jtryon

glad to hear! yes the SS get's LOUD around 15mph, that's why i scrapped it along with the fact that the side-to-side switching didn't work. that link to wakegarage is actually mine, let me know if you have any questions on that project. it's my 3rd season on it and no issues. i just had a local fab shop finish the downpipe (FAE-style) for me for around $350, so all-in i'm well below the FAE conversion cost. that being said, FAE is a good option for a plug-and-play conversion. you're correct in that the side benefit of removing SS is gaining space for ballast, and typhoon's do need more weight than avy's. i upgraded to these bags (link) this season and the surf wave is noticeably better than with the 1280's that i had prior.

i think i found the one you are looking at and that price is about average for the market. a little high given the year, but close enough to what others are asking for similar ones including the 1' shorter and much more common Avalanche. i would just verify that those are the true hours because it's very common for the meter to go out on these. check the perfect pass screen if it has one and that should have the true engine hours stored. i think the procedure is the menu+up arrow at the same time, then system info, then it's in that next menu somewhere.

does it have the rear hull cutouts in the outer corners? if so it won't surf as well as the later typhoons. they changed in '06 as far as i know but there may be some mid-year changes that i haven't heard of. if it's a continuous V in the rear, it will put out a great wave for surfing by just slamming the corner. i just upgraded to 1600lb bags on mine and the wave is awesome. another non-desirable on these is a walkthrough on the starboard side, so check if it has that. it's not an issue if you don't have any goofy riders, but might affect resale as most want the C4 model. the exhaust is referred to as "sideswipe." i converted mine to a single exhaust in the rear (link here), and Fresh Air Exhaust also offers conversion kits. most sideswipe valves have broken by now on these, and it's more expensive to replace both actuators than it would be to convert to FAE. if you don't mind the exhaust sound you could just leave it, but it gets loud at cruising speeds. i would check if there are 3 separate ballast pumps or if it's the OEM sprinkler valve system. if it's sprinklers, you'll want to add two more thru-hulls and dedicated pumps on them, otherwise your ballast fill times will be SLOW. you can do those for around $200/per, well worth it. all in all, a great surf boat with lots of room and handles chop well with the deep-v.

haha welcome to the club, i had this same question last season. the dipstick is definitely a stout one so you have to trust that bending it to get around that seat frame won't break it off, but that's the only way to get it out. poor design for sure. i checked the level of mine on the trailer after a drain/refill and it's worked perfectly with no warning light since. mine would have the light on at idle and up to 900-ish RPM but would go off after that; since changing the fluid and topping it off it doesn't even come on at idle anymore.

put as big of a bag as you can in the rear compartment that you're surfing on, and it should surf great with nothing else.

the priming thing happened with mine when i was doing my first impeller change after buying the boat. the PO didn't use it much in the 5 years he owned it so must have never changed it, and the old one wore a ring where it rides against the pump housing. i see you already installed the plate that goes between the two halves of the housing to fix the issue when you install a new impeller. call Steve Buttrick at C&S Marine Pumps. i got my impeller from him, and when i went to install it he had included a note in the box that stated this exact issue being common for the Merc motors. super good guy to work with a he was a fraction of the cost of others that i was shopping around. i bet he can talk through what it would take to get yours fixed. C & S Marine Pumps Inc 149 s Highway 97 Cantonment , Florida 32533 Cell (850) 380-1731

absolutely go with the bigger bags.

if the Corsa actuators to switch sides were still working i'm sure that's worth some $ to someone. they tend to have gone bad by now on those mid-2000's models. i'd also keep the switchblade and actuators as those are impossible to replace, maybe someone will need them down the road. i'd toss the muffler though.

i'd delete the muffler. i don't even hear mine running with no muffler, plus now everything in the back of the motor is much more accessible now. i think the muffler was necessary with sideswipe because it's so loud at cruising speeds, but not with FAE.

they should be the same as long as you're getting C4 versus the walkthrough template. as far as alternatives, i like aquamarinedeck.com, they're cheaper and still great quality, i'm just not sure they have a template to pick off the site. worth emailing them to get a price though.

nice advertisement on your first post. we're talking underwater lights, not navigation lights.

it's hard to tell from the pics since they won't increase in size, but my .02: leave that 800gph to fill the center 250lb tank, since you can't remove that tank anyway. sell the front ballast bag (u-shaped one) because these hulls don't like front weight. add two big bags in each of the rear lockers, two 1" thru-hulls and two tsunami 1200gph pumps to fill them. check if the stock yellow pumps in the lockers still work, and you can even leave those for a while if you want to save money as those will only affect drain times. i think they are 800gph drain pumps.

dimensions for my typhoon are 10" height, 26" width under the passenger seat, so you can start there on wakemakers' site and get whatever length you need. check here, for instance they have a 50"L x 25"W x 10"H which gives you 500lbs, or a 60" long for 610lbs, or 70" long for 710lbs.

since you're halfway there, i'd just leave the tanks out and add ballast bags that fill the rear lockers. add two thru-hulls and pumps on their own switches to fill those new bags, and use the existing pump just for the center tank. that will make everything less complicated and give you better fill times. yours probably has what's referred to as a sprinkler valve, if you want to search here for more info on it. most guys just rip it out and upgrade it though.

i would definitely take the boat if you're essentially getting it for free plus your payout--you can probably have someone lined up to buy it for $5-10K within a week. was the motor pickled as soon as it was pulled from the water, i.e. got all the water out, no water in the oil after running it afterwards? if the motor checks out and has good compression still, that's huge. can you take your $47k, keep the boat yourself and drop it off at a shop to redo the important items after shopping around for better prices? you should be able to replace all the important stuff like gauges, perfect pass, etc. with new ones just as a peace of mind and still come out well on top.