasn't ordered new from the factory as a race boat, or bare hull, it came with thru-hull exhaust trumpets (which this owner has plugged, to run headers instead).
    The peacock colored metalflake hull has been kept, and the "target" (as Stevens called it), or side spear design, has been custom painted over. It looks in great shape, I like it a lot. One of the things I've always liked about metalflake, is how when you paint a boat's name, or licence numbers, or, in this case, the side design over a metalflake finish, because of the clear over the flake, the thing that's painted on seems to "float" over the metalflake finish. There's a certain depth to painting on a metalflake gelcoat that's custom looking.
    That's a real sweet Stevens, to be sure.
    About the braggers, they're all talk mostly. If you really are cool, you don't have to tell anyone that you are,they know without you saying so.
    Any one who was really there in the heyday of hot inboards and v-drives knows that the real flatbottoms that were out on the water were probably around a 70 mph ski boat. Say, a L-88 with a tunnel ram, ski-gears, a three blade prop, aluminum over transom pipes, seating for four, flat bottomed flatbottom, regardless of make of hull, was probably an honest 70 mph boat. There were faster, there were slower, but that's what they were.
    Sometimes, it seems that some guys are just thumping their chest in a testosterone overload trying to look big in front of their boyfriends. Great you guys, go drop your pants and enter a contest over there...........
    One time, I was at the Colorado River, at the Parker strip, sitting at one of the many bars on the water, having a "soda" with my older brother, just enjoying the afternoon and watching the girls and boats go by, minding my own business. I had just finished the restoration of a '67 Hallettt circle race flatbottom(long deck). The engine was a very hot 427 Ford medium riser, all polished up and painted nice. Just a simple and beautiful looking piece.
    Some idiot saunders over and asks me if that's my boat (pointing to the Hallett). "Yes, it is" I say. Then Captain I,Q. goes on to tell me, "I bet my boat's faster than yours..............". I told him how impressed I was (yawn), and how I bet he was the envy of all his friends.
    He wasn't sure how to take that. I continued my conversation with my brother. He got the message and went away. Point is, this guy wasn't into boats. If he was, he'd have checked out that gorgeous Hallett and taken in the details. That boat was a creampuff!
    Behind the wheel of a high powered inboard is NO place for stupid people. And, just because you have lots of dough, doesn't mean you belong there either. The heart and soul, meat and potatoes people who make hot boating great are blue collar, intelligent, working stiffs, who have a love of machinery and form, and respect for this floating piece of art, that can kill if handled wrong.
    Like you said, not everyone needs to go one hundred, realistically, very few of us SHOULD go one hundred. It's not all about that.
    For me, this is fun, and I enjoy a nice inboard, how fast it goes is the last question I'll ever ask.
    Did I go off on the subject, or what! Sorry... Spike
    Last edited by Spike Morelli; 08-05-2018 at 07:36 PM.

  13. #103
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    Well said, Spike...I agree 110%!!

  14. #104
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    Very well said its a shame there are people like that cause it probably keeps some from posting thinking their boat isn't going to be good enough or wont run the bench race numbers that some are claiming
    Riding in Keith's boat last weekend was just as fun as any 100 MPH boat i have been in frankly dont really like being the passenger at those speeds anyways.The guy i bought my boat from thought it was cool to take new people and scare the crap out of them (not cool).When i used to line up and lake race i knew what kind of person they were afterwords by whether we enjoyed a refreshment together and just admired each others boats or they just drove off sulking or gloating and being a total dick about it.

    I have a favorite saying that could probably be applied to myself sometimes

    (More money than sense)

  15. #105
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    By the way.......
    There is one piece to the Mortician that I don't have, and would appreciate it enormously if anyone can be of help finding this.
    What I need, is a "Thompson" finned aluminum timing cover for a small block Chevy. Mickey Thompson made a lot of marine equiptment in the sixties, and this part is one of his, and it's kinda an early piece because in says"Thompson" on it, instead of M/T.
    It is also the only timing cover I've ever seen that has the fins running up-and-down, instead of horizontal. The vertical fins were designed to stiffen the timing cover in that plane because the cover also doubled as a crank snout support, in that the cover was machined to accept a large car axle bearing pressed into the backside of the crank hole. A special hub with a small I.D. for the snout, and an O.D. machined to slip into the bearing was supplied with this cover.
    The forwardmost engine had this cover on it, to help support the crank snout that was coupled to the rear engines flywheel.
    I have the coupler and all the other stuff for this boat. Worst come to worst, I have a Moon cover,(which is what the rear engine always had), that I am going to modify, so it will all work and match.
    Any how, talk it up with other gear heads, one should surface. A dragster with a blown small block Chevy would require one of these because the little Chevy crank snout is not strong enough to carry the strain of a big (6-71) blower. Thanks guys............. Spike
    Last edited by Spike Morelli; 06-30-2008 at 07:18 PM. Reason: vertical fins

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