1964 16'Motor swap??

[Don Carone]

I have a 1964 16'ski sporter (see in the registry under don carone) it could use a new motor, whats in there now is a tired 351 to a volvo 270 with trim. Im not shure what to do?? The marina has a 70s 351 merc 233 hp 2 bbl I know will fit but for 700 bucks just for the motor Im shure WE can do better. This is just a project boat so time doesnt matter What should I put in there? Where should I look?
Any thoughts???

[rockindaboat]

my local machine shops is one of my favorite places.i take my old,tired,weak and smoking motors and build something that new and strong and the only smoking will be of the competetion.good luck wink

[AVickers]

If you've already got trim on the outdrive (and it works), that's half the battle! (If this is a saltwater boat, that changes some of the stuff below... I assume that since you're in the midwest, it isn't.) I also assume you have a Volvo 270T on it?

The reason most people change out the Volvo is so they can have trim -- with the Merc -- NOT because their Volvo is broken. You might want to change out the lower with something that's a bit more hydro-dynamic -- like a 280 w/ a cone, but all-in-all, your in pretty good shape as far as the drive is concerned.

Rebuild the engine -- either @ home or have a good shop do it. You could hot rod it -- higher compression, ported or gasket-matched heads and manifold and definitiely a better cam than stock, but there are some limits to top end w/ the 16 anyway so going radical isn't very practical. At some point, these boats require trim tabs and a lot of courage to go really, really fast...

(If $700 for an engine gives you pause, you need to be able to reuse as much of this rig as possible.)

[Don Carone]

Thanks all. I did find a shop and am going to rebuild. will let you all know

[Don Carone]

Thanks all. I did find a shop and am going to rebuild. will let you all know