GenIII GM's in boats

[Oshkosh1]

Ok..I work at a machine/engine building shop part time. We see quite a number of vintage car owners swapping their SBC's for Gen III 5.3's and 6.0 engines. They're bulletproof, run forever and are obviously very light because they're all aluminum(block and heads). They're easy to convert from an EFI to a carb'd setup as well. I'm going to drop one into my MGB next year as a matter of fact. Already have the donor 5.3...just gotta build it.

Anyhoo...We also deal with a lot of marine engines. Usual stuff...cracked blocks from improper winterization, water intrusion etc...but the marina's we get them from always replace them with the same iron long blocks.

How difficult/possible would it be to drop one into a boat? I really don't see a down side...especially in fresh water.

Those things can take an incredible amount of abuse...and being the primary engines in probably a million trucks already...should have the right power curve to suit a marine application.

Any thoughts from you guys who are more "water wise" than I???

 

[Scott Danforth]

this comes up about once a year

they have been in boats since 2008 http://www.gmpowertrain.com/marine.html

however since there is no traditional dizzy, you would need to get one from Volvo Penta or Ilmore or Indmar or PMC, or Seven Marine who has a marine listed EFI setup.

you will need a heat exchanger, because even fresh water will play havoc with the block.