Raylar 600 HO
 

New to the sight, iv been looking for a new boat and will be looking to upgrade the power on what ever I buy. I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has experience with the 600 ho from raylar. I know the 525 ho kit had a bad rap because of the stock internals. But I'm thinking about the 600 ho with the 511ci steel crank. I'm thinking it should be a stout motor that would push a sunny 288 mcob or islander 252 pretty well and last for a while.

Personally I'd forget the 496 and go with a 502 based engine but that's just me ...

SD fever, Keith Atlanta, are members who have run the HO600 setups. Search their usernames for more info.

The HO600's beef up the only downside to the 496 platform. The weak stock rotating assembly. In marine trim they dyno around 640hp. The stock heat exchanger can be reused. The stock Merc oil cooler and cool fuel setup is not capable of supporting the HO600. They need upgraded.

I am running Raylar's 80mm CoolGap intake and stainless roller rockers. Both very nice pieces. I have their 203 cam on the shelf. It's ground by CamMotion. Quality is there.

If you are starting with a 496 platform it's hard to beat the Raylar setups. If starting with a 502 based platform I would not swap in a 496.

Good reading.....

https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-q/330907-why-gen-7-496-such-bad-platform-build.html

Thank you baja dan, that thread is great info.

does anyone know a good builder in the north east that has experience with the raylar products?

It comes down to personal preference. I did spreadsheets comparing the two a dozen times. Basically its a wash, you will be within $1000 if you do it RIGHT either way. There are a lot of parts available for the 496, dont forget, its was in thousands of trucks but you will have all Raylar internals anyway. Also, Summit has the SCAT rods and diamond pistons for the 496 too. Raylar has a 600 cam and an even bigger one if you prefer. As far as the Raylar package mine has about 200 hours on it. Nothing internal is stock. Aftermarket, crank, conn rods, pistons, timing chain, rockers - all Raylar stuff. I did however buy 2 new sets of OEM chevy injectors. (Delco I think, cant remember) Scrap the stock fuel pressure regulator and do the Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump and regulator. I did the Whipple for Raylar ECU tune than checked it/fine tuned it with an 02 sensor. Mine dynoed at 640 with accessories running water in engine but dyno headers and tricking the exhaust thermostats.

A local machine shop bored it .060 and align honed to Raylars specs, I assembled the rest specifically to Raylars recommended specs. Just do what Larry tells you to do, as close as you can, and you'll be fine. Its really not that hard, dont let a shop talk you into other specs or mixing parts. Do what Larry tells you to do and it will be just fine.

I wish I did the 540 stroker kit, and I really really wish i did a DART block with the 540 stroker and the 4.5 inch bore. But, mine are running, I have more problems with XR drives so more horsepower would have just been more problematic. Let me know if you need pictures or discuss some of the problems I ran into.

The only problem with that is somebody has to sit down and select crank, conn rods, pistons, size the oil cooler and then SPEC a cam and deal lord heads. We all know that picking out a cam and heads will a sword fight to the death. LOL

Or, you get a Bob Madera cam and you end up with 440 HP, and 100 questions about valve lift, valve timing, quench, combustion chamber size, runner volume..... Etc because somebody changed ONE component in the package it ends up a mess. Of course I am exaggerating, but it has happened.

Or, call Raylar, the kit shows up at your door, you assemble it and you have 600HP fuel injected.

Or, give up boating (easiest and cheapest but not likely)

Give Larry @ Raylar a call. He can steer you in the right direction.

Most overlook other benefits of the 496 vs earlier BBC's. Closed cooling, symmetrical cylinder head ports, revised firing order, 18cyl head bolts, engine guardian.