1987 Power Play XLT-185 - floors, stringers, and upholstery

Scott Danforth

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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todhunter said:
Thanks Scott. I do want to eventually build a stroker for the boat, but I just want it back on the water ASAP right now. I may pull a junkyard Vortec engine and do a 383 build in the winter. I haven't dove in too much on what's available. What brand do you recommend - Scat? Eagle? Any particular part number / compression?
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SCAT, and a call to competition products to put together the crank/rods/bearings/pistons. no need to go over 9.5:1

2 years ago, you could buy a new GM block, new GM heads, and a complete rotating assembly and Cam kit for under $3500. today, you may have to shell out an extra few
 
chevymaher

chevymaher

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I prefer carbs but I would never down for doing a FI it is what you want. That is what makes hot rodding and boating great. It is what you want. No one elses opinions matter.

Anyway I am with Scott stroke one get your sensors and wiring right so it don't happen again you will love it.

If you remember it took me a few engines to get one to make it a while to. I know the feeling.
 
zool

zool

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Thats a bummer Tod, I learned a long time ago not to fix something that isnt broken at the start of the season. Its a toy and we break toys by default ;)

Given youre timeline, wouldnt it be better to just pull the head on the bad side 1st, and see how deep your problem is, then to pull the drive/engine and then check?

I blew a pug off my 318 dodge van a few months ago on the highway. The plug by the firewall was old and didnt jack the engine to change it out of laziness. After removing the remnants, there was a clatter for a few seconds when I restarted, but all was fine. not that your situation is the same, but I didnt over react until needed.

Im sure you will figure it all out, but the 4th will probably be a goner if you have a cylinder problem. :(
 
buxmj

buxmj

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So sorry Tod. Hope it ends up being on the easy end. I hate when I have those moments of wanting to be able to kick my own...
Good luck!
 
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todhunter

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Pulled the engine out today and pulled the heads off. Had the drive off and engine out in about 4-5 hours working 100% alone. I tuliped #7 intake valve. All the rest seem ok, buy I'll leave that to the pros to decide. I dropped the heads off at the machine shop - if it's just the one bad valve they will clean, surface, and replace the bad valve and I should have them back by Friday. Looked over the block and it looks good enough to not pull the bottom end apart. No torched pistons, no fire slots, no scored walls.

I'm going to put the Quadrajet back on for the rest of the season and try to figure out the Holley Sniper in the fall or winter.

Any recommendations on head gaskets? The ones I pulled out are sheet metal (MLS), but the FelPro marine ones look like they are graphite.

Empty bilge (which I'll clean while I'm here):
20220614_104513.jpg


Engine yanked:
20220614_111120.jpg


Tuliped #7 intake valve (furthest from camera):
20220614_124725.jpg


#7 intake valve on the right. Retainer sits higher because of tuliped valve.
20220614_130755.jpg
 
Scott Danforth

Scott Danforth

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felpro pro MLS

you are lucky to only loose the one valve.

go buy a lottery ticket. if it was me, there would be bits of cylinder #2 in cylinder #7
 
T

todhunter

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Scott Danforth said:
felpro pro MLS

you are lucky to only loose the one valve.

go buy a lottery ticket. if it was me, there would be bits of cylinder #2 in cylinder #7
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Thanks. I definitely feel like I got away lucky here. We're out of town Saturday, but I plan to get it most of the way, if not all of the way together on Sunday if heads are done and all the gaskets and stuff I need are delivered in time.
 
nola mike

nola mike

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Wow, had missed this thread. Sucks-->could have been worse. I wonder if it was an issue with the touch screen failure, or a failure of the unit in general. Maybe none of the AFR data (and assuming it gets rpm data somehow as well) was making it to the PCM...
 
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todhunter

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nola mike said:
Wow, had missed this thread. Sucks-->could have been worse. I wonder if it was an issue with the touch screen failure, or a failure of the unit in general. Maybe none of the AFR data (and assuming it gets rpm data somehow as well) was making it to the PCM...
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Mike, yeah, I'm curious as well. I'm going to contact Holley and see if they can help me figure out why the touch screen lost sync, but I'm not planning to play around with it on the boat again until the end of the season. It does get RPM data from the coil negative. I did not have it set up to control timing though, and was still relying on the TB IV to do that. I do think it would be cool to eventually let it control timing (I could load the same map as the TB IV). It would simplify the engine bay some and I would also gain a rev limiter.
 
nola mike

nola mike

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todhunter said:
Mike, yeah, I'm curious as well. I'm going to contact Holley and see if they can help me figure out why the touch screen lost sync, but I'm not planning to play around with it on the boat again until the end of the season. It does get RPM data from the coil negative. I did not have it set up to control timing though, and was still relying on the TB IV to do that. I do think it would be cool to eventually let it control timing (I could load the same map as the TB IV). It would simplify the engine bay some and I would also gain a rev limiter.
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That's a whole nother layer of complexity, would be nice but shouldn't have have anything to do with the failure. Does the sniper log data?
 
T

todhunter

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nola mike said:
That's a whole nother layer of complexity, would be nice but shouldn't have have anything to do with the failure. Does the sniper log data?
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It does when you tell it to. Unfortunately I didn't start a log when I made that initial run, and you can't start a log without being able to connect to the ECU via the touch-screen (or laptop), so the "No-Data!" issue would have prevented me from starting one had I wanted to.
 
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todhunter

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Cylinder heads back from the shop - fresh surfaces, no cracks. Had 2 bad intake valves and they had to re-cut those two seats as well, but now it seals up like it should. Pics below are of the #7 intake valve and how far it got stretched out.

20220617_141019.png

20220617_141039.png

20220617_141128.png
 
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todhunter

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Amazon only delivered one head gasket today...so only one head got put on.
20220618_180247.png


I decided to put some paint on my timing tab...it's been kind of hard to see the last few times I've set/checked the timing.
20220618_171234.png
 
Scott Danforth

Scott Danforth

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Wildey said:
You know things are getting bad when V8 head gaskets come 1 to a pack (laugh)

The timing marks look great ! I always do similar while I have good access.
Nice job.
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The higher end gaskets only come as each
 
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