Offshoreonly.com - 454 & 496 Match?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbkski (Post 2009602)

If you throw enough money at a problem you may find a
solution. I went through this for 18 months. I could not find
anyone who would do my 7.4L MPI to 496HO project. The
496 block is different from the 454/502 block at the mounts
and exhaust. General boat mechanics do not want to get
involved. Do not spend all the money on a new 496 or take out
502 engine if you are going to sell the boat in 1 year.
Find a take out engine like yours. I just sold my low hour
7.4L MPI for a steal. If you get lucky it will be the best deal.
However if you put a good 502 Mag into your boat like I am
doing to my Cobalt 233, I doubt you will want to sell the boat
after a year. Your 232 will fly with the 502. I can not wait to
get my engine project completed. There is a nice 502 MPI in
the classified ads now. If you go the 502 route you can buy a
closed cooling kit. I too wanted a new 496HO because it is the
newest technology and comes with the warranty, but I gave
up due to the costs and the hassles. Do a search of this issue.
There have been many good discussions concerning this
repower project. Good luck.

Thanks for the kind information. I'm sure that with a nice wax job and a 502 with a bit of prop, I could possibly see the 70's; but one step at a time. The reason for the upgrade is that I'm beat up at the end of a day in the ocean. I can't get much over 35MPH without things getting scary for my passangers (I'm fine with it). Anyway, thanks. I'll narrow in my search for a quality 502.