Jay man I could be wrong but I do not think that you use silicone on the new ones.

Jon

just a thought but cant you prime the motor by turning the distibutor drive with a drill? I had to do this with a rebuilt 440 in my car

hey , What are friends for ?

I would not crank that motor over just to prime it with oil. Get an oil pump primer ( a cut up old distributor works best ) or even one of those store bought units and crank that oil pump with a drill. It makes no sense to let the internals of a fresh motor go around with water instead of oil.

Use sand paper on both surfaces. They need to be as clean as new. Sand them so they shine. Use the new Merc gaskets and do not overtighten them. The sanding is the most important part.

Sorry to here about your 'GOOD' help ! Make sure you drain all the oil from the pan ! Water will be on the bottom so pull the plug no matter what it takes . Then dump a quart or 2 in and drain it again before priming it . This will flush ALL the water out . It is worth wasting a couple quarts of oil . I would also use a drill . Don't turn the motor with water in it . Mark your distributer before removing it . Also make sure it is back in right before starting it . Any extra cranking can wipe out a cam real quick and if it's in advance and turns hard it puts extra load and friction on the moving parts with no oil . Make sure it is close to the right timing position before cranking .It should fire right up .If not stop cranking and check things . Good Luck !

Dude, I feel for ya. I've been watching your problems on here
also. Don't forget the other motor. If he didn't clean the surfaces on one then he didn't on the other. Maybe why it didn't start right away.
Just do what everyone is telling you and I'm pretty sure it will be ok. With any good luck, (you are due) you should be back on the water soon.

Hey rockie, thanks bud
But get this
She has NEVER been out on the water
First and last time was about 4 minutes out of the marina and I broke the oil pan and that was it for last year
Now this, it is taking forever
I hope your right cause im DYING to get out there and I see all my NJPPC people doing all this stuff, poker runs, radar shoots, ect and im looking like a monkey F**king a football in the driveway on the trailer!!!
GOD please shine some light down here and make this thing wet this year and reliable a few runs PLEASE
Jason

its tom from njppc met you at dave and busters i live in richboro also would definitely prelube it before you fire it need any help email me

Autozone will loan you the primer tool for free. I use them all the time. It works very well and has the proper housing configuration on the bottom of the primer to thoroughly oil the whole engine.
I personnally think you are getting a little gun shy now. Fire the mofo up and get on with it. I've hit hard before while cranking a motor with hydrolock... hard enough to wipe out the gear on the starter... and had no engine related issues at all because of it.

Summers wasting.........

BT