4.3 Mercruiser cracked block

[Shadow91]

Looking at a Bayliner with a 4.3 mercruiser in it. Boat was once a beautiful boat that appeard to be well taken care of. I guess the story goes that the owner passed away and the boat had sat outside, covered by a tarp for 3/4 years before being put into a garage. The hull and 90% of the interior is in fantastic shape, however it was never winterized and the block is full of milky water.

Ive been reading over and over that a 4.3 chev engine SHOULD work, that they are mostly the same minus the camshaft, but looking for answers to see if thats correct. I figure if i can get away throwing a chev engine in it might be worth the buy at $750. It would also need new flooring as the back by the engine seems to have a hole "from dropping something on it"

Thank you all .

 

[TurtleTamer]

Sounds like it'll be a money pit. All sorts of things go bad when a boat sits, only most notably the engine. Fuel will have to come out, entire fuel system likely replaced, carb rebuild, all tune-up items, new battery(ies). Trailer may need work too. Mice could have gotten in it and chewed wires, a real mess. Tilt/trim could be frozen, steering cable stiff. My rule of thumb is never pay more than $300 for a non-runner and that's if it has both titles to boat and trailer. Cheap/free boats can be the most expensive. I see you've been on iBoats for a bit of time so maybe you know all of that.

But if you want to spend some time and money on it, I've heard GM 4.3s of similar year will work, provided you use marine head gaskets and core plugs. Hell you could probably find a rebuilt short block pretty cheap if you ask around the machine shops and look on Craigslist. The 4.3 mainly uses SBC parts so you could even find a decent core in a junk yard and rebuild that for years of good service. I always disassemble/re-assemble them myself and have the machine shop find me cheap parts and do the cutting/boring. Never order parts until you find out if it needs bored out or the crank needs cutting. Heads are very easy to rebuild yourself. You're right in needing to reuse your cam, I do believe, which if it's originally a roller block you should have no issue swapping over. Flat tappet, I'd change cam and lifters but I'm not familiar enough with 4.3s used in boats to speak more intelligently on that.

 

[Shadow91]

I know enough to get me in trouble at this point. haha

And i dont mind doing the work, actually quite enjoy it for the most part. I just really liked the condition of the hull and interior of this boat and the wife REALLY liked the idea of having power steering. I know the boat can very quickly become a VERY expensive money pit, but these boats in running condition are $5-8000 in my area.

I looked it over pretty well and the wire harness and all that looks to be in fairy good shape. The trailer is beautiful and has bunkers not rollers which is nice. They have the titles for both from the dead guy, the death certificate and the widow is willing to go to the DMV with me to make sure all is well in transferring ownership.

I worked for GM for about 3 years as an automotive tech and am a technician by trade so the mechanical side of everything i can generally figure out. I dont mind putting in the time and hours to be able to save a few grand. Ive looked online and it appears you can get a reman long block in the range of $1500 or i can swap over an automotive block for about half the cost after its all said and done.

Steering moves smooth and like i said, also has PS when the engine is running, Tilt and trim all work. it mostly looks like the damage is all due from not winterizing the boat as the engine definitely froze. Dont think i can get it for any cheaper then $750 but its very temping due to everything else about the boat. Has an alpha one mercruiser drive.

And i figure fuel would be easy to drain as i replace the flooring.

Lots to think about and you guys know a lot more then i do, so i do greatly value your opinions and knowledge.

 

[AShipShow]

What year is it? Bayliners have a bad reputation for rotting from the inside out (hence my current restoration thread for my 96 bayliner)...

I've put an automotive 4.3 in my stingray and its very straightforward, just make sure you stick with a similar year.. you will run into trouble around 96, which is when Merc switched to vortec heads and other things changed like the timing cover, intake manifolds, etc... They also added the balance shaft, I think around 92... You'll also want to try and get a truck or van motor if you can and then you won't have to really worry about swapping the cam, its pretty much close to the same.

Theres a bunch of threads about "marinizing" a 4.3, it basically consists of all electrical and fuel items need to be swapped as well as the core plugs need to be changed to brass.

 

[Shadow91]

Its a 1992 Bayliner

here is the link to the for sale ad
https://offerup.com/item/detail/483719999/

 

[Scott Danforth]

a rotten bayliner with a broken motor..... not worth anything. even after you dump $5k into the boat to bring it back to life, its still a '92 bayliner. if it had sentimental value as in this was the boat your parents had, then it may be worth it. however my recommendation is to find a boat fro $5-8k and be boating tomorrow.

if you really want to swap motors, here is some reading on the 4.3

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/eng...history-of-the-4-3-liter-with-casting-numbers

and you should read link #14 in its entirety so you can restore the hull https://forums.iboats.com/forum/boa...r/295740-how-to-s-and-other-great-information

 

[H20Rat]

And i figure fuel would be easy to drain as i replace the flooring.

There isn't a bayliner that was ever made that needed 'just' the flooring... If it wasn't a problem before it was stored uncovered for a couple years, that certainly finished the deed. Very likely it wasn't stored nose-up, and I'd even be surprised if the plug was out. Years of moisture/rain/snow most likely sat in the hull and destroyed the stringers and transom. The last place to go soft is the floor.

 

[Shadow91]

Scott you never let me down. I just hate you always seem to tell me what i dont want to hear but what i need to hear. haha.

Im looking at a few seaswirl boats and bayliners. Found a few turn key boats with force engines and a few with OMC or mercruiser drives. Just trying to find the best bang for the buck.

I only have $3-4000k right now and am trying to see if i can buy a "mechanics special' or just go with a turn key ready boat - though hard with my little budget. Was hoping to be able to refloor and reengine and be in that $4000 range after its all said and done, but youre more then likely right with it needing more then just that.

And i guess ill keep looking.

 

[TurtleTamer]

'92 should be pretty cut and dried automotively for 4.3 motors, pretty much all of them being the older style heads. In '93, some S10s and Blazers started getting "Vortec" heads under regular valve covers as the production shifted to CPI for '94 Blazers. In '94 all heads *should have been "Vortec," even under TBI induction, but I think that was an odd year for that too. The TBI intakes of that time were relieved for the balance shaft and CPI was already designed for it. Those "Vortec" heads (referred to as that simply because of the word on the valve cover) work on earlier blocks and are believed to be some of the better-flowing heads. In 1996, "Actual Vortec" came about with OBDII and the spider injector. THESE are the heads that take some alteration to make work. They physically bolt on but I believe the bolt pattern is different for the intake as well as port placement. I'd have to check to be sure. It's a swap that's done on older S10s without too much trouble but I'm not sure I'd mess with it in a boat with the older marine intake.

It'd be tougher to find an older motor in the junk yard. Maybe the $1500 rebuilt one isn't too bad.

 

[Scott Danforth]

'92 should be pretty cut and dried automotively for 4.3 motors, pretty much all of them being the older style heads. In '93, some S10s and Blazers started getting "Vortec" heads under regular valve covers as the production shifted to CPI for '94 Blazers. In '94 all heads *should have been "Vortec," even under TBI induction, but I think that was an odd year for that too. The TBI intakes of that time were relieved for the balance shaft and CPI was already designed for it. Those "Vortec" heads (referred to as that simply because of the word on the valve cover) work on earlier blocks and are believed to be some of the better-flowing heads. In 1996, "Actual Vortec" came about with OBDII and the spider injector. THESE are the heads that take some alteration to make work. They physically bolt on but I believe the bolt pattern is different for the intake as well as port placement. I'd have to check to be sure. It's a swap that's done on older S10s without too much trouble but I'm not sure I'd mess with it in a boat with the older marine intake.

It'd be tougher to find an older motor in the junk yard. Maybe the $1500 rebuilt one isn't too bad.

vortec heads came out in 1996. prior to that only the valve covers had the name on it for a marketing gimic. the vortec heads are the LT1 chambers without the reverse water flow first available late 1995 for the 1996 model year.

the modification is the intake is different (8 bolts vertical vs 12 bolts at 78/90 degrees to the head). no modification needed for the head. please read the link I provided in post #6.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Scott you never let me down. I just hate you always seem to tell me what i dont want to hear but what i need to hear. haha.

Im looking at a few seaswirl boats and bayliners. Found a few turn key boats with force engines and a few with OMC or mercruiser drives. Just trying to find the best bang for the buck.

I only have $3-4000k right now and am trying to see if i can buy a "mechanics special' or just go with a turn key ready boat - though hard with my little budget. Was hoping to be able to refloor and reengine and be in that $4000 range after its all said and done, but youre more then likely right with it needing more then just that.

And i guess ill keep looking.

I bought my boat for $3500 in 2011. dumped $1500 into the transom replacement in 2012 (I was lucky as my transom was simply wet from water left in the bilge from prior owner). the motor work alone I did on 2012 which was vortec heads, cam, roller rockers, etc. came out to about $1500.

assume $3k on just the hull, $2k on the interior, then $1k on a junkyard motor with new gaskets and manifolds. if the drive needs work, assume spending another BOAT unit.... that is $5-6k just to get that boat back on the water.

as far as mechanics special, there have been a bunch of boats in the south that were stored in-doors however not winterized with busted blocks.

 

[TurtleTamer]

vortec heads came out in 1996. prior to that only the valve covers had the name on it for a marketing gimic. the vortec heads are the LT1 chambers without the reverse water flow first available late 1995 for the 1996 model year.

the modification is the intake is different (8 bolts vertical vs 12 bolts at 78/90 degrees to the head). no modification needed for the head. please read the link I provided in post #6.

Jeez. There is more info on GM 4.3s in that thread than I ever found searching numerous sites when I needed to do an engine swap in a '94 S10. Wish I'd have been into boats at that time and thought to look here.

As I'm sure you already know a lot of what is out there is nothing but "these are Vortec" and "those are the True Vortec" arguments. That being said I could have sworn there was a difference between pre-'94-95 and '94-95 CPI (and some '93, maybe) heads. Biggest giveaway being the humps for fuel injectors in the intake ports of the pre-OBDII "Vortec" (valve cover)/CPI heads.