this is awesome I thought of LS based 7 years ago and going strong cant beat them don't need those heads its all for the bling factor

I referenced wrong site

http://www.fordracingbyspeedshopdire...m-6007-m50.htm

Price:$6,319.00

The LS 2 needs 361 cu to obtain 400hp
Ford 5.0 is 302 cu to obtain 420hp but more importantly a flat 390 ft lbs. torque curve. STOCK

Yes the ford is wider but the exhaust ports face down.

I'm not saying the LS 2 won't work but the Ford (due to the head design) should outperform in every way.

If must have 400cu see link below

http://www.indmar.com/Engine/RaptorS...TORSERIES.aspx

Not saying its not a good engine but Im sure it will be as popular
as every other Ford engine in the past has been in the offshore world..
:D
(ps: I have a couple each in my stable so Im not partisan to anyone!)

In an I/O our exhaust's go up and then out. So with this 'facing down exhaust port' to get a proper transition (bend) without restriction it would make the exhausts wider. If they did not get wider, then the exhaust port would get hampered. No ?

Yep, sounds right to me. The only boat it would work in would be a single engine boat, or staggered twins.

Lets also not forget than the Coyote block/sleeves are no good (factory) beyond around 600HP. So if your boat has one in it, and then you feel the need to put a blower on it...

You may as well start out with a 496, LOL

Im actually wondering in the back of my head if Merc is doing this and planning on trying to SELL this tooling and molds and stuff TO GM down the road after they get it more figured out.

The LS2 was also debuted in 2005... Not sure where to start the argument with the above. The LS package is just so simple and effective its hard to beat. I think this design from Mercury will just be a super stable valvetrain, with big 7K+ RPM, and at least 425horse. That would be bullet proof with a good bottom end. Which I think is the next question... Which block???

Oh boy, someone better tell Edelbrock not to warranty this motor. It makes too much HP?

http://www.jegs.com/p/Edelbrock/Edel...46326/10002/-1

No doubt the exhaust port exiting downward creates some challenges but a thru prop or utilizing the gap between to rear of the engine and the transom would be an option to discharge above the water line.

My main point to this whole discussion is Mercury Racing is recognizing GM's weaknesses and is proactive by reducing valvetrain weight. How many foreign engines still use pushrods? I can't name one! I'm a Blue oval / Bowtie guy but how long to we have to wait for the engineers from GM to design some decent valvetrains?

Here's the scope...

Up to this point this project has been called a "design exercise" to show off Merc's engineering capabilities. my take is they would not forge new heads for the hell of it, So I would expect to see more of this platform from Merc.

From what I was told by someone very close to this project (I'll leave his name and position out for his sake), they have not run this setup yet, they just completed it before SEMA. Obviously offering less maintenance and increased reliability, with a system like this you'd need to really spin it to see the major power improvements over the GM design. They are thinking 8000 rpm and 800hp NA is very possible with this setup. What surprised me was he said they are looking at selling this setup as a kit. He said they are thinking $4k for the heads bare with the conversion pieces. $10k for complete heads and system. $20k for complete engine with those heads and DOHC covnersion. Sounds reasonable to me, but obviously they aren't for sale yet at those prices so we will see what hits the market and and at what price point.

The way they added the drive system was pretty slick, they basically just spaced out the factory accessories with nice aluminum bracketry and installed their drive system behind them.

Here's some more info and pics:

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...psa2eb880d.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...psb449b463.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps138c948b.jpg


Now what I would really like to see is for Merc (or someone else) to develop a similar kit for the BBC!!!!! ;)

well thats not gonna fit in a vette to easily.

and if everyone has a hard on for 4 valves per,,why not just go this route. http://www.araoengineering.com/

you guys want to cry,,wait till you lose a bearing or 2 and your upper end oil passages to those cams get plugged.things like to gall up real fast and stop stuff in the upper end.
half my work is fixing foreign heads.