I've got a 3500# 2007 Monterey 214FS with a volvo 5.0 GL. AFAIK its been treated well. I'm considering power up a bit with a 454 BB. Would the SX outdrive on that handle the power? We run lakes and rivers and I'm not really abusive to the hardware. I average about 60 hours per year.


Not sure how much extra weight is added by the big block - would the boat not sit right in the water any more?

Any other issues anyone can see with the big block route?

Aside from the motor (which is EFI) being complete from top to bottom, is there anything else i'll need? Will my gauges still work?

Looking at the pics, will it fit (width wise)?

Thanks for the insight.

Sell it and get something else.

aren't we constructive...

Well...are you sure it's going to fit? That would be my first question....headers etc....

You might want to take some measurements, all your gauges should work fine as the sending units aren't particular to what you have....

Since you're from the northeast, have your parents buy you an Outerlimits. If it's anything smaller than a 40, throw a temper tantrum and demand they buy you a larger one.

Scott: don't be mean to Dan...haha

first thing i would do is find someone that really knows the Volvo system front and back. But i would not cannibalize that boat, before i did that i would sale and look at something else.

turbocharge it and laugh at the other guys as you blow by on pump gas and get good milage to boot!

Its got a 5.0 L and a volvo penta so its already better than an OL your daddy or Girlfreind bought you

The SX is volvo's equivalent to Merc's Bravo or maybe a little better IMO so it should be fine......but


You will spend a fortune and actually lower the value of that boat. That era boat would be suited for a 496 but I'm sure it wasn't an option in a 21 footer.......certainly a 454 was not an option. So, that leads me to believe your planning on building a custom motor vs buying a stock Volvo. Getting it to "talk" to your controls could be interesting as it won't be "plug-n-play".

It might fit and comparing factory measurements of whatever you plan on building would be needed. I'd expect you'll spend $3-4K after you spend whatever $$$ building the motor. If you really want to cruise around 10 mph faster, the cheapest way is to just run the motor WOT and realize you'll be re-building it sooner than you'd like.

The absolute cheapest way to go faster is to sell this boat and buy a faster one.

yah, I 'll take that under advisement, thanks for the help genius.

Turbo is a real science project, not going there.

Probably right. I'm not looking for a huge step in power, a 5.7 would be just right and a true drop in. Actually, the next step in line would be just keeping the 5.0 and adding a 4 barrel carb & manifold, that would probably wake it up just fine. You have to envision the monterey with a captains call exhaust and a bit more motor; would be pretty sweet.