ECM Swap ? Plug and play ???

[dingbat]

The days of tinkering & modding by owners I think ended with carburetors. Modern engines are more like one integrated system, where mods are more complicated & expensive. Older boats with carbs are like hot rods of the 50s & 60s infinitely modifiable only limited by the owner’s budget

At issue is not the technology or cost, it’s the skill sets required to support them. It’s gone from turning wrenches to plugging in a laptop.

The younger guys at work are constantly making performance modifications to their cars. With that knowledge, they too are only limited by budget

I can add 100 HP to my truck with program (chip) change. How much would it cost to add a 100 HP to a 50’s or 60’s hot rod?

 

[tpenfield]

I think @alldodge is one of the few folks here who had their ECM tinkered with (by a high performance marine engine mechanic) to gain some HP on the top end.

Certainly not a Plug 'n Play sort of undertaking. I have been running ECM/PCM controlled engines for about 11 years, and would say that there is great wisdom in the adage . . . 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Most days, I'm happy to return to port with both engines running and no warnings, or alarms going off.

 

[Lou C]

When I see it on a dyno is when I believe it.

 

[apw30534]

The days of tinkering & modding by owners I think ended with carburetors. Modern engines are more like one integrated system, where mods are more complicated & expensive. Older boats with carbs are like hot rods of the 50s & 60s infinitely modifiable only limited by the owner’s budget & patience.
For example you could go from a lowly 4.3 V6 to a 5.7 to a 6.2 on certain hulls. Speed costs money how fast do you want to go? For me I’m happy with the lowly 4.3-4bbl; simple, economical on fuel (especially with a spread bore Quadrajet), easy to maintain with inexpensive parts. In my boating environment the only places where you can safely hit & exceed 50 mph is out in Long Island Sound; in the inner bays like Huntington & Northport a 35-40 mph boat is all you need.
Salt water boats not being a good deal? That can certainly apply to raw water cooled I/Os; you can make them last but closed cooling makes that much easier. Every year I see fewer & fewer I/Os & more outboards. It seems like owners here have gotten the message about the costs of replacing cat converter exhausts here in salt water….

I've actually considered swapping to a carb and distributor setup, just to simplify things, but fear it might make the boat slower. lol
I have a carbureted Dart intake for the 8.1 already... so it would just be a matter of picking the right size carb and tossing an HEI distributor in it... all much cheaper and easier to tune than using a laptop.

 

[apw30534]

I think @alldodge is one of the few folks here who had their ECM tinkered with (by a high performance marine engine mechanic) to gain some HP on the top end.

Certainly not a Plug 'n Play sort of undertaking. I have been running ECM/PCM controlled engines for about 11 years, and would say that there is great wisdom in the adage . . . 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Most days, I'm happy to return to port with both engines running and no warnings, or alarms going off.

It would sure make my life easier if someone could hack this ECM and change a couple things.
Im not asking for any kind of ozone-depleting, smog-creating tune... just a higher rev limit and a factory-like tune that works with the HO camshaft.

 

[Lou C]

I've actually considered swapping to a carb and distributor setup, just to simplify things, but fear it might make the boat slower. lol
I have a carbureted Dart intake for the 8.1 already... so it would just be a matter of picking the right size carb and tossing an HEI distributor in it... all much cheaper and easier to tune than using a laptop.

I don’t think it will make your boat slower if you choose your components carefully. You have a choice between Edelbrock & Holley carbs & would need a stand alone marine electronic ignition system like the Delco EST. I think repair cost & parts availability with carbs is much better than EFI. The main advantage of EFI is more consistent cold starting & smoother cold running than with carbs. More power? That depends on how well the carb is chosen & tuned.