Mercruiser help.

[Fishr23]

Ok I got a 1976 19ft Reinell boat. The motor is a GM and it looks like a chevy straight 6 probably a chevy 250? The block is froze and I am gonna have to throw a new engine in it.


I have the complete motor minis the intake and the carb. My question is can I get a chevy 250 straight 6 from a car and put it in the boat?

Also curious to know if this is a mercruiser 165 there is mercuiser stickers all over the boat.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mercruiser help.

Ayuh,... It sounds like a Merc. 165hp, 6 cylinder...
It's a Chevy 250, but many automotive blocks Lack the mounting Ear for a boat,...
Although some Truck motors have it,... Ya gotta Look for it...

 

[P 0 P E Y E]

Re: Mercruiser help.

There used to be a kit to modify the mount. an aftermarket kit but we are talking 30 years ago

Can you tell why the engine is locked up? I have brought frozen motors back to life by soaking the cylinders with a mix of CRC and Marvel oil. Get it to move a little and soak it more. Work it back and forth with a bar on the fly wheel. It has been done.

If you are lucky you may have an engine that has locked up under natural causes and not a sink and sit, manifold flood or lack of oil.

Also, take a real good look to see WHAT is locked up, could be the drive.
Make sure it is not the starter, pull the starter and put a bar on the ring gear and carefully apply pressure.

You will most likely have to get a different engine but you should be sure before you do.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Mercruiser help.

for the blocks that don't have the mounting ear. i know at least one person on the board that welded an engineered mounting tab on and got away with it.

also, if you do end up replacing the engine, your car engine will work. but i believe the cam will need replacement. the auto cam is wrong for a boat, the truck cam will work as is and the way i get it is very close to the marine cam.

 

[Deebsey]

Re: Mercruiser help.

I had the same problem with a boat I just got a rookie winterized it and the block cracked. Found a Chevy truck motor from a gear head had the tab on both sides. Now its in and I can not get spark but it went right in.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Mercruiser help.

When I had my previous boat (1966 Mark Twain, 150hp Merc: 230cu-in I6) I went looking at a local pickup/truck wrecking yard for an engine. They had around 15 250/292 engines sitting on the pallet racks and most or all the 250's had the "ears".

You should have no problems finding a truck engine that will work. Just make sure that you transfer all the Marine "stuff" (starter, alt, dist, manifold, carb etc...... ) to the "new" engine.


For "Deebsey" above (Welcome Aboard btw!!..... please CLICK HERE , if that was a question, you'll get far better (more) answers by starting your own thread instead of tagging on to someone else's thread in the middle.


Cheers,



Rick

 

[Fishr23]

Re: Mercruiser help.

well the guy I bought it fromt replaced the head a few years back but got sick and never had the time to finish the boat. so I assuming it was not stuck when he redid the head. I took a flash light and looked in the spark plug holes and I can see white flaky stuff in there. So I am gonna pull the head today take a look and if its stuck i am going to soak it then. Also what "ear" am I looking for?

Thanks

I'll keep you guys posted.


P.S I am having trouble with bolts. and alot of things looked rusted and I am gonna take a guess and say he had the boat in saltwater a few times before.

Thanks again.

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Mercruiser help.

There used to be a kit to modify the mount. an aftermarket kit but we are talking 30 years ago

Can you tell why the engine is locked up? I have brought frozen motors back to life by soaking the cylinders with a mix of CRC and Marvel oil. Get it to move a little and soak it more. Work it back and forth with a bar on the fly wheel. It has been done.

If you are lucky you may have an engine that has locked up under natural causes and not a sink and sit, manifold flood or lack of oil.

Also, take a real good look to see WHAT is locked up, could be the drive.
Make sure it is not the starter, pull the starter and put a bar on the ring gear and carefully apply pressure.

You will most likely have to get a different engine but you should be sure before you do.

Are you talking about the spray for galvanized metal? I'm just curious.

Here is a link where one member made his own "ear":
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=314908

 

[Fishr23]

Re: Mercruiser help.

Well just a update. As I expected bolts are being a pain. I got the head off which the guy was honest brand new head. 4 of the pistons/cylinders looked good the rest had some orangish/rust in them but wasnt to bad.

But what had me worried the most was all the oil passages/other holes had nothing but chunks of rust in there. water pump was full of rust flakes I just think its too corroded so I am thinking a new block and start there.


I called a local marine salvage and there is a block there for $250 with a core. If I go that route it puts me at a total of

$550 so far on this project.


Items I still need are most of all the relays(old ones were corroded bad) and a starter and probably a water pump I belive the distrb is still good.

 

[P 0 P E Y E]

Re: Mercruiser help.

You might have not needed to pull the head. Completely filling the combustion chambers with penetrating oil (CRC) and marel mystery oil and letting it sit for a few days would have freed it up.

Before replacing the block, see if you can free it up.

Rust flakes in the cooling passages of the block are no big thing.

 

[Fishr23]

Re: Mercruiser help.

You might have not needed to pull the head. Completely filling the combustion chambers with penetrating oil (CRC) and marel mystery oil and letting it sit for a few days would have freed it up.

Before replacing the block, see if you can free it up.

Rust flakes in the cooling passages of the block are no big thing.

Yea I know... but there is a few floor pieces I need to get to and I already removed the head The starter relay broke from just moving a wire connected to it. So i'll pull the block out and check it out if I can clean/free it up then I will go that route. The rust in the passages are just that flaky rust chips I am sure u know what I am talking about. If that isnt a big deal then I'll be alot better off hehe.

Also how many bolts hold the motor the outdrive? I already removed engine mount in the front just need to free it in the back.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mercruiser help.

Also how many bolts hold the motor the outdrive? I already removed engine mount in the front just need to free it in the back.

Ayuh,... Only the 2 Big 1s,... After you pull the Outdrive......

 

[Fishr23]

Re: Mercruiser help.

Ayuh,... Only the 2 Big 1s,... After you pull the Outdrive......

I pulled the motor mount in the front off and then 2 big bolts in the back and pulled the motor foward off a shaft and raised it up. easy.

by the way the motor once i got it out and took a look at it.. Its garbage in parts of the block there is holes from the rust.

So what things will I need off this block. Flywheel? I pulled a piece off the flywheel where the gear goes in I saved that. Starter is junk, Saved the head and the distb.

 

[dubs283]

Re: Mercruiser help.

pulled the motor foward off a shaft and raised it up.

sounds like you didn't remove the drive before removing the motor?

definitly want to do this and perform the drive service

if the boat was in salt, there propbably isn't much left to salvage from the engine electrical system.

you want to strip down the motor to the long block, try to salvage as much as possible

again, with the boat being in saltwater, from my experience, there isn't much that can be saved

 

[Fishr23]

Re: Mercruiser help.

sounds like you didn't remove the drive before removing the motor?

definitly want to do this and perform the drive service

if the boat was in salt, there propbably isn't much left to salvage from the engine electrical system.

you want to strip down the motor to the long block, try to salvage as much as possible

again, with the boat being in saltwater, from my experience, there isn't much that can be saved

Nah the outdrive is still there I removed the motor from the bracket at the back which had 2 bolts and there was spine in the middle. Then once I got the motor out I pulled the housing off the flywheel and the center thing that the gear goes into is now off the motor.

So I guess the outdrive is still attached to the boat. I'll remove that another day. This is my first inboard/outboard boat so I am stilling learn all the names for things.

As far as the outdrive can I just take it off put it in my truck and have a shop service it or is it some thing I can do at home with the right gaskets etc?


P.S will a short block 250 work in there?

 

[Fishr23]

Re: Mercruiser help.

Also curious what else would bolt in other then a chevy 250/straight 6. Is there other motors i could put in with out a crap load of modifications.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Mercruiser help.

easiest is replacing with what ya got. what ya got is a desirable engine for a boat. albeit not modifiable. no upgrades for more hp. desirable non the less.
might as well pull yer drive now. ya gotta pull it anyways to put a new engine back in it. ya will need to align the gimble brg. with the engine coupler. this is done with the drive removed. it's the only way to do that. ya should proably get a service manual too. you must not have one as i'm sure for engine removal.one of the first steps is to remove the drive....

ya can do either or with repair of your drive as far as repair goes. be forewarned though. ya do much more than R&R the water pump and you'll likely start talking about special mercruiser tools that are real expensive. and ya really gotta do it by the book as there are very specific methods for working on a drive...

 

[Fishr23]

Re: Mercruiser help.

easiest is replacing with what ya got. what ya got is a desirable engine for a boat. albeit not modifiable. no upgrades for more hp. desirable non the less.
might as well pull yer drive now. ya gotta pull it anyways to put a new engine back in it. ya will need to align the gimble brg. with the engine coupler. this is done with the drive removed. it's the only way to do that. ya should proably get a service manual too. you must not have one as i'm sure for engine removal.one of the first steps is to remove the drive....

ya can do either or with repair of your drive as far as repair goes. be forewarned though. ya do much more than R&R the water pump and you'll likely start talking about special mercruiser tools that are real expensive. and ya really gotta do it by the book as there are very specific methods for working on a drive...

I have a "pocket" service guide that the previous owner gave me but I didnt see any thing about removing the engine in it so i'll look into getting the book for it. Ive done car motors before but never a boat motor so it is kinda of new. I got nothing but time on this project so i'll just probably take the drive in to be gone over.

the local junk yard has several trucks with chevy 250's in them so I am gonnna go on a hunt for one in the next few days. I just wanna make sure I get the right motor with that ear piece every one is telling me about.

Thanks again for the info.