GAME ON.....or OVER.... ROAD TRIP. ITS A JET BOAT STORY

[cyclone]

I don't blame you, if I'm not mistaken sonny passed not too longer doing that motor

yeah. it was a bummer. I had just talked with him a couple weeks prior and then boom! he's gone.

 

[cyclone]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this 5mpg thing here... Did you somehow fit a modern dash into a 1978 Winnebago?

the trailer they are pulling is like hauling a massive brick behind them. If its windy out then I'm not surprised at getting 5mpg if towing that trailer at 80 mph.

 

[hallett21]

5mpg? Jesus just drive the jet boat home lol.

 

[RichL]

the trailer they are pulling is like hauling a massive brick behind them. If its windy out then I'm not surprised at getting 5mpg if towing that trailer at 80 mph.

Enclosed I would assume?

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Enclosed I would assume?

I believe so, the boat trailer is a little skinny dolly trailer. I was concerned he was driving that cross country but the posted mileage figures made me think it was the enclosed trailer Cyclone had for it.

 

[lbhsbz]

N2O is loving his trip View attachment 1169259

I didn’t know GM still offered the 6 liter

 

[bonesfab]

Well obviously he is not using the RDP approved f150 to tow it. it would we getting 30mpg @ 85 mph. Lesson learned.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Had to turn off at Cheyenne, went to Denver, up and over. In Vail now.

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

Enclosed I would assume?

Yes he bought an enclosed trailer local to @cyclone to load the boat in, and rented a rig to tow it home.

 

[Backlash]

Good choice not going through Wyoming. Has it ever NOT been windy there?? Leaving Laramie westbound on I-80, the area around Elk Mountain has the worst wintertime driving conditions. Oftentimes, they close the freeway there due to blowing snow and unsafe conditions.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

LONGGGGG way to go still.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

You should have bought the baby max with that suburban. It wouldn’t be 5mpg towing.

I can’t believe the gas mileage is that bad towing an enclosed trailer. Truck blocks at least half the wind getting to the trailer.

 

[DLow]

You should have bought the baby max with that suburban. It wouldn’t be 5mpg towing.

I can’t believe the gas mileage is that bad towing an enclosed trailer. Truck blocks at least half the wind getting to the trailer.

I thought I read that he’s renting it? And at that speed, towing that trailer, he’s driving it like a rental.

Game over is at the top of my list of cool boats. Would like to see it after the repower. Congrats on the purchase.

 

[SBMech]

yeah. it was a bummer. I had just talked with him a couple weeks prior and then boom! he's gone.

I had not heard that Sonny passed away!

I would not sell that motor for the world then, I'm ashamed to even have mentioned it...my apologies.

 

[SBMech]

You should have bought the baby max with that suburban. It wouldn’t be 5mpg towing.

I can’t believe the gas mileage is that bad towing an enclosed trailer. Truck blocks at least half the wind getting to the trailer.

A brick towing a larger brick?

Surprised it's even getting 5MPG haha!

 

[n2otoofast4u]

In Burley ID for the night, be home tomorrow.

 

[lake p.a.l.]

Glad u guys stopped for the night. Get home safely today & tell yur wife we miss her

 

[rivermobster]

Clearly a lot of you guys have never owned gas trucks!

I couldn't wait to get rid of mine.

Congratulations on the new boat!

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Got home a bit earlier. I’ll post the trip details this week.

This tells some of the story.

 

[RiverDave]

We’re still driving. I drove through the night, now my buddy is behind the wheel and I’m taking a nape. We had terrible traffic early, then terrible weather later, and hadn’t gotten nearly as far as needed.

Yes we are getting less than 5mpg

Yes the boat is badass.

I will update more later, but so far so good!

What is going on that it’s getting that bad of mileage??

 

[mjc]

Mike Finnegan on Instagram: "I did a thing today. Can’t wait to drive it. It’s at least 250lbs lighter than Game Over thanks to a one-off carbon hull and because this one is powered by a 632ci naturally aspirated BBC and still makes 1300ish HP. Wife

25K likes, 368 comments - finnegan999 on November 6, 2022: "I did a thing today. Can’t wait to drive it. It’s at least 250lbs lighter than Game Over thanks to a one-off carbon hull and because this one is powered by a 632ci naturally aspirated BBC and still makes 1300ish HP. Wifey is gonna love...

www.instagram.com

The game over replacement posted earlier today

 

[BlowMe]

Glad y'all made it safe

 

[lake p.a.l.]

Too soon ???

 

[WildWilly]

Got home a bit earlier. I’ll post the trip details this week.

This tells some of the story. View attachment 1169735

29 in the rears towing a few thousand didn't help the mileage, that poor rental lol nice work in the rental though!

 

[TimeBandit]

29 in the rears towing a few thousand didn't help the mileage, that poor rental lol nice work!

I was thinking the same... 36 in the Suburban all around and 50 in each trailer tire would be my trip pre check.

 

[bonesfab]

So at what point would have shipping it been cheaper?? My bus gets better mileage towing the enclosed.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

The engine wasn't for sale. I'm keeping it and it and the turbos are going into a C2 Corvette street/strip car.

Is it the Corvette that you bought that you and Newbern caught the starter on fire on Roadkill?

 

[jeteater1]

So dose the wife approve Mike?

 

[TrollerDave]

So dose the wife approve Mike? View attachment 1169804

Mike - “Honey…”
Mike’s wife

 

[bonesfab]

Mike - “Honey…”
Mike’s wife
View attachment 1169806

She has to be used to it now. That's why he has the other building. To hide the shit she doesn't need to know about.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Ok..... The trip recap... I will make another post about the future of the boat in the coming days, but the short story is this will be on the water this spring.

Thursday (noonish)

Headed to airport, all is well, blaze through security, hit the bar (I posted a pic from there early in this thread), and then headed to gate to board......... NO PLANE AT GATE..... Lovely. The plane from Portland to Seattle was almost an hour late getting there, they had to clean the plane, board us, and then get us to Seattle. Our connecting flight to Atlanta was BOARDING when we pushed off the get in Portland. They held the plane, we sprinted, we made the flight..... We were to sit first class, they gave those seats away during the delay, and we ended up sitting next to a VERY nice lady mid ship, but wasn't ideal. They fed us drink, I'm headed to get a unicorn, all is well..... We land in ATL, head to rental car counter, and proceed to wait in line for 2 FREAKING HOURS because they were so short staffed. It is now 2:30am (Friday morning now) and we still need to drive a ways North to our hotel for the night.... Not happy, but again, I am am one step closer to picking up an amazing boat.

Friday (10am ish)

We are at Mikes, he has been AMAZING to deal with, including taking delivery of the trailer that I purchased, answering my million questions, a true class act, I cannot say enough good things about him. He shows me the bad (VERY few things) then the good of the boat, and I am 100% honest when I say this, this is the first boat I have bought sight unseen that actually exceeds my expectations. I am uber excited about this thing!

Friday (noonish)

We leave Mikes, we are both excited about the boat, the trip to come, and mapping out the drive. We immediately encounter traffic and go just a few miles the first few hours. Once we are finally able to roll, we do ok, but there is HUGE headwinds, and it becomes apparent quickly that the milage is going to be terrible, and the progress is going to be slow. We stopped for food in Wentzville MO and met up with @BlowMe and his buddy for a beer and break. They both warned us of a storm coming in but we decided that we'd drive through it to continue on and get some added miles behind us for the first day. That proved to be stupid. RAIN, HARD RAIN, for about 50 miles at about 35mph, it was stressful, but once we cleared the storm, the roads were clear, the wind was gone, and the decision was made to push as far as we could. Looking back this decision may or may not have been smart, but we made the move. I drove until 4am (Now Saturday morning) and handed the wheel over to my buddy somewhere middle of Nebraska. I lean my head against the window in the passenger seat and fall asleep quickly, only to be woke up a bit later to what felt like a hurricane pushing on us..... The wind was BRUTAL..... Shit gotta stop for more gas, go to open the door, and I can barely open the car door the wind is pushing against it so hard. This was the first time this trip that I second guessed why I didn't just ship the thing home.

Saturday (9am ish. We have not slept since Thursday night)

We decide to make the run South to Denver, up and over the Rockies, through Vail, then out the bottom and to the West on 70 until we thought we were safe from the wind, then turn North and head towards Salt Lake. We knew this was going to add some (a lot) of miles, time, and gas, but we felt it was better than trying to wait out the wind. This turned out to be awesome. The scenery and the drive was AMAZING!! We stopped in Rifle CO and had a good meal at a cool little tavern and then got back on the road. Again, it was a BEAUTIFUL drive! We drove, and we drove, and we drover some more. We drove clear to Burley ID and laid our heads on a pillow for the first time since Thursday night at about 2am on Saturday night (actually Sunday morning).

Sunday (8am ish)

We wake up after 6 hours of sleep, feel great, and ready to finish this deal out...... Fill with fuel, and off we go. We make Boise without issue, turn West, and what re-appears.... THE WIND, A HEADWIND AT THAT..... We leave out of Boise with what we thought was plenty of fuel and stops lined up along the way. Well, that proved believe to be incorrect. The combination of uphill travel, and a HUGE headwind proved to be a real drag on the fuel consumption. The fuel stop we had mapped was CLOSED, and we were in DEEP SHIT! I put it into eco mode (keep my foot out of the throttle) and we hope for the best. We missed it by 5 miles. So, there we sat, out of gas alongside the road, just out of reach of the next stop... A call to AAA and we were back on the move in about 45min....

Sunday (5:30PM)

I had my wife meet me at the Portland airport with my pickup, hooked the trailer to that, turned in the rental rocket, and headed for home. All in, about 58 total hours, just over 2900 miles traveled from when we left Mikes, until I was sitting in my chair at home. Not much sleep, A LOT of time at the gas stations, met some great people, saw some amazing scenery, and I have a BITCHEN FKN BOAT in front of my house. Was it worth it HELL YES IT WAS!!!!

I will do my best to represent this boat in its new form as well !

Again, @cyclone I cannot thank you enough for the easy transaction, representing the boat well, helping get the trailer delivered, and answering my endless questions!

 

[sintax]

You cant leave me hanging...

I gotta know the hard hitting questions....

fuel costs + rental costs !

Theres a truck camper in Canton OH I'm debating, but man that sounds far.

 

[HST4ME]

5mpg? Diesel master race!

 

[cyclone]

She has to be used to it now. That's why he has the other building. To hide the shit she doesn't need to know about.

there's no point in trying to hide. her memory is better than mine and she's all over my

Ok..... The trip recap... I will make another post about the future of the boat in the coming days, but the short story is this will be on the water this spring.

Thursday (noonish)

Headed to airport, all is well, blaze through security, hit the bar (I posted a pic from there early in this thread), and then headed to gate to board......... NO PLANE AT GATE..... Lovely. The plane from Portland to Seattle was almost an hour late getting there, they had to clean the plane, board us, and then get us to Seattle. Our connecting flight to Atlanta was BOARDING when we pushed off the get in Portland. They held the plane, we sprinted, we made the flight..... We were to sit first class, they gave those seats away during the delay, and we ended up sitting next to a VERY nice lady mid ship, but wasn't ideal. They fed us drink, I'm headed to get a unicorn, all is well..... We land in ATL, head to rental car counter, and proceed to wait in line for 2 FREAKING HOURS because they were so short staffed. It is now 2:30am (Friday morning now) and we still need to drive a ways North to our hotel for the night.... Not happy, but again, I am am one step closer to picking up an amazing boat.

Friday (10am ish)

We are at Mikes, he has been AMAZING to deal with, including taking delivery of the trailer that I purchased, answering my million questions, a true class act, I cannot say enough good things about him. He shows me the bad (VERY few things) then the good of the boat, and I am 100% honest when I say this, this is the first boat I have bought sight unseen that actually exceeds my expectations. I am uber excited about this thing!

Friday (noonish)

We leave Mikes, we are both excited about the boat, the trip to come, and mapping out the drive. We immediately encounter traffic and go just a few miles the first few hours. Once we are finally able to roll, we do ok, but there is HUGE headwinds, and it becomes apparent quickly that the milage is going to be terrible, and the progress is going to be slow. We stopped for food in Wentzville MO and met up with @BlowMe and his buddy for a beer and break. They both warned us of a storm coming in but we decided that we'd drive through it to continue on and get some added miles behind us for the first day. That proved to be stupid. RAIN, HARD RAIN, for about 50 miles at about 35mph, it was stressful, but once we cleared the storm, the roads were clear, the wind was gone, and the decision was made to push as far as we could. Looking back this decision may or may not have been smart, but we made the move. I drove until 4am (Now Saturday morning) and handed the wheel over to my buddy somewhere middle of Nebraska. I lean my head against the window in the passenger seat and fall asleep quickly, only to be woke up a bit later to what felt like a hurricane pushing on us..... The wind was BRUTAL..... Shit gotta stop for more gas, go to open the door, and I can barely open the car door the wind is pushing against it so hard. This was the first time this trip that I second guessed why I didn't just ship the thing home.

Saturday (9am ish. We have not slept since Thursday night)

We decide to make the run South to Denver, up and over the Rockies, through Vail, then out the bottom and to the West on 70 until we thought we were safe from the wind, then turn North and head towards Salt Lake. We knew this was going to add some (a lot) of miles, time, and gas, but we felt it was better than trying to wait out the wind. This turned out to be awesome. The scenery and the drive was AMAZING!! We stopped in Rifle CO and had a good meal at a cool little tavern and then got back on the road. Again, it was a BEAUTIFUL drive! We drove, and we drove, and we drover some more. We drove clear to Burley ID and laid our heads on a pillow for the first time since Thursday night at about 2am on Saturday night (actually Sunday morning).

Sunday (8am ish)

We wake up after 6 hours of sleep, feel great, and ready to finish this deal out...... Fill with fuel, and off we go. We make Boise without issue, turn West, and what re-appears.... THE WIND, A HEADWIND AT THAT..... We leave out of Boise with what we thought was plenty of fuel and stops lined up along the way. Well, that proved believe to be incorrect. The combination of uphill travel, and a HUGE headwind proved to be a real drag on the fuel consumption. The fuel stop we had mapped was CLOSED, and we were in DEEP SHIT! I put it into eco mode (keep my foot out of the throttle) and we hope for the best. We missed it by 5 miles. So, there we sat, out of gas alongside the road, just out of reach of the next stop... A call to AAA and we were back on the move in about 45min....

Sunday (5:30PM)

I had my wife meet me at the Portland airport with my pickup, hooked the trailer to that, turned in the rental rocket, and headed for home. All in, about 58 total hours, just over 2900 miles traveled from when we left Mikes, until I was sitting in my chair at home. Not much sleep, A LOT of time at the gas stations, met some great people, saw some amazing scenery, and I have a BITCHEN FKN BOAT in front of my house. Was it worth it HELL YES IT WAS!!!!

I will do my best to represent this boat in its new form as well !

Again, @cyclone I cannot thank you enough for the easy transaction, representing the boat well, helping get the trailer delivered, and answering my endless questions!

I'm glad you brought it home yourself. nobody would have taken as good of care of it as you did. You have my cell. call anytime with questions about how to get it back on the water.

social media. lol

 

[RadMan]

I pulled a trailer with a new 2021 f250 diesel platinum 4wd crew cab to Vegas from Dallas in the spring. Usually I get 9-10 mpg with this setup. That trip into a nasty headwind most of the way, 5mpg. It was hard to believe it was just the wind. That wind from the west can be brutal for a long time. On the way home, back to normal.

Congrats on one sweet ass boat.

 

[cyclone]

Is it the Corvette that you bought that you and Newbern caught the starter on fire on Roadkill?

It was going to be that Corvette but then I found another body (a '63 split window!) with a title and no chassis. Would rather not cut up a perfectly good running car so I sold the '66 and will be putting a tube chassis and the Sonny's Hemi in the '63.

 

[cyclone]

So dose the wife approve Mike? View attachment 1169804

She's only seen it in photos but she's stoked for me, which I love about her. lol

 

[Flying_Lavey]

It was going to be that Corvette but then I found another body (a '63 split window!) with a title and no chassis. Would rather not cut up a perfectly good running car so I sold the '66 and will be putting a tube chassis and the Sonny's Hemi in the '63.

A split window?!?! Fuck yeah! Still probably the most badass body on a corvette ever!

 

[Vamodsquad]

I had not heard that Sonny passed away!

I would not sell that motor for the world then, I'm ashamed to even have mentioned it...my apologies.

He was a friend of mine. I've known him since 1981 when he had his old shop down on Fort Ave. in Lynchburg. He was a good dude.
Here's a link to his obituary. Check out some of the old pictures his Family posted.
RIP Sir. You will be missed.

Sonny Leonard Obituary - Lynchburg, VA

Celebrate the life of Sonny Leonard, leave a kind word or memory and get funeral service information care of Whitten Timberlake Chapel.

www.dignitymemorial.com

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Man, I've been tired the last few days, no clue why.......

I ordered a bunch of stuff for the trailer; most should be here by this weekend so I can install. Lights, power, charging station, etc. If it's going to live in this, it needs to be convenient. I have not looked at the boat since I got home. Hell, I realized today I haven't even sat in the fkn thing and made motor noises yet, which is a real shame. Plan is to put it in the garage this weekend and work on trailer. I have ordered some parts for the motor that I know I need, everything is long lead, which isn't surprising. I have a HUGE list of EFI stuff that I need to buy, been trying to get ahold of a guy who came recommended in Havasu to purchase it all from and have tune but haven't made contact yet. I think I'm on track for a late February or early march ready to fire timeline. The motor is ready, but it's a do-over from the intake manifold up, plus the upper wiring harness, fuel lines, etc. I'm excited, but not rushing things.

As I type this, I realize that 90% of the fkn people I've called, most multiple times, haven't picked up the damn phone, or called back...... Frustrating!

 

[mjc]

Man, I've been tired the last few days, no clue why.......

I ordered a bunch of stuff for the trailer; most should be here by this weekend so I can install. Lights, power, charging station, etc. If it's going to live in this, it needs to be convenient. I have not looked at the boat since I got home. Hell, I realized today I haven't even sat in the fkn thing and made motor noises yet, which is a real shame. Plan is to put it in the garage this weekend and work on trailer. I have ordered some parts for the motor that I know I need, everything is long lead, which isn't surprising. I have a HUGE list of EFI stuff that I need to buy, been trying to get ahold of a guy who came recommended in Havasu to purchase it all from and have tune but haven't made contact yet. I think I'm on track for a late February or early march ready to fire timeline. The motor is ready, but it's a do-over from the intake manifold up, plus the upper wiring harness, fuel lines, etc. I'm excited, but not rushing things.

As I type this, I realize that 90% of the fkn people I've called, most multiple times, haven't picked up the damn phone, or called back...... Frustrating!

If you need someone to go check on the place in havasu in person let know I have lots of free time.

 

[bonesfab]

Man, I've been tired the last few days, no clue why.......

I ordered a bunch of stuff for the trailer; most should be here by this weekend so I can install. Lights, power, charging station, etc. If it's going to live in this, it needs to be convenient. I have not looked at the boat since I got home. Hell, I realized today I haven't even sat in the fkn thing and made motor noises yet, which is a real shame. Plan is to put it in the garage this weekend and work on trailer. I have ordered some parts for the motor that I know I need, everything is long lead, which isn't surprising. I have a HUGE list of EFI stuff that I need to buy, been trying to get ahold of a guy who came recommended in Havasu to purchase it all from and have tune but haven't made contact yet. I think I'm on track for a late February or early march ready to fire timeline. The motor is ready, but it's a do-over from the intake manifold up, plus the upper wiring harness, fuel lines, etc. I'm excited, but not rushing things.

As I type this, I realize that 90% of the fkn people I've called, most multiple times, haven't picked up the damn phone, or called back...... Frustrating!

if you need Holley stuff I am a dealer also.

 

[Shlbyntro]

 

[n2otoofast4u]

I haven’t so much as opened the trailer since we got home last Sunday. Today I pulled the boat out and put it in the garage, and started working on the trailer. Lights, battery, tender for both boat and trailer, 120V connection, etc. Lots left to do, but waiting on a few things to finish. It’s going to be a multi month waiting game for parts for the boat, so I’m not in a huge hurry, but wanted to get started.

 

[77charger]

I didn’t know GM still offered the 6 liter

Hey I put a blackbear tuned ecu in my 6.0 and gained mpg. Oh and some power too can now tow faster getting same mpg I did going slower.

 

[HST4ME]

I see flake

 

[lbhsbz]

Hey I put a blackbear tuned ecu in my 6.0 and gained mpg. Oh and some power too can now tow faster getting same mpg I did going slower.

I've been meaning to dig into a tune....but need to keep things smog legal.

I don't think I'll be towing much moving forward....I just use the truck when I've got pallets to haul around, and when I've got 4000lbs in the back, I'm not really in a hurry to get anywhere. I'll probably just leave it alone.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

I see flake

Yes sir! Quite a bit of it!

 

[77charger]

I've been meaning to dig into a tune....but need to keep things smog legal.

I don't think I'll be towing much moving forward....I just use the truck when I've got pallets to haul around, and when I've got 4000lbs in the back, I'm not really in a hurry to get anywhere. I'll probably just leave it alone.

Don’t know why I waited til I had 230k miles after I installed it. I’m a guy who will say ah tuner won’t do much. But I was wrong the tuned ecu is days ahead of the plug in type for gassers. I kept my old ecu as well for extra 100 bucks.

In az I need to smog every year since it’s 3/4 ton goes on rollers funny thing truck is cleaner on results too. If ca I’d suggest going this route with keeping of ecu.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

So I have ordered some parts for the motor, but really waiting until I see what Summit does for Black Friday.

So, I’m taking this time to work on the trailer. I have some cleaning up to do, and need to shorten the winch wires, but it’s all in and working.

Group 17AGM, expandable control panel, separate switches control each light bank, 110v plug to trailer, battery maintainer for both trailer and boat, blah blah blah. It’s bright inside, with very few shadows, which was the goal.