Need help to ID my new free canoe, And Hi from Minnesota!

Advice
#1

Hello all,
I’m brand new to the forum and am looking for some help from those of you far more experienced than myself.
I was just given a canoe from my wifes grandfather absolutly free. Its my first canoe and I am curious as to what it is because I have never seen anything quite like it. Here’s what I know:
The registration has the make listed as: WHIT ( whitewater maybe)
Grandpa said he bought new in 1970 (so does the registration)
Its 17’6" long
About 34" wide
complete plastic construction minus the fiberglass seats
all the decals are long gone, but it does have a coast guard tag that says max capacity of 950lbs.
I was told it was made in Luverne, MN
has what looks to be a hole in the bow to attach a gas powered jet pump (grandpa apparently had one at some point)
I’ve been looking all weekend and cannot find any real info or pictures similar to my canoe.
thanks in advance for the help!

#2

Anybody got any ideas?

#3

I can’t help with the canoe, but the hole in the bow, or stern if you sat on the bow face back. was definitely for a pump-jet drive. They had an outboard unit that was very low profile and the pump had a 2HP 2 stroke Tecumseh engine. They were made in the late 1950s and early 1960s, maybe a little later, and were used by several canoe manufactures in the midwest. These through hull fittings have been modified by some to mount an
electric trolling motor. Cool, but you couldn’t tip the unit up in shallow water.

#4

Look for a 12 character hull identification number (HIN). This most often is located on the hull exterior at the stern, usually on the right side, often on a metal plate, but sometimes scratched into the hull. If you don’t find anything on the hull exterior, look on the inside, under the stern deck plates. A HIN will at least allow you to determine the manufacturer and year of build. Hull identification numbers were not required until 1972, so if the canoe actually was new in 1970, it might not have one.

#5

Thanks. I’ll check today.

#6

@sedges said:
I can’t help with the canoe, but the hole in the bow, or stern if you sat on the bow face back. was definitely for a pump-jet drive. They had an outboard unit that was very low profile and the pump had a 2HP 2 stroke Tecumseh engine. They were made in the late 1950s and early 1960s, maybe a little later, and were used by several canoe manufactures in the midwest. These through hull fittings have been modified by some to mount an
electric trolling motor. Cool, but you couldn’t tip the unit up in shallow water.

Thanks. I did see at least one tecumseh powered jet pump for sale. Would love to find one for the right price. Thanks for the help.