weekend@burnies

i know from my industry (harley davidson) the stuff the test at talladega and arizona is set up perfectly not assembly line motors, built by engineers
early twin cam chain tensioners went over 100k
in the early 2000's i replaced them as early as 25k total failure
when was the last time you held your car/truck at wfo for 10+ miles?

phragle

EPA permits, regulations, hazzardous materials...but the huge profit margin for builders. I heard if you buy a new Outerlimits, Fiore has you picked up in your backyard in the company helicopter, taken to the airport to board their G8, and whisked away to Rhoade island to sign the contract while sipping Champagne and eating cavier. Hell When you buy a new beak,,,scratch that, they made so much money on those Reggie went belly up

Rwbrew3

That's is flippin funny!!

79formula

A few years ago my grandpa picked up a boat that had a seized 4.3 in it. I bought a 1995 S10 truck for $500. I sold off the tranny for $300, and got $300 for the remainder. So I made $100 and got him a 4.3 engine. I was nervous about using the auto engine in the boat. I ordered brass freeze plugs and mercruiser head gaskets. I pulled the motor apart to do the swap and the gaskets were identical. The only difference between the merc and the truck motor was the freeze plugs. I am willing to bet the cam specs were slightly different too. But I figured close enough.

Rwbrew3

I've read lots of post of people doing this, That is what makes me wonder how one is so expensive, and the other so resonabe. There may be a few differences, but I doubt 15k in differance!

Opinion!

Rick

Rwbrew3

Just wondering... Are we the only country building custom boats..i've been lots of places and have seen cars and trucks I've never seen before, never a boat.



Rick

aquaforce

Just do some google searches and you can find some very striking powerboats overseas. Back in the 80's when all the luxury tax greed started up by the politicians there were many boat builders in the U.S. that left because the market or their business was hurt. Our own govt is killing the thriving luxuries here for their push to either have party control or control of the people. Sorry, hated to get political here but it is the truth.

I have a 91, 7.4L 330hp Mercury Marine BBC tore down in my shop right now. The stamped steel trash and cast internals of this engine are cheap junk in comparison to the power that is in any HO motor or marine 500HP or more. The stock stuff is cheap cast, which is what most automotive engines are, but in the marine performance engines the oil system built as dry sump is huge $$$$$$ compared to a wet sump pump. The forged crank, rods and pistons compared to the cast junk is very $$$$$$ and as the power goes up the fuel system, cooling and exhaust all has to change to power it up, keep it from overheating and reverting. These products are mostly made from high grade materials if not mostly stainless for longevity and survival of the elements and marine rigor. By the way this is the basic explanation of the cost difference in diesel and gas engines too; cast vs forged.

Boats stay on top of the water by displacement but a car's weight sets on suspension. The difference here is that the displacement is a constant load on the engine of a boat where the suspension or weight does not lug a car engine the same way. For this reason the internals of a performance power boat that is going to live and not detonate it'self apart will need to be forged material of high quality and those parts are $$$$$$ in comparison.

Buy some epoxy or resin in some small amount and see how much it costs. Now figure that price by the thousands of pounds needed to mold a boat hull, $$$$$$$$. There is a variation among builders of chemical uses and qualities in an effort to cut business costs but it all goes into the price. Of course all that has been mentioned before in business, marketing and research goes into the price. Notice how it works with pharmaceutical companies, there are some similarities here too.

Slap a big name like Fred Keikahfer ?? spelling?? and others in the design and build consultation and there is some cost past on too.

I don't purport to have all the answers but these costs are real and one gets what they pay for in this arena of boat building.

The only thing that is the same between the car and boat engine is the application design for parts and gaskets. Once an engine is marinized all the stuff inside is completely different.

Baldie

I have been in the Automotive Research and Development for one of the big three for the past 6 years, and I must say most of you guys are way off. If you even knew what some of these motors go through in development you would be absolutely astonished. I think most of the public and forums are completely ignorant on most of these practices, and the big three keeps most of these tests under high security because in reality no one really needs to know what we do.

But for some to throw out "Ideas" that they have as to why a marine engine is better is just assaine. My best guess for why Marine engines are more expensive isn't exactly for R&D, actually quite opposite. These engines are built with the best of parts so they don't break while OEM engines are built cheap then tested to verify they will withstand the torture that many people subject them to.

One more instance you must look at is just in engines, most engines do not go bad or wear out bad until around 200k, and within that cycle it is mostly the parts around that fail.

Just something to think about, and I could go further and tell some stories of what some of these engines are subjected to, in which as I have already said, most would be amazed to say the least.

professor_speed

I'd glad this was brought up. Automotive engines Get beat to hell in testing. They are held wide open under load for hours. (some times days) Ls1's engines were run wide open for 520 hours! Most Marine engines will never see this level of testing.

Rwbrew3

Must be a cool job!

Wondering if the marine motors are put through the same type of testing.


Rick