4 or 6 cyl

[tabc]

About a year at ago I purchased a 22` 1989 islander. The boat came originally with a 3.0l that was missing when purchased. It would would also need manifold starter ect.. basically a turn key motor is needed. Been looking for a decent motor for a while now and seems every 3.0 I come across has a cracked block due to freezing. Been finding some inline Chevy 6 cyl motors but have been passing them up because I thought it would be better to put back what was removed. Now I'm rethinking that. Would the out drive need to be replaced for a different gear ratio? How much more fuel does the 6 cyl use compared to the 4 cyl. Any pit falls in that type of motor swap Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: 4 or 6 cyl

its longer ,meaning the doghouse need some extention. new front mount needs glassing in. the motor needs the ear to accept the front mount. 1.98 to 1.65

 

[tabc]

Re: 4 or 6 cyl

Ya thought the doghouse would probably need rebuilt longer. Glassing in of front mount? What is the ear? Is the out drive ratio hard to change or should another out drive be purchaced?
Thanks

 

[oldsub86]

Re: 4 or 6 cyl

Boat is aluminum so no glassing of the mount. Front mount would need to be moved forward so you would need to build something similar to what exists now, but further forward.
If you plan to do the swap I suggest it would make sense to find a whole boat and swap the engine and the drive. You could no doubt sell your existing drive as there are lots of 4 cylinder boats around.
The reference to an "ear" is a comment that truck and car engines of similar vintage lack the casting on the front starboard side that the front mount attaches to. I have seen pieces bolted on but you might be better off with an original boat block that includes the "ear".
I happen to think it would be a good swap. A 22 foot boat could use a bit more power.
You could go modern with a V6 but the inline 165 HP motors were good boat motors.