Trojan Boat Forum

So we were hoping to get on the water a few weeks ago during our mini vacation with my brother. Our mechanic gave us a 10 day time line to do the job so we tripled it in case of delays or problems to accomodate our vacation ... The mechanic finally fires up the motor the day my brother arrives(31 day's since he started). Maybe we can still get on the water as planned! No such luck!! The head gaskets/intake manifold etc. were not tightened properly and we have water in the oil and everywhere else!!

My little brother arrives from Australia that I have not seen it 5 years and we have to cancel our boating/vacation plans. That was a real bummer. At that point we decided to relax, catch up and make the most of the situation and our time together. I was kind of pissed so we decided to stay away from the mechanic for the rest of my brothers visit.

I am now having a valve job done at a local machine shop and will need to wait until monday to get the heads back. Another big delay but there is no big deadline now so I am not rushing anymore. Been unable to even think about how to describe or update anyone about this disaster so sorry for the overdue update. Not quite the news I was hoping to share. We are fortunate that we can enjoy the boat year round here in Florida and look forward to our day's on the water hopefully soon.

Sorry about your luck


Before I coment I have some questions
Did you get a short block and use your old heads or a long block with the heads on it ?

Did you reuse or replace the exhust manafolds ?

Did it start and run ?

Is the starter the corect one ? using the wrong direction will suck in water from the exhust. I know there was issues on rotaion .

We bought what we thought was a reverse rebuilt 318 long block with heads on it already plus a complete used take out engine as well from a local dealer. The plan was to use the best of everything on the rebuilt 318 block. We now realize we have a standard rotation 360 Chrysler.

Originally the plan was to buy new manifolds but after the mechanic inspected the ones off the fwc spare motor we were informed that they were in excellent condition. He recommended we use them. We checked them out and decided to go with them as recommended.

The mechanic had figured out earlier that the starter needed to be changed. That was when the whole rotation issue came up. We quickly got another starter and appeared to be back on track again.

The motor started and sounded great! After running only a few minutes we noticed the milky oil and numerous water leaks. Then they proceeded to flush out the motor with oil. After tearing down the motor further it was noticed a regular automotive head gasket was used and there was evidence of pitting, etc. on the existing heads. We also noticed the head bolts inside were loose as well. We removed the heads from the other motor hoping to get lucky with those... no such luck. Took the heads to the local machine shop and had them maged. They recommended the valve job, etc. Right now they are doing the valve job on the original heads and hopefully we will be good. Whoever rebuilt that block did a terrible job!

Since we are planning on keeping this boat a while we want it right. I want it running perfect before it goes back in the boat. The time delay doesn't matter much at this point. The extra expenses are rising and I can only hope we are close to completion.

Anyhow my mechanic is on vacation this week-LOL! So the heads will be ready for him next week when he returns.

I would be demanding another reman engine from who ever you got it from or have them take care of it .They should be paying not you . Or take it back and just use the running take out you got .

a couple of points that of course are to late but will help others .

Buying a engine from the installer may cost a few bucks more but when there is a problem its on them ( unless its from a re used part. )

I almost always run the engine before installing in a boat.

Sorry to hear of your on-going problems. I can relate as I re-powered one motor last year. I was amazed at the lack of good, qualified mechanics. Most wouldn't even return my calls and only one did what he said he would do.......he ended up with my business and did a great job, guess I got lucky. Going forward he'll be the one I call. He works with a local machine shop and they partnered and rebuilt my original motor and warrantied it. No problems so far.....Good luck and someday when you are out on the water and she's purring along it will all be worth it........John