1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Have you seen any cracks in the block? Or cracks in the head? And the manifold, cracked or real rusty? The two stuck valves could account for the water in the oil and stuck motor. After the crank is out you should be able to knock out the one or two stuck pistons. And the crank looks salvageable with a polish or worse case, grind .010 or .020 under size.

 

[barato2]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

agree with GA....i'd have the machine shop run a maganaflux test for crackage. attention to winterizing is notoriously poor with owners of already-seized motors..... but other than that, i like the "rebuild it" route for this one unless your outdrive also has issues. a fresh Chevy six has how many hours life expectancy, thousands more than you're likely to ever run the boat?

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Cj, I like your considering doing a rebuild on the engine. As a golf/commercial turf equipment mechanic I always consider rebuild as my primary objective vs trying to scavenge another motor that may also need work. A properly rebuilt motor is damn near as good as a new engine and much more cost effective. Btw, a trick I use to free a stuck piston is to pour some ATF in the cylinder and let soak for a day as it will creep down between piston and rings. Breaker bar on the crank and slowly rock it after a few hours can sometimes be all it needs to free it up. Good luck and continuing to watch for updates.

 

[cj8mule]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Thanks for all the advice. I used my spare time today looking for a machine shop. I found a pretty good one, but I'm still between $1400 and $1600 for machine work and engine kit. (Without crank turning; with crank polishing) That's still a lot of money with me doing all the assembly. A reman is around $1695 + shipping, but I would rather rebuild what I've got than to get someone else's.

I've got a road trip scheduled for the morning to pick up a 18' Starcraft American. It is supposed to have a good engine in it, but we will see after the compression test is done. He says there's a problem with the lower unit, but the boat has enough booty to be worth $350

Here's the CL add:
1977 18ft Starcrest In-Board Boat

Have a great weekend! I'll report back Sunday

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Too bad the American is only 65 HP and it has a stainless steel trailer. But you should find a few things out of her to offset the price. Have a safe and fruitful trip down south and back, CJ.

 

[xjdriver]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Is he gona let you do a comp test before you buy it? If it checks out it would be great deal. Hmm think your chieftain will be a little slow with only 65hp,

 

[cj8mule]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Too bad the American is only 65 HP and it has a stainless steel trailer. But you should find a few things out of her to offset the price. Have a safe and fruitful trip down south and back, CJ.

Is he gona let you do a comp test before you buy it? If it checks out it would be great deal. Hmm think your chieftain will be a little slow with only 65hp,

That's too funny about him listing as a 65 HP. If you look close on the valve cover, that's what is written. Heck, I was thinking about putting a 65 HP kicker on it

I asked him if I could do a compression test. I'm dreaming for some good comp numbers.... hopefully in the 140's :joyous:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

1977 18ft Starcrest In-Board Boaty

It's been on CL forever. So $350 may even be a tad higher then what they'd actually take

Safe travels..

 

[xjdriver]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

That's too funny about him listing as a 65 HP. If you look close on the valve cover, that's what is written. Heck, I was thinking about putting a 65 HP kicker on it

I asked him if I could do a compression test. I'm dreaming for some good comp numbers.... hopefully in the 140's :joyous:

I think its supposed to say 165, somehow the 1 disappeared, lol

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Good luck, hope it turns out to be a good one. I like the Stainless Steel trailer he lists as well. It actually looks like a pretty good EZLoad galvanized.

 

[elkhunter338]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

I am not really into Chevy motors but it is the 165hp boat engine the same as the 292 they put in trucks.
If so look for a donor chevy pickup with a good 292 block.
Since you are looking for donor boat, will a v-6 chevy work? Hp wise a 190hp v-6 would be sweet.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

I've got a road trip scheduled for the morning to pick up a 18' Starcraft American. It is supposed to have a good engine in it, but we will see after the compression test is done. He says there's a problem with the lower unit, but the boat has enough booty to be worth $350

Here's the CL add:
1977 18ft Starcrest In-Board Boat

Have a great weekend! I'll report back Sunday

And?

Hope it went GREAT & you are back & are too busy happily removing the motor to post up info..,...

 

[ShowMeGuy]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

I'm trying to make way on my ol 73 chief.. It's about in the same spot as yours. I finally havea 165 that doesn't have a crack in the block.... Going to start making headway hopefully soon on the transom hole and bolting up the inner and outer transome pieces for the Mercruiser in the next month or so hopefully..
Keep the pics coming man!!!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Bueller....Bueller....I mean cj.............cj........... Back home?

 

[cj8mule]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Good luck, hope it turns out to be a good one. I like the Stainless Steel trailer he lists as well. It actually looks like a pretty good EZLoad galvanized.

Good news Glen: It turned out to be a very nice galvanized trailer. It only needs a new winch strap, jack, and a wheel stud.

I am not really into Chevy motors but it is the 165hp boat engine the same as the 292 they put in trucks.
If so look for a donor chevy pickup with a good 292 block.
Since you are looking for donor boat, will a v-6 chevy work? Hp wise a 190hp v-6 would be sweet.

Hey elkhunter: It actually is the same block. I was also looking for a v6 and a 140hp like you have.

And?

Hope it went GREAT & you are back & are too busy happily removing the motor to post up info..,...

You hit the nail on the head.

I'm trying to make way on my ol 73 chief.. It's about in the same spot as yours. I finally havea 165 that doesn't have a crack in the block.... Going to start making headway hopefully soon on the transom hole and bolting up the inner and outer transome pieces for the Mercruiser in the next month or so hopefully..
Keep the pics coming man!!!

Thanks for stopping by ShowMeGuy. I have been following your chief thread. Glad to see you're back on the old girl.

Bueller....Bueller....I mean cj.............cj........... Back home?

lol... Are that old GA? These young whipper snappers aren't going to have a clue what you're talkin bout.

 

[cj8mule]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

double post

 

[cj8mule]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

I made it back OK... safe and sound without any issues except a faulty ground on the trailer lights.

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I wasn't able to do a compression check because of an adaptor for the gauge and a bad front motor mount. Napa was able to sell me the adaptor I needed:

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HERE'S THE SAD NEWS: the motor won't turn over... but more on that later. I didn't waste alot of time getting the frozen out drive off. I did spend about 4 hours to do a 10 minute job because the American's front motor mount is rotten and let the engine drop and fall to the side. Who would've thought it! The engine must be somewhat aligned to put the out drive on and off

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The engine is out of the American and in the garage. Thankfully, I was able to beat the rain coming the next couple of days. More pictures tomorrow...

 

[InMotion]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Glad you made it back safe and sound CJ.... sounds like it is going to be an interesting journey with this one... hmmm hopefully you will be able to get what you want from it!!

J.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

I'm older than that, CJ. LOL

Did you get a good motor? And some good booty with it?

EDIT - I see you posted while I was posting. Wow - it looks like the guts are falling out of the lower unit.

Sure hope the lower is frozen and that's why the motor won't turn over.

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

Glad the trip went well, as GA said the L/U doesn't look so good but a nice looking trailer.