Mercruiser 888

Bondo

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it is the marine cam makes power between 800 and 4800 rpm
Ayuh,...... That's where you want to prop for,.......
650/ 700 rpms at idle, in gear, in the water,.......
To 4800 rpms Wot, in the water, trimmed out, haulin'n' azz,.....
 

mauro.

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Jul 15, 2024
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so I will probably be going way down to 13 pitch right?
will that change the top speed by much?
 

mauro.

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It was the cam with the bigest lift still idling smooth. which i thought was important for a boat right?
 

ROY WILLIAMS

Chief Petty Officer
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Aug 8, 2022
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400
firing order is 15426378 not the 13726548
PROPELLER , 20-25 FEET BOAT DIA 15-3/4 IN PITCH 17 INCHES 3 BLADES
GASOLINE 93 OCTANE AND THE ENGINE OIL 30 - 40 W...
5-10 BTDC TIMING 700 RPM
ENGINE RPM MAX 3800-4200
1970'S
 

mauro.

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Jul 15, 2024
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those are the specs I have in my Manual except for the oil I think I have 25w but that does not affect power will it?
 

ROY WILLIAMS

Chief Petty Officer
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Aug 8, 2022
Messages
400
those are the specs I have in my Manual except for the oil I think I have 25w but that does not affect power will it?
Mercruiser 1977 service manual !!!!!!!!! MERCURY ! BOOKS 1/2 ......
MCM 888 1970'S ENGINE OIL 30w-40w ....ZINC PLUS ENGINE OIL 6 OZ.....

MCM 470 ENGINE 1978 ROY WILLIAMS ! 40 YRS AGO 2024 TODAYS !
 

kenny nunez

Captain
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Jun 20, 2017
Messages
3,290
Ford went to the 13726548 for a reason. The hp gain must have had something to do with the firing order and increased durability.
The same engine had 225 hp with a 4 barrel. You will most likely never get the torque in the right rpm range that the original cam profile delivered.
I am no engineer by a long shot but I am saying this from my years of experience.
 

mauro.

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so I guess it will only have about 190 hp, it was the only one that they had
 

kenny nunez

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What elevation in regards to sea level are you? Is your carburetor the correct marine 2 barrel Holley version? Are you sure that your boat does not have water or mud trapped inside? I once had a customer who bought a boat that must have sunk at one time and it had mud trapped in the double bottom.
I had a customer with a 24’ Formula/188/ 1.50. I cannot remember either a 15“ or a 17” propeller. A heavy deep “V” boat. He fished out of the Mississippi river into the Gulf and never had a problem getting on plane and hitting 4400 rpm.
If you still have the original cam it could be copied. There are places that do that.
 

Scott06

Admiral
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Apr 20, 2014
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6,445
What elevation in regards to sea level are you? Is your carburetor the correct marine 2 barrel Holley version? Are you sure that your boat does not have water or mud trapped inside? I once had a customer who bought a boat that must have sunk at one time and it had mud trapped in the double bottom.
I had a customer with a 24’ Formula/188/ 1.50. I cannot remember either a 15“ or a 17” propeller. A heavy deep “V” boat. He fished out of the Mississippi river into the Gulf and never had a problem getting on plane and hitting 4400 rpm.
If you still have the original cam it could be copied. There are places that do that.
Delta Cams and Powell machine company are two guys who regrind cams if needed. With the general trend to rollers and issues with flat tappet cam and lifter failures (due to offshore junk) not a lot of guys doing HFT but I think they could help especially if you have a good core
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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or the OP can run 1.7 rockers vs the stock 1.6 on the ford motor in the short term
 

mauro.

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Jul 15, 2024
Messages
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What elevation in regards to sea level are you? Is your carburetor the correct marine 2 barrel Holley version? Are you sure that your boat does not have water or mud trapped inside? I once had a customer who bought a boat that must have sunk at one time and it had mud trapped in the double bottom.
I had a customer with a 24’ Formula/188/ 1.50. I cannot remember either a 15“ or a 17” propeller. A heavy deep “V” boat. He fished out of the Mississippi river into the Gulf and never had a problem getting on plane and hitting 4400 rpm.
If you still have the original cam it could be copied. There are places that do that.
I am at about 950m of elevation it is the 2300 Holley carb although not specificly marine.

I had the whole floor out and there was a little water but i cleaned it all out and dried it so should be all good.

On the first original cam i somehow groud the dist gear so I bought a used cam from NLA marine parts from a mercruiser 888. But then when I had truble getting on plane and to rpms a guy told me that maybe my cam was run down, not enough lobe lift, so i bought a new set of lifters and a cam from COMP CAMS. I still have that used cam where there is nothing wrong as far as I can tell, it ran the same with it as with the new.
 

kenny nunez

Captain
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You can get the correct Holley marine carburetor from Flying Fish Carburetors. Contact them and they will be able to explain why your engine is not performing correctly. They also may be able to jet the carburetor to compensate your altitude. Also tell them which cam you are using. Do not get any e bay junk.
 
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