hi there I found a 354 Hemi overhere in the Netherlands, a rare find in my country. The history of this particulary engine is that it is a Marine engine, a very complete engine including the original wire loom. The engine was fitted in a wooden launch boat wich during transport slided of the truck onto the highway. That totalled the launchboat but did not harm the engine. The boat beeing a write of the engine was placed in a warehouse and sits there now for over 10 years minimum. Qustion is : how hard( expensive ) is it to convert it to car use ??? The engine has the good rotation and only 210 running hours on it. I asked the same question on several forums with mixed results meaning yes and no but sofar nobody gives me a clear answer and for the yes or the no. Can anybody help in this matter ??? some pictures :
I'm no expert but the engine doesn't know what its in so I don't know why, with some changes,it wouldn't work in a car.
Figure on a rebuild as it has sat for 10 years.The cam could be a reverse rotation,most were.Distributor is different,marine blocks had different frost plugs.Most were built for lower rpm useage and pistons could be dished.15 years ago I bought a 426 Hemi out of a boat and replaced everything except the block,heads and crank.Still running today.
Being as complete as it is and having a dual carburator setup I would assume that its value as a boat engine overshadows its potential value as a car engine. If I were you I would try to find out who restores wooden speed boats - ChrisCraft, Riva etc.- and try to sell it to those sources. These boats are high dollar and usually powered by what you have there. You may be sitting on gold.
to hell with that, stick that bastard in a model A and call it good. fill the cylinders up with some oil and spin it around a couple of times. Then put some new plugs in it and try firing it up.
A few things ...... again .... It doesn't know if it's in boat, tank, truck or car. You need to detirmine its rotation. Some twin & single boat engines ..... depending on its configuration (forwards/backwards & drive - front or rear). If it's a "normal" rotating engine then yard off all the marine issue parts & replace them with conventional auto items. If your intention is NOT to utilize it the boat source thing will be an avenue - try www.v-driveboat.com - I'm sure you'll find someone that can use it. Good score ...... good luck. PACO
Check the engine ID numbers at the 'front' of the block, on top, just ahead of the valley cover, to find out it's origin........whether always Marine/Industrial or car/truck based. The heads do not appear to be passenger/truck heads from '55 up as they do not have the water ports at the upper corners. The block is the '54 or later style without the integral bellhousing and the heads could be '54 also. It may be a 354 but how was that information obtained? If you find and post the ID numbers me or another HAMBer can look it up and at least you can learn what it began as. Ray
I'm with VonWegener, I know a guy who paid $10K for a 392 Hemi marine engine. He also owns one of the few Cadilac 331 3-dueces marine engines. Old wooden boats are a serious business.
Yes you can convert this engine over for automotive use however it may become costly. The marine engine uses a complex gearing system for timing, starter,water pump, etc. The marine crankshaft does not have the keyway or "step" to use an automotive timing gear so you need to use a car crank or pay huge money to weld up the crank and have it machined. Cam and dizzy need changing among other things. Probably more cost effective to start with a car engine. Keep the adjustable rockers and the intake and sell the rest to a boat restorer.
Worst case youd have to put a new cam/lifter and timing chain in her if it is reverse rotation. and thats not that expensive, im building a blown hemi, from top to bottom, thats expensive! pull off all that marine crap, get a hot heads timing cover/water pump conversion and run her, it wont be that expensive, and i wouldnt worry about it needing a rebuild, as long as it still turns over and there was no h2o in it. dont let everyone scare you off. JEFF
The heads must be special as they don't have the water block off plates. You might need to replace or redo them. The industrials have strange sodium cooled valves with 1/2" dia stems.
Hello Fred, as you can see the motor you have drives the marine gear off the front of the crankshaft. Be aware the crank has different type machine surfaces than an automobile motor. The marine accesories are gear driven. The crank will not accept an automotive timing gear or chain. You will have to use a automobile crankshaft or face extensive machining modifications. Also I think if you pull the wire covers you will find dimples on the valve covers, which will indicate adjustable rockers and solid lifters. These are sought after parts for high performance motors. There should be a metal tag on the motor (rivited on the block) that indicates H.P. This motor appears to be the same as the one I have with 2x4 carbs. The tag on mine indicates 250 H.P. The other thing to be aware of is the condition of the water jackets. If the motor was saltwater cooled it may have excessive corrosion issues. Don't be put off by these issues just figure them in the pricing. The motor appears to have been well cared for.
One thing you might try is to see if it will roll over and if it does hook up a battery and jog the starter. This will tell you if it's cw or ccw rotation. You only need to touch the starter to determine this, not roll it over and over. Frank
We rebuilt a 283 marine engine for a customer, had all the same crap on the front of the motor the hemi does, that motor still had a stock crank in it, i dont see whay if they have to fabricate the front shit why they would re-machine the crank, why wouldnt they design it around whats existing, i myself dont think the crank is different, but who know. JEFF
Fewer than half the marine engines were reverse rotation. Guys, he said "The engine has the good rotation", so it sounds like that particular question has already been answered.
It's worth alot to a boat restorer, so know that. If you do convert it, save EVERYTHING you have to change. Those water cooled headers will fetch a nice price for sure!
I thought the reverse rotation was used when they ran a pair of hemis in a twin screw application - most likely it is not reverse rotation.
Yep, that's right. Virtually all of the single-engined boat installations had the same rotation as the engines in the cars, and it was only the twin-screw marine where one of the engines ran "backwards".
Well- great find first off. I have seen marine motors converted by switching an automotive crank in them. But I know a guy who took a car lower gear and made several passes in the hub area with a welder to shrink the ID. Then machined it to the Industrial/Marine size and placed the key way into it. Then you have to index the #1 @ TDC and degree the Cam to match and set the chain and sprockets at that phase. Seems to work fine. The Cam/Crank relation is the one that matters and the chain cares not where it is. But I am in agreement on the Marine advice.It's probably super rare to start with in your country and you could probably sell it to the right wood boat guy and get enough to fund another. The manifolds alone are worth a mint even here. Even the goofy reverse rotation crankshaft and lifters are worth money for the boat guys. Tim
Cool engine! Marine Hemis are neat! A lot has already been said here in this thread. If you do a search you will find that it's been covered a few times already, here. As already mentioned, depends on rotation, you will be swapping parts, and it will be rather expensive, but the answer will still be YES, you can convert it to use in a car. You will find yourself looking at rotating assemblies, cams, heads, everything. But the answer, again, will be YES. Something else you will want to check is the water jackets of this engine. If it's been used in sea water, you may have extensive corrosion inside.
Yeah, tough deal. Might make converting it even WORSE! Will have ship a ton heavy parts. Might make it all even worse.
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