mercruiser 888 with chevy power

[john hennessy]

i have a mercruiser 888 with a ford engine, this engine has a over bore of .060 and i cant keep water out of the cylinders or the oil, i believe that the cylinders are porouse.

this is an early ford block and has an external balance of 28oz. the rotating assembly is completely different, as is the block to a ford 302 made after about 1990 which has an external balance of 50 oz.

if i could find a 302 of any year i would be a happy man but alas i cannot, at least with less than 100000 miles on it.

therefore, i would like to know if i could swap to a chevrolet engine?

additional information.

i have a volvo penta small block aq225d complete with side engine mountings, thermostat housing etc. that is siezed, i have the gm/mercruiser engine coupling, i have a set of flywheel studs, i have a bell housing from a mercruiser 150/chevrolet inline six and i have a fresh chevrolet 327, i also have the transom plate for the 150 and the gm starter.
my exhausts are through the transom.

do i have enough parts to complete the swap, i know that the bell housing mountings are on different centers.

 

[Watermann]

Re: mercruiser 888 with chevy power

You would need exhaust manifolds for the chev motor.

 

[john hennessy]

Re: mercruiser 888 with chevy power

the exhaust manifold are on the volvo penta engine, they are center risers and in my case so is the existing mercruiser.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: mercruiser 888 with chevy power

You would need an MC-1 exhaust y-tube that mates to a GM 350.

 

[Bondo]

Re: mercruiser 888 with chevy power

the exhaust manifold are on the volvo penta engine, they are center risers and in my case so is the existing mercruiser.

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,... While you've got quite a pile of parts, even if We think ya got enough, there's Always a few "Gotcha's" involved with such swaps,....

Ya need a flywheel cover for a Chevy pattern, that matches the rear mount spacin', the right Y-pipe haulnazz mentions, 'n if those are Volvo manifolds, ya might find the diameters, 'n accessory holes are different,...

 

[john hennessy]

Re: mercruiser 888 with chevy power

as far as the bell housing, i know that the flywheel cover/bell housing that i have for the chevy has wider bolt centers where it mounts to the transom plate, but i have a transom plate from a mercruiser 150 with the correct spacing, this would also provide a different mounting for the shift cable from a bracket mounted on the top of the bell housing to part of the transom plate. i would have to fabricate a bracket for the hydraulic trim gauge, this could be mounted directly to the transom.

there are no accessories bolted to the exhaust risers and the outlet pipes are the same 3" diameter.

the "Y" pipe is not necesary as i have through the transom exhausts.

as far as other accessories, that would be just an altenator mounting bracket and adjuster which the volvo penta would provide.

a simplification of the wiring would also be needed but that would not be a problem, my water inlet would have to be moved to the other side of the engine bay and the fuel filter and fuel line would also need to be switched to the opposite side.

i would have to fabricate a throttle cable mounting bracket as i intend to use a mercruiser style cable and the existing holley carb.

 

[Watermann]

Re: mercruiser 888 with chevy power

The 5.0 VP is a Chev SB but I would still try dry fitting the exhaust manifolds to the 327 before you dropped her in. Other than that sounds like you could have most everything you need

 

[ONEGA]

Re: mercruiser 888 with chevy power

if i could find a 302 of any year i would be a happy man but alas i cannot, at least with less than 100000 miles on it.

What is your location? Good 302 do show up once in a while in my area and I have a good short block standard bore around 70's vintage.