Lets talk about Raylar
 

Gents some advice if you please; I am looking at a boat powered with 496 HOs wi- Raylar Big Power CNC aluminum cylinder heads,Raylar's full-roller rockers,BP-206 Max Effort Camshafts and Pistons. Aeromotive fuel system with upgraded injectors. Between 100-200 hours. The problem: love the boat, like to run WOT very occassionaly, butI really dont need all the power and would prefer a reliable, EZ maintenance setup. The Question: Since i dont have a heavy foot but i do like to cruise pretty fast, maybe 3500-4000 RPM. Given my preference for reliability, am I insane to consider these Raylar motors? Raylars- run from them like a scalded dog or reliable if not beat on? Thanks.

I didn’t think they were really anymore maintenance than any other performance engine. The normal routine maintenance checks and replacements etc. I wouldn’t let them be any deal breaker and you’ll be happier in the long run. Otherwise whatever you get engine wise you’ll be wanting to upgrade after a season. JMO

Probably the same answers as you got here https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...ot-raylar.html

Deja Vu

That remains to be seen. In any case all pertinent responses to this thread will be very much appreciated, as they were on the last.

It sounds like you want stock power, but this boat has massively modified motors. All you can do is get all the information about the motors and make an informed decision. Sounds like they used the right parts, but who put the motors together? Someone with experience? You say between 100-200 hours on the motors or since the the Raylar kit was installed? A delta of 100 hours is a lot. Are you going to maintain them? If not, is your marina or mechanic ok with Raylar built 496's? Get a survey, leak down test, go run them if you can.

If the motors were built correctly, maintained correctly, run correctly there is no reason to think they won't continue to run, especially if you are planning on running them reasonably.

Raylar gear, when installed correctly and maintained correctly are just fine.

lol'ing at the multiple threads...

Good point. im not wrenching on em so that is a question I should ask of my local shop. I may have to take the boat to Houston for maintenance.

The 496HO platform is a very reliable, long hour running engine in general. There are some weaknesses we've seen over time, however not common. These are piston failures, sometimes rods. The stock fuel system has had issues also. Those Raylar kits addressed those weaknesses. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase these, especially since they have run 100+ hours. In my experience if something is going to fail it's generally at low hours after someone worked on it or modified it.

said no one ever and yeah don`t we all.

I’m gonna wait for the 3rd identical thread to chime in technically again.

Lol. I sense skepticism. Would it help if i said Im an old man and would be quite happy with a 70 mph boat to take the Granchilrens for rides?

If that's the case, get stock 496ho's. ​​​​​​​

lol

​​​​​​​That is my preference. Unfortunately opportunities to do so are few and far between.

I had a 2003 496 HO with a complete raylar package installed. The stock motor was swapped at 50 hrs in 2003 with the raylar 496. When this swap was done you do a exchange with raylar for a complete ready to drop in package. The boat is still around on our lake a running as good as ever. Just routine maintenance done every year on it. It's around 700ish hrs on it last time I saw the owner.

1. If the boat is still available in this market there might be something wrong with it.
2. I have a set of them, they run very well. Once the original owner replaced everything (specifically forged pistons) they have very similar characteristics as Mercury 525's - they way they run are very reliable assuming the company who built them did it correctly. The cam is basically the same as the 525 and it yields roughly the same power and torque as well as the way they sound.

Don't they require premium fuel?

The one I had ran always had 87 ran through it and still does.

Depends on what tune Whipple puts in the ECU.

What were the issues with the pistons and rods. For some reason I was thinking the pistons were the same as a 454 mag engine (forged) Not certain what rods they used however if rods are a weak point then there’s got to be other “trouble makers” going on. Takes a lot to break a rod!

I presume it's for how much HP it makes?

Nope, 10:1 with Aluminum heads. Both Ray and Dustin told me depending on how much advance and aggressive the tune was it could go either way.

You can read all this on Raylar's website. The stock pistons are a weak point, and usually fail at the thin ring lands which are very close to the top of the piston. They offer their 540 HP kit using the stock pistons and rods. Their 600HP kit comes with forged piston upgrade with deeper valve reliefs as well as forged I beam connecting rods. They have supercharged version well north of 700 HP as well as 540 cubic inch stroker kits using an upgraded block.

Appreciate the comments. Well, the on topic comments anyway:)

I disagree with market comment. I've seen a lot of decent boats for sale not move and starting to see lots of price drops. The market for these single purpose go-fast boats isn't what it was in 2020 or 2021.

Im not in the market but I saw a Formula 35 w outboards, believe it was 2 years old in Boca on Facepoop. It was listed for $499,000. No offence to Formula owners but I can think of a lotta other boats for $499. Of course this was for sale and not sold but the Florida boat market is nutty.

The pistons are hypereutectic, not forged. There's an urban myth that the HO motors had forged pistons, that is not true. The rods are "powdered metal", with an odd size 1.062" piston pin. Many convert to the standard BBC .990" piston pin sized aftermarket 6.7" forged rods and Wiseco makes pistons that fit the .990" size pin for the 496s. They have also made a larger valve relief and moved the top ring down for strength.

A select few of the first year 496HO engines had a forged Kellog crankshaft, after that everything was cast. Generally speaking most consider the stock cast crank to be good up to around 750HP.

Valve springs are the biggest weakness on the heads, they have about 90lbs seat pressure.