Re: Inquirering mind
crazy<br /><br /> its mostly due to Volvo and Merc pretty much purchase from an outside source and run what they get sold. however do a bit of googling on the stillwater OK mercruiser plant to see all the low tech stuff there.<br /> when you start dealing with hydros ya just got a tad priceier than most folk can go fishing with, some of their props will go over 10K for a single prop. look at some of the unlimited gas turbine rigs that have just a bit more RPM than a mazda rotary. <br /> the mazda had a lot of apex seal issues, to put it kindly, could you imagine a max duty cycle in a moist environment?<br /> I always thought it would be a good idea though. however it would be to capital intensive for the limited market. thats why we have converted truck stuff in the under 45ft market.<br /> some folks still like carbs, some engine boxs just wont support a repower with EFI. if ya dont believe it try stuffing a pair of 5.7 MPI volvos in a 27ft albermarle, took me 12 hours to custom fabricate just the exhaust, wont even get into the flame arrestor or electronics or throttle attachments.<br /> but anytime you discuss the 3.0 with a merc or volvo rep they,like me, cant wait for that motor to dissapear as a carbed version.<br /> the marine power TBI 3.0 is a sweetheart. dead smooth,no bog, instant starts and decent economy and no freakin mercarb/rochester
.<br /> carbs are gonners of that there is no doubt. they cost to much to manufacture and the market for them is shrinking rapidly.<br /> lets face it, a plant capeable of 500,000 units a year operating at say 25,000 units a year will get an axe by the bean counters rapidly.<br /> it all comes down to the money.<br /> merc was one of the last that tried to design a marine specific sterndrive engine, was a rather dismal failure at best.<br /> mastercraft got stuck in the mid ninties when ford withdrew from the marine market. however they had enough units in stock to continue installing them for 2 years after they were no longer availible from ford, it takes quite a while to marinize a new production engine, the light trucks were not normally EFI until about 87, the first of the marine EFI units followed a few years later. the only thing that keeps the 3.0L about is its cheap, it allows an entry level boater access to a reasonable 17-19ft package of boat motor trailer for under 10K. but thats why we have so many 3.0L issues. most entry level boaters have no clue how to operate and maintain the package and most are so over financed they cannot afford to do the maint as per the maint schedule and just opt to wait till it breaks.<br /> <br /><br /> trog<br /> my cousin ran a 56 chevy on the autobahn with a modified 307 chevy V8 and a turbo 400 in front of a set of 2.02 gears, 120 MPH was maybe 2500 RPM. take most of those autobahn cruisers and add a 20,000 pound trailer with the brakes dragging and see how long they can run at the engines RATED HP. marine engines are required to do it for hours while shaking all about. the load on an auto is not great, mostly road friction and aerodynamics, the load on a marine plant never goes away and gets worse as hull speed increases. <br /> and super charging most engine and running them at their max HP for extended periods will nessesitte a bottom end design change on most production engines. the cranks, blocks and piston/rod assy on most wont put up with much boost pressure. thats why most diesel truck motors and the big MTU and Izotta and caterpillars are so massive. they have to be to prevent block/head core shifts.<br /> if ya dont belive in core shift try pulling 600HP out of a 5.7 with solid motor mounts and see how many times it will spit out the block core plugs untill ya thread the cores.<br /> dont even ask what happens when the rear tires run over the glychol mix just after the plug pops.<br /> glad Dave ws driving that day and not me.<br /> even with a pan girdle and studs on a 010 4 bolt block it suffered from that problem. after the second one we threaded the cores. but soon it will be a moot point, the big cast iron engines are dissapearing. just as point and carbs went so will massive 8.1,8.2's and 6.0L motors. I gotta see a pair of beemer 6's pushing a 28ft carolina classic with a full tower and all the amenities. its all a pair of 8.1 GM's with DPE volvos can do to keep them in the 40 MPH range. i call them floating campers but they pay the bills.<br /> from what we hear carolina classic eliminated the gas engines due to weight and water ingestion problems. and merc bought out albermarle so we will see how that works out.
