'72 Fiberform W/ mercruiser 888 questions.

[Blue_Ox]

Hello everyone.

I am reading other 888 questions, but wanted to post my own.

So I aquired a 1972 Fiberform with a Mercruiser 888 for the outstanding price of $ free.99. The boat has sat for many years and the engine is locked up. From what I can tell the drive is still good, ( will replace with an SE106 if I find it bad) but have not yet done anyting with it except clean up the boat a bit.

Hull is very solid and is a good candidate to restore. I am going to buy a new long block and have a few questions.

I am in the San Juan Islands and will be fishing/cruising the PNW.

Do I drop in a 302 or 351? Should be a direct fit.

I want to do closed loop cooling, but am not having much luck finding a cooling system. Do I need to switch over to a chevy engine? If so how much of a pain in the *$$ is it to switch?

Not new to boating, been out of it for a few years, but never done a repower/restoration project on a boat.

Thanks.

Blue.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you do realize that free boats are the most expensive project boats in the world, right and 46 year old boats with ford motors will need some attention.

the 888 motor is a 302 with a 351 cam and a bunch of other unique marine use items. suggest you either rrebuild what you have, get a specific ford marine longblock, or strip out the entire drive from prop to propeller and replace with late-model mercruiser stuff.

the drive is ford specific (input shaft), so is the transom shield

you will be hard-pressed to find an off-the-shelf HX kit for it. again, suggest moving to a newer GM based driveline.

to switch to a complete (suggest 1996 or later) GM based mercruiser setup:
pull your drive
disconnect the motor
unbolt the motor mounts
pull motor out of boat
unbolt transom shield

install new transom shield (have to drill 2 more holes)
install new motor
align motor
install new drive

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,.... Yer free boat, with a bad motor, 'n questionable drive is a pretty poor choice for a 1st boat,....

The Ford motor is obsolete, 'n parts are stupid expensive for a Ford, because they left the Marine biz,.....

Findin' a boat only 'bout 10 years newer, with Chevy power, is a much, Much Better basis to start with,....

Chevy is the King of marine power, so parts are plentiful, 'n reasonably cheap,.....
'n Merc went from the ole MC-1s, to the Alpha drives along that same time frame,....

The free barge ya got is gonna be a money pit, with little joy,.....