81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

[Friscoboater]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Thanks for the help. If it blows up, I will get the aftermarket unit.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Great job Frisco. I don't know how I missed this thread. Beautiful looking boat. Have you got the transom done now or do you have to do more glassing around the area where the plywood meets the transom? I'm just curious, you may need a bit more glass around that area. Just my two cents worth.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Thanks man. I am going to put some more on when I have some time this week. I hope to have it all done this weekend.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Right on. She's going to be a beauty when your done. And last forever.

 

[system-f]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Keith- If you are going with a V8 I think you have to change out the drive, but I am not sure. As far as a marine cam goes, you just need a good torque cam. I think the cam in the first option was a little hot, but they said they would do any cam I want in that option. so it is up to me.

The timing is going to be your big concern, lift on the cam not so much.

To be honest I would go with the stock 350 with the RV cam and a quadrajet. The hot motor is nice, but I don't need to go that fast and reliablity is more of a concern in my book. I guess it depends on what you do. All of my go fast friends would say the big motor option, but I am super happy with my straight 6.

Yeah, I would have to go with a different upper gear housing as you are running taller gears, but then again a 350 has a higher rev limit than my straight 6 so maybe not. My drive is the same as yours, same as the one in the 260... all Type I pre alpha drives. An alpha 1 gen 1 from SEI will bolt up and I am pretty sure those were rated to 300 hp. I know a guy who has an alpha 1 gen 1 behind a very built 454 and he does fine as long as he takes it easy when getting out of the hole.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

The timing is going to be your big concern, lift on the cam not so much.

To be honest I would go with the stock 350 with the RV cam and a quadrajet. The hot motor is nice, but I don't need to go that fast and reliablity is more of a concern in my book. I guess it depends on what you do. All of my go fast friends would say the big motor option, but I am super happy with my straight 6.

Yeah, I would have to go with a different upper gear housing as you are running taller gears, but then again a 350 has a higher rev limit than my straight 6 so maybe not. My drive is the same as yours, same as the one in the 260... all Type I pre alpha drives. An alpha 1 gen 1 from SEI will bolt up and I am pretty sure those were rated to 300 hp. I know a guy who has an alpha 1 gen 1 behind a very built 454 and he does fine as long as he takes it easy when getting out of the hole.

I am leaning toward the stock 350 also. I will get my Quadracrap rebuilt and stick a dual plane alum intake on it. That ought to be plenty.

 

[system-f]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

You might think the Quadra jet is crap but I work with a ton of engineers and all are hotrod guys. One of them is a diehard Ford guy but swears by the Quadra jet (as do most of the others). In proper tune he tells me nothing can provide the efficiency, power and reliability of the Quadra jet as far as carbs go. The other day he gave me tons of reference on how to tune the Quadra jet and is bringing one to work for me to rebuild. After doing research on how the Quadra jet works I would tend to agree with him. One thing that the boat has taught me is that fuel injection is good, but sometimes a carb is better (I have only owned one carbureted car and am VERY proficient with speed density and speed load based fuel injection systems).

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Oh I know... I just like saying that. Sounds cool.

 

[clockwatcher]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Frisco,

City Motor - 30 day warranty

http://fortworth.bbb.org/codbrep.html?wlcl=y&id=A4061744

I'd ask around before pulling that trigger. Maybe on speedwake or lakepirates.com and some local mechanics. Just saying.

Smoking prices though. I'd go option 1 in heartbeat and maybe look for a nice flat torque, roller lifter cam setup. I can't tell from their site if City Motors are Vortec engine or not. That could make a difference on your distributor, pumps and pulley set up.

This guy wrote a book on Q-jet tuning http://www.cliffshighperformance.com/.

Oh what fun you are going to have...

650 HP Glastron

 

[erikgreen]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

I did the same conversion on my Sea Ray 210.

The sterndrive is the same, pre-alpha 228 will work on a 350 fine. The drive can handle up to 300 hp, which you're not going to easily get on a non vortec V8 engine. If you upgrade to a newer engine the bell housing and drive won't fit, so for vortec your choice is basically to go for vortec heads and intake on the older block.

Engine upgrades for boats have been discussed a lot in the Mercruiser/volvo repair section. Adding 20 hp to a car makes a big difference, in a boat that may get you 2 mph (or not). Whatever you pick for parts, make sure it's got a truck like cam with good low end torque, that's where it matters the most in a boat.

You can buy a lot of upgrades for the 350 but the only one I've seen that you can really "Feel" is the vortec upgrade. Boats aren't cars, so putting in a stroker 383 or a hot cam, rockers, and fancy head porting won't get you much of anything worthwhile. If you want more power than a vortec 350 provides, go to a 454 or bigger.

Bear in mind that depending on your hull or loading, going to a hotter 350, a 383, or 454 will get you maybe 15 mph at most (for the 454). You can only go that fast in perfect conditions anyway, so unless you need to pull up a bunch of skiers or something, it's kind of a waste. Plus the drive won't handle more than 300 hp for very long, a bravo or volvo penta would do better.

I bought a reman marine 350 from Rapido Marine in Fla.. I'm happy with their product, price ($1728 with a performance marine cam) and the fit with my old hardware. Their aftersales support is good, too.

Erik

 

[system-f]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

RE: the 650hp Glastron, HE go fast! That is probably a little to much for me. I could just see my friend's daughter (who skis with us all the time) holding on for dear life in a tube behind that in my boat.

Everytime I fill my boat up with gas I give my straight 6 a big hug. Even in the PMSB's short season it has never left me stranded and towed one jet ski. Breaking down stinks.

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Yeah, I would have to go with a different upper gear housing as you are running taller gears, but then again a 350 has a higher rev limit than my straight 6 so maybe not.

I am relatively new to boat engines but in automotive engines the more cylinders the lower the redline. Is this not true in a boat or am I missing something?

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

erikgreen,
I will say one thing, you are a wealth of information. I"m not kidding, Glad to read all your post. I'm old but still learning everyday.
I have fun with my little 3.0 L but would like to go a little higher someday.
Bob

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

Frisco,

City Motor - 30 day warranty

http://fortworth.bbb.org/codbrep.html?wlcl=y&id=A4061744

I'd ask around before pulling that trigger. Maybe on speedwake or lakepirates.com and some local mechanics. Just saying.

Smoking prices though. I'd go option 1 in heartbeat and maybe look for a nice flat torque, roller lifter cam setup. I can't tell from their site if City Motors are Vortec engine or not. That could make a difference on your distributor, pumps and pulley set up.

This guy wrote a book on Q-jet tuning http://www.cliffshighperformance.com/.

Oh what fun you are going to have...

650 HP Glastron

I know about the 30 day warranty, and that seems to be the norm for marine motors. I bought a 350 short blcok from them 10 years ago and it came with a 12,000 mile warranty. They just do not do that on marine engines.

 

[system-f]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

I am relatively new to boat engines but in automotive engines the more cylinders the lower the redline. Is this not true in a boat or am I missing something?

Cylinder number has nothing to do with anything except for how many many pistons your engine has. Assumptions based on cylinder number are usually wrong. My engine has a low redline because of when it was built and its long crankshaft. More cylinders EVEN in automotive terms DOES NOT mean a higher redline. THe 4 cylinder in my Honda has a lower redline than the v-6 in my pathfinder and in my infiniti because that is the way the motor was built (and a 60 degree V-6 is much more balanced than a straight 4).

Most of the motors from the era of my straight 6 redline around 4300-4200 rpm EXCEPT! the rare 409 big block has a 4500rpm redline! and that motor is almost twice as big as my straight 6. In the 80s the redlines for merc motors jumped up much higher where 4300 rpm might be the low for a 4.3L v-6 or even a 350 engine.

Jay, what are the numbers on your 228?

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

I want to say 4300 to 4600 WOT.

 

[clockwatcher]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

I know about the 30 day warranty, and that seems to be the norm for marine motors. I bought a 350 short blcok from them 10 years ago and it came with a 12,000 mile warranty. They just do not do that on marine engines.

I did some searching today and I'm learning marine motors get little warrenty. Marine motors seem to get less than half the standard auto waranty. It's cool to hear that you have history with the company. I have none. A friend of mine bought one of their motors for a Nissan 10 years ago. He said he put the wrong harmonic balancer on it or installed it wrong and it spun a main bearing in 30 miles. His mistake, he admits it. The prices are great and they're local. They have an AA rating with the BBB. Looks pretty good. I just like to bend all the ears I can when it matters. I've learned the hard way.

 

[clockwatcher]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

For referance. My boat has a similar hull only heavier, 20 year old 270 hp 350 mag, Alpha gen 1 w/ 1.5:1 ratio, 21 pitch SS cupped 3 blade and runs 60-64mph down hill with the wind. I have a 19 pitch prop for skiing that will run 53 mph. I can only imagine how much better a modern Vortec motor would perform.
.
.
.
.
I bought 3 new flapper sanders and a new diamond cutting blade for the sawzall. Should be a fun weekend!

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

I did the same conversion on my Sea Ray 210.

The sterndrive is the same, pre-alpha 228 will work on a 350 fine. The drive can handle up to 300 hp, which you're not going to easily get on a non vortec V8 engine. If you upgrade to a newer engine the bell housing and drive won't fit, so for vortec your choice is basically to go for vortec heads and intake on the older block.

Engine upgrades for boats have been discussed a lot in the Mercruiser/volvo repair section. Adding 20 hp to a car makes a big difference, in a boat that may get you 2 mph (or not). Whatever you pick for parts, make sure it's got a truck like cam with good low end torque, that's where it matters the most in a boat.

You can buy a lot of upgrades for the 350 but the only one I've seen that you can really "Feel" is the vortec upgrade. Boats aren't cars, so putting in a stroker 383 or a hot cam, rockers, and fancy head porting won't get you much of anything worthwhile. If you want more power than a vortec 350 provides, go to a 454 or bigger.

Bear in mind that depending on your hull or loading, going to a hotter 350, a 383, or 454 will get you maybe 15 mph at most (for the 454). You can only go that fast in perfect conditions anyway, so unless you need to pull up a bunch of skiers or something, it's kind of a waste. Plus the drive won't handle more than 300 hp for very long, a bravo or volvo penta would do better.

I bought a reman marine 350 from Rapido Marine in Fla.. I'm happy with their product, price ($1728 with a performance marine cam) and the fit with my old hardware. Their aftersales support is good, too.

Erik

I really was not looking for a high horse power beast, just a stump puller. I am just going to go with a performance marine cam, aluminum performance intake, and have my Q-jet rebuilt.

BTW- has anyone rebuilt a q-jet? I have done hollys before, but for some reason this one scares me.

 

[clockwatcher]

Re: 81 Glastron SX-190 Transom and Engine- PICS Galore Update 11-8

I rebuilt one 10 years ago and burned up the motor. The kit had so many extra parts. I chose poorly.