Hot Rods Find of the day

My Neighbor had a nice old boat with outdrive and an Iron Duke engine. Years ago I told him that when he was ready to retire that boat, I would like to have that engine. Yesterday he came over and told me that I could just have the thing if an offer of 150 bucks fell through. I told him I would match that offer and, since he's a nice fellow, he said he would rather I have it. Nice clean boat, engine compartment is clean as new, engine is good but the out drive has issues (again). Now it's sitting in my yard and here's what I got: complete operating boat, good trailer with brand new tires, titles for both boat and trailer. I don't want the boat. I want the engine and all the cool stuff for a future hot rod. I now need to find out what changes need to be made to convert the marine engine to passenger car use. Too new for me to know. After I strip the boat I'll need to find a way to get rid of the hull. How do I find out which engine size this is? Anyone want a free boat? It's a nice one. Picture later.

 

Year of boat and pics would be a big help. But the first thing is the cooling system. I see your in Wyoming so I’m assuming it’s spent it’s time in fresh water lakes/rivers. The majority of those engines were raw water cooled so the sea water was pumped through the engines water jackets. In a salt water environment it sometimes isn’t worth converting to be used with a radiator. Second is the intake/exhaust manifold. It’s also water cooled in most cases a radiator won’t be enough to cool it with the exhaust involved so that will have to be changed.

 

That’s likely not an iron Duke but a “chevy ii” mercruiser.

153 and 181 cid available There are some giant threads on them here.

the marine cam from what I can find for specs is the same as iskys 3/4 race cam. Nothing special about the marine engines far as I can tell other than some of them got funny fuel pumps and dual carb intakes

 

It might also be the Mercruiser "470" or "488" model...the 470 had the 2 barrel carb and the 488 had a 4 barrel. These engines make power, but are quite the hibrid created by Mercury.

A lot of reading in this thread:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-elusive-224-3-7-mercruiser-banger.256713/

 

Forgot about the 470. Always wanted to put one in something other than a boat. And they all had closed cooling systems.

 

When you sell the trailer w/ new tires and title, it comes with the boat hull. Package deal: all or nothing. Let the buyer dispose of the hull.

 

Built a deuce roadster in 1973 and ran a 153 with a Powerglide. Didn't know much about the engine but it ran good plus back then you could order all the cool Mercruiser dress up parts. If you left the glide in low up to about 55 you were good. I was kind of a rookie chassis builder (my first deuce, started with a pair of rails) so I fabbed a pair of motor mounts using the factory rubber parts. The car worked great but vibrated like crazy at a stop light. There must be a fix for that these days?

 

@krylon32 im not sure, I still
Read about them being a rumbling motor in that regard

 

Hot Rods Ta Hell, I AM the buyer. Anyhoo, looking at my fabulous find this morning i saw the tag on the side of the boat that says "Powered by Mercruiser 120 HP." When I was still in the excavating/construction biz I had a Sullair 105 CFM air compressor powered by one of these little engines. I would put out 100 lbs of air, open hose, all day with ease. The engine had a distinct sound that just exuded power. I loved that thing. I drilled and blasted many shot holes in solid rock with it.

 

Glenn, sure would like some pics!!

 

I'll try to get some pics. I have a '26 Model T roadster pickup with a nice body and a Model A pieced together jalopy I use for parades. I think I'm going to marry the two and use this engine to create a light weight hot rod for the motor. I should have all the parts needed with some left over to sell. It should be a cool project.

 

Here's a few pictures. They don't show everything but this is a pretty big boat, still on the trailer, and I'll need a step ladder to get up there and capture the engine compartment. More to follow.

 

those marine engines sound killer. i want to swap one into something someday.

 

Glenn, as far as getting rid of the boat... Rent a dumpster and sawzall it in to pieces that fit in the dumpster. I've heard that works. I have one to get rid of myself. It's very similar to yours. 1968 MFG Convair 18 with an odd-fire V6 Kaiser/Buick 225 (OMC 155 stern drive). Hunk of shit boat since I got it in '87. I popped the deck off of mine without cutting. Some hardware that you bust and ancient, crappy caulk that fell out in chunks. I've thought about running it over with the tractor or cutting a war canoe out of the middle of the "cathedral hull". With the deck off, I could flip it over and let the goats have it. It's a pain in the ass, mostly. Mike

 

Glenn, have you got a landfill out there close? I took my 28' long 9' wide 8' tall (without the mast) fiberglass sailboat to the local landfill. Cost me $45 to dump it. the guy on the track hoe took it off and then had a great time smashing it. I was happy, he was happy. Win, win.

 

Here in Sw Washington, just make a midnight run ,and and unhook it. There are boats, trailers, motor homes and cars dumped all over the place,in the town I live in.

 

Forever improving the local scenery and property values.

 

alamp561, I think that is the plan. There have been quite a few old boats up there and a good dose off bull dozer massage takes care of them easily. There is much more I will salvage off this thing. Cool scoops and a lot of other stuff. I really need more "stuff", you know.

 

You could always take it to Lake Meade.

 

Good point!

 

They have boat races at the circle track in Lakeport . ( Tie the boat to the back of a Bomber car and run until the one with the most boat left wins)See if they do something similar at your nearest circle track if you have one. We took my dad's boat to the fairgrounds and it went out in a blaze of glory.

 

That steering wheel is cool, someone will want it if you don't. Same goes for the gauges and misc bits..

 

Here is just an idea to mull over.
@Glenn Thoreson
Strip the boat and get everything out of it that you think you can use for what ever reason. As others have suggested, dispose of the boat in what ever manner suits you and your wallet.

But since the trailer is in good shape, and it has good tires and a title, you might want to consider hanging onto that trailer.

I took a friends old boat trailer that was sitting in the berry bushes for years. I added metal frames to it, and decked it with plywood, and added top rails to it, and I used it for years to tow my display for T-shirt sales out at Oshkosh Wisconsin at the seaplane base.

That trailer was indestructible and it was a great platform to work off of.

With a boat trailer, you can get pretty creative on how to deck it, or to add stake sides to it if you want to use it to haul junk and stuff to the dump.

These are just suggestions and nothing more.
Your results may vary.
Good luck from Dennis.

 

We do the same thing here at our local track

 

Very cool, recycling with a purpose

 

That whole dash panel is cool, especially the marine grade fuse holders and switches.

 

I always carry my electric sawzall or a handsaw with me when out parts hunting.
When I find boats with cool dashes I can quickly remove them along with the steering wheel. Found Sun Greenline gauges and cool steering wheels like yours in a few boats

 

You'll have to change the Cam, the boat engines turn the opposite direction from the car engines

 

Here is a suggestion for your boat trailer!