Thread: what to do with my 350 mercruiser...

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Thanks. I think I'll get it running on the boat cam and see what it sounds and runs like. If it is too tame, I can always switch it out later.

Appreciate the help.

BTW, hope I didn't hijack this thread. Really didn't want to do that.


Don

its straight, im sure there are a few people who need some info on those boat engines. the grind on the boat cam is kinda truck-ish, very flat curve throughout right from the start from the info i got through mercruiser. not peaky and very evened out power. seems to have nice pull, very tough. and it wasnt afraid to rev from what i remember....anyway, i decided to put the 350 on the shelf until i can do a proper rebuild on it bc its just to good to let go or thrash it until it dies (i dont run across too many affordable 350s here), that just might be the engineer in me talking. so, im gonna hook up the 307 (just to be the oddball guy here) with the 350's intake/carb combo (I have a crazy as hell buddy who wants me to put that 307 crank in the 350 to make a revving 327, told him i would do it if he funded it...he shut up right there, darn)
(the combo should fit from what i measured) and i need rework the carb to maximize the 307's flow. anyway...as we all know, the silver lining is most of the parts (and by parts i mean external accessories and maybe those roller tips and headers i bought for the 307) i put into that 307 i can reuse on the mild 350 that is gonna come to life in the future. i really just weighed both my candidates and went for the best one based on my needs...no hard feelings for the "hi-jack" Itoldyouso

What you say about the availability of engines in the South is true. We moved to Winston-Salem NC for a year, and the first thing I noticed it that there were very few used engines to be found, especially at a good price.

After awhile I figured out one possible reason. Your cars don't rust out, like I was used to in the North, so you tend to keep them on the road a lot longer. Up North the bodies and frames would fall apart but the engines were still in good shape, so we had lots of cheaper engines to pick from. When I lived in Pennsylvania I owned a lot of cars that wouldn't pass inspection due to rusted out frames, but the engines ran like a clock.

Regarding the truck-ish grind of the marine engine, I think that is correct also. A few years ago I rebuilt an S 10 4.3 to put in my one boat, and left the truck cam in it. The profile worked out perfect, and the boat tops out right at 4600, where it was supposed to.


Don