field_trip
New member
"A buddy of mine just found th
"A buddy of mine just found this web site and recommended I check it out. I spent a couple of hours last night reading various Crusader threads. What a great group of boaters/mechanics. I am very glad he pointed me to this resource and am grateful for all the information.
I have a 1989 29' Phoenix SFX with the original twin 270HP Crusaders (roughly 1200 hours). I live in Southern California but bought the boat in Miami last spring and had it trailered home. I had the boat surveyed and a compression test performed prior to completing the purchase. Both engines had one cylinder that was more than 10% off, but the other seven were within 5 lbs or so of each other (138 to 143 if memory serves me). The mechanic and surveyor both said that it is most likely in need of a valve job. The boat ran great during the sea trial and ran well for me last summer during several weekend trips to Catalina Island. The manifolds, risers, elbows and intake all look pretty bad so I have removed them and am going to sand blast what is salvageable and replace what isn't. Since I've gone this far I think it makes sense to pull the heads off and send them to a machine shop for a valve job. I have a couple of questions. Is there any benefit to (or problem with) simply buying new heads over having the old ones gone through?
Also, the intakes look really awful after 20-some years of salt water puddling on them. Do any of you have Edlebrock (or similar) aluminum intakes on your engines? If so, how have they performed? Would you recommend this change or should I clean up the old ones? And lastly, I read that the Edlebrock carbs (1409?) appear to improve fuel efficiency for some folks but are a little sensitive (prone to flooding and slow to start) when sitting at an angle. I have what I assume are the original Rochesters on my engines. I'm the kind of guy who prescribes to the adage that "if it aint broke don't fix it" for most things, but on a boat I believe if it looks like it's old or in bad shape it's going to let you down at an inopportune time.
As the cost of this little project swells I'm considering buying the 1409's too, but man, my wife is gonna kill me when she looks at the bank statement. Is there any harm in putting off the carbs for a season?"
"A buddy of mine just found this web site and recommended I check it out. I spent a couple of hours last night reading various Crusader threads. What a great group of boaters/mechanics. I am very glad he pointed me to this resource and am grateful for all the information.
I have a 1989 29' Phoenix SFX with the original twin 270HP Crusaders (roughly 1200 hours). I live in Southern California but bought the boat in Miami last spring and had it trailered home. I had the boat surveyed and a compression test performed prior to completing the purchase. Both engines had one cylinder that was more than 10% off, but the other seven were within 5 lbs or so of each other (138 to 143 if memory serves me). The mechanic and surveyor both said that it is most likely in need of a valve job. The boat ran great during the sea trial and ran well for me last summer during several weekend trips to Catalina Island. The manifolds, risers, elbows and intake all look pretty bad so I have removed them and am going to sand blast what is salvageable and replace what isn't. Since I've gone this far I think it makes sense to pull the heads off and send them to a machine shop for a valve job. I have a couple of questions. Is there any benefit to (or problem with) simply buying new heads over having the old ones gone through?
Also, the intakes look really awful after 20-some years of salt water puddling on them. Do any of you have Edlebrock (or similar) aluminum intakes on your engines? If so, how have they performed? Would you recommend this change or should I clean up the old ones? And lastly, I read that the Edlebrock carbs (1409?) appear to improve fuel efficiency for some folks but are a little sensitive (prone to flooding and slow to start) when sitting at an angle. I have what I assume are the original Rochesters on my engines. I'm the kind of guy who prescribes to the adage that "if it aint broke don't fix it" for most things, but on a boat I believe if it looks like it's old or in bad shape it's going to let you down at an inopportune time.
As the cost of this little project swells I'm considering buying the 1409's too, but man, my wife is gonna kill me when she looks at the bank statement. Is there any harm in putting off the carbs for a season?"