engines, engines and more engines
 

whats best, pound for pound.......ZUL, Chief, Hawk Power, Sterling, Merc Racing????others???

ZUL IS GREAT, I HEAR CHIEF IS IMPECCABLE AS WELL

power vs. durability for cubic inch?

ZUL HAS A NEW 775 THAST AWESOME

I've had Hawk, Carolina, Mercury, and Zul. Zul all the way.

Mercury is God though. You can run the living " " out of them. They just need to fill the gap between the 525 and the 900.

Is the KE line still being built?

righton troutly

Innovation marine does pretty dang good as well. Good enough that the government gives them a lot of buisness.

Tomy at chief by far

What about Pfaff? Never heard anything but good about his engines.

Sterling's owner quoted in Powerboat that Keith Eckert would be his #2 pick.

The west coast boys surely will chime in on his engines- I think D-Man got an insane amount of hours out of a pair of Pfaff 900SC's.......

Dependable ! he, he, he.....
 

That sir would be an oxymoron :D

As long as you run a 1450hp on $6.00 a gal. fuel, rebuild the heads, restrip the blowers, and check the bearings every 15 to 20 hrs. they are fairly dependable.

Oh, and throw pretty much every thing away after the third "freshening" or 50 - 60 hrs ( not that any have ever lasted that long) ;) :D :eek:

Hey , if ya wana go 149 in a V thats the ONLY way. So how fast did you say you wanted to go again? :D

Re: Dependable ! he, he, he.....
 

What do you know ???:D ;) :p :crazy:

Re: Re: Dependable ! he, he, he.....
 

TOO MUCH !!!

I have 50 hours on our 1200 Sterlings, and wouldn't buy from anyone else.

hawk power HA!!!!!!!!!!

you must be reffering to the origonal hawk power that biult engines for cigs in the 90s and NOT the "todd cimmino" hawk power.

I'v been hearing Pfaff or Zul is the way to go.......

I have heard a lot of good things from Cobra Power!

A local distributor just told me that Sonic is using them now and that Randy is offering a one year warranty!

Some guys on Lake Norman are running them and they seem to hold up well.

www.cobrapower.com

[email protected]

http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/0/4/56327704.htm

1100 snake power 126mph

Anyone ever hear of a company called Torxx? I saw an outerlimits with two of them.....

Sterling,Pfaff,Teague,Chief all great engine builders!!!!!
But what about HP for the $$$$$$.

When you compare engines from some of these guys you can get a variance of maybe $10,000 for something in the 600 or 700 horsepower range. What gives with such a big difference in pricing? By the way I still am interested in the discussion of who is the best of the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Throw Tyler Crockett in there also. Just pick up a Hot Boat mag and read about his motors.

Will;)

If you have time, ability and a great machine shop then I would assemble my own engines. There is something very satisfying about this procedure. And very rewarding when you are running your powerboat at speed listening to that engine, and feeling that power!
Lets hope for a early spring!

I am a believer in Pfaff motors for the following reasons
I own a Pfaff motor 468ci that is 20 yrs old. Same rods, crank, block and heads. The last 3 yrs I have logged about 1000 hrs. Every yr it gets freshened up and the only failier I have had I caused myself, Detonation.
565hp@5400 10.5-1.
He now builds 1300+hp that will run on 87 oct.

1000 hrs in 3 yrs? You don't charter fish any do ya? !!

all of the above keith eickert built great power that also had the best accesories.:D

Steerling, Cheif,MRD,and Eickert will be in there someplace when he's building again. There are a lot of people out there building big hp motors.

Back a few years ago 1hp per cubic inch is where you have a turn key motor for up to about 500 hours. I feel now that a 575-625 cubic inch motor making about 1000 hp will live 300 hours with a valve spring change at 150 hours. There are a lot of factors to mix in with that but it can be done.

I have a season on my Cobra motors in my Jaguar and have had great luck with the motors and any problems or questions were handled quickly and easily by Randy. Stand up guy that likes fast boats, a good combo for a motor builder. Doug

at the risk of sounding obvious, seems like all the top names build good motors....I guess any way you go, the power is reliable if well maintained

I heard a rumor Eickert might be going to Hustler building motors???

Keith is not working right now. Ther whole issue with KEPP and him will soon be resolved and he should be back to work producing engines.

Of course Sterling said that they would pick Eickert second, they are building motors for Julie and she accessorizes them with KE parts!!! You get a Sterling not a Keith.

These Are All Good Builders But...
 

Sterling absolutely builds the best big HP motors, period. If ya want big power to talk about or show off , save your money. If you plan on using ALL of the power for extended periods, in race like conditions,( especially if it's hot) there is no other choice. Mike builds nothing but serious power, he's up front about the necessary "maintenance" ( we ain't talking oil changes here;) ) and his customer base accepts it as part of the cost to play at this level. I've been dealing with Sterling for six years for my race and "pleasure" boats, it's funny to listen to others talk about how he's overpriced, but if they really "use" their engines they all eventually step up to Sterlings.

BTW any thought of REAL 1000hp engines lasting three hundred hours with just valve springs is absurd. I think it's a disservice to those considering making a move to such power to have any expectations like that. There is always an exception or "story" about some incredible longevity but if ya got the power you're gonna use it, and when you do, it wears out, with blower motors cylinder pressure is cylinder pressure there ain't no magic.

I speak from experience not hearsay, I've worn out alot of big inch motors, and all of the sets together wouldn't equal 300 hrs. However I must quantify that by saying I'm totally addicted to blowerwine and speed :D :D

Chief Engines. Just add gas as there are no problems.

Ive had two sets of triples from Eickert awesome reliable power for the doller, 502/700"s 250 hours still running great when i yanked them out, current motors tall deck 540's / 825's and 830 #s 5.5 #s boost they make the power easy. 127 hours so far run as good as the day we put them in , his place was like walking into a hospital , impeccable workmanship! Excellant crew that worked there.

If you are mister poker run and run hard all day long, yes you will kill them fast. If you are Joe boater then with proper up keep you can make them live. You will have to pop the valve covers off every now and then to check things out and have some idea of how to drive and take care of a motor. My time's come from the builders, they all don't like to run them that long,It's a lot nicer to refresh than rebuild, but they all said they have a lot of people that do get that much time out of them. But 1000hp is about the max to get that much time out of them.

CHIEF AND COBRA
 

I BUILD MY OWN POWER AND HAVE A REPUTABLE MACHINE SHOP DO ALL MY MACHINE WORK.
HOWEVER,I KNOW TOMMY FROM CHIEF AND
RANDY FROM COBRA.BOTH ARE GREAT AT WHAT
THEY DO AND DO IT WELL SO THEY BOTH ARE
MY CHOICES IN ENGINE BUILDING.

Facts is Facts
 

Joe boater don't typically spend $250,000K on engines, trans, #6's and props. If you roll on that kind of cash you probably can afford and expect to go fast. It's the second owner that typically doesn't know what he's in for. I have watched guys get in over their heads for years based on the " I'll run it easy and it'll last another 150 hrs" myth and it's a shame.

Big numbers are all over this board, but the facts behind those numbers are in short supply. :rolleyes:

When you start them:D

Re: These Are All Good Builders But...
 

Wicked has all of this 100% correct.
Piston engines= very old technology, especially pushrod valve train piston engines.
A crapload of parts trying to beat their way out of an enclosed can.:D
Supercharged? A crapload of parts trying to beat their way out of a can with a lot of compressed air in it.:D

I don't dislike recip engines guys, however I would never work on them for a living (I'm a turbine guy :) )
Since I wrench for a living, I prefer to enjoy my boating, so I'll stick with stock power- it's always treated me well.:D
I do love that sound too, however.......;)
Jim