hefty67

i have a 241liberator with a blown up 460 is there anybody out there that has put a small block stroker in a boat like this.the reason i ask is i have a 383 small block chevy with lots of torque and hp. any help would be great thanks

IndianaHeat

I had 383 in mine before i put a 540 BB in , it ran in the mid to low 50's.. still needed tabs to get it up on plan under 10 sec.s

merlyn1965

I had a blown 460 in my boat when I bought it and if you start looking at everything that you'll need to change the engine (ford to chev), you might consider staying with the 460. A solid rebuild 460 with a good Comp cams in and roller will raise the bill to about 3Ks and that'll be it, since you have the intake, carb, exhaust manifold, bellhousing etc.
Buying all this will cost you even more and the pain to put it all in will be worse than a proctologist examination...
Sure it's nice to have chev power but there's no replacement for displacement. When the 460 is healthy, they're pretty much trouble free and powerfull to bring you boat up to speed quickly.
Josh

TomZ

Car Craft this month had great article on 500 hp builds. One of the engines was a 460. Very easy to get big power out of the 460. Check out the article (Oct. edition).

TomZ

Sorry... that was the November issue of Car Craft.

MILD THUNDER

IMHO, the Liberator 241 is a tank. The small block wont make the tq you need to move that boat. Stick with the 460 and do some hop ups to it. Should get you around 60-62mph

hefty67

thanks for all the help guys i took the 460 to the machine shop yesterday. any ideas on what size 4 blade i need??

CC247

I did the same guessing about switching from ford to Chevy and in the long run I stuck with the 460. My Chris Craft is about the same as yours 4500-4800 lbs. I did alot of prop testing after I got the motor running. I use a omc 4-blade 19" ss prop for light loads, cruises at 3200-3500, 35-40 mph depending on water conditions. 4800 around 52-55 top end. I use a 17" 3-blade when I pull tubes or 2 adult skiers. That prop doesn't go fast but will rip the arms off the skiers if I'm not careful. Boat pops right up on plane and porpoises alot, I have to use alot of tab. Hope this helps. My 460 isn't a high rpm motor just a reliable work horse. Oh I did add Chevy Emi exhaust/SS risers and thru-hull that really woke up the mid-range.