470 heads

[JCF350]

I went to Mercruiser school when they were unveiling the 470. One the things we learned was that the cyl head was a Ford 460 head. Is this still true? I went to larger boats soon after and hadn't kept up with the "shake and bake".

THX

 

[Don S]

Re: 470 heads

Uhhh Yea, for what it's worth. They also found out it wasn't such a great idea and stopped building them.

 

[Bondo]

Re: 470 heads

Uhhh Yea, for what it's worth. They also found out it wasn't such a great idea and stopped building them.

Ayuh,.......

And it only took 4 years or so.............

 

[DJ]

Re: 470 heads

Yes, it is a Ford 460 head. Plus, the pistons are 460 Ford.

Nothing wrong with the head. The issue came with an aluminum block and a cast iron head. That's OK if you refresh the closed cooling system coolant-regularly. Nobody did.

Head issues are not there, it's the block that "moves" and causes head gasket issues.

 

[achris]

Re: 470 heads

Stop beating up on the 470.... They are nice engines... If looked after properly!

Yes, the head is from a Ford 460, as are pistons and rod. I've never seen it but I have been told by someone I have no reason to doubt that if you get the Ford 'Dove II' head you'll get about 250hp from that engine. They were a favourite of the speedway guys for a while in that configuration. Nothing came close for power to weight ratio.

Bond-o, they produced that engine from 1976 to 1989, it all it's various guises. It was dropped when the V6s took over that horsepower range.

Things to like about them : No fan belts, factory closed cooling, water pump integral with camshaft, light-weight ali block, lots of parts common with the 120/140/165 range, quite an economical engine too.

Things not to like : alternator in harmonic balance... that's about it and that was easy to fix.

Chris............

 

[DJ]

Re: 470 heads

Stop beating up on the 470.... They are nice engines... If looked after properly!

Yes, the head is from a Ford 460, as are pistons and rod. I've never seen it but I have been told by someone I have no reason to doubt that if you get the Ford 'Dove II' head you'll get about 250hp from that engine. They were a favourite of the speedway guys for a while in that configuration. Nothing came close for power to weight ratio.

Bond-o, they produced that engine from 1976 to 1989, it all it's various guises. It was dropped when the V6s took over that horsepower range.

Things to like about them : No fan belts, factory closed cooling, water pump integral with camshaft, light-weight ali block, lots of parts common with the 120/140/165 range, quite an economical engine too.

Things not to like : alternator in harmonic balance... that's about it and that was easy to fix.

Chris............

I agree with achris. It was good concept and serviceable if you actually serviced it. The original version had an awful alternator system that was trouble. However, there are kits to rectify that.

If serviced, coolant, they would live. Good performance (torquey) and nice fuel economy. A lot easier to work on, than a V-6, in the same hole.

 

[Don S]

Re: 470 heads

If it was so great, why did the stop producing it?

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: 470 heads

I always thought Mercruiser stopped production because it got expensive for them to build their own motors.

But I am still impressed by the motor.

As I remember the first problems were with the boats and if they had an Amp gauge as opposed to a Volt meter.Boat manufacturers do the boat wire harness,and just didn't use heavy enough wire to the dash.

There were problems with the intake manifold/exhaust setup up.Horror stories abound and Mercruiser took steps to work on it.But how often was the problem caused by overheating ?

I just think the public (new boat owner) was not deserving of this motor.

DHP

 

[JCF350]

Re: 470 heads

Thanks guys I was thinking about the feasibility of using the exhaust manifolds, since I would rather have "real" big block instead of a
OVER BORED OVER STROKED SMALL BLOCK WITH A TOOTHPICK FOR CRANKSHAFT AND TOO DAM MANY HEAD BOLTS type of engine.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 470 heads

yep gotta love open deck design,leaking cam seals,cracked exhaust manifolds and the rusty rotor magnets.
nope not much I miss about that abortion.

 

[JCF350]

Re: 470 heads

And to think that GM went to Mercury for their first aluminum block engines(corvette if remember right).
The 4.1 and 4.5 caddy motors were aluminum block and iron heads. The dash light would come on warning of overheat when it shoulda said "time for a new engine"

 

[JCF350]

Re: 470 heads

Looked at some today. Ain't no way they'll flow enough for 700+ cu inch motor. Looks like it's off to the drawing board then the machine shop (I've got access to one).

Thanks guy's