MerCruiser 5.7 V8....

Jono FD3 · Post by **Jono FD3** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 3:47 pm

Hi guys, not sure if anyone here can help me out or not, but does anyone know what flywheel and gearbox would fit on to a Marine 5.7v8??
Basicaly I'm thinking of getting my hands on one as I would have thought that they are stronger than the rover lumps and more tuning potential! Also know of one that had a slight problem but the engineer has opted for a long block swap so has the old one sat there gathering dust!

Also anyone had any experiance turbo charging one.... or even supercharger & turbo? I know they are about 270bhp on carb & 300 on single point injection, so not sure if that would be fairly high compression or not??

Jono

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:07 pm

Hi
which end of the bock is the distributor? cam chain end or the transmission end?
I think mercruiser have used ford, Mercedes and Chevy engines as base engines and probably others. 5.7 liters implies it is a Chevy, but AMC, harvester, and a few others have made engines at that capacity, the position of the distributor will at least tell you if it is GM or not.
Unless you know exactly what you are getting be careful, some marine engines turn backwards! (left hand engine on a twin engine ski boat). They tend to be cammed for low rev power delivery
Turbo charging on marine engines is also a bit different in that they do not always use a waist gate, they have a fixed choke bypass for the exhaust set up hat is tuned for a fixed output at a given revs, good for a boat, not much use for a car.
It will be stronger than a rover, probably make more power per litre and will take turbo or supercharging as it will be low compression to cope with marine petrol which is generally really rubbish!
best regards
Mike

Jono FD3 · Post by **Jono FD3** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:25 am

Distributor is at flywheel end of the engine..... basicaly it's a long block that I would stick a flywheel, clutch and manual rear wheel drive box on

as for the engine running anticlockwise for twin engine setups, that is done through the stern drive unit and not the engine

(MerCruiser trained on the alpha & Brava out drives

) just not sure what box would mate up to the block!
Also the turbo application would be froma car so a wastegated turbo setup would be installed on tubular manifolds etc.

Jono

Jono FD3 · Post by **Jono FD3** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:30 am

katanaman wrote:
Jono FD3 wrote: as for the engine running anticlockwise for twin engine setups, that is done through the stern drive unit and not the engine (MerCruiser trained on the alpha & Brava out drives ) just not sure what box would mate up to the block!

Jono
Not always the case I am afraid as I have seen both chevy and ford engines turn in opposite directions on twin engines. Real Steel used to carry marine parts and had both clockwise and anticlockwise cams as well as whatever other parts were needed.

Well that's just plain silly! LOL

Post by **katanaman** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 11:26 am

Jono FD3 wrote: as for the engine running anticlockwise for twin engine setups, that is done through the stern drive unit and not the engine (MerCruiser trained on the alpha & Brava out drives ) just not sure what box would mate up to the block!

Jono

Not always the case I am afraid as I have seen both chevy and ford engines turn in opposite directions on twin engines. Real Steel used to carry marine parts and had both clockwise and anticlockwise cams as well as whatever other parts were needed.

Boosted LS1 · Post by **Boosted LS1** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:48 pm

If it's not been running a sealed coolant system with antifreeze won't the coolant passages be rusted to buggery?

Jono FD3 · Post by **Jono FD3** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:58 pm

they do rust as a result, but it's not too bad inside the waterways.... certainly nothing a good flush additive wont cure.

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 1:53 am

Hi
Odds on it is a chevy block, so any chevy bolt pattern box, and flywheel will fit most likely T5 on a chevy bell housing. However the T5 is a bit marginal behind a 350 but if you stay below about 320 bhp you should be Ok. Any idea why it is being removed? just it is going to need some degree of overhaul and it will be a lot of effort to get the salt out of the block if you want to fit ally heads, any idea of year?
Best regards
Mike

Jono FD3 · Post by **Jono FD3** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 9:20 pm

the engine had a HG fail so they pulled the heads off and had them rebuilt, but the lad over adjusted the rockers and miss aligned the dizzy, as a result it held the valves open on 2 cylinders resulting in no compression and was popping and banging!

easy fix, but I'd strip it to check it over and replace the rings etc!

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:49 am

Hi
If you strip it I would get the core and freeze plugs out and do as much as you can to get the salt residue out otherwise it will be a problem long term with any ally components in contact with the coolent, a Hot tank is a really good idea anyway even if you do not go on to do more than replace bearing shells.
does this mean that you have the heads, or did they go across to the other engine? If you stick the engine number into google you should come up with a year.
Best regards
Mke

Jono FD3 · Post by **Jono FD3** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:38 pm

yea, complete engine bar for the intake manifold and bolt on bits I think it is, but being in the marine trade with the old man sorcing parts isn't too big a problem!
Engine would be about the 2000 year as it's injection and not carb.