Need help choosing a motor....
 

Hey guys....

I am thinking about picking up an old 19ft. Donzi setup for BBC. If I were to get it, I would need to get a complete motor. There is no block right now, but includes Bravo 1 drive.
What would be my best bet as far as the motor goes?? Id like to see the boat go at least 60-65. What kind of horsepower would I need to do that.

Anyway, I was looking for some good suggestions for crate motors. Or should I just looks for a stock motor for sale? Looking any and all suggestions.
I have never owned a boat before, but my father has always owned one, including a Cigarette 28SS currently and would like to get something of my own as I will be living on the water with the next month. I appreciate any help, but have to make a decision on this boat very soon, so any help is great!
Thanks!! Chris

You won't need a whole lot of HP to make a 19ft boat run 65. Almost any 454 (or bigger) will get you there if it has decent HP. Just shop for the best deal you can...

Thanks cignificant.....

I definitely can see what your talking about... So something like 350HP were thrown in there, how fast do you think it could run?

Anyway, does anyone have good sources for crate motors or somewhere they sell some used marine engines??
Thanks again
Chris

You may want to look for a complete takeout. The brackets, pulleys, fittings etc. needed to make a crate motor into complete will eat you alive.

Chris,

I have a 468 with ported oval port heads, dart single plane intake. Just rebuilt (rings, bearings-rod/main/cam)
cam is crane marine perf. , I can get you a number.
The motor should be in the area of 400 horse. Would need exhaust, a carb, and ignition. I'm thinking about 2500.00 or so. Let me know if interested.

Bryan 585-865-0111

Chris,

Lots of things to consider on your Donzi. First of all if you only have the drive, be sure to check the drive for any pre-used issues. In other words, make sure your gears are in good shape to deal with the stress of every day use! The later production Barvo One drive is designed to handle up to 400hp. Any more than that distributed to the drive and someone in your area that runs a service shop will be happy to see you on a monthly basis! Longblocks for that model year are redidly available, but be wise on assembly! Don't try to re-invent the wheel. Mercruiser spends millions every year on R & D........go off of their data, start to rebuild to factory specs and then you can tweek a little from there to give you a dependable power package. Any Merc platinum shop can advise you on factory spec data.

ohiobaja

Thanks for all the replies guys....
The drive has been rebuilt. Hopefully with some stronger parts, but who knows for sure.

Bryan....That sounds about the price range I'd like to be in.
Shoot me an email with the specs you can think about and where you are located and if it can be shipped.

These are my experiences...

When I started re-building boats the first one I did was a 1980 20' Sea Ray. It was a log, to say the least. I rebuilt the 350 in it - nothing radical - and had that boat running upper-50s.

I then moved on to a 18' Formula. I built a 406 SBC for it, and had it running mid-70's with throttle left (I never had the balls to run it WOT).

I think a nice SBC would be the ticket for your boat. With the Bravo drive and less weight you'd have a nice rig. But if you have all of the "bolt ons" for a BBC it could raise the price.

What model Donzi?

Great deals can be had on 95-2000 502EFI/MPI complete drop-in engines. A stock 502 in that boat would be great. Cruise RPM would be low and reliability is as good as it gets.

For the price and your application, I can't think of a better combination.

Goodluck. That's a great boat.