I have a chance to pick up an old late 60's/early 70's 327 marine engine for cheap, out of a twin screw boat. I was told that my th350 will bolt right up to it, and the engine mounts are all the same as my 220,000 mile 305. I was also told that I may have to change the oil pan and filter on this to get it to work in my car, as well as the cam I would think (for street application).

Does anyone know much about the diferences between a marine engine and the standard 327's? I think they are the exact same block. Wondering about the heads. PLEASE HELP!!!! This was recently rebuilt and is real cheap, so it seems like a good cheap solution.


THANKS,

chuck_lambert@hotmail.com

Be sure to check the water jacket passages on any marine engine. They have a real bad tendency to corrode, and eat aluminum parts!

Chuck,
The marine motors are very similar to the car motors.
Tha cams are a little different but not enough to worry about. The big problem in your case is that in a twin engine boat, most of teh time, one engine is reverse rotation. Make sure the motor you are getting is the correct rotation for a car (clockwise when viewed from the front of the motor). Some boats used transmissions to reverse the output of one motor, in that case either motor will work. The other big problem, as Doug brought up, is corrosion. If the motor was "river" water cooled, I would stay away from it like the plague. If it had antifreeze in the engine and a water to water heat exchanger, then it should be ok.
Also, keep in mind that most marine engines have seen a pretty hard life. They are under a constant, full load...sort of going up a big hill that never ends. Usually after a 300 or so hours of use, they are pretty well worn out. Unless the motor is free, you would do better putting your money towards a known good automotive engine.

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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

[This message has been edited by BillK (edited 05-07-2000).]

You can get a brand new Goodwrench target master engine for about $1200. to $1400. It has a 50 thousand mile warranty good at any gm dealer, and makes good power and torque. You can't beat it. You could slip in a better cam if you want a little more power, but the cam that comes in it is pretty good.

You won't save any money fooling with that other engine, even if it's free!
David

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The older I get, the faster I was!

Okay. Here's the deal. The engines belong to a friend of a friend. I'll be looking at them soon. This guy bought the boat and pulled the two 327's, had them rebuilt, and ran them for no more than an hour. The boat never made it to sea with the rebuilt engines because he discovered that the hull was dry-rotted or something, so the boat was junked and the engines were pulled. I don't know how detailed of a rebuild (and machine work ?) was done nor wether the cooling system was from river water or antifreeze.
My connections say that this guy will probably get rid of them for between $300 and $500 because he has nothing to do with them. Keep in mind that they never were put in the water after the rebuild.

Also, (keep in mind I'm on a tight budget) if I get this and the water jackets are corroded, I can get a 327 block off of the guy who painted my car for like $75 or so...
I'll keep this stuff in mind. I also talked to another guy at a machine shop who builds both marine and auto engines, here's what he said:
beware of the boat eng from the sea
might be a anchor...
the difference between the boat and car engines/long blocks is the boat needs boat gaskets, boat/tow truck cam, brass freeze plugs,and a reverse cam & timing gear set for some boats with two engines.


I'll check out the water jackets if possible, and try to find out wether it was cooled with lake water or antifreeze. With this info, what do you guys think? If it used antifreeze as opposed to river water, do you think it would be worth getting? Mainly considering the wear and tear you mentioned. Consider that it was rebuilt also, and never used since (but it is approx. from 1970).... Any guesses?


THANKS!

If you've got more time than money, and some friendly help, it might be OK.
Take a good look for corrosion.
If you rotate the damper clockwise (standing in front of the engine) the rotor should move clockwise. That's a normal engine.
If you turn it clockwise and the rotor goes the other way, you've got to change the cam. Or maybe just change the cam drive. I'm not shure how they do it.
David

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The older I get, the faster I was!

Chuck,
I have to agree with Dave, the Goodwrench motor is a better all around deal. By the time you get done with the 327's you will probably wish you had left them alone. Take the word of someone who has seen plenty of marine stuff.
By the way, just to educate everyone, the distributors on all the (Chevy) marine motors always turn clockwise. They have to because the oil pumps are the same on both normal and reverse rotation motors. The cams always turn the same direction as normal (on Chevy motors, Chryslers are another story) that is why the reverse rotation motors use a gear drive, it turns the cam opposite the crank rotation.
Hope this helps,

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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

So when I look at these two engines, if the owner doesn't know which is which, how do I tell which one is reverse rotation?

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll look at them pretty good to check out for corrosion. If it all looks good (water jacket passages), then my only concerns would be with the wear on the engine from the high rpm long term loads on the bottom end.It was just rebuilt, so I would assume they would have replaced anything that was bad. Basically, I would have to buy a new cam and timing chain, and some miscelanious stuff plus the engine. I'll try and dicker with this guy on price with some of the info you guys have given me. The only other factor is that if the heads are old, it probably doesn't have hardened valve seats so I'd run into trouble running normal gas in the long run. I could use my 305 heads in that case, but I'd want to have them rebuilt or rebuild the 327 heads with hardened valve seats. This is where the goodwrench targetmaster motor might be a lot better. too much machine work will bring the price up to close to that of the new 350.

Where on the net can I find info on these new GM engines? This will really help me.

My main thing is that I only make like $17K a year as a bike mechanic, and I am on a tight budget, but have a dad and a roommate that are both mechanics and have time to help me a lot...