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1970 river queen with ford interceptor and eaton out drives

zaeske

New member
i recently bought a 1970 river queen 38' houseboat. had ford interceptor motors in it no clue what sice but they have deff been long blocked..also has eaton outdrives. the shells are pretty much scrapp as the scaggs are broken off on both, however it does shift and prop spindal turns..i know nothing about things of this vintage and have decided on leaving the motors out and putting outboatds on. id like to sell them but have no clue what their value is and im hoping someone can help me out with that..marysville marine told me about a grand a piece for gears in the outdrives since they easily turn and assuming no gears are broken but i plan on tearing it down to make sure. as for the motors as far as i can tell im only missing one starter, one motor fired but the carb needs to be rebuilt as a had gas leak into the oil pan and a fire out the crank case breather...he said to the right person despite their shape they would be worth a fair amount more than the out drives but id like a second opinion from someone who knows a little more..any advice will be appreciated. thanks
 
During and around this year, Eaton was putting their name on the early Volvo Penta drives.
Had to do with a special arrangement with Volvo Penta.

If you can post a few photos of the drives, I can tell you if these are V/P drives.
At best, these will likely be the 200 or 250 drives.
(small driven gear bearings, small input shafts, bevel cut lower unit gear sets)

As for a value.... I'd not hold my breath.
These are old, and by these days anyone looking for replacements, will be going to a later drive.
With the vast availability and vast interchangeability, this is not an issue for most applications.

Bottom line..... I'd not spend any money trying to get these into condition for sale.
It's just not worth it, as there will be no real market for them, IMO.

If by chance these are 250's, and if by chance the Eaton/Holman Moody style Borg Warner (slash) Volvo Penta PDS adapter housings were used, there may be a value in these.
(these extend the engines forward by 3-1/2")

Other than that...... I'd cut my losses and move forward.

.
 
thanks for the info..here are some pics i have taken that will hopefully help identify what they are..
 

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the interceptor number is on the motor and the e-25474 is on the outdrive as well as it says 160 and has an e stamped on it..keepin my fingers crossed for some good news. i will not be putting these back in the boat im going back with an outboard. the blocks are not busted and one motor actually ran but the other was missing parts in the distributar so i didnt really mess with it too much.. putting the outdrives in gear i can turn the spindal and everything turns easily and smooth. hoping there is someone out there who may have that drive in good condition looking for gears..as for motors i just want them to find a good home where someone is wanting to put one of these back to original...there are silver freeze plugs in the block so im not sure what kind of metal it is but a couple are slightly rusted through due to not using standard marine plugs. any information is much appreciated.
 
also here is a pic of the entire drive i forgot to put in the last set
 

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These do appear to be Eaton drives, and probably earlier than 1970.

These parts are just simply too old to offer much value......, unless you found a special buyer who needed this exact same drive for a restoration project, etc. Even if..... these can be had from a small trailerable boat that would not pose the corrosion issues that yours do.
I think that you mainly have some scrap metal there with regard to them.
Sorry.... I'm sure this is not what you wanted to hear.

The engines appear to be the 5.0L Fords. If they've been raw water cooled, they too are likely scrap metal.
The flywheel covers (if Borg Warner bolt pattern) may have a value to someone.

Suggestion:
If you will be going to the trouble of infilling the two transom cut-outs (for the single O/B application), why not pick up one good Volvo Penta AQ series engine and drive, and install it?
Perhaps a good strong V-8 and a good 270 or later drive? Or one of the smaller diesel engines?
Anything whereby parts are more easily available.... and the AQ series V/P will offer parts for years yet to come.
Sometimes you can pick up a working engine/drive (from a small hull that has a rotten transom and/or stringers) for peanuts if you find the right deal.

A new outboard is rather expensive.

.
 
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