We have a 1996 Glastron SSV 17' with the 3.0LX Mercruiser / Alpha One, that unfortunately didn't get the engine block drained thoroughly enough over the winter and now has a 3.5" long horizontal crack on the outside of the block water jacket near the front of the engine about halfway up the distance from the oil pan to manifold. The engine starts and runs, has no water getting into the oil, and the manifold seems to be unhurt too. Water drips from along the crack down to the bilge, not very quickly but it's a definite leak. We're going to try stop-drilling the ends of the crack, baring the cast iron with a drill-powered wire brush, dressing it with a Dremel hand grinder, degreasing with acetone and then covering it with a "JB Weld" epoxy patch to see if we can get away with one more summer of use, but we know the proper fix is a new engine block. The saddest part is that the whole boat only has 45 hours on it since new, and has been kept either in a garage or under a carport (with a canvas cover) all its life so the rest of the boat is still almost like new :-(<br /><br />Can anyone recommend a good source for a rebuilt shortblock or long block (or whole engine if the price is right) for this 3.0LX four-banger? Preferably someplace close to north Texas so shipping won't be so bad? If there are any reputable engine places near the D/FW area, we could drive there and pick it up ourselves to save the shipping. <br /><br />Also what about the prospects of upgrading to a 4.3 V-6 engine? Is it a very costly and difficult upgrade (considering that we're already looking at the price of a new engine)? I understand that a 4.3 V6 will bolt right up to our existing Alpha drive and the cables, hoses and wires will mostly fit (tach issues, we know about), but have no idea about the front engine mount or the exhaust plumbing. The little 135hp 4-banger did struggle a bit when trying to pull up a heavy skier, but had a top speed of 40+MPH indicated, when on <br />glassy-smooth water with only 2 or 3 people aboard and at least 35mph or better when on rougher water or with more passengers aboard. We'd like to have better skier pulling power off the line, but not sacrifice any top speed, and it seems like the extra power of a 4.3L sure would be nice in this little boat.
