Fireball 225HP ID confusion

"I'm trying to ID this eng

"I'm trying to ID this engine. It is non-original to the boat I pulled it from (1948 Century Sea Maid). From the pictures, it looks like it might have started life with side draft carbs, as it has two crankcase breather tubes on the forward end looking for a carb that isn't there. It has a Carter 4bbl on it now. Flywheel is aft. No ID plates on the engine except the decal on the valve cover.

The engine reportedly ran 20 years ago when stored, but I can see what looks like JBWeld on the block around a freeze plug. Maybe the plug was leaking, or maybe the block is cracked? The JBWeld is painted the same blue as the rest of the block, so my bet is that the fix worked, at least. Block and oil pan are both iron.

I have no use for the engine - I'll be installing the original Fireball 160 once the wood work is done. If you can help me ID it, I can post this one in the classifieds in case someone needs it.

Thanks/john

FB225Side"">

FB225Valley"">

FB225aft"">

FB225front

"<font color=""0000ff""><font

"<font color=""0000ff""><font face=""courier new,courier""><font size=""+2"">Looks like a Graymarine species to me...</font></font></font>"

"<font color=""0000ff""><font

"<font color=""0000ff""><font face=""courier new,courier""><font size=""+2"">Looks like a Graymarine species to me...maybe the Fireball 225 version</font></font></font>"

"No doubt - it is a Graymarine

"No doubt - it is a Graymarine Fireball 225. From looking through other postings, it seems there are several variations of the breed - I was hoping to narrow it down.

Other than the 4bbl carb and intake, does it look like the same engine (e.g. flywheel aft)that you have in your Resorter, Jim? If so, what info do you have on your engine's ID plate?

Thanks/john"

"Hey John, It is a Graymarine

"Hey John, It is a Graymarine Fireball but with some modifications made to it. First I would say that the JB was there to seal a crack in the block probably from freezing. The JB works good as long as the crack was confined to the outer wall of the engine otherwise you would have water in the oil pan. Most of the Grays that I've seen were red, could be mistaken here, but you are right, there has been a change in the carb setup. The Graymarine fireball V8s came in six different configurations and only one had the four barrel downdraft and that was the 238hp (4400 rpm) based on an AMC 327 block.
The others were the 225 with dual side drafts, 215 with dual side drafts, 188 with dual side drafts, 170 with dual side drafts and the 135 with a single side draft.
I would call yours a hybrid that someone put together with parts. My best guess would be that you have the 250 ci 178hp because of the breather tubes that you described and the photos.
I have the service manual and parts catalog for these engines that I purchased on the site several years ago. If you need some technical info I can post it here.
Cal"