350 260 hp boat motor

[Ga_Mike]

Hey guys I have a older 88 model boat that has a 260 hp 350...Do you think it will work?...Its still in the boat.

Thanks
Mike

 

[donsrods]

I KNOW it will work.........I'm running a boat 350 in my T. Mine is a little later, a '99 engine, but I left the marine roller cam and all just as it came from the factory. The cam in these (including yours) ends up pretty close to an RV grind, with lots of bottom end torque......just about right on the street.

As long as your engine came from a single engine boat, or is the one that rotates in the normal rotation, you will be fine. The major differences between a car 350 and a boat 350 are the cam profile, brass freeze plugs, copper head gaskets, marine carb, fuel pump, alternator, and starter. These have to be explosion proof by Coast Guard regulations. I simply pulled those parts, rebuilt mine, and used the same parts designed for car use, and that was it. Some people say the marine engines have heavy duty parts like connecting rods and pistons, but we have never found any difference, and I am in the marine business. The parts all have GM part numbers stamped all over them, same as the car versions, and regular rebuild parts like rings and bearings fit perfectly.

Oh yeah, the exhaust manifolds are also water cooled on a boat motor. On my one boat I used a truck Vortec 4.3 and it was fine in that application as well.

Don

 

[Ga_Mike]

I KNOW it will work.........I'm running a boat 350 in my T. Mine is a little later, a '99 engine, but I left the marine roller cam and all just as it came from the factory. The cam in these (including yours) ends up pretty close to an RV grind, with lots of bottom end torque......just about right on the street.

As long as your engine came from a single engine boat, or is the one that rotates in the normal rotation, you will be fine. The major differences between a car 350 and a boat 350 are the cam profile, brass freeze plugs, copper head gaskets, marine carb, fuel pump, alternator, and starter. These have to be explosion proof by Coast Guard regulations. I simply pulled those parts, rebuilt mine, and used the same parts designed for car use, and that was it. Some people say the marine engines have heavy duty parts like connecting rods and pistons, but we have never found any difference, and I am in the marine business. The parts all have GM part numbers stamped all over them, same as the car versions, and regular rebuild parts like rings and bearings fit perfectly.

Oh yeah, the exhaust manifolds are also water cooled on a boat motor. On my one boat I used a truck Vortec 4.3 and it was fine in that application as well.

Don

Thanks for the info. The boat does have 2 motors. The boat is a 88 wellcraft. I also have the outdrives if you know someone needing them. The boat was involved in a accident. the running gear is in good shape. Anything else i need to know.

Thanks
Mike

 

[donsrods]

If it is an I/O boat, it may or may not have one engine running backwards. Sometimes the boat manufacturers just run two regular engines and run one outdrive in reverse. You can tell this easy enough by cranking or starting the motors and seeing which way they spin.

Aside from that, there is no magic to these engines as far as converting them to car use.

Don

 

[Keith Bowman]

All GM parts, head gaskets also?
thanks, Keith