What engine would you put in your boat?

[Baddog]

patience grasshopper, rome was not built in one day.

besides john (Michigan boarder) is working crazy hours and its a 3-3 1/2 hour ride for him each way.

I told him he was welcome to spend the night as we have plenty of extra bedrooms and it would break up the drive.

he said he should slow down after the holidays so that's the plan.

Oh I am patient, but I am really excited to watch this baby come back to life. How many man-hours would you extimate it will take to rebuild her?

[sgt1970-442]

Oh I am patient, but I am really excited to watch this baby come back to life. How many man-hours would you extimate it will take to rebuild her?

this will all depend on what can be reused and what machine work will need to be done. if we go with a whole new rotating assembly and new vortec heads, we will have a lot of checking clearences, possible port and bowl clean up, port matching the intake, degreeing the cam and general blue printing of the engine and components.

[WheelerWake]

I went through this build a 350 or 383 (or 454) decision just a few months ago. I bought a 2000 LSV 23 that had not been winterized, the block and heads had frozen and busted.

Decided to build a 383 because we wakeboard with ballast. This was to try to move the power curve down to a lower RPM. Wasn't really concerned with max hp since we don't operate there very often.

Ended up with:

Craigslist 350 Chevy

Eagle rotating assemble

Vortec heads

Stock cam, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds

1.6 rocker on the intakes only

I ordered the rotating assembly from Summit racing with the d-cup pistons to keep the compression at a reasonable 9.5:1 with the smallish vortec combustion chambers. I did a very mild "pocket port" clean up on the heads.

The only tricky part was the MEFI since it still thinks its feeding a 350. I could of remapped it, but that cost $$. I decided to increase the fuel pressure with an adjustable regulator made for 90's LT1 Corvettes (looks identical with an adjusting screw).

In order to tune this setup, I added a wide band O2 sensor to the exhaust manifold to read the air/fuel ratio. The idea is, since the engine is 10% bigger, it will always need 10% more fuel. These early MEFI's don't have MAS or O2 sensors so they are always running open loop (except for the knock sensor) and can't adjust the fuel curve.

Got it all together and in the boat for a test on black Friday. It all worked, I was able to dial the air/fuel ratio in at both cruise and full throttle. I plan on fine tuning it when it warms up in the spring then remove the O2 sensor.

Can't really compare before and after since I have no before info. I was also just testing basics of the boat , does it float, transmission, v-drive, since I was not able to test these when I bought it.

[sgt1970-442]

I went through this build a 350 or 383 (or 454) decision just a few months ago. I bought a 2000 LSV 23 that had not been winterized, the block and heads had frozen and busted.

Decided to build a 383 because we wakeboard with ballast. This was to try to move the power curve down to a lower RPM. Wasn't really concerned with max hp since we don't operate there very often.

Ended up with:

Craigslist 350 Chevy

Eagle rotating assemble

Vortec heads

Stock cam, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds

1.6 rocker on the intakes only

I ordered the rotating assembly from Summit racing with the d-cup pistons to keep the compression at a reasonable 9.5:1 with the smallish vortec combustion chambers. I did a very mild "pocket port" clean up on the heads.

The only tricky part was the MEFI since it still thinks its feeding a 350. I could of remapped it, but that cost $$. I decided to increase the fuel pressure with an adjustable regulator made for 90's LT1 Corvettes (looks identical with an adjusting screw).

In order to tune this setup, I added a wide band O2 sensor to the exhaust manifold to read the air/fuel ratio. The idea is, since the engine is 10% bigger, it will always need 10% more fuel. These early MEFI's don't have MAS or O2 sensors so they are always running open loop (except for the knock sensor) and can't adjust the fuel curve.

Got it all together and in the boat for a test on black Friday. It all worked, I was able to dial the air/fuel ratio in at both cruise and full throttle. I plan on fine tuning it when it warms up in the spring then remove the O2 sensor.

Can't really compare before and after since I have no before info. I was also just testing basics of the boat , does it float, transmission, v-drive, since I was not able to test these when I bought it.

congrats, glad its working for ya. on john's build which is a carb motor we won't be dealing any of these issues. that being said and as I have stated already, what most all inboard boaters are looking for is the torque for pulling. we need to get his motor apart and see what if anything is reusable.

then figure what john's realistic goals are. i already know what they are because we have talked about it, but anyway then we need to start mapping components to build a flat torque curve low in the rpm range and topping out max torque at around 3200-3500 rpm. if you go back to post 268 i made you will see kinda what were looking to do. a 385 scat stroker kit and vortec heads and intake along with the right cam will easily put us where we want to be.

[WheelerWake]

congrats, glad its working for ya. on john's build which is a carb motor we won't be dealing any of these issues. that being said and as I have stated already, what most all inboard boaters are looking for is the torque for pulling. we need to get his motor apart and see what if anything is reusable.

then figure what john's realistic goals are. i already know what they are because we have talked about it, but anyway then we need to start mapping components to build a flat torque curve low in the rpm range and topping out max torque at around 3200-3500 rpm. if you go back to post 268 i made you will see kinda what were looking to do. a 385 scat stroker kit and vortec heads and intake along with the right cam will easily put us where we want to be.

This is the 1st fuel injected engine I've built (1st Chevy and 1st boat engine too). The backup plan was to go with a carb if I couldn't get the injection sorted out.

The main reason I went with the 383 (instead of the 350) is that I can't put things back the way they were, got to make them better...

Edited December 27, 2013 by WheelerWake

[Michigan boarder]

I just read thru this whole thread. It's pretty funny. And a TON of good engine info.

The work stuff has settled down, now working 10 to 11 hours 6 days/week, very manageable. That was a tough run. Had a great day with the family, building a snowman, sledding, cleaning the driveway, a snow fort in the yard, etc. over the weekend. At some point I brought up "Only 3 months 'till we are boating!". Having taken last summer off with no boat, all 3 kids are really fired up to get out there. My 7 year old daughter will be 8 and she intends to surf by herself this summer, and wakeboard lone line (not just off the boom, like when she was 6). My 14 year old plans on smooth wake-to-wakes. The 13 year old just wants to surf. He needs new boots, his feet grew 2 sizes since summer of 2011. Wife wants to surf. I'm looking forward to every bit of it - from the new engine to the jump seat that we put in last year.

[Woodski]

@MB: was the jumpseat between the driver/spotter? If yes, did you buy or build yourself, pics? Thx.

[Michigan boarder]

HEY! I switched to Firefox, so now I can quote people again.

This is the 1st fuel injected engine I've built (1st Chevy and 1st boat engine too). The backup plan was to go with a carb if I couldn't get the injection sorted out.

The main reason I went with the 383 (instead of the 350) is that I can't put things back the way they were, got to make them better...

I'm with ya there. I just can't imagine having the same 265hp.

@MB: was the jumpseat between the driver/spotter? If yes, did you buy or build yourself, pics? Thx.

No, that would be the launch seat. I asked Chee about that, and he wouldn't know where to start. I got a "jump" or "judge's" seat, made by Chee. I sent him samples of my upholsterday and he matched it up pretty close. Here's that thread: http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/42343-wtb-jump-seat/

[Michigan boarder]

A guy just called and offered me a trade on a tri power 66 GTO for my 71 F250. He just finished a frame off. It needs a clutch and front brakes.....sssoooo tempting.....must resist.....

Well?

[sgt1970-442]

well,,,, we now have a motor here from john. i will let john chime in on what we already know needs to be replaced.

[Michigan boarder]

Right on, Steve. She traveled well, about a 3.5 hour trip at 65mph. Roads were mostly dry. After I crated it up I wrapped it in a tote liner to keep it clean.

[Michigan boarder]

We got it off the trailer and in the garage, hanging by the hoist. Steve was removing the stuff that we don't need on it so it can get magnafluxed, while I was holding it from spinning around. During that I saw some water dripping off the block, and discovered this:

[WakeGirl]

So cool. I think that you're going to challenge Levi's thread.

[Michigan boarder]

Thanks WakeGirl, it's been a fun project so far. A little set back, though, yesterday. Apparently, since this issue happened in July and with all the fun of pulling the carb/intake/heads/cooling/exhaust & other components, researching and discussing options, reassembling, etc. I missed draining the starboard side of the engine. So stupid. I drove home feeling like a moron. But, I tore into the engine in October and never followed my typical winterization procedure with all the tearing down that was going on. The head is cracked for sure, and we'll see what's up with the block. Fingers crossed that I don't need to add a used block to the cost equation. I was hoping to get something out of the pre-Vortec iron heads too, but oh well. We'll move on to aluminum fast burns.

[Slayer]

What a drag, MB! For your sake, I hope a new block is not in order for you.

[sgt1970-442]

. A little set back, though, yesterday. Apparently, since this issue happened in July and with all the fun of pulling the carb/intake/heads/cooling/exhaust & other components, researching and discussing options, reassembling, etc. I missed draining the starboard side of the engine. So stupid. I drove home feeling like a moron. We'll move on to aluminum fast burns.

john, don't beat yourself up and your not a moron. this could have happened to anyone of us after having the boat sit since july. after reading through this thread and seeing what your work hours have been, I can see how this oversight happened. easy does it on the gm fast burn aluminum heads. they have a bigger intake runner than we really want. 210cc. while a bigger runner will make better horsepower, it will actually take away low end torque. we are looking for a happy medium and trying hard to stay on a budget. we can buy a set of iron vortecs and an aluminum intake for less than the price of a set of fast burns. took a few pics to start with. hopefully have the block magnafluxed for cracks by next weekend.

Edited January 5, 2014 by sgt1970-442

[WakeGirl]

No doubt, I think that given the circumstances that would have happened to almost anyone here.

[Michigan boarder]

Well, thanks guys.

[Slayer]

No doubt, I think that given the circumstances that would have happened to almost anyone here.

I completely agree. I could see myself doing it, no question.

[Baddog]

Stuff happens, move on. Can't wait to see what happens next on this rebuild.

[Michigan boarder]

The weather is breaking a bit and I hope to spend a little time on the boat. The heater works well at 30+ degrees outside, not so well below that.

The recent thread on the 4" mufflers reminds me that I need an exhaust plan. Aluminum ETX manifolds are ordered and on their way from Indmar. 3.5" STE exhaust tips are on my shelf. So, what should I put in between all of that? I do want it as quiet in the cabin as possible, without sacrificing horsepower. But not FAE quiet, I just can't get over the look of that. I also still have the stock fiberglass silencer that came with the boat, but I assume that is way too restrictive, correct?

[jk13]

I also still have the stock fiberglass silencer that came with the boat, but I assume that is way too restrictive, correct?

Which silencer? Does it lay on the floor in the rear of the boat front to back (two of them, one per side)?

Or does it crossover between the backs of the manifolds above the rear of the engine?

If it's the second type there is nothing inside of those. Just a chamber that crosses over. You will need to fiberglass 4" inlets and outlets onto it replacing the smaller ones, but it's doable. Worth it to save that style for your noise goals IMO. And if you don't I may be interested in purchasing or trading something for it. I have the twin mufflers on the floor.

[Michigan boarder]

Which silencer? Does it lay on the floor in the rear of the boat front to back (two of them, one per side)?

Or does it crossover between the backs of the manifolds above the rear of the engine?

If it's the second type there is nothing inside of those. Just a chamber that crosses over. You will need to fiberglass 4" inlets and outlets onto it replacing the smaller ones, but it's doable. Worth it to save that style for your noise goals IMO. And if you don't I may be interested in purchasing or trading something for it. I have the twin mufflers on the floor.

It's the second type. That's a great idea with the 4" mod, why replace it! So it does a better job than the twin mufflers on the floor?

What noise level change should I expect with the upgraded engine and manifolds versus the stock Merc setup?

[jk13]

It's the second type. That's a great idea with the 4" mod, why replace it! So it does a better job than the twin mufflers on the floor?

What noise level change should I expect with the upgraded engine and manifolds versus the stock Merc setup?

My brother's MC with a Ford motor has it and is quieter in the boat than my Chevy motor. Neither of us has motor box insulation.

As far as your second question--I'm not ballin' quite as hard as you are so I don't have that answer.

[Michigan boarder]

Thanks JK.

For everyone else, here's what we are talking about: