Gonna bite the bullet and repower

Heefus · Post by **Heefus** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 9:00 pm

After the fiasco I had this year, with my starboard 318, I have decided to repower and create a new baseline for my engines.

I am having a bit of a conundrum though.... I have a rebuilt standard rotation longblock (in the shed), but I am considering going to the 5.7. I have a lot of experience with the 350, but not so much with the 318.

As you may recall my port engine filled with water, through a hole in the timing chain cover, this summer. I cleaned it out, changed the oil, several times, and still need to rebuild the carb. I am thinking that, if nothing else, it will give me a great deal of peace of mind to start fresh with a known good, zero hour engine. I will not be going with diesels, as this is not my forever boat, so I am looking at all options.

After searching a bit, it looks like the 5.7 should blot right on to my existing Paragons w/v-drives. I know that I will have to add new mounts, pumps, manifolds, etc. but I am still seriously considering it.

She is on the hard now, and my good buddy is a mechanic at the marina. This equates to a helping hand, and free use of the boom to pull, and insert, said motors. Am I living a pipe dream here? I know it will cost less, to throw in my reman and buy another, but I am mainly concerned about longevity. My previous Mercruisers were easy to work on, and parts were cheap. The 318 is a workhorse, but parts are becoming scarce.

Opinions. thoughts, and generally snarky comments are welcome.

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 10:02 pm

The least costly option since this boat won't be a keeper is to rebuild. The 5.7s are easy to find parts for but I don't consider it that much harder to find most hardware for 318s, and they are good engines.

I don't know if the above was all that clear: I say stick with the 318s for your circumstances.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 10:19 pm

I Don't see the 5.7 as a big improvement unless you going new , rebuilt may sound good but its the bolt ons that will get you .

Make sure you have belt housing to mate the paragon to the Chevy

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:06 am

But on the other hand, As we all know 90% of the time it's the bolt on's that kill boat engines, So even if you reman the 318 would you really want to hang old parts on it or go all new ? I'd go all new. So if you have a reman 350 you're ahead of the game to me...and look how long the engine will be in the boat 10,15 or 20 yrs.....? will 318 parts be around 5 yrs from now ? I'd bet 350 parts will...JMO

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 7:42 am

Let me add one thing if you engine is going to be raw water cooled , stay away from remans as the clynder wall on a bored out engine are thiner . I have seen them rust through .