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  1. #46
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    i rather enjoy being told that i`m wasting my time trying to go fast in a old wood flat,nothing like a good challenge and as i remind people its my time and money,the et`s and mph numbers from the mid 60`s were pretty stout for boats that could never be fast

  2. #47
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    Website

    Pancho,
    About the website, It's format has been compiled and is close to going. Amazingly, after all this time that no one knew what ever happened to Mack and Mary Stevens, I find an address for them.
    I have written to them to get their blessing and participation in this site, as the site is ,in fact, about their company and their boats. I won't go forward until such time as they (if they're still with us) give me the O.K.
    I plan to include an 80 page catalog from the late sixties to view, tech help, parts for sale/wanted, owner's gallery with photos, magazine articles and performance tests, bio of the owners(Stevens) and the company, interviews with Stevens' vendors, articles(full page) on significant Stevens boats or record holders, etc.
    Anyone with a Stevens product will be able to e-mail a photo of their boat to be included in the Gallery.
    As you can see, It's an ambitious project. Lots of time, effort going into it.
    Stevens Boats is my thing, but there were many very cool makes of boats in the day. Rayson-Craft, Litchfield,Poty,Aqua-Craft,Hallett,Mandella,Dragon-Craft,Wickens,Miller,Patterson,Schiada, and lots more. Hopefully, someone will pick up on one of these other cool boat companies and build renewed interest with the new crowd. These boats could stop being cool right now, and it would take another 40 years for the new guys to catch up,...........................
    if they last that long. Spike

  3. #48
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    thanks for the info,it would be really cool if you get the family on board,looking forward to the site,thanks again

  4. #49
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    Other Stuff

    Did you know that Stevens Boat Co. also built outboard boat models?
    They made various different flatbotoms too. There was a 16' E Class racing hull, a 17' SK Skier, a 17' SK Silhouette, a 17' Sportster(with windshield and engine cover,floorboards,etc.),a 17' Luxury Regent, an 18' Luxury Regent, the popular 18' Silhouette, a ski hydro, a "Hydro-Dragster", various jet boat models, and 16'-18' deep "V" hulls with either jet or V-Drive power.
    They built an interesting "Mini-Hydro" which was outboard powered, sat two people inline,and was 10 feet long. The first PWC!
    Stevens even capitalized on the dune buggy craze, and offered metalflake dune buggy bodies and kits back then. (It's a little known fact that Hondo Boats built dune buggy bodies as well). Both Stevens and Hondo's dune buggy bodies had the die-cast metal boat company emblem attached to the pass side dashboard!
    Factory built Stevens Boats had their own thru-hull hardware, shaft logs,turning fins were cast out of bronze with the letters "stevens" on them. (Struts might have been too, I just don't have one to verify that).
    I'll get in to all of this on the site, it's pretty interesting.
    Spike

  5. #50
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    Hey Spike,keep it coming i love this stuff,my boat is a 63 silhouette that measures 16`7" and still has the original strut with the Stevens name cast into it,i`ve seen the outboards and jets but knew nothing of dune buggies,when these guys were doing this stuff they weren`t talking to investment counselors to see the profit potential they just got an idea and did it,it seems that Stevens were the bayliner of hot boats back in the day and deserve a few minutes of our time,i have seen countless racer profiles that include an early Stevens in their profile
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails NVE00026.jpg  

  6. #51
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    Spike - If the address you have doesn't pan out; You might try and find Terry Frahs in Jacksonville, Fl. He was building the 17' silouette under license when Mack and Mary disappeared.

    Pancho - Your Silouette looks fantastic, How big is the motor and what is top end? On the other hand Stevens was definitetly not the Bayliner of Hot Boats. Bill
    Last edited by cbgann; 02-28-2008 at 10:22 AM. Reason: additional comment

  7. #52
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    Cbgann,my bayliner comment was meant towards popularity and certainly not quality,weve had some of those cruddy boats come through our group in years past and i can personally attest to how poorly they are rushed together,thats some interesting info about the frahs,i know boats were built under that name,funny how cloudy the bloodlines get on these boats sometimes,you dont see people trying to find the name of the workers at a GM plant but a drag boat owner wants to know who laid up their hull,i have followed threads on restos where over time people learn the history of their boats through the memories of some of the guys that were there and that is probably my favorite thing that the internet has done for our hobby.I applaud the efforts of someone like Spike for getting this stuff recorded before its gone.

  8. #53
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    thanks for the compliment on my boat,as far as top end its unknown,right now a new port side stringer is going in and i`ll be adding backing plates to all of the cav plate linkage and whatnot,never seemed like the same boat two days in a row and i think there was too much give in critical areas,i am also adding a prop shaft release, want to be as safe as possible.the prevoius owner spent more time beach posing than running hard so i am chasing all the setup bugs, my ass says a hundred but gps will probably make me cry,oh well,still dig the boat regardless.the motor is a 1970 over the counter LS-7 short block assembly built right with heavily massaged 990 heads,big solid cam,always loved the sound,roller top end with a rev kit,msd ignition,pair of hp750 carbs and plate nos,23 gears in the box and a 11.50x15 stellings 2 blade prop.my goal this year is to maximize this combo and then start picking on individual areas,i think there is some respectable numbers here just have to chase em down

  9. #54
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    right now there is 12.5to1 pistons in there and finding fuel around here is not easy,read about a octane booster available from (batterystuff.com) and would like to find someone thats used it and how it worked for them,stuffs not cheap but neither is driving halfway across the state to have 20 gallons of explosion in the back of the truck,btw heres a pic of my buddys 67 stevens thats getting a makeover right now with nailhead power,the hemi is going to a street rod
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails NVE00018.jpg  

  10. #55
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    Hi Pancho - My first Stevens was like your buddies except it had the engine hatch and windshield which made it the"Luxury "Regent" model. Same target with the red metalflake and white hull. Spent a lot of time building up a 327/350 only to find that for about the same price and no labor; a box stock L88 was about 6 mph faster. Ref Terry Frahs; after Stevens closed, he built his own race oriented hulls with considerably less freeboard. Used to see him at Miami Marine Stadium. Have a great day and enjoy the Stevens. Bill

  11. #56
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    cb,thanks for keeping up,are you still playing with hot boats?sounds like you pass for a history teacher for some of us and that is cool,i`m a sucker for the nostalgia,have an old friend who started outboard racing in the late 50`s and never tire of his campfire stories

  12. #57
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    cb,i just looked at (berkshirewoodenboats.com) and it says on their site that they now have the frahs molds,i knew there was something familiar to me

  13. #58
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    Hi Pancho - Thanks for the info: Website is berkshirewoodenboats.net. Interesting, they are trying to bring the hi perf. v-drive boats to New England.
    We left Ct. fresh out of school in '67 to sell the Stevens hi perf. boats to Florida. First questions were, Beautiful boat but is it as fast as a Donzi? It was amazing, how many 80 to 100mph boats that Stevens could beat running at 77mph.
    Does the Berkshirewoodenboats co. have a large inventory? May try to check them out when in Ct. this summer. Bill

  14. #59
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    Stevens Stuff

    Pancho,
    Your buddy's boat appears to be the 17' model, nice looking too. Man, they sold a lot of 17 footers.
    I have a soft spot for early Hemi's, but a Nailhead is cool too.
    I know a guy who worked at "Aero-Marine" in the sixties, and they supplied Stevens with marine-equipped engines and installed them for Mack and Mary. The interesting thing that he told me, is that Stevens always wanted the engines painted gloss white, from the factory. A quick look through the catalog bears this out....I didn't know what color the engines in the pictures were, I knew they were a light color, but the catalog is in black and white. They coulda been yellow for all I could tell.
    I'll go on record at this time and say that ,if you bought a turn-key boat from Stevens, the engine (regardless of make) was probably painted white( listening restorers?).
    The boats came to get engines in them fully rigged. This meant that the engine installer had to accomodate the steering cables that Stevens ran INSIDE of the stringers. The mounting feet had to be drilled or notched for the cables.
    My personal ski-boat restoration has a white 406 Ford, Holman&Moody equipped. Spike

  15. #60
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    Spike,my buddys boat came from cali a few years ago,the early hemi in it has been there for what weve been told at least 20 years and was last freshened up by Joe Reath,whats really cool is the boat was bought for the motor and the rest was probably gonna be a bonfire someday,where we live is not what you would call a hotboat hub,we met on the the net and another early hot rod is saved

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