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Thread: Motor options

  1. #1
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    Motor options

    Ive been looking at powerplants for a while now and I always come back to the same question. I can buy a remanufactured Mercury marine 357 carborated 325 hp set up for my bravo 1. Basically a plug and play. Great motor but basically looks like every other stock motor when the hatch is open ( not that there is anything wrong with that) Cost is $5600 for everything I need except bellhousing
    Option 2 is buy a long block, 355 im thinking. Paint it to match the boat, Maybe run an EMi exhaust, and a little chrome here and there on the motor. Nice intake and carb. I know the boat wont get wet this year so I do have some time.
    This is my 1st Donzi and I want to do it right the 1st time.
    By the way, the boat is a 1966 18 2+3 ...
    Your help and imput is greatly appriciated.
    The sting of poor quailty far outlasts the Joy of a cheap price...

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    my choice would be a 383 stroker, avail. thru mercury or elsewhere. looks stock but lots more kick

  3. #3
    mrfixxall Guest

    Fixx

    6.2 here,,http://www.michiganmotorz.com/vortec...ent-p-945.html


    then dress it up as you like,add 250 for a core charge....

    Add

    RPM Air gap.750 edelbrock carp your emi's and the rest of the parts and go boating

    o i have a Bell housing..

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrfixxall View Post
    6.2 here,,http://www.michiganmotorz.com/vortec...ent-p-945.html


    then dress it up as you like,add 250 for a core charge....

    Add

    RPM Air gap.750 edelbrock carp your emi's and the rest of the parts and go boating

    o i have a Bell housing..
    Your the Man Fixx... I didnt want to go too radical on the motor( I know I say that now) But I will have my kids with me alot. Im thinking anywhere near 350hp will kick arse.
    What would you do?
    The sting of poor quailty far outlasts the Joy of a cheap price...

  5. #5
    mrfixxall Guest

    Fixx

    Quote Originally Posted by Buddyc View Post
    Your the Man Fixx... I didnt want to go too radical on the motor( I know I say that now) But I will have my kids with me alot. Im thinking anywhere near 350hp will kick arse.
    What would you do?

    If i had your money i would put a supercharged 6.2 ls engine in it making 557 hp

    just remember you control the throttle in your boat so having more power wouldn't put your children at risk.. I always try to get the most reliable hp out of everything i build,,the 6.2 i posted has a good starting point for your build,steel crank and probably froged pistons and rods,if you want to go faster later on you can always bolt on a supercharger.

  6. #6
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    my 2 choices would be:
    a) the merc 383 stroker scorp 400 hp.

    b) the new SB chevy based V8 from Ilmor 430hp might need to engineer the bravo connection. Not sure anyone but mastercraft can buy them though????

    Those would be about as far as I would go in that hull. I'm not a real big fan of the ride of the barrelback hull.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sweet little 16 View Post
    my 2 choices would be:
    a) the merc 383 stroker scorp 400 hp.

    b) the new SB chevy based V8 from Ilmor 430hp might need to engineer the bravo connection. Not sure anyone but mastercraft can buy them though????

    Those would be about as far as I would go in that hull. I'm not a real big fan of the ride of the barrelback hull.
    Why not on the Barrelback? I didnt honestly know the hulls were different on the barrelback and the 18 classic?
    I do know that Rootsy did an amazing job on the hull and stiffened it up...

    Hey Fixx,
    "If you had my money"...you heard all the kids screaming in the backround...lol Glad I " Fixxed" that problem..lol
    The sting of poor quailty far outlasts the Joy of a cheap price...

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    The barellback being one of two early donzi ( pre Z boat ) with a true 24 degree sharp keel and full length inner lifting strakes has a ride that is harsher than a rounded keel classic. It may very well cut through rough water a little better but it has a habit of falling off to one side and ponding on re-entry. The design was scrapped in the late 60's in favor of the round keel and shorter inner lifting strakes.



    Not sure on your boating expierence but I know two things will be true. It will take alot of seat time to get used to the boats handling at speed in different water conditions. The second is the boat is going to scare you just when you think you have it mastered you're going to have a " WOW IT NEVER DID THAT BEFORE" moment. It may be the lean over and ride on the rail or launch off a wave straight and land on it side or the azz end trying to pass the nose.


    This is true of any classic or deep v go-fast. On this site you'll hear it as they are driver's boats and you need to master them to really take the boat to higher speeds. All of this is true and all in all the barrellback is strong , good riding boat . From what I have seen of that restoration it is a very strong boat much stronger than it left the factory.


    Sorry don't mean to scare you, just trying to give you valid info. Do a search on the barrelback pretty sure there was some threads about the hull and the handling. You should especially look for threads from a member named CDMA. He restored a barrelback with good SB chevy power and a bravo.
    Hope that helps

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    Thanks, Great info! 2 boats ago was a go fast then I made the move to a 34 Sundancer... Great boat and the family loves it, Its boring as hell to drive. I really missed going fast... So here we are. Been boating for about 20 years and I expect the Barrelback to be a whole new ballgame!
    The sting of poor quailty far outlasts the Joy of a cheap price...

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    Don't worry the barrelback is definetly a new ball game from the sundancer

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sweet little 16 View Post
    Don't worry the barrelback is definetly a new ball game from the sundancer
    At least it wont burn 25gph...We usually spend weekends on the hook, This will be something for me and my boys to go have some fun with!
    The sting of poor quailty far outlasts the Joy of a cheap price...

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    Buddyc, if you're going to drag a sbc around anyway, it's just as easy to have 400, 406 or even 415 ci's. You can make hp by twisting it harder instead of faster. A lot of the parts inside the motor like that better anyway. Good luck with your project.
    Maddy's Daddy
    L.I.,N.Y.

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    Quote Originally Posted by maddad View Post
    Buddyc, if you're going to drag a sbc around anyway, it's just as easy to have 400, 406 or even 415 ci's. You can make hp by twisting it harder instead of faster. A lot of the parts inside the motor like that better anyway. Good luck with your project.
    Budget is a concern of course. I found a great deal on a 383 for under 4k new with 1 year warranty. At the end of the day I want to have a reliable boat and not be wrenchin every weekend
    The sting of poor quailty far outlasts the Joy of a cheap price...

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    Carry the weight carry the cubes. 400 plus cubes a set of good heads and exhaust, put some prop to take advantage of the gobs of torque. Best of luck!

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    Decent cubes with modest HP is the way to go for reliability, When I built my 383 I went way overboard on the internal using a full Lunati Pro mod kit over 5K in the engine stuffed in an 010 block with Dart IE heads I put a mild Lunati roller cam and got a modest HP engine with very nice tractability. Sure I could have gotten 75mph like some others but 65 is just fine plus 4 MPG, the engine runs through a Bravo Diesel X notice I do not like things that break. A few have said why spend that much not to go as fast as it could have, to me a dumb question my goal was a near indestructible engine and boat both of which are very over built for what I ask them to do.
    No matter what your beliefs are "GOD BLESS AMERICA"

    Fully retired marine tech near 60 years in the biz.

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