94 four winns fling which engine

cragenj3

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Aug 11, 2023
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I bought a 94 four winns fling a few years back with a seized engine...came with a spare that the guy said worked but it was locked up even worse, full of snakes. Literally full of snakes, not just the guy.

In my excitement I dismantled the engines and set them aside, not doing any research at the time. Now I've got a nice pretty boat with a cool jet propulsion drive...with no motor. So I'll just be buying a functional motor , My question is which motor fits... The jet drive seems to have a 20 spline (20 teeth and 20 slots) rod coming up out of it that the old engine sat down on and spun.
 

racerone

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Sounds like an OMC V-4 model.-----Pictures of engine parts will identify it in just seconds.
 

cragenj3

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I do believe one would be called a bubble back; the other engine was slightly different in that regard...engines are in storage; heres the jetdrive if that helps... I figured the spline is about all that matters; I heard the looper is better than the predecessor omc or something... IMG_20240511_182920.jpg
 

racerone

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The 115 HP V-4 would be called the " bubble back " , while the 90 HP had the plain exhaust.----I do not believe the V-4 looper ( 95 to 2005 ) was ever used for one of these jet boats.
 

saltchuckmatt

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I had a johnnyrude 110 bubble back.

My brother blew it up....port side bottom cylinder.

Ring problem I suspect.
 

racerone

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Correct the decals also said 110 HP for a few of the bubble years.----The V-4 blocks with big center main bearing were marketed as 85 / 90 / 100 / 115 / 140 HP.-----All used the same crankshaft / rods / pistons.
 

Faztbullet

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It came standard with flatback 90hp and 115hp(potbelly) was option. Hope you have the adapter plate and exhaust that bolt to jetdrive
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1715575119433.png
 

cragenj3

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I do have the plate and exhaust; I also have 2 disassembled engines. Haha.

But rather than pick and choose and source parts; I figured I'd just buy a reman, but if I'm dropping that kind of money I figured I'd ask y'all if any newer model engines would bolt right on.
 

Scott Danforth

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the mini jet boat fad for the converted power head boats died about 1995 or so. the fling was not a stellar performer, just like the Boston Whaler Rage, Sea Rayder, Regal Rush and a bunch of other boats of similar design

lots of noise and fuel burn, nearly no go

the later hulls built by Baja for the jet ski manufactures like Ski Doo, Yamaha, etc. that came later were much better. these usually had twin jet ski motors using a single inlet. then the Mercruiser V6 jet came out and many of the boats except Yamaha migrated to that platform.
 

saltchuckmatt

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Great information really.....pretty sure what he means is put the least amount of money into it because there's much better stuff out there.

Rebuild it yourself or let some kid fix it for free and make a YouTube video out of it.
 
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