MIKEMARLEY

had my buddy who's an engine builder testing out on my new to me boat while I was in the hospital. its an 88 226 sport with a 7.4 454. I'd only had it for a few times since I got it and had put on a new shifter cable, throttle cable, gimbal bearing, and new bravo 1. he said everything was working well until he shut the boat off while they were floating slowly. when he tried to start it back up it wouldn't crank so he figured batteries, or the starter. fast forward to the next day and we took it out of the water to the shop and tried charging everything then spinning it over and got nothing. in fact the starter started smoking so I stopped after a few attempts thinking maybe the gimbal locked up. I took off the outdrive and gimbal is great, while im down there I see my internal flaps are broken in my exhaust. my exhaust sits underwater under my swim platform so I know thats a problem.
Started taking out plugs because my gut had a sick feeling and its usually right. I get the plug out and its pouring ****ing water out like a fountain, every plug had water come out. well now we have to take the motor out sweet. good thing we gotta forklift because that 7.4 is a heavy sob.
I get it on the stand and the motor will not spin whatsoever.
I start taking stuff apart and immediately see the exhaust manifold on the drivers side is cracked, that's always a good sign. i got the heavy ass heads off it and all the valves look good still, heads look good, piston heads good so time to flip it over. all the rods look great and the crank looks brand new the last owner had to of done rods and bearings. So now it should spin but its still not so i just dump a few gallons in the cylinders and in the pan after i put it back on, figured id let it sit a day. Lil oil did the trick and got it free enough to spin so I could take it apart to get to the engine shop.
The fun part of the build was now deciding what i wanted to do build and hp wise. my buddy had a weiand supercharger he i decided to get because he threw me a low price and the bastard knows I love going fast 😆 I decided while it was apart to freshen up the rings and bearings, port the heads, and polish the crank so it could stand up to the boost. I decided to get the block and heads tested for ****s and giggles too since I already saw the cracked exhaust, and I'm glad I did because the block was cracked right in the waterport due to improper winterization they said. Big bummer 😕 That things a paperweight now lol.
I was trying to make it to loto to the shootouts but I knew that definitely wasn't happening this year so I'm just gonna focus on rebuilding through fall and winter.
the machine shop had a block sitting around although it was a 2 bolt main, it came out of a grain truck so they said itd handle the charger and has been punched .60 over already and was freshly machined too heck yea. time to slap a charger on a 496 with a demon carb and have a blast next summer. rebuild pics soon to come

PA.WOODCHUCK

So many things wrong going on here including suggestions that a 2 bolt block would work?

sorry

TBAG

Sounds like this won't be the last rebuild..........

Baja Rooster

iTrader: (1)

Even if the two bolt block holds together the outdrive won’t.

99.9% of us here are hot rod gear heads and 99.9% of us would strongly recommend finding a 502 Mag and enjoy many years of happy boating.

obnoxus

Been biting my tongue as I did not want to be the first to say it. Listen to the advice above. #1 A 2 bolt main is a deal breaker ,,,, #2 You have no idea what cam is in that motor, and if your tips are underwater to begin with there is an even bigger chance of reversion depending on the cam LSA. Get a stock 454 Mag, or 502 and enjoy the boat. Replace and monitor the internal flappers,,,,,,adding an external set of flappers wouldn't be a bad idea either if you don't already have them. depending on your tip style.

Craney

iTrader: (2)

[QUOTE=PA.WOODCHUCK;4756044]So many things wrong going on here including suggestions that a 2 bolt block would work?

sorry. You summed it up perfectly.

MIKEMARLEY

I appreciate the .02 definitely helping me with decisions.
so my first question is why won't the 2 bolt work it came out of a dump truck so i figured as long as i studded the mains instead of using bolts it would last seeing as im not putting nearly the torque to it, my only concern was if it would survive spinning 😅 its freshly machined and i planned on putting my gev IV merc crankshaft and cam in it, they both drop right in.
id really like to put the stroker crank kit in it so it'd be 496 instead of a 467 and little less wear on the cylinder walls but once again I dont feel like building it if the older gear heads dont think it will work, experienced tips are always invaluable when it come to thousands of $
Im still up in the air for the charger I really want to but mainly because it comes with a demon carb and a dart intake, Ive havent seen too many older 7.4s boosted so makes me think its for a reason.
my second question is what will my bravo 1 handle hp wise?
its got 20hrs on it so its still brand spankin new
Once again thanks for all the tips, Im 26 and dont really know any gearheads around my area its a dying breed so I appreciate it.

PA.WOODCHUCK

Do U have an alpha or bravo outdrive?

liberator221

Been a lot of years, but I didn’t think GM ever put a 454 in medium duty trucks. They were 427 or 361( not sure on smaller displacement) May be same block but worth checking into.
I wouldn’t put forced induction on a 2 bolt block... my opinion.
Whether or not drive lives depends on how you run the fun stick.

MIKEMARLEY

I've got a bravo 1