cloudmaster_321

Hi all, i have been reading many posts in here about the pros and cons of upgrading a 330 454. I myself are one of the people with a very tight budget. I also like to tinker with the boat and would like to do just a little something to my engine. I am going to take off the stock flame arrester and put on a k & n, but i know it won't do much. I would like to change out my intake to possibly an aluminum one. My boat will be only in fresh water. I understand that the stock is cast and lined with brass? I also know that i have no room for a higher intake and will be sticking with the q-jet for the time being. Is there a specific intake that i can get? Thanks for the help, i know i'm a newbie and this has been discussed a million times.

ECeptor

I'm running a 1989 330hp 454 and a limited budget also.

The best advice I've read here and on HotBoat is to give the ol' gal a good tune up, put synthetic oil in both the engine and outdrive and take any $$$ left over and invest them until you can afford to do something totally new. Changing any 1 or 2 things on the 330 will net you nearly nothing.

I'm saving my dollars for a ground up 454 with a goal of 550hp. When I'm ready to go on it I'll wait for the end of the season, pull the 330 and sell it, then use that money towards the new engine.

Seriously, tune it up, go synthetic and enjoy your very reliable engine!!!

formula31

Well, if height is a problem you will be very limited. I have the same problem and use Edelbrock Torker 2 intakes (the lowest I have found). They have a holley square bore pattern however. You wont pick up much without other mods.

Edward R. Cozzi

If you get rid of the MerCruiser cast-iron exhaust manifolds and risers and try some Stainless Marine ones. You'll take off some weight and gain some performance.

You'll know when you're making more horsepower when you turn your same props more RPM.

If you gain enough RPM that you need more propeller; THEN you know you've spent your money wisely.

Pat McPherson

I had a 330 in my 1989 Pantera that I did a bit of tinkering to...
Edelbrock did make a Q-Jet Performer intake for peanut port heads, but I'm not sure if they still do. If not, Weiand does make one that will except a square or spread bore carb.
Better flowing exhaust, like Stainless Marine, is probably the best bolt on to increase performance.
Between the new intake, better exhaust, and K&N, you will notice a difference. My boat gained about 200rpm and 2-3mph with these changes.
The following year I rebuilt the engine with a little hotter cam and gained another 200rpm...
Have Fun!

Whiteknuckle

I have an Aluminum Edelbrock Performer intake manifold for the peanut heads made to use with a q-jet. If you are interested give me an e-mail. It is just sitting on the shelf in my garage.

cloudmaster_321

Is it new or used. Is it the same height as my stock intake or is it taller?

cloudmaster_321

Is the cam you used something that can be added without rebuilding with modified pistons/connecting rods. I wouldn't mind doing a cam on mine if i could keep the reliability.

Whiteknuckle

It is a used manifold but in excellent condition. It may be a touch higher than stock, I would have to measure it. You may be able to make up the difference with a shorter but larger diameter flame arrestor. I also have some bowl ported bare peanut port heads machined for larger valves, and some EMI manifolds. All in great shape. The engine made 422 HP with those peanuts with gobs of throttle response. I would like to sell all that stuff!
Yes, you can add a cam with the cast pistons and rods. You have to stay conservative though. When we built that particuliar engine my son was doing all the work at a major engine developement company he works for. One of the GM engineers that was in charge of one of thier programs was talking to my son after work. My son said his dad, (me) could not make up his mind if we should change the pistons or not with a 425 HP goal. The engineer said, if it was me I would pop those cast pistons right back in. Well, we didn't, but we went to a set of hypernutectics but the cast would have probably worked just fine. We did however change the rod bolts to ARP's. With all of that said, you should limit your RPM to about 5000.

Wobble

check out the latest Teague on tech article http://www.powerboatmag.com/teague/index.php

re 454 upgrades