I'm hoping some of you guys can help me and in the process start a thread of engine sources for these mini's. I see alot of rotax engines in snowmobiles which, despite the guy at Jbird engines telling me are not convertable for prop drives, Utah Scooter & Matatapos on here have proven it's possible. Obviously in TX there are surprisingly few snowmobiles laying about, but an unlimited number of PWC's. Do any of you know which if any would be good for a mini? I would like something in the 60-70hp range which appears to be +/-600cc in most jet ski's.

Cajun_Ag,

Gee, no snowmobiles in Texas,... what a bummer :o :lol: :lol: I know almost nothing about PWC, but there are usually a lot of them on craigslist.

I see three Rotax engines, a 582. 583. and a 780, an eBay right now.

We are most likekly going to go the rotax route when building up the Tomcat this winter, so I'm also hoping for a good deal on one to come along.

Dave

You can almost pick up an old ski for what they want for just the motor on ebay. Then you have to read the fine print to see if the carbs, exhaust, CDI etc are coming with it. I've been looking ebay over pretty regularly. I have to think the PWC motors are essentially the same minus any mounting holes for gear drives, but I plan to use belt reduction anyway.

I found a ski here local. It's a 92 Yamaha waverunner w/ 650cc engine (~50hp) Guy says it runs and just needs a battery and is asking $400. I'm going to take a look at it monday. If anyone has any info on this engine and why it may not work for a mini please let me know.
What I have researched so far on it:
633cc actual displacement
Record of reliability
Still has ample parts made for it.
Kit available to upgrade it to 701cc by changing cylinders and head.
Has built in rev limiter that kicks in at 6500 rpm's