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1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat
Old 06-06-2013, 02:07 PM   #1
Mike Phillips
 
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Default 1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat

1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat


This was my first boat, at the time my dad had a 1965 15' Hydro-Swift with a 75 Evinrude so going from dad's runabout ski boat to this was a huge change.

I bought the hull when I was 21, spent two years paying for and building a 402 Big Block Chevy engine for it and then after 20 years total and about a year after my son was born I sold it. So I owned it for 20 years but I started driving it and skiing behind it when I was 17 as my best friend had bought it from the original owner when he was 16.

So I ran around in this boat for about 25 years... that's a long time with the same boat...

Here's some pictures in no specific order...


I had the high back bucket seats custom built as I though it gave the boat a real nice look with the tall Indy Scoop...








Here's a shot of the engine with my son in the driver's seat. If you look on the head of the engine behind the passenger seat you can see the stereo and behind the scoop is the antenna with a "76 Gas Station" ball on the top of it. Down below were a bunch of amps and speakers. I didn't put the stereo in till years later when I owned it and it was never in the boat when I raced it.




This was taken when I sold the boat, I think I'm 41 in this picture...




This is a shot of me racing the 1/4 mile I think in 1983 or 1984. I clocked my fastest time of 111 mph in 12 seconds. The boat was raced professionally by Rick Baker and he clocked 122 mph in 9 seconds in 1976. Back then that was really fast in the drag boat racing world.




I've owned 4 full convertible Blazers, this was a 1973 and it was a great boat puller...






This is the oldest photo I have of the boat, this was back when Eric owned it and we were still in High School as that was his truck it's hooked up to. Note the low back seats back then...




Here's a shot of the driver's cockpit, there were the up and down pedals plus the gas pedal. Everything was polished whether it was gel-coat or aluminum. That's a 1969 Blazer CST in the background, that was a great boat puller too...




The reason for the dual Tachs was because the one in the tach holder never worked from the day I installed it but because I "assumed" a brand new tach would work just fine I used clear silicone to stick it into the aluminum tach holder and to finally get it out I had to beat it out with a punch and a hammer. Before I removed it though I simply attached a plain-Jane tach that actually worked great and worked for years...




I rand dual 660's and the carb linkage was reground to make the carb progressive so all 8 barrels didn't dump all at once. Before I re-ground the linkage if it backfired it would throw a flame ball out the scoop about 3 feet... right past your head as you were sitting in the boat. That was always exciting...




If you look carefully, you can see I'm pulling the boat with the first 1959 Cadillac I ever bought. This too was a great boat puller and a blast to drive with the top off. Of the the left was my buddy Eric's 1976 Sanger Bubble Deck Runner Bottom, I loved his boat and if I could ever get another Drag boat I would want a Sanger Runner Bottom V-Drive Bubble Deck...




Found this ad years ago and kept it as it shows a bubble deck runner bottom for sale...






Sad to say I don't have a lot of pictures of my Sanger drag boat, didn't seem important to take pictures back when we were going boating all the time...


This time next year I'd like to buy my third boat but to be honest since I live in South Florida now I'm looking towards a Center Console model.




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Old 06-06-2013, 09:17 PM   #2
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Default Re: 1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat

this is the kind of center console i can see mike driving
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Old 06-07-2013, 09:27 AM   #3
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Default Re: 1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat

Awesome! Very cool boat. It takes some balls to run a flatty. You should get back into a little hot rod! You already know theres nothing else like it!
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Old 06-07-2013, 08:50 PM   #4
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Default Re: 1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat

The center console I could see Mike driving

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Old 06-08-2013, 08:41 AM   #5
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Default Re: 1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat

Quote:
This time next year I'd like to buy my third boat but to be honest since I live in South Florida now I'm looking towards a Center Console model.
What size and power do you have in mind at this point? Trailerable I assume?

I love the picture of your 9 second run, the attitude of the boat is just perfect and the water conditions looked good too. In the past I used to go to the drag boat races at Marble Falls TX and other areas every year without fail. I got to see Eddie Hill crack the 200MPH barrier in The Texan which brought the crowd to their feet.
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Old 06-08-2013, 01:11 PM   #6
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Default Re: 1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcderns View Post

Awesome! Very cool boat. It takes some balls to run a flatty. You should get back into a little hot rod! You already know theres nothing else like it!
It's on my short list. I'm real picky, unless I went for a ride in a v-drive that handled at high speeds as nice as Eric's Runner Bottom or my Flat Bottom I'm going to stick with a Sanger.

My re-occurring dream is a find a Sanger hull that was forgotten in someone's garage and has never been in the water.



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Originally Posted by Shtexas View Post
The center console I could see Mike driving

Awesome!

I pretty confident that this time next year I'll have a center console, (the drag boat will always be a separate toy), since I live in South Florida.

I want something I can take friends and family out in, do a little fishing, do a little diving etc.

Not sure a 4-Merc model will be in the budget though...

I'm kind of intrigued with the idea of being able to blast over to the Bahamas on the weekends though...


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Old 06-08-2013, 01:28 PM   #7
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Default Re: 1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat

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Originally Posted by RTexasF View Post

What size and power do you have in mind at this point? Trailerable I assume?
Yes, trailerable.

John Greviskis stopped by on Friday and offered to take me out next week in his CC to check it out, if I do I'll take some pictures and share on the forum.

My employer, Max has offered to take my wife Stacy and I out on his Aubury Brother's CC and I'd like to to that for sure. Max's Aulbury Brother's CC is really nice...

Stacy likes Jupiter boats, she's been out in a few of those. So for the next year we're going to try to go out in as many types of boats as possible so I really have a good idea what is going to be a good match for us.


Quote:
Originally Posted by RTexasF View Post

I love the picture of your 9 second run, the attitude of the boat is just perfect and the water conditions looked good too.
Just to note, in that picture that's me making a 12 second run, I think the bet I ever did was 11 seconds in the quarter. The 9 second run was when Rick Baker from Oregon raced the hull professionally.

I'm going to try to get a hold of Rick and see if I can't get some pictures of his "Trophy Room", which is just incredible. I've only been in it one time but it was completely filled with trophies and awards from when he raced this Sanger. He also custom built and fabricated all the running gear. It was very well set up so that when you jumped into the air it would literally fly level and land slightly nose up perfect for jambing down the throttle again.

I've been in a lot of drag boat and I've never been in one that flew as good as mine. That's why I always had the confidence to take it out and just nail it. Plus, every three years I would disassemble the entire boat and then re-assemble it just to make sure every bold and nylon lock nut was new, secure and in place. There's a reason for doing this too...



Quote:
Originally Posted by RTexasF View Post

In the past I used to go to the drag boat races at Marble Falls TX and other areas every year without fail. I got to see Eddie Hill crack the 200MPH barrier in The Texan which brought the crowd to their feet.
I love watching drag boat racing too and just hanging out at the races and checking out the boats and the boat engines. Even the tow vehicles are pretty nice.


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Old 06-08-2013, 07:30 PM   #8
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Default Re: 1970 Sanger Flat Bottom V-Drive Drag - My First Boat

BY ALL MEANS ride in and drive every brand you possibly can within the budget. There are a ton of center consoles available but some ride much wetter than others and by that I mean wetting the occupants in certain conditions. There are also some brands, Blue Wave comes to mind, that look like they would pound but ride smoother and drier than many deep V hulls do and are stingy on fuel. Construction is of VITAL importance.

I sold powerboats from 1984 to 2005 so I've been out of the loop for quite some time. The vast majority of that time was in fresh water rigs and limited in salt water rigs. With that in mind if I can offer any advice, assistance, or opinions please call on me. You have my email and I'll be happy to offer what I can. During those years I sold every outboard known to man. I saw which ones came in often for service and those that almost never came back for anything other than normal maintenance. I know which brands I would spend my money on and that's assuming you are even considering an outboard model, single or dual. It's obvious you have the tow vehicle angle covered.
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