Thanks Revelocity,

it looks like i will be drilling to be on the safe side..what about the safety sensor, at least that is what i think it is, as u can see i missing one on the other side of the intake, anyone know where i could get one. i believe the # on the temp sensor was 66 and i also saw S1 not sure if that means anything..

and any suggestions on a good fuel pump i was thinking the Holly pump with regulator. but i'm open for suggestions, needs to be a min. of 6 psi's and would the stock one work as well..

thanks Q

I am thinking about going with the Holley Blue Pump, any suggestions,

thanks

qaberdeen, I am not sure what/why you would have to drill the intake to use the updated Merc. style therm. housing. I didn't have to do anything extra to use mine. The large hose nipple on the front (left fron if looking at the front of the motor) is from the circ. pump, the one directly across from it is for the incoming water from the sea pump, and the two smaller ones on the rear of the housing go to the bottom of each exhaust manifold. Saved what seemed to be 5 lbs. and 2 extra hoses. Really cleaned up the front of the motor!!

As far as the fuel pump, I am not a fan of the holley pumps because of too many problems (on cars anyway). If you have the ability to run a mech. pump, that is the way I would go. If not, I would recommend an Aeromotive pump! Again, just my opinion!!

As for the pulleys, looks like a pretty sweet set up to me!!

I don't have any clear pics of the therm housing and mine is a small block!!

Thanks DKerns,

i was thinking the same, but i'm still having mixed feelings of drilling, but the engine builder said to drill it, but i was just seeking some different opinions.

oh, thanks for the pics, the engine looks sweet...

q

As far as the prop question, I have almost the same horsepower in my 260 and run a labbed 28 P Bravo 1 prop by BBlades.

The issue is that you won't have water circulating through the engine (it has no place to exit the engine) until the thermostat opens which leads to uneven heat distribution, hot spots (heads) and in rare cases steam pockets while the engine is heating up. That's why Mercury and Merc Racing engineered a bypass as a safeguard on their motors.

You can experiment by drilling a hole or two in your T-Stat to allow some water to flow through to help mitigate the issue. Too much hole flow through and the T-Stat might not open so work your way up.

ReVelocity,

Should i use the standard connecotr that was on my 7.4l MPI and hose

Revelocity, I am not doubting you, but what "bypass" is required?? I ordered all new hoses for my boat when I put it together and there were no bypass hoses. I also put a motor in a 98 boat recently that had the same therm housing O.E. and didn't have any bypass hoses and didn't have a hole in the thermostat.

Looking at the newer 454's like qaberdeen had in his boat, they don't show any bypass hoses either?? Looking for positive info so I know what I need/should do!! I also don't want to mislead qaberdeen!!

This is a pic of the bypass coming up from the recir pump.. although this is not my setup, my engine came with the connector on top of the recir pump, and when i enquired about it, i was told to drill the intake manifold for the bypass hose..

thanks again for the comments.

Dkerns,

am i going to use #24 in your pics for my applicaion. it's the cooler power/steering oil cooler..

thanks