What would you upgrade for more power?

[rajjneef]

I have a 96' carbed 5.7 mercruiser with an alpha drive. If one were looking for a little more power what would be a reasonable way to achieve this? I'm speaking of engine mods as opposed to prop related.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

496 mag ho 425 $30,091(b1) $30,271(b2) $30,325 (b3)

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

I'd pull my 454 and install a tricked 502!!

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

with the surface piercing drive I bet,

 

[rajjneef]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

Im not speaking of replacing motors. I'm speaking of engine mods to the existing engine for a little more power.

 

[fossill]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

496 mag ho 425 $30,091(b1) $30,271(b2) $30,325 (b3)

might as well grab that last 5hp and get the Merc 8.2 MAG HO at 430hp

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

Vortec heads and hi-rise manifold , higher compression,hotter cam (watch out for exaust reversion).Alpha`s limited to 300hp, dry exaust headers,(Gill) ,

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

Aftermarket cylinder heads are great place to start, probably the biggest bang for the buck, along with a good dual plane intake manifold such as the Edelbrock Performer. Leave the stock cam.

 

[greg82255]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

It all depends how much $$ you want to spend and how much work you want to do. You could spend thousands upgrading to EFI, stainless headers, cam, heads, etc.. but for all that money you might as well do fossill said and go with the 496.

If you want cheaper ugrades (than thousands), you could install sawtooth cylinder heads, casting # 062. Those should boost your power a decent amount, and somebody correct me if im wrong but I have heard that if you go do a junk yard you can get those heads for $75 if you can find them and pull them yourself.

 

[John_S]

Re: What would you upgrade for more power?

Value type engine mods (if there is such a thing), ie stock like mods:

- Vortec heads, dual plane vortec intake (Performer or rpm), 4 brl carb = approx 280hp @ prop.

- Add a cam change and associated valve spring and lift mod to heads to break over the 300hp barrier.

- If you have 2brl now, you could consider just an intake and 4brl, but you will be happier with the above.