Silverton 318 help wanted

"I was recently givin an older

"I was recently givin an older 1975 silverton sedan with a flybridge from a guy who didnt have the wherewithal to rebuild the woood cabin. Since Im a cabinet maker he gave it to me in hopes it would be restored ( it will Im tenacious)
Anyway the numbers on the engine plate are LM318BVR20/731. I want to replavce the carb with a reuilt one. Even though this is a single engine vessel I want to put a 2 barrel carb on it for fuel efficiency. Can anyonre recommend a good carb for this engine?
Also the boat has a decent enough looking prop but I thought I should research this prop before I splash this boat, She weighs 7900lbs and will most likely have only 3 to 4 people aboard. There are 2 what appear to be 80 gallon tanks which will be 1/2 fullmost of the time. Im not a speed demon and really am more of a cruiser for serenity guy. Can anyone suggest a good prop config for this vessel? AIs there anything else I should know about this motor efore I set her to sea, say are there any spare parts I should have available? In case of some kind of breakdown?
Thanks and Be well
Willie the new old boat owner"

"Hi Willie,
welcome to the fo

"Hi Willie,
welcome to the forum! I would recommend the Edelbrock 1409 carb. it's 4bbl, but, it's better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it!!! as far as the prop you should try and contact a good prop shop and give them the specs of the boat. do you know what size/pitch you have currently? that will be helpful for the prop shop to make recommendations.

you can take some time and make a visual inspection of the motor and see if anything looks odd. loose wires? rusted connections?

if you don't know how long it's been since the plugs/wires have been changed that would be a cheap improvement. you should also check the timing and make sure your alternator is putting out enough to charge the batteries. on the same note, check that you have a good battery!!!

i'm sure FastJeff or some others great folks on this forum will fill in the areas i've missed. "

"Does it run? I would start w

"Does it run? I would start with a compression test. The advance springs in the distributor are a common issue for older 318s. If you put a timing light on it, you should see the spark advance as you throttle up to ~2500 rpm. You can search this forum for more info on that topic. Good luck with her."