Rebuild Head - 470 3.7L

nwboater45

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
91
I have a 1989 Mercruiser 470 3.7l 165hp motor and I am going to have the head rebuilt. Main reason is it smokes bad on initial start up so I figure the seals must be going out. Plus I wanted to replace the head gasket anyways.

Does anyone live in the Seattle / Everett area that can recommend a good motor shop that does work on Mercruisers?
I am going to replace the seals and springs and also have it decked. I might have the seats redone but it just depends on how they look. The motor has about 550 hours (if the meter still works).
 

thumpar

Admiral
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
6,138
Re: Rebuild Head - 470 3.7L

The head is just a Ford 460 head. Any shop that does auto machine work can work on that head.
 

old islander

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jan 27, 2013
Messages
302
Re: Rebuild Head - 470 3.7L

If it's smoking that bad, compression test it too. You could have ring problems as well.
 

nwboater45

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
91
Re: Rebuild Head - 470 3.7L

Thanks guys:

@Thumper - that is what I thought but just wanted to see what others had to say.

@Islander - Yeah I checked compression last year and all was good.

@K-2 - I will not go back to Jays. They F'd up a race motor of mine. 'Yeah go out an jump on that bad boy' Jay said. So I did and three laps into practice...BOOM!...the bottom end blew out.

Unless others chime in I think I will head back to my regular shop.
 

Walt T

Lieutenant
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Mar 16, 2002
Messages
1,369
Re: Rebuild Head - 470 3.7L

Use whoever you trust. That yelp review is suspicious in my opinion. Looks to me like it was written by Jays.
 
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EddiePetty

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Aug 25, 2008
Messages
1,008
Re: Rebuild Head - 470 3.7L

.....just my two cents worth:

I would do a compression AND leak down test PRIOR to loosening the first bolt.

If the head is worn enough to allow oil past the seals/guides, then I expect the bottom half of the engine to be equally worn. Besides, if you re-work just the top half, the weakest link just got passed to the bottom half....rings first.
 

nwboater45

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
91
Re: Rebuild Head - 470 3.7L

Eddie, yes that is a concern of mine. I am still debating if I do the springs or not. I may just have the head dunked, decked, and the seals replaced. The leak down test sounds like a good idea.
 
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