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Need help to chose the good V8 inboard engine

cripz0062

New member
Hi!
I'm French so excuse my English, I live in New Caledonia, a little Island near Australia an New Zeland.

I have a hull, it's Riva Junior, all wood, 5.5m long, I don' have any engine.

Stock is a V8 chriscraft of 190HP, want a V8 too but with little more horsepower

I see a Mercruiser dealer for the all new 6.2 engine, but little bit expensive, I don't want to put a reman engine, I find this one https://www.tristarengines.com/mari...ck-chevy-high-performance-marine-crate-engine
The price is ok, aluminum head, sound to be great but 450 HP is too much

Maybe you can show me a engine as good as the tristar with 250-300 HP for less$$?

I want to ru freshwater, so with a less expensive engine, can buy all the parts I needs for fresh water and add stainless headers

Kinds regads
 
not sure why you wouldnt consider a reman engine, but all things being equal, remans are as good as a crate engine, and sometimes much better if a conscientious and knowledgeable "marine" engine builder does the work....
and a good used "fresh water cooled" engine can also be an excellent choice IF you get it from a good source who offers a warranty and stands behind it....

also keep in mind that the engine is only one of the costs... exhaust manifolds and risers will cost a substantial bit more.

rather than paying the high price for a new engine, I will ALWAYS go the "reman" route, but do the work myself, as one can buy a "well used but running" motor, then buy all the parts and machine work (for a custom, top quality reman job) at less than half the price of what a "factory" reman can be purchased for......

if you are on a budget, a good clean used engine with a warranty can be had cheap enough that you can purchase it and all the peripherals to install it and make it run for less than the purchase price of the reman engine.... then in a few years IF you still have the boat and the engine shows signs of getting tired, you will have a good re-buildable core to work with, and may only need a set of bearings and new rings to get another couple thousand hours from the motor....

do you now if the original engine that came out of the boat was a ford or a chevy engine? its a critical bit of information.

Im a chevy guy, but im also a fan of the ford 460 engine. most modern marine sbc 5.7/350 engines are in the 250-275hp range.

also, dont overlook the additional core charge that you will have to pay because you dont have a core to return to the supplier of whatever motor you decide to buy....

see this link https://www.1800runsnew.com/re-manufactured-engines/
 
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