FourFather

FOR SALE SOLD! THANKS, STEVE! SOLD! THANKS STEVE! FOR SALE – Eddie “The Texan” Hill’s personal 1976 Hondo XH511-GT flat bottom race boat that I have converted to a two-seat lake playboat by installing a passenger seat and a larger engine.

This is actually a “runner bottom”, the fastest design of all flat bottoms, and this one was built with the rare GT deck. It is very cool looking, and it is emphasized with a beautiful paint job.

This is a “three-pedal” boat, that is a MUST HAVE for ultimate performance. The far left pedal is the Down pedal, so you push it hard to move the rear cavitation plate in the down direction at the rear, which holds the nose down enough so that full throttle can be used to accelerate the boat from slow speed without the nose getting too high. No “wheelie”. Then as the boat quickly gets up to speed, you can smoothly release the down pedal, which lets the boat rise up mostly out of the water to reduce water drag and let the boat accelerate hard. The middle pedal is the UP pedal which, when depressed, will let the boat rise even higher out of the water, and go even faster.

This is the actual boat that was the famous-at-the-time and highly successful Roy Doby “Gear UP” Unblown Gas Flatbottom race boat.

Included in the sale is the Competitive brand trailer.

While I was rigging this boat, I installed a new rudder and rudder shaft seal, a new prop shaft bearing/seal, removed and serviced the V-drive, added a new aluminum fuel tank for a bit more run time, along with a Holley electric fuel pump, a new Ron Braaksma propellor, a passenger seat (new), and new seat covers to match the paint. All these items have only a couple hours actual use, before my little play cove at Lake Arrowhead dried up.

When you take a passenger for a ride in this boat, they really need something solid to hold on to, and to brace their feet against, and I personally fabricated this cool grab handle with a groove for each finger and thumb, and good foot rest for each foot, as the picture shows.
There is a fifty-dollar bill, clear laminated into the floor in view of the driver and passenger. It was there when I bought the boat. Not sure why it was put there.
The Hondo has a mechanical tachometer, cable driven off the front of the v-drive, like I used on my race boats.

The Hondo is powered by a fresh 540 cubic inch big block Chevy with brand new Racing Head Service PRO ACTION 24 degree aluminum head assemblies. Part # 11012-03, 360 cc runners, 2.300 intakes, 1.880 ex. set up for mechanical roller cam with .750 max lift. Brand new valves, springs, retainers, locks, seals, spring locaters, and the excellent T&D shaft rocker arm assemblies.
The boat has not been run on the water since dyno tested at 723 horsepower and torque of 654 foot pounds on pump gas with a Holley 1050 Dominator carburetor. My lake dried up about the time we did the dyno runs, so the engine has never been to the lake. It has had dyno time only, plus an occasional start here in the garage to circulate the oil, etc. The 723 horsepower is at 6400, and max torque of 654 at 5400. It has 506 Horsepower at 4200 rpm and goes on up from there. It makes 631 ft. lbs. of torque at 4000 rpm! And still over 600 ft. lbs. at 6300 rpm. That is massive power to accelerate this light boat.

The Edelbrock Victor single-plane manifold was ported and modified by Reher-Morrison for better flow and more equal exhaust temperatures. If you look at the pictures of the exhaust temperatures we recorded while on the dyno, you will see how nearly equal they are. I had the manifold ceramic hi-temp coated so it should continue to look this good. I also have each manifold runner drilled and tapped for nitrous; but after the dyno pull of 723 HP, I can’t imagine anyone needing nitrous! There is a spacer block between the Holley 1050 Dominator carb and manifold for more power, and it is also drilled and tapped to accept a simpler nitrous system. But nitrous is absolutely not needed, in my opinion.
I spent a lot of money and time on this engine thinking it would be my ultimate and final flat bottom playboat engine. Tommy Keeter worked on my top fuel team and started his own engine-building business 19 years ago when we stopped running top fuel. He has an excellent reputation. Look up KPE, Keeter Performance Engineering. He does all my engine work that I don't do personally, and this engine is his work and dyno data.

When the only place I like to play with my boats dried up years ago, during the worst drought ever recorded here, it stayed dry for years.

So for fun, I started road racing cars, and found out I really enjoy it. So much so that I just bought a new (to me) Pro Formula Mazda road racer. That is one reason why I sold my Deaver hydroplane and am offering my Hondo runner bottom for sale. Another reason is that I have been selected for purchase of one of the new Ford GT supercars, and I am offering and selling a lot of my lifetime collection of cars and boats to raise money for that possible purchase.

Here is some history about me:

I ran Top Fuel Hydros for years and was blessed with a lot of race wins, yearly championships, and setting speed records in all the sanctioning organizations, ultimately running 229 MPH. My record was in the Guinness book of World Records for 11 years as the world's fastest propeller driven boat, even though we never ran it past the 1/4 mile to see what the top speed would be on a longer run.

I am ,so far, the only person to have won the Top Fuel Championship on land AND water, to hold speed records in all four drag boat sanctioning organizations, and the only person to hold the drag racing speed records on land and water simultaneously. I know, I know, that doesn't make the boat worth more money, but if you do wind up owning it, that fact might be a conversation starter.

Since this Hondo sale will be my last boat, and my last big block Chevy engine, I am including, in the sale, a lot of big block Chevy and boat parts.
Big block Chevy engine parts included:
Three sets total of valve covers - The polished and ball-milled set are beautiful and brand new, still in the box, and have new premium gaskets with them.
The Comp covers are like new and have threaded bosses welded in each one to accept crankcase evacuation hoses or fittings.
The Erson covers shown in most of the pictures are ceramic coated and should always continue to look good like they do in the pictures.
Holley 1050 Dominator carburetor parts and jets.
Cast aluminum front camshaft drive cover. This is an extra one, in addition to the one on the boat.
Like new polished aluminum carburetor air scoop with like new Gaffrig spark arrestor and air filter, US Coast Guard approved.
Three sets of headers included in sale:
1. Zoomies, Rewarder brand, chrome plated and virtually new, as shown in the pictures. These have been run in the shop while setting the ignition timing, but these have never been run at the lake or under a load.
2. Chrome Bassett big-tube collector headers with provision for water injection. I prefer to run them without water injection, but the parts are included to do that, including two genuine Bassett-labeled pressure valves. These have never been to the lake, and are virtually brand new, as you can see in the pictures. These headers also come with separate bolt-on-the-end mufflers that are new, expensive, and very nice, as the pictures show.
3. Ceramic coated collector headers with water injection and SuperTrapp spark arrestor/mufflers. These are from a Sleekcraft ski boat from back in the day and have seen a lot of use, but still look pretty good as you can see in the pictures. And the approved spark arrestors/mufflers may please your local game warden.
I will include a box of quite a few miscellaneous parts for the boat or engine, too tedious to list here.
I am offering this beautiful and very fast Hondo for $26,980.00, with the fresh engine with dyno time only, and all the extra parts. I believe the price is fair, and it is firm. It does include all the boat and engine parts listed.

It is housed in my race shop in Wichita Falls, Texas, NOT at my downtown EddieHill'sFunCycles.com dealership.

I will be glad to show it to a qualified and serious buyer, by appointment only.

Please Google "Eddie FourFather Hill" for info on me, and contact me directly for questions, or more photos.
I am not thinking that this adds to the market value of the boat, but strictly as a thank you to the buyer, I will be happy to furnish at no charge and personalize all manner of Eddie and Ercie Hill racing memorabilia. This will include diecast dragster replica, eighteen wheeler dragster transporter diecast replica, 300 mph piston, 300 mph connecting rod, and a 24”x 36” career highlight poster that lists the significant achievements we have been blessed with each year starting in 1956 and continuing through 2002. Also, if you have the time and interest, I would be happy to give a tour of my www.eddiehillsfuncycles.com dealership, now in our 52nd year, where I have on permanent display my “First in the Fours” top fuel dragster, and my 229 mph top fuel hydroplane. Thank you, Lord!

Please consider the fact that I built this engine and rigged this boat for my own personal use, and not as something to sell.

Thanks for looking,

Eddie “The Texan” Hill, a/k/a Eddie “FourFather “Hill
SOLD! THANKS, STEVE!

FourFather

Eddie FourFather Hill's 723 HP Hondo GT Playboat for sale pictures.


Fifty dollar bill laminated into the floor. Down pedal on the left, Up pedal in the middle. Loud pedal on the right!



Grab handle for both hands and footrest for both feet- I made these myself on my lathe. Your passenger is gonna need these!



Street cars in background not included in sale price- :-)



Fresh 723 HP 540 cubic inch Big Block Chevy. Ceramic coated Edelbrock manifold and Holley Dominator 1050. Ceramic coated ERSON valve covers shown. Two other sets of valve covers included.



Torque monster- with very nearly equal exhaust temps.



Close up of nice paint.

FourFather

Eddie FourFather Hill's last boat now for sale- Pictures-
Pinstriped trailer, and I modified this one for easy loading- just get the boat fairly close to the centerline of the trailer when you hook up the bow eye, then as you pull the trailer forward, the modification I made self-centers the boat. Cool deal! One-person loader.



Pretty nice back here. The brass valve near side has a handle so you can fine-tune the amount of cooling lake water you run through the engine. There is a Dan Olson oil cooler/oil filter mount beside the oil pan on the other side of the engine, that gets the cooling water first. This pre-warms the lake water a bit and cools the oil. The curved A-N line on the floor is an easy oil change hose . Just run the end of the hose through a removable plug in the transom, and pull the plug.



These Rewarder brand zoomies have been used just a little bit here in the shop, setting the timing and idle adjustment. They have not been run at the lake or under load yet. It sounds GREAT with these!!



These headers are new big-tube Bassetts, that have been run just a little here in the shop, not yet run under load or at the lake.



These are brand new Racing Head Service complete assemblies, with the excellent T&D shaft rocker assemblies. Dyno time only on these.



These smaller tube headers with SuperTrapp spark arrester/silencers are the quietest set up and allow the slowest idle speed. These were used on a previous boat and have a lot of time on them, but with the ceramic coating, they still look pretty good.



If you like these headers that are currently on the boat and don't want to run water through them, but want it a little quieter, these expensive mufflers are included, and they are very nice. New in the box, never installed.



Cool boat, looks, runs and handles great. Best flatbottom I've ever had. My last boat, and in a way, the end of an era.

cv67

very nice, did you know Pete Giroux he ran same class also, old customer of mine

FourFather

I don't recall the name, but I recognize a lot more people by sight ,than I do by name-



Pennzoil handout from back in my top fuel boat racing days- This one was in the Guinness book of world records for 10 years as the "World's Fastest Propeller driven Boat"

dmaxx3500

very cool,but scary

JoesC5

I was wondering if you were going to accept Ford's offer to sell you a new GT.

Beautiful boat, but I think it's a little too much boat for the concrete storm drainage ditch at the rear of my property.

FourFather

Yes, sir, at this time we are planning to try to make that purchase.

Thanks for the compliment on the boat- it really is a lot of fun, but my pro formula Mazda is occupying all my recreation/racing time.

Mr turbo rotary

More pics of the Mazda... 13b I would assume. 4 port motor with carb? Are you racing in sanctioned classes with strict rules on engine tear down/ building etc.?

centuryoldracer

Hi Eddie, does it have steel rods, and how many feet long is it?
Thanks much.

FourFather

HI.

Thanks for the inquiry.

The Hondo is 18 and a half feet long. To the best of my recollection we used steel rods in this engine. Tommy Keeter, who worked on my top fuel team until my retirement from drag racing in 1999, and has since owned and operated his own KPE racing.com engine building, dyno, and machine shop business said he thought the rods are an Oliver steel rod. He does the engine work for me that I don't do personally, and he did the new RHS cylinder head and T&D rocker system install. The engine has not been run at the lake since he did that install. It has just been started periodically here in the shop to circulate the oil, etc.

Cheers,

Eddie

FourFather

The pro formula Mazda like I have come with the RX 8 Renesis engine, six port, with about 265 hp at around 8600 rpm with four injectors and a big throttle body. Over this past winter I built a turbo system and converted to methanol fuel. This has been a huge job, and it is not finished yet. In fact, I designed and completely built, by myself, my twin engine Pontiac dragster back in the day, in less time than I already have in this conversion!



Cheers,

Eddie

Mr turbo rotary

Healthy power out of a normally aspirated 13b. Rotaries love boost and methanol. Start really rich when tuning, they eat apex seals and rotor housings when they detonate.

sjjames

Bad azz boat.

FourFather

Here is a public answer to a private request for more pictures.


Cavitation plate closer



Transom and cavitation plate



RBR Ron Braaksma Racing prop and chrome moly rudder, and showing the the strut guide I made to guide the boat to the center of the trailer while loading



Rudder, prop, and strut guide



Bottom of cavitation plate



Cavitation plate too, and showing some different headers and air scoop that are included with the sale

FourFather

These extra Comp valve covers and extra front engine cover are included in the sale.



If you want to run these big-tube Bassett collectors dry (which I strongly recommend), but want a bit less loud, these expensive straight-through mufflers are included, so you have that option.



These new in the box ball-milled valve covers and premium reusable gaskets are included in the sale.



The scoop is held on with 1/4 turn Dzus fasteners.



This scoop has quick disconnect fittings on the manifold ends, so no tools required to remove the scoop baseplate.



Scoop baseplate showing the quick disconnects that detach the base plate from the engine.

FourFather

My Eddie Hill's Fun Cycles logos on the front and rear decks are vinyl stickers, and easily removed by warming them a bit with a hair dryer and peeling them off. Here are pictures showing the boat both ways, with, and without, my logos.








Thanks for looking,

Eddie

FourFather

Budge #5 indoor dust cover







Snap-on cockpit cover for going down the road, an extra steel propellor shaft strut, the black rudder is a chrome moly drag racing style rudder like the one currently on the boat. A cruiser-style rudder is also included. A nice Hall Craft bronze prop puller. A very well-used heavy duty chrome moly prop puller that I used extensively running my top fuel boat. This puller has changed what were the world's fastest props at the time.



Air shifter kit that was working on this boat when I received it. I switched to the simpler manual shifter handle. You get both, so you can take your pick of which one to use.






These stainless steel mufflers are sized to fit the new Bassett big tube collector headers, so you can run the headers dry but muffle some of the loudness.



Parts

Big Block Chevy

Chrome Bassett big tube collector headers that were bought new and have been used only here in the shop, just while starting the engine to circulate the oil or tune the idle. Never run on the dyno or at the lake or under load. Although equipped for water injection, these have never had water in them (and this engine freshening with the new heads have never had water in the exhaust)
2 stainless steel straight-through mufflers – to fit Bassett big-tube collector headers -new, with spring- loaded flapper valves and stainless clamps (nice, expensive) never installed

Rewarder chrome zoomie headers that were bought new and have just been used only here in the shop while starting the engine to circulate the oil or tune the idle. Never run on the dyno or at the lake or under load.
Box of assorted Holley Dominator parts:
Main jets – 5 packages – new in box
Holley power valves – new in box – 4 packages
1 package assorted needle valves – used
Assorted idle mixture adjuster screws – used
1 new set of 8 in box – Autolite spark plugs AR3934
Thermostat – 180 degrees – used
Moroso oil separator breather – new in box – part # 6878
B&M drain plug kit – new in box
Moroso oil separator breathers – 2 – used – excellent
1 PVC valve – used
1 new valve cover breather block-off plug
1 new in box fuel pump block-off plate, red anodized aluminum, with stainless steel socket head cap screws – Summit #SUM-420005
1 new PCV grommet in box – part #42061 – Motormite
1 new in box set of baffles for valve cover breather outlets
1 used Bassett water check valve with fitting for intake manifold and AN tee for water-injected headers
Exhaust gaskets – used only to test fire engine in shop


1 set new in box Summit BBC valve covers – aluminum – ball milled with excellent new reusable gaskets and stainless steel hardware – part #SUM-G3317
1 set used Comp brand valve covers with welded-in pipe threaded bosses for breathers - aluminum- excellent

Spare boat parts

2 rudders:
1 chrome moly rudder, drag boat design
1 cruiser rudder used
Strut, Used, welded steel propellor shaft strut



Box of parts:
1 Mallory ignition box shorting plug – red – new
1 new AMG-200 fuse – new
1 Bassett stainless steel water check valve spring – new
1 boat drain plug – new
1 propeller key – new
Cockpit cover – vinyl - black, with snaps, for weather protection while towing
1 Budge #5 indoor car/boat dust cover – gray, like new
1 finned aluminum Chevrolet front cover/camshaft cover – Glenwood – used but very good – includes camshaft end play adjuster
Custom machined aluminum blank-off plate for dash – for 3.5” hole– used
Bassett water check valve and fitting – used – includes AN lines to connect to water injected exhaust manifold
Holley Dominator rebuild kit – partial, not complete, in original box – from Barry Grant – includes some gaskets, a float, o-rings, etc.
Set of polished springs and eye bolts for cavitation plate pedal assembly - used
Air shifter kit – used to operate in and out gearbox – complete with valve, brackets, and air lines, fitted to Hondo – was operating when removed from boat – complete
Swatch seat cover material – for repairs
4 prop-shaft-to-propeller keys and stainless steel cotter pins and new propeller nut – new in box – NOTE: Grind/fit each key for each prop
3 boat drain plugs – used – excellent
Hall-Craft propeller puller – used, very good condition
Chrome moly fabricated prop puller – well used, and distorted, but still serviceable
Brass through-hull rudder support and oil seal with Zerk fitting and snap ring, used, fair condition
Used 1 1/8” prop shaft oil seal with Zerk seal, snap ring, and rubber hose – brass, fair condition
Used brass and chrome 1 1/8” prop shaft oil seal holder with Zerk seal and snap ring – long style, not pretty, but servicable
1 short style chrome and brass propeller shaft guide and oil seal holder with Zerk seal and snap ring – used, good
1 brass water pickup with short shank – may be new or used?
1 brass water pickup – long shank – used, but ok
1 used brass chrome water pickup with very short shank, too short to use through hull, but could use on a cavitation plate - used

Thanks for looking,

Eddie

FourFather

FourFather

Lake Arrowhead near Wichita Falls, Texas

On the dyno

It makes a joyful noise--and lots of power!

This sale is on hold right now-- Working on a deal to trade it in on a car-

Thanks,

Eddie