Re: Merc Engine Specifics?? Performance Parts
are boats subject to smog laws? There might not be much you can do.
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nope.
the only restrictions are those imposed by the Coast
Guard, and they deal mainly with safety issues. like fire proof fuel hoses, as if a fire proof fuel hose is gona help you if your boats on fire. or putting 2 clamps on everything instead of one.
but, performance is unregulated. you can have a 600 hp smog spewing terror under the engine hatch, and they wont bat an eye. infact, GM makes a 540 cid marine engine that pounds out 600 hp on pump gas. and Holly makes a marine 900cfm carb to fuel it.
but....while your playing with more hp, dont forget the drive. once you start playing with the 300hp mark, your alpha is not going to hold up very well. with a decent cam, some dart 2 heads, you could bring it up to 600 cfms and get a respectable 350 hp out of that small block. more if you want to put in a small block 400 crank in it.
the question is......how much money do you want to spend to go boating, and how much downtime vs playtime are you willing to accept to modify your engine? as any hot rodder will tell you, the more custome it is, the more time you spend working on it instead of driving it.
drive it till it quits, then play with it for a while if you want.
and about fuel injection. for the whopping 10 percent more hp your gona get, consider this, a carburator can have 100 things wrong with it and it will still get you home, "1" thing messes up on a fuel injection system your paddeling home. i just spent 3 weeks and 300 bucks just tracking down that "1" thing on my injection system. and i say i because the mercruiser dealer couldnt find it after throwing parts at it for 5 hours, hence the 300 bucks.
And closely gaurd you billfold.
