Big Cu. In. engines
 

Hi Guys, I searched the forums and did not find an answer. I am new to the offshore boating so I hope it is not a dumb question. I understand that in racing the size of a motor will be restricted but for pleasure/ poker run, the biggest size cu. in. motor I have found is the 632. I am just wondering if there are any builders making any 800 cu.in. engines I know that drag racing and marine are totally different but that size motor is used in IHRA drag racing. So I was thinking, on some of the Larger boats 39' and up in stead of triple and quad if a builder could make an 800 cu. in. turbo or supercharged fuel injected motor, you could make some serious tq. and hp.

Now I know with the 800 IHRA engines they are only used a 1/4 mile at a time, but if you spin the motor only to 5500rpms and use quality billet steel parts, I wonder if durability will not be a problem. Also if someone already started a thread on this subject sorry for restarting if you could post a link to the thread that would be great.

Oh and I am in no way in the market for such an engine, this is just a thought I had.

Thanks----Brad

Stotler has a 700+ V8. Torque had an 872 V12.

http://www.stotlerracing.com/

B251,
I like your thinking about big cubes; if you can reliably make decent horspower without extra equipment ( turbochargers, blowers, etc.) I think you're ahead of the game. Bear in mind that the more exotic you get with aftermarket blocks etc., the less you can find off the shelf parts rapidly.

I have built many IHRA 814+ cu.in Pro Stock engines....just waiting for someone to order a set of N/A marine engines. We can build anything you can dream of.:D

Nothing is shelf stock....all custom built parts. Very good point. It takes time to get everything this time of the year.

Jhiguy377 thanks for the kind words.

Yah, I see some of these large boats with Tri and Quad engines in the boats, I mean if its time for a rebuild that has got to be some serious $$$$. but from the start if you have 2, 800 + cube engines supercharged or turbo with fuel injection I would think you could be close to the same power of 4 engines but you would have less weight from the additinol drives and engines plus your maintinence is less with 2 engines vs 4, I understand the exotic parts are more and less avail. but if more people use em the less exotic they become, I mean how long ago before the 540 became mainstream?

Just some of my thoughts thanks for the replies.----Brad

I guess I should not be worried about the cost of maintinence for 3 or 4 engines considering I don't have the $$$ for a boat that big.

Tommy at Chief Engines motto:

"There's no replacement for Displacement".

I have said for years that BIG inch motors have their place in marine applications. The biggest problem that I see is fitting it in a boat. With a Merlin 11.625 block and big chief heads, you pretty much rule out side by side applications. I have spent a lot of time figuring out the parts needed and the cost, and a 600 inch supercharged motor just makes more sense. The cost is about the same and the 600 incher will fit in almost anything, so you don't limit yourself as an engine builder. That doesn't mean that I don't want to build one, because I have always wanted to. Who wants one???:D

708 ci

www.allstarengine.com

I run Zul's 653's in an 8 foot wide boat (Cig 42) that are Super Tall Deck (11.625) blocks with Dart Pro one heads in side by side application, most other V's are wider than 8ft, I think Fountains are 8'6" and OL even wider so I think they would fit in side by side, even then most new boats are set up to be staggered that would give you plenty of space. I think you can machine those blocks in the 700's if you have the patience and money.

I think when you get into those built numbers for engines most people with the flash to get there will start considering 1075's from Merc and so forth for ease of getting service and re-built altought they are prohibitively expensive to re-build through Merc.

Good Marine engine builders like Tommy at Chief, Zul or JC could build solid high CI engines I have no doubt. Those would probably be maintainable cheaper than Merc's big HP stuff costs to run by the book, but then you are dealing with people that do not built 1000 engines a year and you have to get in line.

Anyway I love the mills I currently run and they run at a fraction of the costs it would to run 1075's from Merc by the book.

http://www.limestonedev.com/images/boat/Mill1.jpg

We have ran a pair of 700 cubes in this Cigarette. Normal maintnance and running them 50 hours a season yeilded good engines. There Cobra's from down in Florida. Also netted us over 120 mph.

John:D

Also there is another route you could go with the boats less than 30' , I believe there are some engine builders (not marine yet) that can put a pretty stout small block package together that can make 1000 hp pretty easy, not even using radical valve train but using a vortec type supercharger. I would think the advantage there is parts galore for small blocks and better fuel usage. And another thought TURBO'S sooo many engine builders are using these today The reliable power you can get from an engine is unreal over 1000hp from less than 400 cu. in.!!!!!!. I can see why in the marine world you want big cubes TQ up the a$$, but I think some people would be pretty impressed with #'s some of those small block turbo or supercharged engines can make.---Brad

Check out this engine. sweet little thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8TXMUaC9Os

I thought as a general rule didnt want to go over your bore with stroke? IE over SQ like Bore & Stroke: 4.750" Bore x 5.00" Stroke

Too much thrust on the cylinder walls, and rod ratio,Pistion speed etc

I dont see Sterling building many 600plus ci engines.

Not sure but I think the NHRA pro stock guys are limited to 5" bore. and I think you can find some manufactures who make blocks that can go as big as 5.5" bore or close to it (Donovan). with the over Sq. not sure how the rule applys but I do know that it all depends on the RPM range. I would ASSume if you keep the rpms below 6000 and use high quality billet steel parts and an a great internal balance job on the rotating assy. it would last. Also I think the 496 cu. in. motor is pretty close to being Sq. but I realy think the big factor is the rod length and how high the pistion pin hight will be. I know a common problem with the Ford 302 stroked to a 347 is the pin hight is up where the oil control ring is and over time causes the motor to start burning oil, but that is because you are limited to deck hight on the block. If they already make the 800+ cube motor for drag its just a matter of some one makeing it work for marine application. The only thing I think that could kill The 800+ cube motor is if the rotating would be to heavy for the current bearing sizes for the rod and crank.

If I remember correctly, years ago Doug Lewis built some mountain motors that were NA and made about 1000 hp.... I think they were in a cat...

I saw them apart at the shop once... The crank was huge...oversized lifters, big azz block with raised cam...as a matter of fact, all the parts were huge....

Panther: did it make 1000hp natural asp. or did it have a blower?

Really what it comes down to is if someone wants to spend the green they could have what ever they want, just look at the boats with jet engines. I just think it would be sweet to see a 39' MTI cat with 2, 800 cu.in. twin turbo fuel injected motors just rippin it up. It would be interesting to see how much power and speeds could be made with that setup.

Panther never mind the question just saw the NA in your post.

There are some pictures of the engines on here somewhere.

I can think of two reasons why really big displacement in a V-8 is challenging.

1) RPM is the cheapest road to HP but the long stroke works against this.

2) Supercharging gives the biggest bang for the buck.

Tall deck with a blower wins until someone brings out a V-12.

What's with the Torque V-12? They haven't been talking much recently.

Man you read my mind! I've been thinking of repowering lately. Looking for around 750hp (28 Pantera with a single) and I've decided on either a blown 540 or an n/a 632.

Torque went belly-up in '03 or '04. There were a couple of buyout rumors and announcements but I don't know if anything materialized. One of them was that Callan was buying them and that Sterling was on board with him as consultants. Great concept, just tough to get folks to buy into it. Nobody wants an orphan motor you can't get parts for.