Outer Limits 4x4 Board

My GF just brought home the families old ski/race boat. Its a 19ft Everingham with a 351 Clevo in it. It has been sitting in a farm shed for 4 years and forgotten about.
Got it home yesterday. With a new battery the starter wouldn't turn it over so I put a braker bar on the crank and it wouldn't budge so first things first pulled all spark plugs out sprayed half a can or CRC into all pots and left it over night. Today it's still seized up. I then pulled off the valve covers to find 3 push rods bent. I left it there. We called the younger brother to find out that a few years ago he had it running in the shed on a hose but wasn't sure if he had it hooked up right.
Very long story short I now have a 351 that might have been over heated, has been sitting for years and is now seized.
The engine was a crate engine bought from a mob like Rocket 24 years ago. From the memory of my gfs mum the engine was a bog stock 351 with a mild cam.

Now we are really looking to get this thing running have a little fun with it and sell it. So we are no looking to spend a fortune on it.

We plan on doing a basic rebuild as long as the bores are not pitted. If they are then we will have to look at over sizing.

Anyway are there any engine or boat guys out there that have any suggestions on what direction to go with cam, over sizing or is it worth stroking it?

Talk to Banzy, he is the resident ski boat expert!

Take it to Cletus, he's a whizz with the ski boats.

If its 24yrs old, I can't imagine its worth rebuilding? What's a new crate engine worth?

V.W.Dave wrote:is it worth stroking it?

Leaving aside a multitude of off-topic responses that would be inappropriate in General Tech - no!

Your stated intent is to get it running so you can sell it. Why waste money on a new crank and rods?

Focus, Dave. Focus!

Any work done to it right now will have receipts for the sale hopefully adding to the value of the sale.

Buy a running from trading post or gumtree for $1500, tear down your seized one and sell it as a complete rebuilder for $500.
Even a basic rebuild incl crank grind and new bearings, hone and rings will cost upwards of $2k with gaskets and other bits. And thats assuming things are generally ok. Pushrods bend for all sorts of ugly expensive reasons.

I have rebuilt ski boat motors before. Frankly, given the low cost of a crate short motor I wouldn't bother with a rebuild any more - it will cost you more and you wont gain anything. Re the cam - leave it stock. You want low down torque in a social ski boat for pulling skiers out of the hole and getting the boat up on the plane. Putting a bigger cam in will just push the power band up the rev range and actually make it a dog down low. Also make sure that a new motor is set up for ULP with hardened valve seats and lowered compression. And change the water pump impeller and check all cooling lines / heat exchange manifolds before testing it out on the water. The manifolds are known to rot and spit water down the exhaust ports causing hydraulic lock in extreme cases.

Pat

Pull it apart and see what you've got ie whether it's savable with nothing/minimum spent and take fotos... put it back together with new gaskets etc and have your fun.... then sell it as what you find/found, no b/s on it..."has been seized but we freed it up and it runs... this is what you're buying"

Clevos will be hard to find as a cheap crate motor!
Mostly everything these days are windsor based so swapping over all the extras from clevo to windsor would rule out a cheap swap!
You could try Subaru upper engine cleaner to un sieze it.

turbo gu wrote:Clevos will be hard to find as a cheap crate motor!
Mostly everything these days are windsor based so swapping over all the extras from clevo to windsor would rule out a cheap swap!
You could try Subaru upper engine cleaner to un sieze it.

With bent pushrods as per his original post I'm tipping antisieze will be a waste of money.

GUtripper wrote:

turbo gu wrote:Clevos will be hard to find as a cheap crate motor!
Mostly everything these days are windsor based so swapping over all the extras from clevo to windsor would rule out a cheap swap!
You could try Subaru upper engine cleaner to un sieze it.

With bent pushrods as per his original post I'm tipping antisieze will be a waste of money.

Thought they might straighten themselves if you unseized the motor
Just offering an alternate product to try.
Got to agree its probably unsalvageable

I bought a new long Chev for $2750 when I had my boat. I would do the same again n a heartbeat.
It will be worth more with a new mill!

Slightly off topic, but how much hp do you think your clevo puts out?

GUtripper wrote:

turbo gu wrote:Clevos will be hard to find as a cheap crate motor!
Mostly everything these days are windsor based so swapping over all the extras from clevo to windsor would rule out a cheap swap!
You could try Subaru upper engine cleaner to un sieze it.

With bent pushrods as per his original post I'm tipping antisieze will be a waste of money.

Yep, because it will probably need a can of timing chain and gears among other things......

Maybe some cans of pit fill for where the rings have bean sitting on the bores?

bananas wrote:Slightly off topic, but how much hp do you think your clevo puts out?

About as much as a good practicing Nun right now.

if your on a tight budget, and if you dont know much about what you are doing with rebuilding an engine and the costs involved AND you wanto sell the boat, i would just chuck a standard cammed 351 or even a 302 clevo back into it.


it will have plenty balls enough for the boat as is . a second hand 302 or a 351 from 600$ upwards.
freshwater or saltwater use? the standard car engine is more than ok for freshwater use. If you plan on using it in saltwater this means you have to flush it more vigorously after use and spray it inside out with inox before you pack it away. ( get a 20l drum)

recipts wont much affect the value of the boat in most cases. As there is no warranty with anything anyway and the most expensive parts can blow up in 15 mins if they are not screwed together properly

Jes

I got a few bits in the shed that may be in your price range. Fresh short motor and a set of std rebuilt heads with a mild cam. Send me a pm

V.W.Dave wrote:Any work done to it right now will have receipts for the sale hopefully adding to the value of the sale.

Good in theory but no.

Sorry I have been a little slack. Having a few real life issues.

I have pulled the engine out and took the heads off to find cyl 1 and 3 filled with rust. but its not that bad. I will be pulling the cam and pressing out the pistons this week and running a hone throug hit to see whats going on with the walls. If its pitted then i will be looking at over sizing it or getting a new short engine.

The heads are in really good condition other then the surface rust on cyl 1 and 3.

skootin wrote:I got a few bits in the shed that may be in your price range. Fresh short motor and a set of std rebuilt heads with a mild cam. Send me a pm

PM sent