Bought a new motor the other day.

[donsrods]

I've never played around with big block Chevy engines, but my Son Dan is planning on building a little drag car when his RPU is done. We are sort of getting to that point, lots of stuff at the powder coaters, so maybe in the next 4 or 5 months we can start thinking about his next project. He likes Fiat Topos a lot, so maybe a glass one of those will be the basis.

Anyway, we just did a repower on a guys boat at work because one of the two engines in his boat was starting to get a little water in it from the exhaust manifolds. Rather than fix it, he said to put a brand new motor in the boat, so we did. His final tab out the door was about $ 21,000.00, but we did some other stuff too. We kept his old motor because Mercury Marine was offering a bounty on these as rebuildable cores, but I called them the other day and they stopped the program last July.

So........I started looking at the engine and decided to buy it. It still ran when pulled, so it can be rebuilt. After doing some research I found out it is a 2000 model Chevy Gen VI roller cam, four bolt main motor. I have been doing some research on bbc engines, and found out this is the last generation of the 454's. The next year they went to the 8.1, which I guess is the 502 motor. It is rated at about 340 hp, but some of the articles I have been reading say 500 hp is just a few hot rod touches away...stuff like a hotter cam, headers, intake, etc.

I brought it home the other day and confirmed through the numbers and some distinquishing parts that it really is a gen VI. We are going to tear it down and send it to our local machinist for freshing up. Since it will be a drag only motor we can go pretty high on compression and wild on the cam. We figure either a 350 turbo or maybe a powerglide to back it up. Not going to be a real quick project, but we are going to keep it simple and shoot for the 10's, maybe the 9's with a little luck.

Dan and I have been bitten by the urge to race, and it has been 30 years since I have been down a track. I have that little 460 Ford sitting on an engine stand, almost ready to drop into something, so maybe he and I can square off and see which brand REALLY is better.

I'll keep everyone posted as the thing progresses.

Don

 

[440shorty]

good score

That sounds like a great start for a drag engine. Pick your parts carefully, and you'll easily meet your goals.

440shorty

 

[Tripper]

Dan and I have been bitten by the urge to race.

Yep... that's the way it starts. Next thing Don & Dan will be living down at the 1320... D&D Race Team!!!

BoB

 

[Dragfink]

Since it was a marine application, make sure it spins the right way,...some marine application motors spin backwards when 2 are used...

 

[Sam_Fear]

Since it was a marine application, make sure it spins the right way,...some marine application motors spin backwards when 2 are used...

Is it difficult to change rotation direction beside changing out the cam on those?

I always kinda wondered why they say some marine motors turned reverse - duh, never put much thought behind it I guess. Man, you would really have fast reverse!

 

[donsrods]

As a matter of fact, this one is the left hand (reverse rotation) motor. No problem though, we are going to use an after market cam and distributor, and those are the only two differences, aside from the starter. The motor doesn't care which direction it spins, as long as you have the timing and valve opening correct.

I did a little probing into the engine last night while Dan was painting some of his parts for the RPU, and when I pulled the valve cover off the guide plates said "hi perf" on them. The engine is also super clean inside as the owner was very good about maintaining the boat. The only thing that got him was the age of the exhaust manifolds, the one started to seep water into the cylinders, but we caught it before it did any real damage. The owner didn't want to trust it, so in went a brand new one. This particular engine was fresh water cooled, so salt water never got inside it at all.

This is the second marine engine I have scored this way. The one in my 23 T came from a boat we repowered. I rebuilt it and even left in the marine cam (It was a regular rotation motor) I knew it would run out of steam at 4600 rpms, but it sure pulls hard to that point. Sort of like an RV grind.

Some people say marine engines are full of different parts than a car motor, but we find differently. Almost every component has GM stamped all over it, and the major differences are brass freeze plugs, circulating pump, and head gaskets. The only other differences are explosion proof starters, alternators, distributors, fuel pumps, etc.

Don

Oh, and the reason they make one engine run in reverse is to offset the torque of the other engine, and to give the props a better bite because the water is less disturbed where they are spinning.

 

[Gearhead10]

Sounds like a pretty good score Don. I've found with marine engines that they are usually a bit better than a stock application. Little more performance related I think. It should work good for ya in a drag car. Both of ya get drag cars maybe you guys can go on Pinks and we can all root for ya!

 

[Gastrick]

Good score Don. I'm a fan of Big Block Chevy engines. Check with me on odds and ends before you buy them. I might have some stuff laying around that you can use like distributors and such.

 

[Dragfink]

I just scored a Marine Hemi this summer, it was one of 2, with the other one, (not the one I bought), being a reverse rotation...still had paint and decals on the valve covers...