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97 350 vortec engine upgrades

L

lime4x4

Contributing Member
I'll be pulling my engine

I'll be pulling my engine this weekend to do some painting to the bilge and replacing the outer transom plate during the winter. I'm running a new 1997 chevy 350 vortec engine from a truck. Any good upgrades i can do to the engine for a little more torque and power?
 
"Ayuh,... If it's present

"Ayuh,... If it's presently equipped with either a 4bbl. carb, or efi,..??

Nope...."
 
Truck engine? How does it per

Truck engine? How does it perform on the top RPM range? What cam is in it; marine cam is designed for power at high RPMs? Add a 4 BBL carb. Does it have a marine distributor; safety issue? Casting plugs should be brass and head gaskets should be marine grade.
 
freeze out plugs and head gask

freeze out plugs and head gaskets will be changed this winter. 4 bbl carb. It currently performs pretty good. max rpm's are 4200
 
"in 97' don't think th

"in 97' don't think there was a difference. CASTING PLUGS i think are brass also, in 97'.

marine starter, alternator, dist. of course.

And if it is a truck motor no difference from marine built actually the same cam might, just might be different bye not alot.

Actually it's what i recommend buying a crate motor straight from gm latter for the so called marine motor."
 
a marine head gasket uses stai

a marine head gasket uses stainless steele core for raw water cooling. My casting plugs are steele.I just installed the engine for the summer cause i knew i was pulling the engine back out for winter projects to the boat.
 
"John

I am not a performanc

"John

I am not a performance mechanic so I can not specifically sugest a game plan to increase your motors output.

I would do some reaserch locally for a engine biulder or truck motor head guys and ask them for some suggestions on adding a bit to the vortec motor. There are a ton of mods. most likely a cam change, better intake manifold design,

JMHO"
 
I forgot to add I would shoot

I forgot to add I would shoot for a 300 to 320 hp for the engine output.
Just remember boats like the power to be all there before 5000 rpms so a cam change will require some research for a good stump puller at lower rpms.
 
"I have just re installed my m

"I have just re installed my motor. Got 7 hours on it now. It was 5.7L mercruiser and I took it out to 6.5L (383CID). The cam that went in is a COMPCAMS CS XM 264HR-12, designed for marine use. Gets max torque and HP between 3000 and 4000 RPM. On the dyno it gave 400 ft/lbs between 3000-4000rpm, 425 ft/lbs at 2750rpm, and 400HP at 4100 rpm. All up cost here in Australia, after importing parts from the US was $6.2kAU."
 
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