311 Engine Rebuild
 

Well, Outlaw and I had been exchanging some info Re: locating the axles on my trailer & info on my tow vehicle. In that thread I had been discussing that I intended to rebuild the engines' on our 311 and now my son and I were able to remove the arch, we were able to squeeze the boat into our garage.
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Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

I had to modify the opening in the ceiling to allow the chain falls to mount higher to obtain the necessary clearance. Removing the drive was really easy. We removed the lower unit 1st, subsequently the upper section.
We pulled all of the periphrial items such as wiring, alternator and power steering bracket(s) and exhaust. Subsequently the intake and heads. We were so anxious to get this accomplished that we did not do a good job of taking pics at the appropriate times. We have some shots of the engine out and the aftermath of the vacant side of the bilge...
Brace yourself if you find "dirty" pictures offensive.

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

So, after setting the engine on the concrete and wood blocks, we unhooked the rear chains, removed the bell-housing, flywheel etc. and hooked the chain-falls back so we could finally attach the block to the engine stand. We rolled the engine into the back bay and began the tear down. Since the exhaust, intake and heads were removed, prior to engine extraction, there was only the oil pan, harmonic balancer, timing cover, cam, cam chain, pistons/rods and crank to pull. It seemed like we were on easy street and that we would have that all done in a couple of hours. So our first problem was removal of the harmonic balancer. I have a nice puller,
it would not budge. I had to heat it up pretty good until it finally came. I ran into several external bolts here and there,
such as: the timing cover, motor mounts etc. I have a penetrating oil called KROIL... This stuff is magic... I think it works better than PB blaster, and PB blaster is good stuff...
Anyway, we now have the engine completely torn down and
and I have some decisions ( not Quikdecisions) to make.
I was hoping to not have to bore the engine nor purchase new pistons... ( taste for liquor and pocketbook for beer ) The bores do not look all that bad, but I do not yet have the equipment to measure the piston to cylinder wall clearances.
I know that since these are forged pistons, they grow once warmed up. If I use a feeler gage, there is definitely more clearance opposite the wrist pins. This suggests an egg or elliptical wear pattern. Likely, I will have to have the block bored... And thus... the second engine, not yet pulled out, will also have to be bored. We have approx 670 hrs on the engines. I solicit all suggestions / advice as to what I should do. I plan to thoroughly clean the block, esp the water jacket.
Next step will be to go to the machine shop for boiling, cam bearings and frost plug replacement... I will solicit their advice on how to proceed as well.

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

More pics..

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

And some more...

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

My intention is to somewhat build this up using HP-500 goodies. I.E. hp-500 heads, cams, roller lifters, roller rockers.
I have acquired heads, cams, roller rockers and 1 set of roller-lifters. I plan to use Morel roller lifters for the 2nd engine.
Gaskets, water and fuel pumps and revolution marine exhaust. Freshen the starters....
I have to get rings, bearings and the 2nd set of roller lifters... and likely pistons. Last time I priced boring it was $40.00 per cylinder... Whew.... this is a pricey game.... I hope I didn't bore you to death with all of this. My apologies if i have...
Any comments/feedback are appreciated.
Doug

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

After reading the above, I failed to mention that the engines are 454 / 365 hp magnum motors. They have forged pistons and crank. The heads are rectangular ports. The heads had been replaced the year before last, and had only 30 hrs or so.
I went with the newer heads ( Gen 6 ) since I believed they had larger valves. It appears that my old heads ( replacements) had the larger valves... Oh well, two sets will likely have to go, that should get my pistons and partially pay for the boring should I need to go that route.

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

Personally I think it looks MUCH better without the arch. :cool:




























































































































now about that silent thunder box...........:eek:

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

Are you sure that GENVI heads will work on GENIV blocks? Bore 30 over for nice 468" package. Use good pistons. I have 15 std bore stock forged pistons you can have if they would do you any good. You might want to get new balancers. I put B&M 250's with single Nickerson dominator and Gil's on my 468's and flew my 311 @ 87 MPH on GPS. You will need to look into external steering from Marine Machine, IMCO, ect. GOOD LUCK, Joe Murray

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

Keep the diarey (SP?) going. I'm hoping I can get thru this summer and I need to do do same project next winter. Hopefully you're keeping a spreadheet on costs in additiont to narrative and pics about job.

THanks a lot

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

any body knows how fast would twin 500 hp run in my 1985 F 35-7?
I bought it with twin scrap 454 400 hp, i don't even know how fast it was going with these since I never drove it!

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

f311fr1, what props did you use with that set up? What kind of hp do you think you had?

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

You know that pistons, even when new, are not perfectly round.
The expansion rate is different in different places. I belive they will expand more where the mass is greater like near the wrist pins.

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

With the right props you might see 70 mph. Heavy boat. Great rough water boat.

Maybe a "blonde one" better. :D

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

Gentlemen, I thank you for your responses.

f311fr1- I appreciate you mentioning the pistons, if I don't need to bore, I may PM you.. Ironically, I have one new piston. That would make the 16 needed.

Poorsche - I will keep track of the expenses. When I get time, I plan to total what I have invested thus far... That'll be scary.

Iggy - I did a poor job of describing the bore wear vs. the piston. The wear that I saw was opposite the wrist pin. If the wrist pin was called east to west, the wear is north and south.
I never realized that the pistons were not perfectly round.

Russ - I know you are not fond of the arch. I like it... Cuda loves Bimini's... I like them when it is raining. I like the arch gone from the point of view that it fits into the garage. My son does a great deal of research on boats, he loves them more than me. It appears that this bird may be kinda rare, supposedly it was built for John Crouse for a race of that year , there were only a few 311's that had factory arches, and the pin stripes were hand painted by Mrs. Porter. The stripes are still there... So, there may be a Little nostalgic history relative to this arch. It will eventually be re-installed... The light on the middle of the arch is great at night esp. when camping... Nice to lean against when your just chillin in the sun too. There is a cover that snaps from the windshield to the arch, sorta like a Bimini. I know Cuda would love that... Oh well, I guess that's why ice cream comes in so many flavors... Vanilla and chocolate aren't always enough of a choice, I do appreciate your thoughts. My son would love to loose the swim platform. Geez, seems like there is no end to what would be nice to do. I'd like to loose it too, and get an extreme marine.... That is in the............... future for me... One of the other offshore members, GLH, local to this area, stated that Lake Champlain will be imposing noise restrictions in the near future.... So we would need mufflers too. They aren't cheap either.... I do need to talk to you about dropping off the swim platform. I had a slow leak, I don't know where it was coming from. My son and i are pulling everything off the transom. We plan to repaint the out-drives and trim tabs... And reseal everything..... I hope we can get out this summer...

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

FYI--I've got a Formula SR357--weighs about 11,000 loaded and I've got all kinds of stuff in there--genset, a/c, microwave, full video, full electronics inc radar--I see top end of near 65 when I get it everything all trimmed in using TRS drives, 454 EFI's, bottom paint and 21 pitch props it that helps.

Re: 311 Engine Rebuild
 

F311 - you can use Gen VI heads on a Gen IV block and I think you meant 461" @ .030 and 468" @ .060 right? I just went through my motors last year in my 311. JE pistons @ .030 and 9.5:1cr with the 118cc heads.

Jeff32 - With right at 500hp, my top end on my 311 picked up from 63 - 72 with 23" Mirages but it blows right through those wheels. Been meaning to test a pair of Bravo 1 24" from a buddy's boat but I've been too busy trying to sell it to do any testing.

Poorsche - speaking of expenses, my complete redo of motors, drives, interior and sound - just over $20K. Wife just can't understand taking a loss on the boat. I try to tell her that if you keep one of these long enough, you will never get all of your money back out of them.