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ExploreNW
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2019
- Messages
- 217
- Reaction score
- 131
- Points
- 43
- Location
- Mead, WA
- Vehicle Year
- 1994
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Engine Type
- 2.3 (4 Cylinder)
- Transmission
- Manual
- Tire Size
- 235/75/15
Crack a cold one, guys. Never thought I'd say it but I'm officially out of stupid redneck things to burn large amounts of my income on and I'm desperately in need of something new...
.... so I looked in my backyard. I have a boat! A 27-foot 1978 Sea Ray Weekender. Heavy old S.O.B. with a hull so thick you'd have to put some real effort into sinking it. New cruisers come with less than half the fiber they sprayed into this thing. When it's on the trailer I'd say that whole setup tops 10k. Motivated by a single 260HP C***y 350 and quenched by a 100 gallon fuel tank, you'd be lucky to top it out at 35. In two words, this thing is Slow & Thirsty. It also needs that 350 replaced, and when that's out, stringers and a new transom need to go in which is a perfect time to convert to twins. Exactly what I'm looking for! a hole to throw paychecks at
So TRS... Let's build a boat this spring. What the hell are we shoving in this engine bay?
Back in the day they sold these beasts with either the single 350, twin I6 (some GM crane ballast weights rebranded as "470") and I've heard of twin I4 Iron Dukes. They are common contenders for single big blocks but I want to use the cheap "Alpha" drives and not the gold-plated unobtanium "Bravo" drives. The Alphas max out at 300 HP but do not list a torque spec. And I want to stick some Fords in there.
Today at the local JY I saw no shortage of 3.5 V6s already pulled, both n/a and EcoBoost. JY charges just over 200 bucks for the whole engine assembly and everything on it whether its a 3-cyl geo metro motor or a v10 Triton so that's where any motors for this are coming from. They're much lighter, smoother, and GDI is really nice on gas at low revs. Wouldn't (okay that's a lie I probably would) be opposed to mod motors like the early 5.4s.
Kinda want:
- Ford motors. Obvious reasons.
- +-250HP per motor. Could be 225. Could be a full-send-it outdrive shredder.
- EFI. You guys know I hate it. Computers are both better and worse in boats. Fuel vapor control (and no open spark in a distributor) being the largest benefit and sensor/wire/connector corrosion being the largest detractor. Carbs release fuel vapors in enclosed spaces... Much as I love 'em in cars, I really don't want to be shark BBQ so I have no problems rigging up injection.
- Smaller and lightweight. Less weight = less water displaced by hull loading = more speed.
- More beer.
Indifferences:
- Block metal. It's set up for closed loop cooling. Aluminum would do just fine.
- Marine manifolds. I'll heat wrap them and weld up custom wet dump pipes. Better in the Washington winters anyways.
- Marine distributors/alternators/starters/etc. EFI systems with full vapor control and proper use of the engine blower will not cause a boom.
- OBD-II. Would consider OBD1 or Megasquirt if proven tunability & ease of diagnostic & spares can be carried. I want to be able to flash the exact same tune to both motors.
Get out:
- Big blocks. Too much fuel. $1 more/gal at the docks.
- Honda/rice motor/4 cyl swaps. Loading is way different in boats and the fab work would be a PITA. Two I4s won't move this thing.
- Weird aftermarket locked "self learning" devices. I need to be able to code for the thing or at least load fuel maps onto stock computers. I can be somewhat effective with most C-based languages and BASIC. Not assembler code. I have some abilities to interface with various microcontrollers & some other experience with the JTAG interface.
.... so I looked in my backyard. I have a boat! A 27-foot 1978 Sea Ray Weekender. Heavy old S.O.B. with a hull so thick you'd have to put some real effort into sinking it. New cruisers come with less than half the fiber they sprayed into this thing. When it's on the trailer I'd say that whole setup tops 10k. Motivated by a single 260HP C***y 350 and quenched by a 100 gallon fuel tank, you'd be lucky to top it out at 35. In two words, this thing is Slow & Thirsty. It also needs that 350 replaced, and when that's out, stringers and a new transom need to go in which is a perfect time to convert to twins. Exactly what I'm looking for! a hole to throw paychecks at
So TRS... Let's build a boat this spring. What the hell are we shoving in this engine bay?
Back in the day they sold these beasts with either the single 350, twin I6 (some GM crane ballast weights rebranded as "470") and I've heard of twin I4 Iron Dukes. They are common contenders for single big blocks but I want to use the cheap "Alpha" drives and not the gold-plated unobtanium "Bravo" drives. The Alphas max out at 300 HP but do not list a torque spec. And I want to stick some Fords in there.
Today at the local JY I saw no shortage of 3.5 V6s already pulled, both n/a and EcoBoost. JY charges just over 200 bucks for the whole engine assembly and everything on it whether its a 3-cyl geo metro motor or a v10 Triton so that's where any motors for this are coming from. They're much lighter, smoother, and GDI is really nice on gas at low revs. Wouldn't (okay that's a lie I probably would) be opposed to mod motors like the early 5.4s.
Kinda want:
- Ford motors. Obvious reasons.
- +-250HP per motor. Could be 225. Could be a full-send-it outdrive shredder.
- EFI. You guys know I hate it. Computers are both better and worse in boats. Fuel vapor control (and no open spark in a distributor) being the largest benefit and sensor/wire/connector corrosion being the largest detractor. Carbs release fuel vapors in enclosed spaces... Much as I love 'em in cars, I really don't want to be shark BBQ so I have no problems rigging up injection.
- Smaller and lightweight. Less weight = less water displaced by hull loading = more speed.
- More beer.
Indifferences:
- Block metal. It's set up for closed loop cooling. Aluminum would do just fine.
- Marine manifolds. I'll heat wrap them and weld up custom wet dump pipes. Better in the Washington winters anyways.
- Marine distributors/alternators/starters/etc. EFI systems with full vapor control and proper use of the engine blower will not cause a boom.
- OBD-II. Would consider OBD1 or Megasquirt if proven tunability & ease of diagnostic & spares can be carried. I want to be able to flash the exact same tune to both motors.
Get out:
- Big blocks. Too much fuel. $1 more/gal at the docks.
- Honda/rice motor/4 cyl swaps. Loading is way different in boats and the fab work would be a PITA. Two I4s won't move this thing.
- Weird aftermarket locked "self learning" devices. I need to be able to code for the thing or at least load fuel maps onto stock computers. I can be somewhat effective with most C-based languages and BASIC. Not assembler code. I have some abilities to interface with various microcontrollers & some other experience with the JTAG interface.
