Merc motor?

[ITTLFLI]

Okay..heres the deal. I am looing at this v-drive inboard. The guy said the motor has been replaced with a merc motor. In the listing it said it was a 396. I know it's not a 396. I asked him to verify based on markings on the engine.

He came back and said its a 5.7 based on a decal on the boat. It probably did orginally have a 5.7. He proceeded to say the mechanic told him the crate the engine in said 383.

Its at an auction place so trying to get acurate 411 will be nearly impossible.

Here is a pic of the engine. Remember its v-drive so it's backwards and I would bet the plastic cowl is also removed. Can anybody ID this merc as a 350 mag or a 383(they may look the same...i'm not sure)?

Thanks!

[BERTRAM BOY]

Very interesting distributor cap.

[BigGrizzly]

I will go out on a limb here, distributor cap is an after market cap that keeps the plug wires on there respective side they were mads for low hatch and hood applications, there was a marine version to this as there is also the spider type cap. I think the mechanic is confused because a take out engine would not have a crate so I believe it is a 350.