I need your opinion !

[Sam]

I am getting ready to paint my engine with the new upgrades IE aluminum heads intake ect. My question is, do I or don't I paint the heads and intake. I have heard that if you don't the aluminum will turn a chalkish white. On the other hand If I do paint them would I lose any mesureable ability of the aluminum to disperse heat. If am making a big deal over nothing tell me, I just want to do it right. I have asked Edelbrock but have yet to recieve an answer.

THX
Sam

[Rootsy]

Sam,

I;ve had an aluminum intake on my motor for almost a year now... looks the same as the day i put it on... doesn't get wet in there unless i'm playing with the carburator in which case it is gasoline... which will turn em a nasty shade of yellow and peel the paint... saltwater i reckon would be an entirely different situation... for which i have noooo experience

YOu have a 350 in your 16? what did you end up doing to it? and how difficult was it to get out of the hatch? I'll be interested in your performance come spring!

[jwright]

Hi Sam,

I do not think on a trailer boat in fresh water you will have much problem either. My intake is probably 10 years old and does not look to bad. Maybe you could just apply Boesheild or other anti corrosion spray to keep it pristine. My Toyota Tundra also had aluminum intake and it is not painted (unless it is clear coat..)
I am not sure, but I would not think that paint would have to much effect on heat. Anyways, I personally like the aluminum look.

Good Luck!

[Jamesbon]

Sam,
All I boat in is saltwater and almost anything aluminum, in my opinion, needs paint. I suppose if you mainly boat in freshwater, you'd be okay w/o it.

If you store your rig outdoors it also takes a toll on the aluminum parts.

I cringed when I shot zinc phosphate primer on a brand new, shiny, expensive Merlin BBC intake, but it had to be done.

Hope that helps...

[Sam]

Thanks for the feed back if anyone else has an opinion I would like to hear it.
James, as far as the up grade project this is how I did it. When I started my talks with my builder back in Nov 01, I had a some basic criteria. I wanted a reliable package that would deliver 300 plus HP within a given price range. Based on the package numbers we feel pretty confident that we are in the neighborhood of 330HP. The package starts with a mild Crane hydraulic cam,#60909 Edelbrock aluminum Performer Heads (64cc),Harland Sharp roller rockers,#2701 Edelbrock aluminum Performer Plus intake, a 600 cfm Edelbrock marine carb topped off with a K&N flame arestor. The builder took care of pulling the motor and will reinstall it the week of 2-18. The only thing I did was put a fresh coat of epoxy in the engine compartment. So as soon as I can find some open water I will begin prop testing.I want to keep it in the 5000 to 5200 RPM range. I plan to start with a 21" Stiletto and then move on to a 21"Mirage Plus and just for fun a 23" Mirage Plus. Once I zero in on the best over all prop I may send it out for a lab job but that's stil TBD. So that's my story.

Sam

[Rootsy]

Sam,

my 16 has the stock 350 2V converted to a 4V holley with edelbrock performer and 1.6 ratio roller rockers and i pull 4500 rpm with a 21 mirage.. you may want to go to a 23... if i do anything this spring i have it narrowed down to cranes 104224 camshaft and maybe some ignition work... the performer and holley with the K&N on top are CLOSE to the hatch... the rpm is a bit higher yet... good luck! hope it runs well!

[Sam]

I'm a bit nervous about the clearence height to the hatch but I think I'll be ok. As for my builder he owns a certified Mercruiser repair shop as well as being a performance boater himself. He builds 25 plus engines per year besides his other work so I feel pretty confident that it will all work out.( Are you going to AOTH )

Sam

[Rootsy]

With my limited vacation time i havn't planned on going to AOTH... so much stuff to do all year and just not enough time!!! i'd like to go though, so we'll see if i get a whim and take a drive for a couple of days... i've been known to do insane things like that... when does the michigan group plan on leaving? actually who all is planning to go?

hope the RPM works! should be a wild ride eh... are you still running the merc thru hulls?

[Sam]

Well I think the following people are planing on going.Ranman, Tony Sporer,Jim Wright and me.I know there were 2-3 others that were trying to put some plans together as well. As for the thru hull exhaust I still have them. I'm going to wait to make any changes to the exhaust system for a while. I,m not convinced I would get much of a bang for my buck there. I think you get more for your money playing with the prop.

Sam

[RickR]

Sam
I polished the aluminum valve covers on the 18 and they did require some maintinence to keep them shiny. I sandblasted the intake and it held up well.
That's mostly fresh water.When I boated is salt water I always sprayed engine and electronics with "Corrosion X". After a peroid of time the Corrosion X will leave a slight waxy residue that is easily wiped off.
If you want maintinence free intake you can always powdercoat it.
BTW:If you have a exhaust crossover your intake will get very hot in that area.

[Rootsy]

One of the brain farts i had when i put the motor back together last year was not installing intake gaskets with the exhaust crossover blocked off... using the correct gaskets will help keep heat out of the intake... i have an electric choke so there is no need for it.

another trick i have yet to try on the sbc is a rear water crossover on the intake. This helps to stabalize the rear cylinders because there is less water flow around them due to a lack of a water crossover in the rear of the intake manifold. you'll end up with more even cylinder temperature and will help minimize rich/lean conditions between cylinders as you go from front to rear of motor.

[turbo2256]

Connecting a water cross over at the rear dosnt do all that much. Chevy motors are famous for flowing more water on one side than the other a solution to this is to purchase a Stuart water pump for the circulation pump. What you want to do at the rear is plumb lines from the rear to the gooseneck at the front to stop steam pockets from forming. Also for aluninum heads painting the front and rear cylinders of the heads and leaving the centers unpainted keeps all the cylinders at a more even temp since the front and rear run cooler.

[Blewbyu]

Don't paint.I have the 5.7 HO ZZZ1 crate motor with the edelbrock performer and aluminum heads.This stuff went in in 1990-and still is as bright as new.I clean the engine with "Steam"each fall before layup.No salt for this boat though.Once you start messin' with salt, you do need an anti corrosive.Paint will just peel.Some engine storage oils have an amber colored wax in them.OK to use-just "Steam" the engine in the spring.