Not a performance boat but need ideas
 

I have a 34 Silverton Express @20,000lbs with 454/350hp. Went out for a ride and lost an engine. It will need replacing it looks as of now. My idea is to go with a stock 502 carbed or 496 carbed. I would need a set of whatever if I change from the stock 454. It's a V-drive and I feel underpowered as it stands now. If I had the dollars I would go disel but don't have the cash for that change over.
It ran about 22 mph at 3200rpms. and would topout at almost 30.

Any help or offers for the boat, it has all the goodies........

Re: Not a performance boat but need ideas
 

The 496 will be nice with it's closed cooling. But, you maybe already had that on your 454s. The would give you about 150 more hp total. On a performance boat that would give you about a 7mph gain. Your hull is much less efficient. Maybe half that? 3 0r 4 mph gain.

Re: Not a performance boat but need ideas
 

Make sure you check the hp rating on your transmissions!! I have a similar boat and have from time to time considered making minor 'improvements'. That was until I learned my hurth v-drives are only rated for 310hp.

Re: Not a performance boat but need ideas
 

My dad used to have one of those. I thought it weighed more like 12,000 lbs.

Anyway, you want to change one motor to a 496 or a 502, but not the other motor?

Re: Not a performance boat but need ideas
 

diesel power for the big heavy stuff is the way to go

Re: Not a performance boat but need ideas
 

No it would be both. The 1989 was 11,500 lbs in 1990 the boat had a major change over and went to 38'6" overall. and the weight jumped top 16,500 dry. It's a much larger boat than the older ones. It's also has a 13'6" beam.

Re: Not a performance boat but need ideas
 

Torque is the real transmission killer, not the hp. But what rpm were you topping out at ? A gas 502 or 496 will want to be able to turn near 5000 rpm for you to be able to use what they were built to do. Of course you already know that the diesel choice is the best one for your application, cause they will give you the best cruise power and fuel economy. But it is that terrible up-front $ to be considered. Guess I would be thinking that I was going to keep that rig for a real long time before doing that. --- Jer

Re: Not a performance boat but need ideas
 

My dad's was a '91 or '92 i think, white and burgandy. Crusader 454's, v-drives. There was a 34x and a 38x... i don't think the 34x was quite that long, although it was kind of a big 34. I thought it weighed less than that, but i never weighed it and he got rid of it maybe 10 years ago, so who knows.

Anyways, if you're going to put motors in it, i don't think you're going to see much of a difference going with 496's or 502's. If anything, just freshen up the 454's with a few minor performance upgrades. If you want to spend serious money, go diesel.

For the size of that boat, the current cruising / top end performance is pretty decent.