Formula 242 motor opinions
 

Hello , I'm looking for a motor upgrade in my 88 242 ls (with bolster seats ) lol , anyway I want to upgrade the motor I want power and a nice cruising speed in this heavy boat . What are your opinions on motors I want around 500 horse , also reliability . I just think that the 454 mag should have more grit . I also have a 242 ss with 330 horse feel like putting a blower on it just to punish it for being good and having so much room but the seats suck , anyway looking for opinions on motors 496? 540 ? Thoughts appreciated or just talk about boating since its raining today ..... I should upload pics if it wasn't a pain in the ass

It boils down to dollars. You will quickly spend $7K~$10K to achieve that end...then will you be happy...probably not.

Look for someone that has a "Take Out" motor available at a decent price and stick it in there. Don't even start pouring money into that old 454...

I can let you know about 500HP when I finish mine. I am stroking a 496 for my 242LS and I can tell you first hand when I'm done.
There are others who have 500+ in 242's and claim more speed but it takes a LOT of hp to get out of the 70's. If you are good with staying in the 70's you might be satisfied pumping the old girl up.

I switched my old tired 454 Mag for a 496HO when I had a 242LS, Cheap and reliable! The hull really liked the extra power! Had a nice cruise at 45mph @3600rpm and 64mph @5000 on a good day!

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Give Bob Madera a call he will set you up with a nice package to achieve your goals. You will want at least a mag motor with forged internals for the kind of power you are looking for. Then have Bob design a cam around a set of AFR 265 oval port heads and you will have a solid 525 to 550 hp. I had him design a 427 BBC for me and it made right around 530-540 hp. It was a very nice package, that will be more reliable and be more efficient than a supercharger set up. As for speed I was getting 68-69 MPH, to get into the 70's you need really big power.

Thanks